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Summer 2015

July 27, 2015 – 2:58 pm

So there was soooo much going on – we traveled to Chicago (in the previous post), we drove out to Montana with Christy and the girls, she and Rob got married, we prepped Alea for college, and we finalized everything for our move to Poland. Couple with that the fact that our truck threw its transmission and we were without a vehicle for the last week, and you’ve got a pretty crazy period of time. Here are a few pictures from all those adventures…

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, USA | Comments (0)

Father’s Day visit to Chicago

June 24, 2015 – 2:06 pm

Susan, Breck, and I ran over to Chicago this past weekend to see Robert and Christy and all the kids. We managed to squeeze in a day at Great America, a visit to the Field Museum, and a Cubs game, so I think we did pretty well!

By Dave | Also posted in Breck, Dave, Family, USA | Comments (0)

Susan’s 50th birthday!

May 14, 2015 – 10:43 pm

Had our Puncak cabin crew over to help break in the new Groovy Gecko bar, say goodbyes for the four of us leaving, and not-really-celebrate Susan’s birthday.

Thanks to Alea for all the help with organization and taking great pictures – we have such great friends and such super kids!

 

By Dave | Also posted in Life in Indonesia | Comments (0)

Last Diving off Gili Trawangan

March 28, 2015 – 11:28 am

Our final spring break in Indonesia, and we went to one of our favorite places for a week of diving and relaxation.

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Life in Indonesia, Travel | Comments (4)

Afternoon at the Museum

February 23, 2015 – 2:14 pm

We headed downtown on a sunny Sunday to take in the Indonesian National Museum.

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia | Comments (0)

Aunt Nancy’s birthday party

November 25, 2014 – 9:51 am

Since Susan is in the USA for a month, she got to crash Aunt Nancy’s 50th birthday party. Looks like a crazy time!

"I mustache you a question..."

By Dave | Comments (0)

Working with Indonesian teachers

November 1, 2014 – 5:10 pm

Spent the day collaborating with local teachers, helping out with a workshop about “Applications of Mathematics in the real world.” Susan set up a whole series of activities revolving around math problem solving strategies, and I was able to lead a couple of small group sessions on gathering data and displaying/interpreting graphs.

Lots of smiles all around, and a reminder to myself that A) Susan and I are really are a pretty awesome team together and B) living around the world affords us some astoundingly unique life opportunities.

International School Partnership morning workshop

By Dave | Also posted in Dave, Life in Indonesia, School | Comments (0)

Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin

June 25, 2014 – 2:05 pm

Heading up to Grandma and Grandpa’s lake cabin always gives us a great introduction to the joys of summer!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family | Comments (0)

End of year/Susan’s birthday

May 16, 2014 – 1:54 pm

Awesome Threesomes party tonight at the The Stutz Family’s Groovy Gecko Grill – good times despite the crazy times!

The Groovy Gecko is rockin' - don't bother knockin'!

By Dave | Also posted in Life in Indonesia, School | Comments (0)

Komodo dragons and such

March 31, 2014 – 7:14 pm

In addition to all the cool diving that we did, we also had the chance to see some pretty extraordinary sights over spring break. This album is all from our “above water” camera, to complement the diving shots posted the other day…

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Travel | Comments (0)

Manta Rays in action

March 29, 2014 – 8:36 am

We took a few snippets of video of our dive to Manta Point. Here’s a 2 minute look at what we saw (with bonus narration!). Susan, Alea, and Breck are all in here (if only fleetingly).

 

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Travel | Comments (0)

Flores – Spring Break diving

March 28, 2014 – 11:29 am

We headed to the Indonesian island of Flores for a week in the sun. One of our “must do in Indonesia” items was to see Komodo dragons in the wild, so that was the impetus for this trip. The first pictures, however, will be from our diving adventures. We left from Labuan Bajo and went under the sea on 3 days (only 2 with a working camera!), and saw some wondrous stuff.

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Travel | Comments (0)

Holiday Greetings for 2013!

December 20, 2013 – 4:26 pm

Happy New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Horse!

We hope this finds family and friends around the world enjoying peace, health, and joy as we embark on a new year.

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The family in Ha Long bay, VietnamOur family continues to live, work, and thrive in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is our third year at Jakarta International School. Dave happily remains with MS math, Susan welcomed a move to Kindergarten, and Alea and Breck work hard in 11th and 9th grades respectively. Alea and Breck both play in the band and enjoy the rock-climbing club.

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Alea squeezes Model United Nations and pilates into her busy IB/AP schedule. She also joined Tri-M music honors society and JIS orchestra, a service group helping local children explore instruments and music. Breck joined the magic club and has also become quite the stage lighting and ‘green screen’ expert. He has been asked to support the theater and tech departments at both the elementary and high school. He will work at upcoming shows of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Wizard of Oz.

Alea checks out the coral growth..

Our family loves living life overseas as global nomads. We travel every chance we get and appreciate the diversity SE Asia offers. We launched 2013 in Cambodia and Laos, dove the walls off Bunaken, Sulawesi in April, and returned to Amed, Bali for more diving in October. We left on Dec 21 for three weeks of travel through Vietnam. We agree that kayaking in Ha Long Bay, clamoring through mud caves in Phong Nha, rock-climbing on an island in Long Ha Bay, biking through rice paddies near Hoi An, and eating our way through Ha Noi street food were absolute highlights!

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Breck and Alea, given a taste in their social studies classes, were especially intrigued with the (recent) history of this amazing country. We toured Vinh Moc tunnels near the 17th parallel and saw bomb craters (currently used as fish farms) all over Quang Nam province. We believe one of the benefits of living overseas is the multiple perspectives we gain and develop about any historical event or situation.

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Up at the cabin...Of course, summers in the USA always reminds us how blessed we are to have family. We always enjoy our time in MT, but this summer was especially rewarding because we welcomed Alvin Fletcher to the Strachan-Stutz clan. While we are biased, we do believe he bears a remarkably handsome resemblance to Breck. As always, we thank and celebrate the Helena Stutzes who take incredible care of us when we show up. A highlight of this summer was time spent with Blanche and the nieces and nephews at Hauser and Clancy Recreational areas. Hard to believe, but the kids have never been to Yellowstone; we think this summer is the year…

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Minnesota is always good to us, but we must admit that Door County, Wisconsin is pretty amazing. We spent a fabulous week there with the south-side Wagners fishing, cherry picking, and shopping. Best of all – we got all the smoked salmon we brought back through customs in Indonesia. Yum!!! Valleyfair with the Regan’s topped the kids’ ‘thriller’ hit-list and deck-time racing crawdads with the cousins at Grandpa and Grandma’s cabin on Lake Vermilion filled the ‘You’ll never guess what WE did’ quotient. Things as simple as shopping downtown, going to a garage sale, or attending a lake-side concert after berry picking take on a whole new meaning when enjoyed with family!

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The Minnesota clanWe plan at least one more year in Indonesia. Alea will graduate next year from JIS; it is exciting to think about the future. We have spent time in the USA these past few summers looking at colleges and universities for the kids and retirement homes for the parents. Time will tell!

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We wish everyone all the joy and love of this season. We are fortunate and we know it. We hope you feel the same!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Travel | Comments (0)

Clean Up Jakarta

November 10, 2013 – 10:13 pm

We headed downtown this morning for a session on Clean Up Jakarta day. A great bunch of teachers, administrators, parents, and kids took the time to positively impact our adopted home. We got good and sweaty doing some good for the city!

(And what a fantastic garbage truck driver we had - she was very helpful!)

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Life in Indonesia | Comments (0)

Bali Break (part 1)

October 20, 2013 – 12:27 pm

We headed off to a week in the sun on Bali’s east coast. Diving (scuba), driving (scooters), and dining (seafood) were the only things on our agenda. Our hotel was fabulous, and we went under the sea a few times as well. Here are a few shots from around our resort, as well as some of the undersea life we saw on our first day of diving. More to come!!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Travel | Comments (0)

Christmas 2012

December 16, 2012 – 11:50 am

Our holiday season was festive and bright! We got the tree up and lights lit in November – the latest we’ve waited in a long time! The White Elephant was a huge success, and we had loads of fun getting everyone set for the holiday. Presents were opened on the 16th, and we are off in the morning for a 3-week adventure through Cambodia and Laos. Happy holidays to all!!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia, Life in Indonesia | Comments (0)

Diving on Gili T

October 21, 2012 – 12:10 pm

We pulled out the trusty underwater camera and headed to the sun and surf paradise of Lombok for October break. This collection of photos are from our below-water adventures…

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Indonesia | Comments (0)

Indonesian Rickshaws

April 13, 2012 – 8:35 pm

The Stutz family in an Indian rickshaw!We used rickshaws all the time in India, as they were the quickest, most convenient, and cheapest ways to get around our side of Mumbai. We even dressed up in our Indian finest and had one of my favorite family pictures taken in a rickshaw there. It is still the cover photo of our website home page.

We haven’t really gotten into using them so much here in Jakarta, primarily because we have our own vehicle, but also because they are far less ubiquitous. Taxis – real cars – seem to be the more common modes of transport-for-hire, at least among the middle/upper classes. (There are, of course, other options available. Little, dangerous mini-buses called “Metro Minis” run routes around the cities, and motorcycles for hire, called “ojeks” are also available.

But there are rickshaws here in the city. They are called “bajaj” and, unlike Mumbai (but like most of the rest of India), they neither run on LPG nor do they have meters. The combination of these two attributes mean they are a smokey way of getting ripped off for a quick ride.

But, after an elementary school happy hour, Susan decided to take one home. Apparently the negotiations for the fare went well, because I got a call from her happily shouting, “I’m coming home in a rickshaw! Get the camera!”

And so, when she rolled up to the front gate, I was ready and waiting, and now we have photographic evidence of our first ride in an Indonesian rickshaw!!

Susan risking it all in an Indonesian bajaj

By Dave | Also posted in Indonesia, Life in Indonesia | Comments (0)

Eggcellent!

April 8, 2012 – 10:09 am

So we had all the traditional Easter goings-on this morning: Easter bunny – check. Hidden goodies – check. Egg cracking contests – check. Invasion of swarming ants – check.

Wait, what? We figured out – a little too late, it seems – that hiding eggs and chocolate in a tropical environment is a great way to invite bugs in for the party. We relocated all the sweets back to the fridge, but still had a lot of post-party cleanup to do.

Oh well – guess we’ll just have to jump in the pool this afternoon. I guess life in the topics has its advantages!

And, as they say in Greece – Χριστός ἀνέστη!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Life in Indonesia | Comments (0)

Early morning conversation

November 15, 2011 – 9:35 am

Waking up is tough, especially when the day starts as follows:

Me: “Why is my coffee cup in the bathroom?”

Susan: “I was using it to brush my teeth.”

I don’t even know where to go from there (and it is only Tuesday).

 

By Dave | Also posted in Dave | Comments (0)

Christmas morning!

December 18, 2010 – 9:32 am

Presents under the tree!Breck decided, based on a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon he read, to let us sleep in “until quarter to six this year.” Actually, he was very responsible, getting up quietly, looking around, and getting into his stocking (Santa neglected to put up a sheet this year; obviously the beer ‘n cookies bribe worked). The rest of us – with the girls both fighting colds – rolled out of bed around 7:30.

We got the tunes going and the lights on, and busted into the goodies. By the time all was said and done, there were some definite trends in the gifts received. Breck had an “all flying” year, with Star Wars legos, 2 model airplanes, a dart set, and a Wii fighter pilot game. Many of Alea’s gifts were construction-based, with jewelry making, rock tumbling, and dollhouse furniture putting together all making an appearance in her pile. Dave had a heavy metal Christmas, with a set of steel plates and bowls for the cabin, a Ganesh bell set, and a pair of silver candle holders. Susan was picturing the perfect year, with a shot of her and Dave at the PTA gala and an Omani trip.

What a great Christmas morning – now I’ve got to go play Wii with Breck!!

Susan and Alea reading the instructionsBreck making LegosSusan and Dave at the gala

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family | Comments (0)

2010 school photos

November 24, 2010 – 10:11 pm

Well here they are – the official portraits of this school year. You can enjoy them all here and pop over to the webpage for a look back at all the kids’ (and parents’) school shots over the years.

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family | Comments (0)

Bollywood Bigshots

November 14, 2010 – 10:51 am

Bollywoood/Hollywood glam coupleYeah, that’s us, baby. We got all dressed up for the PTA “Hollywood/Bollywood” dinner and dance last night, and Alea took this nice shot of us.

I actually went shopping yesterday and bought a glitzy Indian outfit so that I could look like the movie stars here – but it was really the accessories that made everything work. Throwing on the sunglasses and topping up with the Rajasthani wedding turban really brought out the haughty glamor.

The party itself was a blast – teachers and parents mingling and enjoying the evening with very little shop talk taking place. There were several dance performances, ranging from traditional Indian folk songs to Bollywood movie hits and hip hop mashups. After the open bar had a bit of business, the dance floor was filled up by members of the school community shaking their groove thangs.

And to top off the evening, the powers-that-be decided that I had the best Bollywood outfit, so now Susan and I get a dinner at the ritzy hotel just down the road from the school! Kind of a fun bonus to top off a great night.

By Dave | Also posted in Dave, Life in India, School | Comments (1)

Free Verse Friday – Ode to the varieties of Indian stomach ailments

April 9, 2010 – 4:47 pm

I have been neglectful in Free Verse Friday lately, so in honor of this week’s Caf-ASB, here is my ode to various regional stomach ailments:

Here in Mumbai, we sometimes get food sick
From restaurant, kitchen, or picnic.
The belly distends
Kicks out waste from both ends
Accompanied by internal music.

This year’s not been really all too rough
We’ve only had one round of that stuff
But with watery stomachs
And quivery buttocks
I swear once is more than enough.

The first hint is often quite bitter
A bubbling that shouts out “Don’t fritter!
You’ve no time to wait
You’d better go straight
And plop yourself down on the… toilet!”

But one thing we’ve noticed in three years
Is a pattern that constantly reappears:
The BMs reflect
The vacations they’ve wrecked
Like a matched set of runny brown souvenirs.

Our first trip, in a hotel so smelly
Alea’s tummy got sick from some jelly
In India’s heart
Ruined trip from the start:
An authentic case of real Delhi Belly.

The second time, as you will soon see-a
Was based on the self same idea
Poor Breck took the throne
In our very own home:
Struck down by Mubaiarrhea.

Dave’s ill was not like his daughter’s
But still was a set of the trotters.
Eating Cochinese shrimp
On his trip, put a crimp:
He sailed down the Kerala Backwaters.

Our last trip involved the ole poop pots
When we went to see Indian hot spots
In the desert a-cruisin’
The ailment caught Susan
And she got the Jodhpur Camel Trots

We’ve suffered on hikes, boats, and car rides
Strange stuff coming out of our backsides:
From Goan Groanin’ sick
To Jaipur Diaper ick
To colossal Himalayan Mudslides.

Pondicherry Derri-airy, Bangalore Blasts
Hyderabad Hot Squirts, Taj Mahal Gas
The Rajasthan Runs
Of course, Mysore Bum
The Calcutta Quick Step and Amritsar Ass.

Now, don’t think our stories pure unkind
We’ve usually had a real good time.
We remember our trips
Not by what we take with
Butt rather, what we’ve left behind!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Breck, Dave, Family, Life in India, Poetry | Comments (1)

ASB Unplugged 2010

February 27, 2010 – 10:11 pm

Our honkin’ huge ASB Unplugged conference finished this evening, and we are ready to take a deep breath and relax. Things wrapped up after a nutso period of preparation and a crazy few days of people in and out and about and around and under and over and between and beyond and every other preposition your 7th grade teacher made you memorize. The number I heard this afternoon was that we had over 300 people from 64 countries visiting; I suppose you could peg it as a pretty darn successful event.

Susan and I presented a workshop about creating and posting videos online which was well received, we both opened up our classrooms to visitors to come in and interact with the kids,we each hosted a job alike for our respective fields,  and we both set up “student showcases” involving them demonstrating and explaining the tech that we use on a daily basis (Alea was part of the demonstration crew for DyKnow), so I’d say the Stutz family was pretty darn well represented!

Add in social events on each night of the conference and a full few days of (usually) inspiring workshops, and we are wiped out. Luckily, Monday is the holiday of Holi, so we end up having 2 days off anyways. Playdates for the kids tomorrow and colored water the next day: prime elements of a rock and roll weekend!

By Dave | Also posted in Alea, Dave, School | Comments (0)