Six months already up

It’s hard to believe that the halfway point of our 12 month Indonesian stay has already arrived. Living here has been an incredible experience and taught us many things. In that time we have moved into a kampong village on Bandung’s northern outskirts; started new jobs teaching English; tried an array of weird and wonderful foods; learned how to navigate our way through the city’s chaotic streets on scooters, and gained an insight into how religion can still be a central pillar for a society in the twenty-first century.

There have been a few ups and downs and I think it would be fair to say that we have developed an unrelenting love/hate relationship for the place which is with every day increasingly weighing in on the positive side of the spectrum.

It’s funny how as you settle into life in a developing country, the things that once struck as being outrageous, barely receive a reaction nowadays. I mean last week we went back to Australia for yet another friend’s wedding, but it took leaving the country to appreciate how different things really are in Indonesia. So much so that when we were in Coolangatta I dare say there was a bit of culture-shock by how clean, organised and ordered everything was!

I think I’ve become that accustomed to life in Indonesia that I don’t even bother reporting the bizarre things that I found remarkable when I first arrived because I guess they now happen more or less on a daily occurrence.

So I’m going to take a moment to point out some the more peculiar aspects of life in Indonesia not really reported on this blog.

Useful Vocabulary

Some of the most useful words in Bahasa you can know are those needed in situations where something you want is no longer available. Key target language here include habis meaning ‘finished’ or ’run-out’ and rusak which translates to ‘broken’. Coming across these terms is common and can relate to something as innocuous as your favourite roadside stall not having any pineapples left to the downright deadly when you could be in need of urgent medical assistance. In the latter our friend once had to go to the emergency room with a serious head injury. After being advised that the x-ray machine was rusak, she was provided with the option of proceeding straight to surgery without a brain scan … or to be transferred to another hospital which was said to have a working CT scanner. Wow, thank god she went to the other hospital in that instance!

The small things

It’s funny how some of the small things in life get us excited. Like the excitement we sometimes express when we have running water for more than an hour, successfully negotiating the price of fruit at the market or the satisfaction gained from managing to get the backfiring on the scooter fixed at the local repair place. Often it’s the fulfilment of being able to communicate in basic Indonesian and not actually get significantly ripped off. Other times it’s the knowledge of knowing that although things here are very different to Australia, some things are just the same wherever you go.

Knock offs

One aspect of Indonesian life that has surprised me is the extent of blatant intellectual property theft. Yes of course I realise that DVD piracy is ubiquitous all over South-East Asia, but I think Indonesia is a special case. In other countries I’ve travelled to I noticed how film pirates went to at least some extent to screen the fact that what they were selling was illegal. However, in Indonesia… things are just different. Here you have fake DVD franchises with a far superior range of titles than most DVD outlets back in Australia. The intellectual property problem doesn’t just linger around DVDs, it is extensive particularly with clothing as well. I find it incredible how many brand name outlets exist here in Bandung but the problem is not a single one actually sells official merchandise. This issue doesn’t just relate to the local factory outlet industry either. The major shopping malls and even the international airport have dubious looking merchants.  Well I must say after living in Bandung I don’t think I’ll ever own so much Ralph Lauren again that’s for sure.

Keeping face

One aspect of Indonesian life that western foreigners may tend to get frustrated with is the typical Asian tradition of keeping face and in Indonesia this is an important factor in everyday life. Whether you’ve asked someone on the street for directions who was too embarrassed to say they don’t know the right way, or a telephone operator hanging up on you the moment they realise you don’t speak fluent Indonesian, one lesson I’ve learned over the last six months is to just nod, smile back and pretend everything is all okay because taking any other approach tends to yield nothing useful and may in fact inflame an already sensitive situation.

The mystical

Indonesian culture is so mystical! I’m often amazed at how easy it is to get a quiet group of students talking when it comes to spirits, ghosts and the supernatural. So much so is the mystical culture that ghost genres actually exist. For example pocong is a type of ghost that hops around wrapped up in white fabric, whilst the suster ngesotins spirit wears white and crawls along on the ground. Bandung even has a radio station dedicated to ghost stories. Such is this folklore that Indonesia made world headlines earlier this year when the Guardian reported a girl from Bandung being savagely bashed by a security guard who thought she was a ghost. The young women in fact dressed up as a suster ngesotin in an attempt to scare her best friend during her birthday party. Well say no more.

Eid al-Adha

And finally a recent highlight of late has been our witnessing of the annual Eid al-Adha religious festival a few weeks back when devout Muslims slaughter a goat or cow in the name of sacrifice. Whilst we didn’t witness any actual slaughters, we gained a pretty good perspective into the tradition during the weeks leading up to the holy day when it was common to see goats for sale on the side of the road being fattened up for this major event on the Islamic calendar. We saw our neighbour bring one of these beasts home on this scooter and when we heard it bleating all night on his verandah we knew this poor soul was in it’s last few hours of life.  Funny enough the bleating all came to an end the next morning. Our neighbour  even offered us some very fresh meat!

Here’s some photos from our first six months in Indonesia:

Rubbish disposal Bandung style

With Bec’s parents

travelling to a place as a tourist is one thing, but living there is entirely

Sunset Gili Air

Pasteaur Flyover Bandung

The green hills of Java outside of Bandung

Kaki lima food vendor

Outside of Bandung

Sunset overlooking Lombok on Gili Air

Goats being fattened for the Eid al-Adha festival

Gunung Kawi Temple in Ubud

Volcano near Lake Batur Bali

New wheels

Sari Bunda

Bec on Gili Air

Gili Island Sunset

Kawah Putih volcanic lake

Sate Ayam roadside stall

Bec at Pelabahan Ratu

North Bandung

Sunset at Jimbaran, Bali

Gunung Kawi near Ubud

Rock music in Braga

Cycling in Ubud Bali

Bandung haze

At Tangkuban Perahu – Volcano north of Bandung

Pelabahan Ratu sunset

Legian Bali

Bandung with mountains in background

Kaki Lima in the evening

With Gab in Bandung

View over Bandung from Dago Atas

Ubud sunset

Dago Hills

Kawah Putih

Near Pelabahan Ratu in South West Java

Tirta Empul Temple Bali

Gunung Kawi temple

Dago Bengkok Bandung