Kool and the gang
Actual date: October 18, 2008
The day after my parents’ mega-super-duper shindig we all packed into the car and went to Surabaya for a couple days on our way to Yogyakarta. Denise, Sofia, and I were scheduled to go to a get-together organized by some old (and I do mean “old”–graduated in 1994) high school friends of mine that evening. Some of my high school friends and I still keep in touch with each other through an unofficial, member-run class mailing list, and when I mentioned that I would be coming to Indonesia a few of them formed a small impromptu committee of sorts and put this gathering in motion–deciding on a time and place, sending out invites, and organizing every detail. One of them even picked us up from the hotel where we were staying, since we’re not familiar with the streets of Surabaya.
This is another cultural difference between Indonesia and the U.S. In the U.S., college is traditionally where those strong, life-long friendships are forged, while in Indonesia it’s often high school where this happens. I don’t know for sure, but I’m almost positive that on the whole my high school friends are tighter with our fellow high school classmates than with their respective college buddies. Sad and embarrassed to say that I don’t do nearly enough to keep up with them, but there are a select few that I email or chat with fairly often.
If you’re one of the people at this gathering, apologies ahead of time if I don’t mention your name. I usually don’t mention people by name on this blog unless I’ve checked with them first or if they’re already public figures. I know some people are uneasy about the whole having-their-identities-on-the-Internet thing, so the least I can do is keep names unrevealed. Definitely let me know if it’s ok to use your name, and I’ll edit this post to reflect that. I want to give credit and acknowledgment where it’s due, and it’s more natural and personal to refer to people by name, but I don’t want to identify people against their will.
The host and hostess of this party, both of whom graduated with us in the class of ’94, graciously provided the venue and the food for this event. They did a tremendous job with the food, and their place was nice and spacious–big area for us to sit or stand while hanging out and eating, and the kids had room to run around.
But despite the delicious food, this was all about the people. I hadn’t seen most of these folks for at least 12 years, most of them not since 14 years ago, and some of them never since they are spouses and children of my old pals. Even with that barrier of time and distance between us, being at this party felt much like hanging out with these guys in high school, except we’re all *ahem* healthier *ahem* and some of us have kids. We were a tight group in high school, and it’s as if the joking and ribbing never stopped. We were nominally the guests of honor, but I have a sneaking suspicion that our presence was mostly an excuse for the gang to have a get-together, and if so I’m glad. I wanted to see everybody, not be entertained, so I’m glad everybody else felt the same way too and the gathering flowed naturally like a typical party instead of one thrown for just one or a few people.
Everybody had so much fun throughout the party. It really did feel like old times. I’m extremely jealous that these guys get to do this basically whenever they want. I definitely soaked up the merriment as much as I could, like a camel preparing for a cross-desert trip, knowing that I wouldn’t see these friends of mine for probably many years to come.
Case in point about the ribbing: the photo above is a couple of the guys holding up some promotional material that another friend had brought to the party. He was selling health supplements and was trying (not every hard or persistently, but still trying) to get us to buy some. He had put together packages of promo material for everybody to take home. This might seem tacky to Americans, but I don’t think it is in Indonesia–not sure though. Anyway, when the host (left side of image in dark blue polo shirt) caught wind of this he said he’d better be receiving a commission for every supplement sold as a result of this party since he provided the venue.
It was great to see all of these friends with their spouses and children. This is the hostess holding the baby of the friend who picked us up at the hotel–his and his wife’s first. Denise and I are late bloomers in our American circle of friends, with most of them having gotten married and popping out babies before Denise and I even started dating in our late 20s, so it was good to see we weren’t last over the finish line!
This kid was in a few pictures, and in every one that he saw me coming with the camera he’s making this face. Very attractive, son. You could parlay this into a successful modeling career. “Give me fierce!”
This girl’s parents (dad on left in foreground, mom on left in background) told us how their daughter loved to dance to a particular pop song, so they put it on and tried to get her to dance. She was all stiff from stage fright in the first photo, moving awkwardly as if she were doing the robot, which although wasn’t her typical dance was probably even funnier. We were all cracking up, and she loosened up at the end and laughed about it too. I really needed video for this. E-P1, anyone?
Sofia had fun too. There were other kids a bit older than her who she got to play with. Language difference is no kind of barrier to kids–play is a universal language. In this last photo she’s playing with the host couple’s sons. The one in red on the left is hopping up and down in the chair making a sound like he’s riding a bike over a bumpy patch of road. Some things are just funny regardless of your native tongue.
The host couple’s oldest boy pushed Sofia around in a rolling office chair. She doesn’t look it here, but she’s having a lot of fun. This boy was very careful about not pushing Sofia into tables and other obstacles, for which we were grateful. I bet he is and will be a great older brother to his younger siblings.
Other kids weren’t so careful. At one point another kid got his face knocked into a table because the playtime participants were getting a bit too loose with their steering and control. It’s not a real party until a kid gets his face busted open, but nobody got seriously injured, so good times.
The only downer for me was that a few friends who thought they could make it ended up not, but other than that the party was a real blast. Denise was overwhelmed by it though. We all spoke mostly Indonesian, although a few of the more English-capable women chatted with Denise a bit. Can’t say I blame her. I’d be overwhelmed too if Denise took me to a get-together with her tight-knit old friends who all spoke a foreign language. Inasmuch as this was a daunting event for her, she really kept her poise and was amiable despite the foreignness of it all.
Thanks again to everybody who made this happen. We would end up going to some spectacular scenic and historic locales through the course of our trip, but for me this was one of the highlights. Thanks so much!
And now I hear they’re putting together early plans for a huge class reunion later this year. I almost certainly won’t make it, which really bites. If this small gathering was any indication, the mega reunion will be a smashing success. Any of you Class of ’94 end up wildly successful with access to a private jet living in the U.S.? I need to hitch a ride to the reunion. Anyone?