Welcome to Cyberbali.com

A new life, a new design. I've had the old pink design which I've been very fond of for the past three or four years, but I want to try some new things, and I want to start working more with css rather than using tables for my sites. So here is the first version of the new site. I may change the photo regularly or not. Now that I have this in css, all that I need to do is change one photo and the whole site has a new photo. Rather cool I think. So on to the introduction of cyberbali and its origins. I will be changing a few pages a day until I have the complete site updated so let me know what you think about the new design.

About cyberbali.com

I originally created the cyberbali site years ago as one of my first web pages. The idea was to write about life in Bali as a guide for tourists. However, Bali has changed and there are so many web sites about Bali now that this one seemed redundant, especially with the changes in my life over the nineteen years that I have been living and teaching overseas.

I first started working overseas in 1989 teaching second grade in the Indonesian province that was, at the time, called Irian Jaya and is now generally referred to as Papua. A year and a half later I married an Indonesia woman, Suhanah, and since then we have had four children.

Over the years, I have taught in two schools in Papua, a school in Lahore, Pakistan, and a school on the island of Sumbawa. I retired ain June and have shifted my family back to Bali, although we still have a house on Sumbawa.

So the new cyberbali.com is focused on education. There are pages here about teaching, and there are pages about life overseas, specifically about those places that I have been living in: Papua, Bali, Pakistan, and Sumbawa. You can contact me at one of the following address: bruce(at)cyberbali.com or sulaiman(at)cyberbali.com. By the way, I converted to Islam in 1999 and regularly use use two names; Bruce Pohlmann and Sulaiman Jamal - just so you don’t get confused as you move through this site

Thanks for visiting and feedback is always welcomed.

Recent news - December 26, 2008

I've been back in Bali for two weeks and am just getting caught up on things. I forgot to bring my website with me, so I just left it alone during the three weeks that I was back at work in Sumbawa. I'll be here in Bali for another three weeks so there will be some updates here. I have been uploading videos about Bali on YouTube under the name drbrucepk; so if you're interested in Bali videos, you can check out the ones that I have posted there. I'll try putting up a direct link next week before I go back to Sumbawa. You may have noticed that I have updated the background here from the white-on-white from before. I used one of the online sites that matches colors for your website. I'm playing around with several, but for the time being, this is the one that I am going to use.

Updates - December 26, 2008

I added a link to Twitter on the Technology page. I've just started a new section there for Web 2.0. The Bali Links page has a link for the John Fawcett Foundation - they provide free cataract operations for the poor in Bali. The Lesson Plans page has a link to a site from Mrs. V. who has many lessons available for free. This is the site of the week. There is another lesson plan site on the same page. Check it out. The Islam page has a new link to an Islamic dictionary. My friend and colleague, Stephen Davidson, and I have redone the website for Sekolah Buin Batu. If you are interested in school websites, you might want to take a look here.

The Practicalities of Moving to Bali: A Primer for Life in the Tropics

My eBook on expat life in Bali is now available for purchase. Please click on the link to learn more about this book that you'll want to read if you plan on moving to Bali. Check out the free chapter. Here's what a reader said about this book:

"Bruce Pohlman's e-book has already been a godsend to my wife Elsha and me. He writes in an inviting and colorful way. He covers the GENERAL: culture shock, the wonders and risks of living overseas, to the SPECIFIC - costs of living, housing, medical issues, visas, employment. He even includes much PERSONAL info: what expats are like, why he left a job in San Francisco and ended up in Bali, personal and family relationships. And much more; anything you might want to know is in his e-book, with links to helpful websites throughout. We've used it to guide us countless times; it's like having a trusted uncle who's an expert.This book should become a classic about Bali."

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