Today I spend the whole day mixing colors with the guys in the factory.  Lebih hitan! Sudah, sudah.  More black! Genoeg.  

It is like being back in kindergarden learning my colors.  I am helping to develop colors for iron furniture, wooden letters, christmas ornaments and more.  hilarious off course because what do I know about colors.  But Jostein, the Great Dane, who owns this little company thinks I do.  He started this little company about 5 years ago producing and exporting all kinds of metal stuff for the house like hammered boxes and baskets, letters. The latest is iron furniture inspired by old wedding chairs.  Actually really need.  Together with the painter and “designer” I am supposed to come up with colors. It is so much fun sitting in this little factory trying to communicate with these indonesians and telling them what colors to mix.  it is amazing how much laughing you do even when you don’t understand a word of each others language. There are about 30-50 workers on the factory floor hammering, cutting, welding, painting.  In the office, you have Budi, the general manager, who loves to collect masks and Loroblonyo (wedding dolls) and sell them on ebay.  Than there is Eki,  she is in charge of personel, and she brings all of us lunch everyday.  Eki is a strict moslim and wears a head scarf.  David is the manager and has to drive, by motor cycle, an hour each way to get to work.  Erni, my roomate, is in charge of finance and anything else Jostein needs done.  And than there is Imran, he is the errand boy.  Last but not least, Jostein,  he is danish and lives in Denmark.  He flies to Indonesia to take stock on his investments every so many months.  

The atmosphere here is wonderful.  Everybody is very friendly and giggles a lot (indonesians, I have noticed, love to giggle.  They are sort of childlike in that way). Most of them smoke (Madmen is tame compared with the amount of smoking that happens here) and so they take a break together outside every 30 minutes or so.