48 hours in Jakarta!

Hello Jakarta!

I’ve officially been in Jakarta for 48 hours and it is quite the culture shock. Neither Brian nor I have ever spent more than a few weeks outside of the US and certainly not in a developing country, yet here we are just two weeks into our marriage, starting our lives as a married couple on the other side of the world!

How did we get here? For those who don’t know, I am part of a leadership development program (Esprit) for my company GlaxoSmithKline – a global pharmaceutical company. The program consists for functional and regional rotations for 12 months, 2 in your home country and 2 in 2 other countries. We chose Indonesia for a few reasons. From a career standpoint, working in a developing country presents a number of challenges and experiences you wouldn’t encounter in a western country and can only help us gain a broader perspective and appreciation as we progress in our jobs. From a personal standpoint, we wanted something unique, challenging, and that would push us beyond our comfort zones to learn and understand a culture different from our own. Plus, we don’t have kids yet, so now was the perfect time.

A few observations and interesting things in my first few days here:

• -          The traffic is insane. It’s like a video game entitled “try not to kill anyone”. It appears as though the high rises and more modern city were just built up around the existing small rural-like homes and there’s really no way to fix or work around these roads to improve upon the infrastructure. The streets are narrow and winding and filled with narrower versions of western cars, people on scooters and pedestrians. Around some of the more dodgy corners, pedestrians actually help to direct traffic and motorists hand them a few rupiah (Indonesian money) as a tip.
• -          Crossing the street is like a game of frogger. Strategic. Fast. But if you decide to go, you better go.
• -          If you have any sort of money, you have a driver – locals included, and  it’s a must if you are a foreigner. Ours is named Viko. It’s really an adjustment being reliant on someone else to take you places and it will definitely take some getting used to.
• -          Every Friday is a holy day for the 86% muslims in Indonesia so nearly everybody observes prayer at lunch and some of the streets are closed off for parades. It’s really quite interesting
• -          People think I am a local. I’ve been spoken to in Bahasa more than I was spoken to in Cantonese in Hong Kong.
• -          There is very little outdoor activity area so people spend most of the weekends at the mall, which would explain why every shopping center here is practically like an amusement park. They are HUUUUUGE and have tons of entertainment.
• -          The disparity between the rich and the poor is immense. One of the apartments I looked at was practically a resort (catered to expats of course) and right next to it was a very very rural almost village-like town where kids ran around barefoot. It looked very similar to a shanty town in South Africa.

I’ll be spending the next few weeks looking for a place for Brian and I to call home. We haven’t quite figured out whether we will bite the bullet and live in the Central Business District or if we’ll wuss out and live in the “Expat bubble” in Kemang. There are several great places I’ve looked at so it’s just a matter of making the decision. Don’t worry – all are 2 bedrooms or more so there’s plenty of room for you to come visit and stay!

I’ve not been here long enough to make any assesments so far but I will say it is very overwhelming and completely different from anything I’ve ever known. I’m sure we’ll adjust beautifully and I’m glad I’m not doing this alone. Hooray for trophy husbands.

Peace, Love, and Jakarta