Interesting Day in Jakarta

Odd day in Jakarta.

1)  Traffic was unusually light until we hit the home stretch in Kemang.  Kemang Raya, the main road through this south Jakarta suburb, was backed up.  A uniformed officer, as opposed to the typical weird guy with a whistle, was directing traffic.  Something big was going on.  Then I notice these huge, six foot by three foot flowered congratulations announcements - a typical Indonesian courtesy.  Huge tents with catered food, crowds of well dressed people, bouncers, red carpet, a television camera crew.  What the heck is going on?  A new gas station.  Seriously.

2)  We've always had lizards in our house.  They have replaced cockroaches as the creepy things that scatter when the lights come on.  They have these big, suction cup feet so they can grip the walls and cling to anything.  They are ubiquitous and harmless.  At night, we'll often hear them chirping.  Our yogi informed us the noise we hear is actually a big, ugly, scary lizard.  We laughed....then, tonight, one showed up on the wall of our patio.  They are huge.  They are scary.  Had to use my Super Zoom lens to get the close up.

 

3)  This isn't new, but I thought of it again today.  I'm not sure what this falls under.  My wife's driver has started using her discarded Starbucks cups - the clear plastic ones they serve coffee in - to make his drinks.  I'm not sure if he should now fall under Creepy Stalker or Captain Recycle.  Whatever he is, I find it odd.

A busy week with the family

Just a few pictures from our busy week:  the kids learn to use new modes of transportation (sometimes looking ridiculous in the process), the malls put new sculptures on display, a pizza-themed birthday party, and Disney on Ice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jakarta Neighborhoods

One of the more interesting aspects of life in Jakarta is how closely poverty lives among wealth.  They coexist, not just on the same city, or the same neighborhood, but on the same plots of land.

A few weeks ago, wanting to better explore our new neighborhood, I went for a jog.  Instead of turning right out of my driveway and taking the streets with which I was familiar, I turned left, and took a trail used by pedestrians and bikes.  Probably not the wisest decision from a security standpoint, but I did it nonetheless.  A few days later, while my wife slept in on her one day per week to do so, I took the kids with me and we walked the same route.  I tasked our daughter with taking pictures along the way.

Here is a taste of how many Jakartans live.

 

 

 

A week in the life

Life in Jakarta has finally found a normalcy.  It took two years, moving to a house, and trying dozens of different activities before we finally found the people, the lifestyle, the schedule and the activities that are clicking for us.

Last week Friday I hosted my first poker game in over three years.  For over fifteen years, dating back to my sophomore year of college, poker was a monthly event.  A time for the guys to get together and shift $20 around to each other, discuss sports, jobs and family over the course of four hours.  Between my Tuesday night Futsol and the guys I've met through my wife's friends, I have my poker group again.

Saturday we spent back at Kemang Club Villas.  Even though we've moved, our rent there was paid through April, so we can still use the facilities.  Many of our friends still live there, too.  We swam, chatted with friends, and our daughter got to play with her friend who had recently moved to China and is visiting in Jakarta for the next two weeks.  Saturday evening, we had dinner at Hacienda with two other couples to celebrate finally closing out the lease on my business in the US.  The wife of one of the couples is a month behind us in her pregnancy, and her husband plays Futsol with me on Tuesday nights, so we have a lot in common.

Even our children are getting into the routine.  Living in the museum-sized house we now call home, they have mastered riding scooters and scoot cars around the living room, dining room, and kitchen, navigating the furniture like an obstacle course.  Our driveway is big enough that I've introduced my daughter to a version of kickball with ghost runners.  She always wins.  They have play dates, they swim, they run around outside.  This is what home was like for us in Arizona.

That's not to say all is perfect.  Traffic is still a major drag on our spirits.  Anyone who has ever attended a major sporting event and suffered the time it takes to leave the parking lot knows what a trip to the grocery store feels like.  Everyone living in a big city complains about traffic.  Until a trip to the grocery store is a three hour event, well, I'm not interested in hearing the complaint.

Quality medical care is still problematic.  We've been blessed with excellent health, the occasional cold not withstanding.  But we're making yet another trip to Singapore for medical care.  During my annual physical they did a routine eye exam.  One of the tests was for glaucoma.  My test came back positive.  I sent the results to my ophthalmologist in Phoenix who agreed with the findings and recommended I get some additional tests and, if they confirm the initial tests, begin immediate treatment for glaucoma.

So on Sunday, we're making the trip back to Singapore for an undetermined period of time.  I get retested on Monday.  If the results are clean, we'll return to Jakarta on Tuesday.  If the results confirm the diagnosis, we'll be in Singapore another three to five days so I can begin immediate treatment.  Not the best news I've ever received, but, like the keratoconus diagnosis ten years ago, it's treatable and it doesn't have much of an impact on my lifestyle unless I ignore it.

A few other quick notes:

Neither the maid nor the nanny wanted the motorcycle.  One said she couldn't drive a manual transmission and she was afraid it would get stolen where she lives.  The other said it was so old she was afraid the police would pull her over all the time and harass her to confirm it met driving standards and she didn't want to have to deal with that.  So, $120 down the drain...unless I can find a buyer for $150!

We've solved the help issue....I think.  We're flying down my cousin (my father's, brother's daughter) to help us out from 12 May through 1 July.  My mom will pick up the help from there (assuming she gets back to me....hint hint).  This means I get to go to my friend's wedding in Shanghai in mid-May!  It's my first trip to China and I'm really looking forward to it, even if it is only for two days.

We've started doing yoga regularly on Wednesday nights.  I've done yoga before, but never made it part of my regular routine.  I feel great for a full 24 hours after the session.  If you've never tried yoga before, I recommend you take a class and decide if it is right for you.  I now split my Futsol and Rugby nights with a night of yoga, and we'll probably add another night of yoga.  It makes us feel that good!

Closing out the domestic drama

When we moved to our new house, our staff had two complaints:

1)  The increased expense of having to take an ojek because the bus would not drop them near our house. 
2)  The presence of ghosts.

To alleviate their concerns about the increased expense I agreed to cover the cost of the ojek, about $5 per week.  Then I did the math.  We'll be in Jakarta for about 64 more weeks.  That puts my total cost, per staff member, at $320.  I determined I could buy a used motorcycle for less than that amount.  Turns out, my hunch was right.  Through a connection at Hacienda, I bought a used motorcycle for $70.  It required a few minor repairs to make it reliable and safe - new clutch, plugs, wiring of the turn signals, etc - that cost me another $45.  Our friend from Hacienda delivered the bike tonight.  Tomorrow, I'll give it to our maid as a gift and inform her she will no longer receive the additional travel amount.  Hopefully she won't reject it or I'll probably have to fire her.

For the presence of ghosts I took a more traditional route.  It is common in Indonesia for families to bless a house before they move in.  Well, we already moved in, so I did the next best thing:  I had a housewarming party.  We invited my staff and our friends along with their families.  We had a little over seventy people attend and catered food for one hundred (guess what my lunch is the rest of the week).  We also rented an inflatable jumper to entertain the kids.  Prior to eating, two members of my work staff were kind enough to honor me by blessing our new home and expelling any evil spirits.  We had both Christian and Muslim ceremonies to make sure all our bases were covered.  Our domestic staff was present for the blessing - problem number two solved.

Just another week in the life of an Indonesian expat.

Christmas concludes on a high note

As I mentioned in my last post, customs was holding the box with our Christmas gifts.  We did not receive this box in time for Christmas morning.  I had to make a choice:  explain to my daughter why she did not receive the only gift she asked Santa to bring her (and then give it to her later when it finally arrived) or buy her one so she would have a very memorable Christmas morning.  I opted for the latter and we spent Friday afternoon searching every mall nearby for a dollhouse.  We finally found a store selling one made with the same level of quality we were seeking.  Thankfully, they were running a special that bundled three rooms worth of furniture.

Christmas morning, I was up at 4 AM (insomnia) and the kids joined me around 7.  I carried our son down the stairs and set him on the ground.  The minute he was free from my grasp, he rushed over to a zebra we re-gifted him (our daughter never took to it) and bounced up and down on it like it had been his for an eternity.  Our daughter couldn't decide whether to run to her bike or play with her doll house - she opted for the bike first.

After twenty minutes admiring and marvelling over Santa's deliveries, we opened the gifts we received from family (the ones that actually made it to us).  Two hours later, we were finished.  I don't think I've ever opened that many presents in one sitting.  Usually, we are opening presents at three or four different events.  Opening them all at the same time is a bit overwhelming.  Looking out at all our Christmas bounty while living in such a poor country, really made me feel gluttonous....it didn't help that I spent a day's wages for my driver to have someone wrap my wife's presents for me.

The kids, however, loved every minute of it.

 

 

Christmas night, as we were preparing for our dinner, our long awaited box arrived.  Digging through the thirteen new gifts was like another visit from Santa.  Everything was in there - including the lotion.  It was nice to have them on Christmas Day, even though we didn't get them for Christmas morning. 

(Discussing our experience with one of our neighbors I learned that he, too, had a box containing Christmas gifts held in customs for nearly four weeks.  The shipping agency he used asked if he wanted to pay a fee to help expedite.  He refused.  They then told him customs was requiring an import tax.  He asked for the specific law detailing what he owed.  When they provided the law - in Indonesian - it indicated he owed nothing.  He personally made a visit to customs, asked to speak with a senior officer, showed him the law and asked him to explain why it was being held for additional fees.  Only then did they release it to him with no further requirements.  He mentioned a few other expats had experienced similar problems.  It appears there was a concerted effort by customs officers to either: 1) put a strain on the celebration of a Christian holiday; 2) use it for monetary gain.  And this is why business don't come to Indonesia.)

For us, it didn't matter.  We still had a great Christmas.

Jakata, I'm not feeling you

There are days (weeks, months) when living in a third world country really takes its toll.  When the perks just do not outweigh the problems.  This month, this day, is one of those times.

Let's start with the biggest pain point:  Customs.  I understand the customs laws of most countries.  Countries ban importation of things that can damage the ecosystem (like animals, plants, seeds, and carriers of such) and goods from countries under trade embargoes (ie, Cuban cigars).  Indonesia?  Lotion.  Yes, lotion.  It happens that my daughter's main Christmas gift from us, along with several other gifts for our kids, were shipped from the US in the same box as some lotion.  Customs has been holding this box now for 16 days and counting.  They need the shipping company (in this case, DHL) to confirm that the lotion from Victoria's Secret is not narcotics, or explosives, or some other ridiculousness that is easily tested for.  Something tells me there is a customs agent that is eyeing a New Year's gift for his wife or girlfriend.  I told them today to just remove the lotion from the box so we can have all of our kids' Christmas gifts.

Today we had to go to immigration....again.  We were just there in October for the exact same process.  It wouldn't be so bad if the experience didn't involve standing in a building more full than a Cancun bar during Spring Break filled with people of questionable bathing habits and worse manners.  Between the body odor, people sitting on already narrow stairs, the crowding around doors and surging in like cows released from a corral the minute they open, the lack of organization ("take a number" seems worlds away here) and the overall inconvenience factor, I'm glad my company handles all of this for me.  If I had to do it myself, it wouldn't be worth it.  Showing up for a picture, fingerprinting and signature is painful enough.

To top off my day, I had yet another explosive experience with the power supply.  Since we've been here I've:

• Blown the power supply for our keyboard
• Had water leak from our AC units into the walls causing a power surge that popped my modem, our baby monitor, a surge protector, and anything else plugged into the same wall on any floor
• Threw out a Christmas tree because the wires became frayed, created direct contact with the metal of the tree and gave me an electrical burn on my fingers when I reached into the tree to determine why one bank of lights weren't working
• Dealt with sockets that are so loose that keeping my laptop charged requires finagling with my plug in much the same way I used to adjust the rabbit ears on my television thirty years ago. 

Now, today, I finally decide to plug in my Wii again using a newly acquired power converter that is SUPPOSED to reduce the power from 220 volts to the 110 volts the Wii power supply accepts.  Of course, when I plug it in, the power supply pops, rendering it useless.  So, now I have a $200 paperweight.  Hopefully, I can just replace the power supply, like I did with the keyboard.  It will likely cost another $50, though.

Did I really sign up for this?

Obama in Jakarta

As the world is already aware, President Obama visited Jakarta this past Wednesday.  This was his third attempt, and it appears the third time was indeed, the charm, even though Mt. Metapi did its best to dissuade him from coming.  As it was, he shortened the visit from two days, to one day, and left early as the volcano began erupting again during his stay.  He was in Jakarta for 19 hours.

My invitation to join him for lunch never arrived, so his visit really had no effect on my life.  It did add a few highlights, though:

1)  Several people on my staff followed his visit quite closely.  All of the local news channels and papers covered the visit extensively.  What they found most interesting - at least in terms of what several mentioned to me regarding the visit - "Obama is more important than the Indonesian president".  Why?  Because when President Obama drove the streets, they were empty.  Local police shut the road to all other traffic - as is the standard protocol for a presidential motorcade in the U.S.  What makes it unique, however, is that the Indonesian President does not receive this same treatment.  He deals with traffic like everyone else.

2)  One of my neighbors was on the security detail for the presidential visit.  He and his family were able to join the breakfast with Obama the one morning he was here.  His four-year-old daughter got to see the president in person.  Pretty cool, regardless of your party affiliation.

3)  Any group that had an issue with my company used Obama's visit as an opportunity to gain visibility.  We had to shut down the front door to my office both days he was here.  We even rescheduled lunch because of one of the demonstrations.  Whether it be the Papuan's wanting a larger piece of the pie, or environmental groups wanting to close the operations altogether, they made the most of the president's visit.

I think the visit to Indonesia was important for both countries.  We have a real opportunity to repair our image with the group of people who love terrorizing us, and Indonesia is the place to do it.  Time will tell if the visit actually accomplished anything, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless.

The Premiere Ball Event in Jakarta....with Insaaf Dobberstein

Friday night (last night) my wife and I attended our first black tie event in Jakarta:  the Latin Ball.  The Spanish Speaking Women Association of Jakarta organized the event.  Some friends of ours heard about the event because they are friends with a woman from Spain who participates in the organization.  They invited us to join them.  We thought it sounded like fun and agreed to go.  I later discovered this is the premiere formal event for expats in Jakarta.

Most of the international clubs have balls throughout the year.  New Zealand, India, Japan all have formal balls, but the Latin Ball is the one everyone considers a "must attend".  Having attended, I understand why.  There were 52 tables of ten people.  The place was absolutely packed. 

According to the program for the evening, the event started at 7 PM with a cocktail hour, dinner and opening ceremonies started at 9 PM, at 10 PM dances and music native to the countries represented in the Spanish Speaking Women Association would start, followed by open bar and dancing with a live Latin band until 4 AM.

It was a great event and we had a really good time.

A few key points of interest:

1. To advertise the ball, they announced it to the local media.  If you view the link, you'll notice one detail is conspicuously missing:  The location.  The announcement refers to it as a "local five star hotel".  This is a security measure followed by organizers of large expat events to minimize risk of terrorist attack.  The venue is only listed on the tickets, which you can only pick up the day before the event; sometimes you must wait for the day of the event.  The tickets listed the Shangri-La Hotel as the venue. 
2. We registered last minute for the event, so the organizers did not have proper name cards for our table.  This also meant that the seating chart did not have our names.  We knew we were at the same table as our friends, so we took the seats that were unoccupied.  Both seats had the same name which became our alias for the evening:  "Insaaf Dobberstein".
3. Apparently, auctions don't work well at these events.  One of the sponsors donated jewelry worth $2,500 USD as a fundraising auction for a charity the organizers supported.  They started the bidding at $1,000.  No one bid.  They moved on to other portions of the program, and would request bids at various points.  Finally, someone at my table opened the bidding at $1,000.  No one else took the bait, and they moved on.  The gentleman who bid then asked me to make a higher bid and said he would then out bid me.  The idea was to try and create momentum.  I tracked down the master of ceremonies and bid $1,050.  Shortly thereafter (and much to my relief), the gentleman at my table bid $1,100.  Unfortunately, our gambit proved unsuccessful.  No one else bid, and he walked away with $2,500 worth of jewelry for $1,100.
4. I ran into one of the guys I play rugby with and several people who live in our neighborhood.  None of us knew the other would be in attendance.  This is just more proof of how truly small the expat community is in such a large city.  The Six Degrees of Separation for Jakarta expats is probably more like three.  This is really just more proof of what we all see (and too many resent) about American immigrant communities.  Humans like to associate with others who are like them.  We are drawn to locations and events where we feel like we fit in, even if we are among strangers.  Instead of chastising it, or demanding that immigrants adjust to "our way", we will all be better off if we just recognize this fundamental aspect of humanity and celebrate the diversity.

Also, I'd love to provide pictures of this event.  The problem is that someone (my wife) who will remain nameless (my wife) didn't charge the camera battery (my wife used it last) and it had no juice for the evening (because my wife didn't charge it).  We did bring our new iPod Touch, but the qualit of picture is pretty bad and we haven't attempted the download from the device yet.

Back in the US

For the first time in eighteen months, my family and I are back on U.S. soil.  This is our son's first trip to the United States.

Our day started at 3:30 AM in Jakarta.  Our travels took us from Jakarta, to Singapore, to Tokyo, to Los Angeles and, finally, to Phoenix.  Five cities, four security checks, three planes, two children, and zero sleep.  My son is not a good flier.  He doesn't sleep well, he shrieks like a bored parrot and he needs to be in constant motion.  His favorite activity on the flight?  Climbing the stairs.  On the plus side, all of the flight attendants lavish him with attention, which means we're well taken care of.  I'm leaning towards the reimplementation of my rule about not flying with kids under two.  It's brutal.

Our flights were mostly uneventful.  Turbulence on the Tokyo to Los Angeles leg, delays from LAX to PHX.  My mom, her fiance, my grandmother, my sister, and my sister's fiance met us at the airport.  This was the first time my mom and grandmother were able to meet our son.  He did not disappoint.

We went directly from the airport to the rental car company, and from the rental car company directly to Chipotle.  We intentionally skipped breakfast on the flight to LAX so we would be hungry enough to finish our Chipotle meals.  After dinner, we crashed.

My son has decided he wants to be on Jakarta time even though we are in Phoenix.  We all went to bed at 9 PM, he woke up at 2 AM.  I woke up with him.  Finally went back to bed at 5 AM.  The only meal I had for the day was a Chipotle Steak Fajita Burrito in the late afternoon.  Two meals, two Chipotle visits.

It's now 5 AM Sunday.  My son is just now going back to bed after waking me up at 1 AM.  I am NOT going to miss my full day of NFL football.  Not going to happen.  I may just have to start drinking coffee.

Oh, and my son's first birthday party is this afternoon.  I should probably be awake for that.  After the last two nights, he should be happy he is able to celebrate it!

Developing nations. Always a struggle.

One of the lessons you learn by living in a third world country is the importance of good infrastructure. Modern conveniences like air conditioning, cable TV and internet are nice. But choosing between those relatively modest technical advancements and good infrastructure, well, I’ll read a book and use a fan.


Roads and Transportation. I’ve discussed it several times on my blog. Traffic in Jakarta is bad. In Phoenix, most everyone lives in a neighborhood inside a one square mile block of streets. There is typically a grocery store either on one a corner of your neighborhood, or on the next one over. When you need groceries, you get in your car, drive for five minutes, get what you need, and come home. You’re probably gone no longer than twenty minutes. In Jakarta, just getting to the store, which is the same distance away, takes an hour.

Part of the problem is the number of vehicles on the roads – there are just too many. Most of the problem, however, can be directly attributed to the size of the roads, which are seldom more than one lane in each direction; the quality of the roads, because potholes the size of truck tires are common; and the lack of or poorly timed traffic signals. Rain only exacerbates the situation because of flooding. As main arteries flood (which are one lane in each direction), vehicles are diverted to other main arteries – further jamming them – or to even smaller roads and back alleys. On several occasions my driver has had to take a detour, and on one occasion he drove into the flood and stalled our vehicle.

Indonesia cannot join the industrialized world without first addressing their roads and rain water management issues.

Quality Water. We’ve never drunk water from our tap. We don’t use it for cooking, either – not even if we’re boiling it. I’m the only one in the family that will use it to brush my teeth. We used bottled water for anything that requires it to enter our body. I know some families that go so far as to use bottled water for bathing.

I’ve already experienced the intestinal issues that come from drinking third world water. I can safely drink the water – and eat the ice – in Mexico and Indonesia, thanks to my prior painful experiences with the bacteria. Locals don’t have a problem with it, either. But just because I can drink it, doesn’t mean I would. These pictures of water directly from our faucet after a rain storm a few months back illustrate why.

 

Consistent Power. Any city in the world that has power lines above the ground and receives inclement weather will experience the occasional power outage. Most people have flashlights or candles in their homes as a result. In Jakarta, we’ll get power outages for any reason at all. When we first arrived, we lost power three times in the first month, and there wasn’t a raincloud in sight any during any of the outages.

Tuesday morning, our day started with a power outage at 5 AM. Usually these outages last about thirty minutes and then their back. When we were without power for three hours, we called maintenance. They informed us we were the only ones in the complex without power. By the afternoon, they had finished restoring power to all of the air conditioning units (no central air, each room has its own unit) and most of the electrical outlets. By Wednesday noon, after drilling three holes in the cement walls and ceilings, they had restored all power and believe they have fixed the root cause – a leaking air conditioning unit that caused a short.

The power surge that occurred with the outage burned and destroyed a power converter, my wireless router, one baby monitor, and the charger for my phone. We have no internet at home yet. I can only get online at work and in the clubhouse in our complex.


Add reliable infrastructure the list of things we miss.

Catching up

I've started and stopped this entry several times in the last few days.  I've been struggling to find anything to say.  Part of the problem is I've been spending all my free time playing an online game, much to my wife's annoyance.  I finally asked tonight:  Is it better to have a hobby with no tangible benefit that keeps me at home and is free, or a hobby that has me away from home and costs money, but has a tangible benefit.  For the sake of argument, think online games vs. rock climbing or running.  At the moment, mostly due to ease of involvement, I've chosen the former.

A few updates I can provide:

My son is not quite saying words, but he is making his intentions clear.  He points at the things he wants, or the direction he wants you to take him.  He is also very mobile.  He stands on his own and walks with assistance.  It won't be long before he is walking on his own.  He also has taken to blowing kisses and waving at any smiling Indonesian woman.  I swear he'll grow up to marry an Asian woman.

My daughter has a new best friend, and a new "husband".  The new friend comes from the US.  Her father is a US Marine and her mother is from Australia.  Oddly enough, he grew up in Holland and went to Grand Valley State and graduated the same year I did.  His folks still live there.  Their daughter is the same age as ours and they have a son who is a few months older than our son.  He's here on a one year program the Armed Services offer for select enlisted men and women to spend a year traveling a country to learn the language and the customs as preparation for Embassy work.  Cool program.

The rain has been relentless.  It's rained every day, all different times of the day.  Luckily, no flooding yet.  It has made for extremely long drives home.  You don't know traffic until you've spent 45 minutes to go 2 miles.

Ramadan ended last week and the Idul Fitri holiday kicked off.  For us, this means no staff.  Our nanny went back to her village, or "pulang kampung", last week Friday and our maid left this week Wednesday.  They do not return until 20 September.  Well, if they return at all.  Our nanny may not be coming back.  Her husband found a job in their village and has insisted she stay home now.  She plans to try to negotiate with him.  One of our drivers seems to think she'll be back.  I don't.  Wives listen to their husband's demands around here.

Last week also marked the first time I've been able to review a prototype of the game I invented for the iPhone.  I am very excited.  We haven't spent much time on the graphics yet, but all the logic required for the game to work is functioning.  I think we are about 1 month from launch.  If you have an iPhone, or know someone who does, I'm going to ask that you spend the $1 we'll be selling it for to help us reach the best seller list in its first week.

One last thing.  On the right side of my blog, I have links to other blogs.  A good friend of mine has recently rebranded his blog to PeterFaur.com.  It is a great blog that I check out several times a week.  I recommend you do too.

A Visit from the U.S.

With my boss visiting from the U.S. and my wife's birthday both happening this week, I have had just one dinner at home.  Interestingly, the restaurants I've eaten at each night have had a common theme:

Tuesday - the apartment
Wednesday - Social House
Thursday - Elbow Room

Friday (today), I tried to book us at Hacienda (Spanish for "ranch"), hoping to keep the theme going, but they were fully booked.  So, we're going to Benihana's instead, and breaking the trend.

In addition to the many work projects, a key topic of discussion during my boss's visit is what happens to me when my assignment completes in April.  Technically, my official assignment paperwork is open ended.  The verbal agreement we had before my family moved here was a two year commitment.  Regardless, our lease runs out on 06 April and we'll have to do something before then.

When we first agreed to move to Jakarta, the plan was I would return to my same role after my assignment completed.  That was before the economic crisis.  That was before we outsourced a large portion of our technology division.  That was before two major changes to the organization chart.  In short, a lot has changed and the job I left no longer exists.

Before we left Phoenix, and even several times while I've been here, I joked that my assignment was to work myself out of a job.  My theory was that if I did a bad job in Jakarta, they'd fire me; if I did a good job, they'd move all the work here and there wouldn't be a job to go back to.  My joke is no longer very humorous.

Where it stands today, my boss has expressed he would like it if we remained here another two years and I have told them that is not an option for my family.  I know I have demonstrated my value and I am confident we will come to a compromise that works well both for my family and the organization. 

I anticipate my final role will require extensive travel back to Jakarta, at least initially.  Although not ideal because of the time away from family, it allows us to be based in Phoenix while I still contribute maximum value to my company.

Whatever the outcome, I know two things:

1)  This has been a great opportunity.  I've grown professionally and personally as a result of my time in Jakarta.  I've learned a lot about working interculturally, Muslims, Indonesia, and myself.  I will never regret coming here.

2)  My family is moving back to Phoenix next year.  Tentatively, my family moves in January and I will join them in April, depending on the demands of my work projects.

I'll keep everyone posted as we finalize the plans.

(And, yes, I realize I still owe some pictures.  I hope to get to it this weekend).

Embassies and Birthdays

In preparation for our June trip to Europe, I needed to add more Visa pages to my passport.  All the traveling back and forth to Singapore over the last year had used up all but two pages.  This meant a visit to yet another US Embassy to utilize consular services.

Using the US Embassy's Jakarta location's website, I booked the first appointment of the morning - 7:45 AM.  The website indicated I would be in and out in less than an hour.  With light traffic, we arrived at the embassy much earlier than I had intended - 7 AM.  The embassy had no place to park, so my driver dropped me at the concrete barriers in front of the entrance.  At that hour, there was already a long line of Indonesians waiting to obtain a travel visa or other foreign services. 

Knowing I had the first appointment, and not knowing the purpose for the line, I walked up to the security guard, showed him my appointment card, and was granted access to the Embassy grounds.  A short walk across the basketball court and I was at the entrance to the Embassy.  Here they told me it did not open until 7:30, and I would have to wait.

When they did open, an overzealous security guard asked all of us to queue against the wall.  He wanted this queue to be very efficient and I found myself wedged in a corner behind a cross, corpulent American and a hand sanitizer to my left.  If I was twenty pounds heavier, I would not have fit.

After clearing security, I walked to the consular services building and waited....and waited....and waited.  Punctuality is not a well known attribute of Indonesia.  Bad traffic means everyone is late for parties and appointments and reservations.  The shows at amusement parks start anywhere from 15-45 minutes after their advertised start time.  Even meetings at the office tend to start 5-10 minutes late.  Even though I had a 7:45 AM appointment, none of the windows even opened until 8:10.  The window I needed to use didn't open until closer to 8:30, which begs the question why they have a 7:45 AM appointment.

Once I provided my passport, they added the pages and had it back to me in less than 10 minutes.  My wife and daughter will need to go through this same exercise in the next few weeks.  We'll try to book them an afternoon appointment.

On Saturday, we had a birthday party to attend, so we did not have our typical family outing.  Instead, in the morning I went swimming with our daughter while my wife took our son to Gymboree.  In the afternoon, we went to the birthday party for our daughter's 3-year-old friend.

Birthday parties here are always interesting.  They are also much less stressful on the adults than they are in the states.  The party host hires entertainment.  In this case, Gymboree and a group that provided a big air-blown jumper with a slide.  These two groups are responsible for entertaining the kids.  The children arrive with both parents and nannies in tow.  The nannies are responsible for keeping an eye on the kids and making sure they are participating and/or behaving.  This affords the parents the opportunity to drink wine and beer and to socialize.

Birthday parties are also a United Nations affair.  This particular party was hosted by friends who hail from Ukraine (the wife) and Switzerland (the husband).  We met people who hailed from Spain, Germany, Alaska, Sweden, United Kingdom and Indonesia.  Conversations took place in German, Indonesian, Spanish and English.

These parties are always great opportunities to discuss the expat experience (we're always the newbies to expat living, but not always the newbies to Jakarta).  This is how we learn where to go in Jakarta, what doctors to see, and where to vacation.  We received some good advice on Barcelona and Paris from the woman we met from Spain who grew up in Madrid and lived in Paris for several years before moving to Jakarta.

When the entertainment is over, it's a mass exodus.  No one wants the responsibility for entertaining the kids!  So, we thanked our hosts and left with the masses.

Next week, we will return to our Saturday outings.  There is an interesting facility outside of Jakarta where we can fish and pick local fruit.  Should be interesting.

Another week gone

We've rounded the half way point of our assignment.  The next 50 weeks will very likely fly by since we are spending more than 10% of them on vacation.  As for now, we're following our routine:

Sunday:  Stay at home and do things around the house.  Sometimes, I'll go to the driving range in the early AM.
Monday:  I have my piano lessons.  Yep, after 25 years of not playing, I'm taking lessons again.
Tuesday:  My daughter has ballet and swimming lessons.  My wife does Pilates.
Wednesday:  My wife does yoga, my daughter has tennis lessons.  It is also our date night, and we endeavor to try a new restaurant each week, but often visit a favorite instead. 
Thursday:  Tennis for my wife, dance class for my daughter.
Friday:  Family movie night.  We watch a new, family friendly movie none of us has seen (or at leas most of us haven't seen) and order dinner from Toscana's.  This week we watched E.T.
Saturday:  Day trip with the family. 

Last week, for our date night, we saw the movie "Frozen", which was a much better movie than I thought it would be.  Might be a little too much gore for some, and plot was very similar to the love-it-or-hate-it "Open Water".  For me, it passed the test of a good movie - my wife and I were talking about it the rest of the night.

Our Saturday trips are quite the event at our house.  We are prepared to have a great time, and we all need to look the part.  Even our son gets into the act.

This week our Saturday day trip was Gelanggan Samudera an animal park in the Ancol entertainment complex I've written about before.  If you add Gelangan Samudera and the Ancol Sea World, which we visited in June of last year, it is a close approximation of the Sea World we all know in Orlando and San Diego. 

At Samudera, we saw a 4-D movie about sea turtles with the obligatory environmental message. We then saw a Miami Vice-like "Scorpion Pirates" show that featured jet skis and acting like you see on Mexican Soap Operas. 

Next to the pirate show was an animal variety show that surprised us with the animal participants.  It really was quite amazing.  I have seen video of bears riding bicycles, but never seen it in person.  More amazing was the tame hippopotamus.

After the animal show, we were all soaked to the skin with sweat from sitting outside, and needed to cool off.  We took the opportunity to visit the indoor fresh water aquarium near the sea lion and dolphin show.  Half of the aquariums had fish that I had in my aquarium back in Arizona - neon tetras, bala sharks, ciclids, tiger barbs, knife loach, catfish.

We finished with the aquarium just in time for the start of the dolphin show.  Good, but nothing spectacular.  I guess I've seen enough dolphins jump through hoops and do flips in the air that it isn't exciting anymore.  It is always amazing to see these animals move with such power and grace through the water, though.  That will never get old.

The dolphin show wrapped our day.  We'd seen everything at that point and weren't interested in any of the rides.  Four hours after arriving, we left...and had dinner at Hacienda.