Jacque in Jakarta: The Importance of Language

I have always been an advocate of language learning. I generally like to consider myself above the curve when it comes to languages, seeing as I am fluent in two foreign languages and have a basic knowledge of a few more. However, basic isn't always good enough when living in a foreign country.

I have now lived in Jakarta nearly two months. Unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to study the language. However, in the short amount of time I've been here, I have been able to pick up a handful of vocabulary. As they say, "Necessity is the father of invention", or in my case, the father of language aquisition.

Some of the first vocabulary I learned was numbers. Numbers are especially important in a society where bargaining is prevalent. But three of the most important words I've learned are "kiri", "canan", and "terus", which mean left, right and straight.

As I explained in a previous post, I normally take the angkot to work. Though sometimes, it is nice to take a taxi, and sometimes we have to go to a new place where the angkot route is unknown. Thus, the ability to give directions is very important.

The first few times we took a taxi, we got a little ride around Jakarta. It should take 20-30 minutes in a taxi to get to work, and cost no more than 30,000 IDR (3USD), but it has taken us nearly an hour and cost 50,000 IDR (5USD). Some might say, "What's the big deal? It's still cheap", but the problem is that every little bit adds up and it's more the principal of the matter. Just because I'm white, doesn't mean I have a lot of money. And just because I don't speak the language, doesn't mean a driver has the right to take me any route to make some extra money.

The Blue Bird Group is supposed to be the most reputable taxi company, but we have still had problems with them. There are a few other companies such as Express and Taxiku that are pretty good, but there are always bad apples. So, the long and short of it is, when in a foreign country, learn the language. Or at the very least, learn the important vocabulary.

Jacque in Jakarta: "Hei bule, bule, bule! How are you?"

After living in Jakarta for over a month, I've been able to notice some quirks of the locals. I've mentioned the cramming culture before, which is one quirk that I'm slowly getting used to. However, the thing that really drives me crazy is being called "bule" by a complete stranger.

Walking down the street, random people will quite often call out to me or Alexander and say, "Hei Mister/Hei Missus!", which is something I'm quite used to ignoring. The world over I've had to ignore unwanted advances of strangers. But more often then Mister/Missus we'll hear "bule". Generally, it is said more than just once. It kind of reminds me of a pig call, except they say, "bule, bule, bule".

"Bule" is not meant to be a derogatory term, it simply means Westerner/White person. It is not meant to be an insult, attack, or even rude. The most hilarious part is that they usually try to speak English to us after having called out "bule". The only problem is that we see it as rude, whether it is meant to be or not.

In Spain, I would joke about being a guiri, or gringa, and even here we say we're bules among friends. But if someone screamed guiri at me in the middle of Sevilla, I would understandably be irritated. It's kind of like telling someone who's disabled that he/she can't walk. Stating the obvious is never very polite. So even if they're just trying to be friendly, that's not the way to make a good impression with a stranger.

Alexander has taken to responding with, "Indonesian, Indonesian, Indonesian" everytime we're called bule. At first I was embarrassed that he did this, but then I realized a taste of their own medicine might be just what the doctor ordered. We may even achieve a cultural awarenes that bules don't like to be yelled at in public. Then again, Alexander might just give bules a reputation for being crazy.

Jacque in Jakarta: The grass is always greener...

This past week, Alexander and I moved into a new apartment. We were excited to have more storage space, hot water and a bigger bed. However, we didn't make the connection that with more storage there's more places for roaches to hide, that in a hot environment there's little need for hot showers, and that a bigger bed means the full size sheets we have don't fit.

Thus, our first night here we spent four hours cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and taping cracks of possible entry and laying down chalk that's supposed to kill roaches on contact. Over the weekend, we've spent several more hours scrubbing floors and cabinets and moving furniture to clean behind everything in an attempt to exterminate all the roaches.

As for the hot water, I think our bodies have gotten so used to cold showers that a hot one isn't that enjoyable. In fact, I generally enjoyed the cold showers compared to the hot ones. A hot shower just isn't as refreshing as a cold shower when the temperature is so warm outside.

And our bed is much larger and higher, but the sheets we brought were for a full sized bed. So, we spent Saturday shopping for sheets that would fit, and were surprised to find cotton sheets on sale for about 80USD including the fifty percent discount. We eventually managed to find some sheets for a reasonable 30USD.

As the saying goes,"the grass is always greener on the other side." On a positive note, while cleaning we managed to discover a way to arrange the furniture where we would appear to have more space and be able to use the moveable bar as a table. So, as another saying goes, "every rain cloud has a silver lining."

Living Room After

Living Room Before

Jacque in Jakarta: The appliances in my apartment

 It's been nearly a month since Alex and I arrived in Jakarta. We're slowly getting through our shock and sliding into the initial adjustment of our culture shock. One of the things that is taking us a while to adjust to is our appliances.

I've grown accustomed to not having a tumble dryer whenever I go abroad. Most places I've lived outside of the U.S. are much more environmentally conscious and therefore don't want to waste the energy that a tumble dryer uses. However, I've always had the luxury of a washing machine that is hooked into the plumbing. Here, it's a bit different.

In order to use the washing machine correctly, there are two hoses that need to be used. The green hose is for the ingoing water, and the white hose is for the outgoing water. The green hose is attatched to the bathroom faucet on one end and the back of the machine on the other. The white hose is attached to the bottom of the machine where the waste water is dispelled on one end, and on the other end it is in the shower drain. The tricky part is using the machine without having water go all over the place.

The first step is to correctly attatch the hoses. One time the white hose wasn't firmly attatched to the bottom of the machine and the waste water went all over our apartment. The next step is to turn on the water to fill the machine through the green hose. If the water isn't turned off on time, the pressure of the water causes the hose to fly off the machine and then water goes everywhere. The water from the green hose is used to fill the machine and then used to rinse the clothes, so it's used twice. Lastly, there is a pot under the green hose because it usually leaks. The first time we did laundry, we didn't realize it would leak and, once again, water went everywhere.

Not only is the washing machine a bit wonky, our air conditioner usually leaks if it's been on too long. So, when we go to bed we turn it on and as soon as we wake up we usually have to turn it off so it won't leak. Also, there is no hot water, so we've been taking cold showers for a month.

However, I can't complain too much. Next week we'll be moving to a new apartment with hot water and an a/c in the living room. Also, I should be happy to at least have a washing machine and running water. Afterall,  I'd hate to be accused of suffering from FWP.

Jacque in Jakarta: My commute to work

This past week was my first full week of teaching. It's been great. I really love my job. It's the only place I've worked where the second I walk through the door everyone is so happy to see me and is eager to greet me. It's incredibly welcoming.

Something that I'm not really overjoyed about concerning my job is the commute. According to google maps, my home is approximately 15 minutes from my work. In actuality, it normally takes about 45 minutes, and it can take hours. The reason for that is the traffic I discussed in my previous post.

Having to sit in traffic for an hour wouldn't be quite as bad if we took a taxi to work. However, being the penny pincher that I am, I always take the ankot.

In order to get onto the ankot, you simply wave the driver down and then hop through the open door. An ankot comfortably sits about seven people: One in the passenger seat, one on the bench at the door, two on one side, and three on the other side. But the reason I take the ankot, like so many other people, is that it's so cheap. To get from my home to work, it's 3,000 Rupiah, which is approximately thirty cents in USD. So, for the ankot driver to really make money, he has to cram as many people as possible. Thus, the top right picture shows the ankot with fourteen people, two who are sat in the passenger seat and one who is hanging onto the door frame out the door.

Family of three on bike

At first it was shocking for me to see how people were crammed onto the ankot, but then I noticed that there seemed to be a whole cramming culture here. Whether it's an ankot, an elevator or a motorbike, it seems people try to cram on as much as possible. It's normal to see a family on a bike, as pictured to the right. I've seen as many as five people on one bike and quite often see three and four people.

The cramming culture could be an explanation for why traffic is so bad. The metropolitan area has approximately 30 million people, and the population density is the nineth highest in the world, so people are just vying to fit in wherever they can.

As for me, I can honestly say I will be quite happy to return to the oversized seats of the West. It may not be the most economical, but at least it will be comfortable.

Jacque in Jakarta: The view from my balcony...

We've now been living in Jakarta for nearly two weeks. There are a vast array of differences with the West. Everything from the common modes of transportation to the main staples in the diet differ. For this post, I will simply discuss the view I have from my balcony, which is located on the 25th floor.

On a side note, the 25th floor isn't actually 25 floors up. There is no thirteenth floor, due to Western influence. Also, there is no fourth floor due to Japanese influence. The Japanese word for four sounds like the word for death. Thus, there is no floor 4, 14, 24 or even 22 because two plus two equals four.

Back to the main topic, the view from our apartment. It may seem innocuous from a quick glance, but take a closer look and you'll discover why Alexander and I have to travel to work everyday looking like this:

No, we're not off to rob a bank, we're simply trying to protect our respiratory systems from the inhalation of all the pollution that constantly surrounds us. After about thirty minutes of walking around without a mask one day, I could barely breathe in the evening. Needless to say, the air quality in Jakarta is less than desireable. 

"Why is that?" you may ask. Well, the picture on the right says it all. This was the view from our balcony this past Friday night. That's an image of bumper-to-bumper SUVs, taxis, ankots, motorbikes, buses and bajails all adding their own exhaust to the atmosphere of Jakarta. The problem is this isn't only on Friday nights. This is every night...and every morning...and every afternoon. For about 12 hours or more everyday the traffic is horrendous.

So, when we first arrived, we thought we saw a morning fog while looking out from our balcony. However, one day here taught us that it was actually a daily smog. Which is unfortunate, since it ruins what could be a beautiful view or a beautiful day and it also makes an already miserably hot day a few degrees hotter.

So should you ever venture to this side of the world, it's best to forgo your vanity and bring a facemask... lest you want to cough up Jakarta's air in the evening.

Planes, trains and automobiles: A trip to the other side of the world

It's been a week since Alexander and I started our journey from the West to the East. We left L'Isle Jourdain last Saturday and drove to Poiters with his parents, where they dropped us off at the train station. We then took a train to Paris Montparnasse, from there we took a metro to Gare St. Lazare and then took the RER to Marly le Roi where Alexander's Aunt Veronique picked us up in her car to stay the night with her. We had a lovely night enjoying wine, which we knew would be hard to come by once we arrived in Indonesia, and cheese, which is abundant in France, but not so much in Indonesia.

On the flight to Colombo

Sunday morning, I enjoyed breakfast with a bowl of Earl Grey tea, drinking from a bowl is a French custom that I thoroughly approve of, and then we loaded up into the car again and Aunt Veronique drove us to Charles de Gaulle airport. We flew with Sri Lanka airlines, so after nearly ten hours we arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Paris on Monday morning. The Colombo airport supplied me with my first jolt of culture shock. When we arrived, there were no customs officers to ask us twenty questions, there were no immigration officers to stamp our passport, we literally just walked right into the airport and on to the gate to wait for our next flight. We had to wait for the gate to open, during which time I needed to use the toilet....and I wished I had used it on the airplane. The floor was covered in liquid that I hope was water, but assume was urine. There were no trash cans in the stalls (for the men reading, women need trash cans in stalls to take care of female issues). Next to the toilet there was a kind of hose used to wash your unmentionables, which I didn't utilize. To top it off, I heard another woman use the toilet and not wash her hands, but that unfortunately happens in every country.

View of Singapore gardens

Once our gate opened, we went through a security check, but we didn't have to take off our shoes. We then waited for a bus to take us to board our plane. The flight from Colombo to Singapore was actually much more comfortable than the first flight, but it was only three and a half hours. Arriving in Singapore's Changi International Airport was kind of like arriving to a tropical resort. It was hands down the most beautiful airport I've ever been to. We then took a taxi to get to our hotel. The taxi driver was incredibly friendly, and basically gave us a free tour of the "Garden City". We arrived at the hotel late Monday afternoon, and tried to explore a bit, even though we were completely exhausted. It was really amazing that we had traveled to the other side of the world, but we were surrounded by the English language and Western stores. It was an illustration of globalization at its finest.

All day Tuesday we continued to explore Singapore. Of course we had to have lunch at an English pub. However, the traditional fish and chips would have been to heavy, so we opted for the neo-traditional dish of Chicken Tikka Masala. Once we explored the majority of the city, we took the very modern Metro/Subway/Underground to pick up our luggage and then took a taxi back to the airport. Our flight to Jakarta was just over an hour. Once we arrived in Jakarta, I was worried about the bottle of wine I had in my bag. However, security and customs were once again not nearly as strict as Western standards. From the airport we were picked up and brought to our new apartment.

So after four days of planes, trains and automobiles, we finally arrived to our new home in Jakarta. It's hot, polluted and a tad small, but it's a place of our own. There's a vast array of cultural differences, but I will save those for later posts. For now, I'm happy to be settled...at least for the next year.

Parlez-Vous Anglais? A holiday in France

We left the U.K. a week ago today and arrived at the maison of my beau-parents, which is located in a tiny village called L'Isle Jourdain, between Poitiers and Limoges. Since my mari and beau-parents are basically fluent in French, I decided I should try to make an effort to really try to learn la langue français. 

I've attempted to learn French off and on since I was about 15 years old. The most seriously I took learning it was when I lived about 30 minutes from the French border town of Strasbourg, at which point I actually bought two textbooks for Elementary French 1 and 2. Generally though, I would simply ask my handful of French amis how to say a handful of basic sentences, just so I could say things like 'je ne comprends pas' (I don't understand), je parle français un petit peu (I speak a little bit of French), j'ai soif (I'm thirsty), or j'ai faim (I'm hungry).

When it comes to reading and writing French, I've been able to pick it up quite quickly due to my Spanish background. Not only is the grammar similar, there are also several cognates like facil and dificil. I've also been informed that nearly thirty percent of the English language comes from French, so cognates like intelligent and stupid come easily as well. However, the production skills of listening and speaking are a whole other can of vers.

When it comes to pronunciation, it seems there are so many exceptions to rules, that the only real rule is that there are exceptions. It's frustrating for me because I feel as if regardless of how well I can read or write in French, it will always be obvious that I'm not a native as soon as I open my mouth.

Of course, I guess I can't complain too much. Compared to English, French is a proverbial walk in the jardin as far as exceptions are concerned. I learned in my TEFL certification course how many exceptions there are in English and came to understand regardless of a rule, there will always be an exception.

In the end, I suppose I should get an 'A' for effort. At least I can actually kind of speak in some form of broken French, unlike my favorite interpreter.

An American in England: My next great adventure

I have now been in England for nearly three months and I'm preparing to move on to my next location: Indonesia via France. My three months here have not exactly been the best. It has been the rainiest English summer in the past century, my husband and I started off searching non-stop for jobs and once we found a job, started studying non-stop to get our TEFL certification. However, we have managed to find a job, and are a test away from certification, which are definitely good things.

I will be working as an English teacher with a company called English First. My husband and I were able to both get jobs with the same company. We happened to find the position by chance while looking for positions for couples. Through our research we discovered that companies are more likely to hire couples than individuals because couples are more likely to be established and willing to make more of a commitment to the position as compared to an individual who might get homesick and want to leave. We had our search narrowed down to positions in Russia, Turkey and Indonesia, and finally decided Indonesia had the most attractive contract for us. We'll be teaching English to a range of students, from 3-year olds to business people, for the duration of a one year contract.

map of Indonesia

In order to travel to and get visas in Indonesia, we've had to run around to prepare things. We needed to get an HIV test, drugs test, vaccinations and health screenings. We got our HIV test in Redditch, drugs test in Birmingham, vaccinations in two different Redditch locations, and health screenings on two different days in London. Although it was a very hectic two weeks, we were able to at least enjoy our time in London with friends and family. A college friend of Alexander came out with us to dinner and we were able to spend time with Alexander's brother James and James' girlfriend, Julie.

Other than running around to get all our testing and shots, we've also been studying to get a TEFL certification. We signed up for a 100-hour online course, which we finally completed, and now we just have to take a test to get certified. We aren't required to have a TEFL certification for our position in Indonesia, but we decided it would be better for future endeavors if we had certification. Eventually, we might just travel the world as teachers... who knows.

An American in England: How to not take sunny summers for granted

I have now been in England for a month and a half and homesickness is creeping up on me. Of course I am quite happy that I made the decision to move here and be with my now husband, but there are certain things that I expect a summer to entail, which this British summer has been horribly lacking.

Every summer in my memory has been hot and sunny. I have always developed a tan, become noticibly blonder, craved the beach, ate lots of watermelon, kept an ample supply of sun lotion or after sun lotion, and generally complained about the inability to cool off. This summer, however, I am nearly as white as my British husband, my hair color hasn't changed, I've searched for excuses to stay inside, I've barely seen the sun and I find myself wrapped up under blankets in a feeble attempt to keep warm.

The weather forecasters blame the jet stream for this unusually cool and rainy summer. I've been informed by natives that even for England this weather is not the norm. Regardless of why it's been pissing it down (to use a British term), I am quite honestly done with it.

On the bright side, the sun is shining today. I've been able to go for a run the past two days thanks to the forgiving weather, and getting outside definitely helps to dissipate feelings of homesickness. The forecasters are predicting warmer weather and sunnier skies this coming week. We've even popped a tent in the back yard and are going to have a bar-b-q tomorrow. Hopefully, the rain was just a phase that we've finally got over, and I will be happy to see my homesickness follow it out.