Over the past week, we've had, in quick succession, three things occur to remind us why we will be happy when it is time to return home. File this under stereotypes and keep in mind this is not a reflection on Indonesians or Indonesia. They are, however, far too common experiences.
1) One of the symptoms my wife experiences with pregnancy is "blond moments". She gets forgetful, especially in the later stages of pregnancy. This week, she bought a bunch of new clothes for our kids prior to joining me for lunch. After a nice lunch, she forgets the bag of clothes she set on the chair next to her. We don't remember it until later that night when we go looking for them. We call the restaurant who informs us they do not have a bag and no one turned it in. Now, we know that they cleared our table immediately because the bus boy was standing next to the table as we left. Did he think the clothes were a tip? A similar situation happened to me last year when I visited the spa at our old residence. I left my watch in the locker and didn't realize it until a few hours after I returned home. At the restaurant, it is entirely possible no one on staff at the restaurant saw our bag sitting on the chair and a later patron decided to keep it for themselves. At the spa, however, I locked the locker when I was done and returned the key to the cashier. The next person in that locker would have cleaned it from top to bottom to prepare it for the next guest. Again, did he think my watch was a tip for having such a clean locker? In Indonesia, there is no such thing as a "Lost and Found". Here they have a "Found and Kept".
2) When we were preparing to move to Singapore for the birth of our first son, we were advised we needed to fill out a bunch of paperwork before we would be permitted to give birth there. They even indicated we would need copies of our birth certificates - documents we left in Arizona. Now that we are preparing to move there again next Saturday, the same company that assisted us two years ago asked us to fill out the same paperwork. I reminded them of our prior experience and asked them to confirm if we needed to fill it out. They said no. While I'm in China, they send me another email saying we do need to fill it out and then sent me the forms and once again requested birth certificates for my wife and I. I send them a link from the Singapore immigration website and ask them to explain where it asks for birth certificates. A few days later they forward me an email explaining we don't need to fill anything out. Attached to their email is an email from Singapore immigration confirming what I had already told them - US citizens are exempt from the process. Too often I've encountered people here who just blindly follow a process they do not understand or even truly know. At this point, I've learned to do my own research and not rely on the people who are supposed to be helping me. They tend to get in the way more often than they help.
3) Lack of urgency is a major problem. Traffic is so bad that tardiness is expected. If any obstacle presents itself, that's seen as a mutually agreed upon reason to miss a deadline or not complete a task - not as something that needs to be mitigated and resolved so things can move forward. I tend to take it in stride, unless it really is urgent. Earlier this week we had a minor health emergency with my son. I'm holding him limp in my arms as we walk into a Starbucks and I say: "I need ice quickly, please". I even said it in Indonesian with the words "Cepat, Cepat", which, loosely translated, means "Hurry the F up!". The guy behind the counter saunters back to the ice chest like he's making an iced frappuccino for a regular who's planning to take a seat and read the paper for the next hour. I wanted to jump the counter and strangle the guy. I settled for glaring at him incredulously.
Overall, my experience in Indonesia has been positive - especially with the people. I'm going to mark this week down as bad karma and a series of unfortunate events, not as emblematic of the people here....though you have to admit, they didn't do themselves any favors this week!
1) One of the symptoms my wife experiences with pregnancy is "blond moments". She gets forgetful, especially in the later stages of pregnancy. This week, she bought a bunch of new clothes for our kids prior to joining me for lunch. After a nice lunch, she forgets the bag of clothes she set on the chair next to her. We don't remember it until later that night when we go looking for them. We call the restaurant who informs us they do not have a bag and no one turned it in. Now, we know that they cleared our table immediately because the bus boy was standing next to the table as we left. Did he think the clothes were a tip? A similar situation happened to me last year when I visited the spa at our old residence. I left my watch in the locker and didn't realize it until a few hours after I returned home. At the restaurant, it is entirely possible no one on staff at the restaurant saw our bag sitting on the chair and a later patron decided to keep it for themselves. At the spa, however, I locked the locker when I was done and returned the key to the cashier. The next person in that locker would have cleaned it from top to bottom to prepare it for the next guest. Again, did he think my watch was a tip for having such a clean locker? In Indonesia, there is no such thing as a "Lost and Found". Here they have a "Found and Kept".
2) When we were preparing to move to Singapore for the birth of our first son, we were advised we needed to fill out a bunch of paperwork before we would be permitted to give birth there. They even indicated we would need copies of our birth certificates - documents we left in Arizona. Now that we are preparing to move there again next Saturday, the same company that assisted us two years ago asked us to fill out the same paperwork. I reminded them of our prior experience and asked them to confirm if we needed to fill it out. They said no. While I'm in China, they send me another email saying we do need to fill it out and then sent me the forms and once again requested birth certificates for my wife and I. I send them a link from the Singapore immigration website and ask them to explain where it asks for birth certificates. A few days later they forward me an email explaining we don't need to fill anything out. Attached to their email is an email from Singapore immigration confirming what I had already told them - US citizens are exempt from the process. Too often I've encountered people here who just blindly follow a process they do not understand or even truly know. At this point, I've learned to do my own research and not rely on the people who are supposed to be helping me. They tend to get in the way more often than they help.
3) Lack of urgency is a major problem. Traffic is so bad that tardiness is expected. If any obstacle presents itself, that's seen as a mutually agreed upon reason to miss a deadline or not complete a task - not as something that needs to be mitigated and resolved so things can move forward. I tend to take it in stride, unless it really is urgent. Earlier this week we had a minor health emergency with my son. I'm holding him limp in my arms as we walk into a Starbucks and I say: "I need ice quickly, please". I even said it in Indonesian with the words "Cepat, Cepat", which, loosely translated, means "Hurry the F up!". The guy behind the counter saunters back to the ice chest like he's making an iced frappuccino for a regular who's planning to take a seat and read the paper for the next hour. I wanted to jump the counter and strangle the guy. I settled for glaring at him incredulously.
Overall, my experience in Indonesia has been positive - especially with the people. I'm going to mark this week down as bad karma and a series of unfortunate events, not as emblematic of the people here....though you have to admit, they didn't do themselves any favors this week!
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1 comment:
Point 1 - Agreed
Point 2 - Agreed
Point 3 - Agreed ..Have you seen how the Cashier staff take their time at the supermarket, despite the incredibly long lines of customer??
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