For four years I lived on my own on a walking distance from the centres
of my activities: the school (that’s my office) and the church. Living
in such a city like Jakarta, I believe my life was something many
people dreamt of: home, office and church all situated within some-400
metres away! Everywhere I went, I walked. I rarely use any vehicle for
there were really no need of them! One thing I enjoyed most was the
many effective hours I could use for reading, studying, etc. for there
was no traffic jam, no time wasted on the street …. Really, save for
the bed and the food price, that life of mine was a dream.

About
half-a-year ago I returned home to Bintaro, situated about 35 km away
from the school and the church. Once again, I became a commuter. It
takes me now about 1-2 hours from home to school/church. Lots of energy
are wasted on the street. Not to mention the many hours I could no
longer use effectively. So my lifestyle’s gotta change.

My by-then-new celphone (which deserves another story), a Sony Ericsson K800i, is very helpful for it has radio and music player features. I started actively using the iTunes
again, downloading Podcasts and listening to them while I’m on my way
to and fro between home and office. I don’t really enjoy listening to
music, but sometimes it’s OK with the radio. Now I’ve started using my
ears in a more productive manner (hehe …).

Then iTunes had
this new programme called iTunes U (U stands for University) where they
broadcast lectures from famous universities. Hey, it’s a great thing, I
thought. So I started listening to MIT, Harvard, and RTS lectures on
the go - that means in Mikrolets and on the trains. Isn’t it wonderful?

I thought I had started paying back the time I lost during my commotion.

Then another trouble came: it was by then hard for me to attend late-night meetings but it was important that I attend them. XL
by then started promoting the Rp1 per second rate - which, by their
regional-exception-rates in Jakarta, means, Rp10.080 per hour. Again,
that SE K800i was a great help. I began teleconferencing. A second new
lifestyle.

Now, with my graduate study demanding more and more
discussion while at the same time all of us workers find it really
difficult to be physically get together, I’ve started using esia CDMA
service (none of my graduate class friends use XL, unfortunately). In
the past week alone I suppose I’ve used some 4 hours chatting using
that esia service. Speaking now has its own tendency, it seems

The
landscape of this world is changing so rapidly that I see myself as
having some new lifestyles changed just in a matter of weeks. And I
suppose I could expect even more changes in the days to come.