Things I will miss from Indonesia

1. The Artwork
Indonesia is overflowing with artwork--from city-sponsored statues to graffiti. These works make Indonesia an extremely colorful and photogenic country

2. The Scenery
Every day, I wake up to beautiful mountains, dotted with red roofs and chiseled with rice paddies. At dawn and dusk everything turns a pinky-orange color that enhances the pastel-painted houses and black-and-white-checkered curbs. At night, Bandung lights up like a bowl full of fireflies.

3. The Indonesian Attitude
Indonesia has a very relaxed, upbeat, friendly attitude. If someone on the street offers help they genuinely want to help you. Instead of saying "yes" or "no" people say "already" and "not yet." It's a welcome change from American pessimism, especially in an area like Detroit.

4. J. Co
The Donut shop from heaven. Nowhere in the US have I tasted donuts as good as these fluffy, creamy ones with shiny liquid frosting. If you ever go to southeast Asia, I highly reccomend trying a donut or two.

5. Motorcycles
At first, I saw these as scary oppertunities to get buried in a foreign country, but now I see them as a fast, fun, fuel-efficient alternative to cars. Unfortunately, motorcycles just aren't as practical in the US where cars don't know how to handle having them around.

6. The Weather
85 degrees year-round, need I say more?

7. The Opportunities
Indonesia is the new land of opportunity. It's got a rapidly growing economy and the place just stinks of hope (and durian). For a native English speaker, it is incredibly easy to get a job, and for a tourist or resident, its an easy place to have fun.

8. The Malls
At the risk of sounding like a mall-rat in front of friends who have heard my rants about malls, I'd like to say I will genuinely miss the malls here. US malls are out of my price range, and have food courts that specialize in giving you food poisoning.Their only redeeming quality is the massage chairs in Brookstone. Malls in Indonesia, however, are more like streets taken inside. Most of them have little independent stores specializing in cool Korean clothing for less than 10 dollars per piece. They also have food courts worth skipping school to sample! Many a day I have left school craving a Belgian Waffle (or J. Co) from Bandung Indah Plaza. Last, There seems to be a different mall for each type of person: Paris Van Java for rich people, Bandung Electronic center for techies, Ciwalk for outdoors people, Bandung Trade Center for cheap, fashionable people, and Yogya Lucky Square for homesick Exchange Students from Detroit looking for a place in Indonesia as deserted as their hometown.

9. Indomie
Think Instant noodles are gross? I did too...until I tried Indomie. From beggars to Presiden Yudhoyono, everyone loves this snack that costs 15 cents a pack. They come several different flavors, all delicious. Good enough that I once ate a pack so fast it went up my nose.

10. Frozen Yogurt
By now you can tell I like food, but you might ask why I will miss something I can get in the US? Because Indonesian Frozen Yogurt is different--heavily fermented and sour. It's a refreshing break from sweet ice cream.

11. The Animals
Stray cats, geckos, monkeys, bats, frogs...it's great to live in an area with so many easy-to-catch animals that don't bite much. Each stray cat has its own personality, each gecko and frog has a funny story attached, and monkeys and bats are just cool :)

12. The Prices
Lunch: 50 cents
Clothing: <20 dollars
Phone bill: 2.50 dollars a month
All the fun you can get from shopping, eating and calling friends: priceless

The Friends
There are a lot of people here I will miss. You know who you are. I may not be able to take them home, but I will definitely take home all the memories I made with them :) (yes very cheesy)

American Christmas--The Indonesian Way

I've never been the biggest fan of Christmas: I liked the presents, the cookies, the seasonal chocolate and the clay-mation specials from the 1960's. Other than that, Christmas traditions just turn me into a Hum Bug: sparkling snow reminds me of the unbearable cold and dangerous driving; my neighbors’ elaborate light displays scream ‘tacky fire-hazard’ not ‘whimsical beauty’; Starbucks’ covers of traditional Christmas songs (that start playing around Halloween) put me in more of a fighting spirit than a buying spirit; and due to a few unwanted and unexpected visits from the town Santa Clause as a Child, Santa scares me a little bit*. Last year, you would have heard the Kink’s satirical “Father Christmas” blasting as you drove by my undecorated, tree-less house on Christmas morning.

Foolish me, I thought I could escape all that in Indonesia. Java may be overwhelmingly Muslim, but its malls subscribe to a religion of shopping. As soon as the "Christmas Season" started, (thank god it doesn't start until December here) I heard cheesy Christmas music in every grocery store, lights and wreaths popped up in every mall, I even saw a few cardboard Santas in the factory outlets. Some of you may think Bandung does this to attract Christian tourists...except Bandung doesn't get much foreign tourism. This all seemed to be for the less-than-10% of the population that is Christian, and maybe even to get a few Muslims to buy stuff anyway.

Unfortunately, I put up with all the things I hated about Christmas (except the snow of course), but this year I missed out on the things I really liked. I shipped my presents, but missed the excitement of their reveal. I had no oven to bake cookies or pie. I didn't even watch my '60s Christmas Specials (until my boyfriend sent them to me in January. Thanks Troy!)! My Christmas festivities included sleeping until 3 pm, then watching movies all day.

AFS threw a Christmas party complete with dinner and a chicken-shaped hat. It was pretty fun, but not enough to make up for my poor planning and distance. Future exchange students: If you want a Christmas like you have at home, I suggest you plan it before you come. Even if you are a bit of a scrooge like me, just bring a few little things from home to share with your host country. It’s better that way.



*I never believed in Santa, but I still visited the town Santa each year. I never really enjoyed sitting on some strange mans lap, so this particular year I decided not to see him. Santa had different ideas. I was eating at a restaurant across the street from his seasonal hut when Santa went on break. Of Course, he spots the cute little girl across the street and decides to pay her a special visit. My family watched as he crossed the street, entered the restaurant and made me tell him what I wanted for Christmas. I think I told him I wanted metal detector, but what I really wanted for Christmas was not to be stalked by Santa. Oh well.

My Heart Belongs to Griya

Well I thought since I spend so much time here, I should write about my favorite place to go in Bandung--The grocery store. In Michigan, I grew up with high-ceilinged, large-parking-lotted suburban grocery stores in the strip malls that ran along 40-mile-an-hour roads. On the most densely populated island in the world, grocery shopping is a little different. Most grocery stores are little convenience stores like Indomaret. Others, like Griya or Yogya are much larger, but are very cramped, have a larger selection but still quite small compared to American Walmarts, Kmarts, or even Michigan's own Busch's. The largest grocery stores are found in malls. These ones have some of the widest aisles I have ever seen and are big enough to get lost in...at least for a little while. Every mall seems to have their own grocery store with strange escalators built to take carts to the parking lot.

Then there is Griya Arcamanik--my neighborhood grocery store. Since Griya is only a short walk from my house across one of the less-busy streets in Bandung, it was the first place I learned to get to by myself. Since then, I've spent quite a lot of time there. Griya is more cramped and busy than any of the other stores I have been to, the aisles are much too small for carts, so this is a basket-only store. Off to one side: colorful tropical produce in crazy shapes, off to the other: rows of snacks, noodles, drinks and any other processed food items that probably won't give me food poisoning. Upstairs (yes there is an upstairs) is where they keep all the things you don't want to eat like, shampoo, clothing and washing machine soap. Surprisingly enough, they even have a small dressing room with a cloth curtain that sways every time someone passes. I'm afraid that when I am changing someone will run by and cause the curtain to fly open.

The first time I stepped into Griya, it was like an amusement park of food and I was finally tall enough to ride all the rides. The food was colorful, strange, sweet and cheap! I had no parents telling me I shouldn't get too many sweets and the food was so cheap that my two sagging, overfull bags cost only $10! After that, I visited Griya as if a doctor had prescribed a visit a day. I bought spikey pink and green dragon fruit, lugged pounds of juicy, yellow markisa, avoided smelly durian, and puzzled whether to buy green or yellow mangoes in the produce selection. Next, I'd move on to the candy section, shoving candies and chips like Silverqueen, Beng Beng, Choky, Mister Potato, and Yupie into my basket. If you know how much of a Tea addict I am, you'll know how excited I was when I found the bottled tea sectioned. I'm used to a small choice between Sweet Leaf and Arizona in the United States, but in Tea-loving Indonesia, I could buy Teh Kotak, Teh Botol, Frestea, Fruitea, Nutea and Tebs....*passes out from listing my selection*

Upstairs was less exciting. While I was happy to find clothes that cost less than $10, I was a little annoyed that I couldn't seem to find any lotion that didn't turn my skin white. Do ALL Indonesian women really want to look white? Don't some of them like their skin color? After a long search I finally found a bottle of green tea antioxidant lotion without skin whitener. I wasn't so lucky with face moisturizer. The bottle I thought didn't have any whitening agents turned out to have a white tint to it (can you even have a tint to something that is already white?)

Now that I've lived here for several months I've gotten used to Griya, and when I used to smile at my $10 grocery bill, now I am frustrated that I have to fork over THAT MUCH MONEY! I now know how to get around people, (using the sundanese word "punten") but get annoyed that I have to, and the exotic selection of fruit seems so small, without my favorite fruit, Manggis (Mangosteen). Any questions, just leave them in the comment section.

Indonesian Halloween

Halloween is a North American thing. The countries that love it the most all seem to be the US, Canada, and Mexico. Indonesia is not one of them. The only traces of Halloween were a display of Halloween-themed shirts,and an advertisement for a costume party in Jakarta. Anyway, on the the 30th and 31st I had some non-Halloween-related plans. I wanted to go to a Festival celebrating Bali. I went to both the auditions, and the real show, where I saw a costume cooler any mascot costume I have even seen. He came out wearing a mask and dancing the traditional way with shaking hands, but midway through the show he started doing the moon walk. That night I made it my goal (which is yet unfulfilled) to wear that costume because it was just so cool. Anyway, let me get back to my Halloween story.

So I had just come back to ITB after the Bali festival auditions with Agung, and we were planning on seeing the Sherina concert. when I mention that Halloween is tomorrow and that I miss wearing the costumes. Agung points out that there are lots of costumes with his Southern Sulawesi culture club. So we end up turning around and heading into the tiny room for Unit South Sulawesi. Agung picks me out a shiny red shirt with golden embellishments, two golden cuff-bracelets (unfortunately we couldn't find two cuff bracelets that matched), and an uncomfortable statue-of-liberty-type golden crown. He then pulls out a red shirt with a flat-topped hat that is apparently "slavewear". Now remember how Indonesians don't celebrate Halloween? Well, that meant that we were the only ones wearing costumes. We decided to go to a restaurant in Upper Dago (which is at a higher elevation and is beautiful at night since you can look down at all the lights in Bandung). We were being quite crazy and to fit that crazy mood, we cranked up the craziest music on the radio: Radio Dangdut (Dangdut is sort of a cheesy-type of Indonesian pop music with lots of Arabic and Indian influence). When we stopped at a convenience store to buy candy and drinks, I got many more stares than normal. People must have been thinking, "LOOK! a bule! She must be crazy, she's wearing Indonesian clothes!" I just smiled, and laughed with Agung about the situation. At the restaurant, I was able to get mashed potatoes for the first time since I moved here. On the way home I ended up screaming "hello" out the window to all passers-by. While I wasn't able to do any of these things on Halloween, I ended up getting my costume fix for the year on the 30th.

Pirates of the Ring of Fire

When I was visiting Claremont McKenna College a few years ago as part of the long drawn-out college admissions process, I joined a law class, where the professor asked his students "what is legal." The agreed upon definition ended up being "almost everything average people do on a daily basis". This may be true in the US, but not so much in Indonesia. It's a nessecesity to break traffic laws, and sometimes pay off police men. Teenagers smoke cigarettes in public even though they are underage. Books are photocopied and read as so. The thing that strikes me the most, however, is the wide spread pirating of TV and movies. Bootleg movies are more widespread than the originals! When you enter a video shop, you look through rows of plastic cellophane bags. See a movie you like, you slip out the disc (usually its scratched in someway) and put it into one of the many DVD players that the video store provides you. Then, you scan through all chapters to make sure there are no stops. Lately, I've been wondering how these discs get so scratched in the first place! Anyway, once you are satisfied that your discs work, you take them to the register and pay 50 or 60 cents per disc. Some of you may be horrified that your favorite actors and directors aren't getting royalties (most I'm guessing don't care though, haha) but pirated movies are close to a necessecity for movie lovers. Insonesia is a country that censors sex so heavily, that when I go to the movies I don't always know whats going on since the government has cut several scenes important to the plot. In a video store, however, you can buy "wonderful" movies like "Wet Dreams 2" and all the, um, scenes that would have otherwise been censored. I, myself, don't buy such movies, but it's nice to actually understand the plot of a good movie that just happen to contain a few sex scenes.

Another branch of pirating is TV and software. I personally don't have experience with pirated software, though I know you can get stuff like Photoshop for free. The TV side is a much bigger deal to me. In Indonesia, you can't access Hulu, and youtube works excrutiatingly slowly. Certain American shows are just not aired on Indonesian TV. So how do you get these wonderful shows in the world of anime and soap opera? You download them onto a disc or a flash drive and watch them that way.

Parijs van Java

Given that I have been in Bandung for over two months already and have not yet done so, I will explain a little bit about my Indonesian home town. Located in the Mountains in West Java, Bandung is described by Indonesians as “cold.” Cold, mind you, means a high of about 85° F (28° C) year-round, Instead of Jakarta's 90° F (32° C). Inland, Bandung is an area with no beaches, but a relatively (key word: relatively) low chance of floods, and almost no tsunamis. They say if you live anywhere on Java you live close to an active volcano, and Bandung is no exception. I live close to Tangkuban Perahu which translates into “the upside down boat” and, you guessed it, looks like an upside down boat. Don't worry, while its active, it's not as active as you'd think, and I'm still at a pretty low risk of volcanic eruption, but recently, we've been getting volcanic ash, a toxically fun gift from Mount Merapi's eruption in Central Java. Basically, Bandung is no one-tornado-warning-a-year Michigan, but for someone living on the Ring of Fire, it's pretty dang safe....I feel a Johnny Cash song coming on, how about you? haha.

Enough about eminent doom in Bandung, let me describe life here: Bandung is a strange cross between Seattle, Los Angeles and Boston. Seattle, because it rains A LOT; Los angeles, because of its sprawl and general pedestrian-unfriendly nature; and Boston, because it is the nation's most famous college town. When I googled Bandung's universitas and sekolah tinggi (university and college), I got 10 results, the most famous of which is ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology), which I have mentioned in previous posts. As a result, Bandung has many shops and activities that cater to the economically-deprived college student including book stores, outlet malls, pasta shops, and places where you can buy paper-thin steaks for about $2 or $3. The best part, however, are the festivals every weekend! Usually, there is something going on at Sabuga, ITB's multipurpose building, and if not, some other school has got something to do. Its a great place for an exchange student because I can meet a lot of former exchange students now in college, and I'm not limited to my high school's extracurriculars! Bandung is also home to the military base of the Siliwangi Tigers, which happens to be right next to my school. If you walk anywhere away from school, you are bound to find statues of tigers in scary positions and soldiers in heroic ones.

Bandung also has a rich history, much of which I don't know, haha. I'm sure some of my Indonesian friends will end up helping me out in the comment section though. Bandung was built by the Dutch, who felt Jakarta was just too hot. It was then Nicknamed Parijs Van Java, or Paris of Java, for its beauty, cool temperature, resort-feel and overall European-ness. Nowadays, it still seems a little European, but it has clearly become like every other Java-sprawl: dirty, crowded, and full of motorcycles. It's still quite beautiful, but it takes a little more time to notice. People from Jakarta still come to visit on weekends, which only clogs traffic more. It was also home to the Asia-Africa confrence, a conference that united non-aligned (plus a few aligned ones haha) countries during the cold war. Another fun fact: the first Indonesian president, Sukarno, went to ITB. Hmmm...thats enough history for today.

The only things that I can complain about in Bandung are the traffic and pollution. I have previously described the frequent traffic jams, and the real-life game of Frogger that is crossing the street, but another annoying thing is the lack of a grid system. Jl. Cihampelas is one way and turns into dr. Setiabudi, which ends up with another branch called Jl. Cipaganti. Jl. Siliwangi is somewhere in there too haha. Its a nightmare to navigate on your own and you are not always sure the Angkot you are taking will go the same path the way home. The pollution is also a bit of an issue, although its hardly something unique to Bandung. Foreigners and locals alike develop a cough. One friend tells me that he had a cough throughout his life that magically dissappeared when he lived in Wisconsin for a year (gotta love that Dairy-air ;) ). Sure enough, it came back when he returned to Indonesia.

Gym Class: or as I like to call it Public Humiliation

Since I started school here, I've been forced to participate in the torture known as Indonesian Gym Class. Gym Class has always been known for its ability to make its students into fools, but some think Indonesian gym class takes it a step further. It's set up like your elementary school gym class: once a week, in a small gym or field, group stretches, etc. (I haven't had to climb a rope yet though haha). We start off doing high impact "jerk" stretches (the kind you were taught not to do in your American, 1990s, high school PE textbook) Then we move on to some sort of aerobic activity...usually involving running in some embarrassing fashion while little kids from outside the gym watch. Next we do either something relating to volleyball or gymnastics. When you screw up, you not only carry the shame of screwing up, but you also do 5 push ups--the funny-looking girl-push ups that hurt your knees. All in all, gym class makes me want to curse most days, and on the few days I am good at what I do, it still manages to make my back and neck sore. Like Elementary School, you also have to take a fitness test once in a while. I had to do this on my first gym class. I failed miserably. Hmm, If you have anymore questions about gym class let me know.

Pasar Seni ITB

I'm not too sure why I haven't done a blog post on this yet, because it happened a few weeks ago. But here we go: Pasar seni--the Art Market is an event at a local college that happens one every 4 or 5 years (I heard people say both 4 years and 5 years so I'm not sure which one it is. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton to say about it. First, even though I called ahead very early, I came late because of traffic jams that not even a motorcycle could weave through. When I got there, I realized it was nearly impossible to get to the other end of campus where I was supposed to meet my friend. I ended up squeezing through parades, winding through a maze of tents, running up off-limits areas and hoping the security guards didn't notice. Finally, I met up with a friend, Agung and I got to see the fair. Hhhmm I saw a giant tower of bikes, many parades and everything from traditional art to modern day photography. Then came the heat and the crowds. That day I downed about 3 bottles of liquids and When I sat down, I noticed the soles of my shoes had melted through! Then came the search for new shoes. Agung and I had to squeeze through thick crowds to get to shoe stalls and we had no luck for about an hour or so. The one thing I can say PCEP (my American High School) taught me was how to move through crowds. I was able to fall through to the other side a lot faster than others in the mob. The great thing was that Indonesians actually move a little to let you through. It wasn't like at PCEP where to get through, you had to suffer hundreds of shoulders bumping against yours as you got to the other side. There isn't much else to say other than I finally found my shoes and the heat made me so tired I had to go home early. It was a pretty fun day, but made for a pretty boring blog entry haha.

Types of Angkot Drivers

Now that I have gained quite a bit of experience with indonesia's own public transit system(angkutan kota), I have noticed some peculiar things about the people who drive them.

1. The Musicians: These are angkot drivers who honk every few seconds. i'm not sure if they are impatient, want to attract riders, or just like to toot their own horn (pardon the pun)
2. The Mafia Escapees: These drivers drive as if they were given cement shoes, but some how managed to go on with life. Every time they stop or start you feel as if you are going to fall on to the person next to you.
3. The Racers: These drivers are in such a hurry to get to the end of the route, that you sometimes miss your stop. If not, when you say "kiri" to stop them they overshoot your stop buy a lot
4. The Chimneys: As you sit next to these drivers you find chain smoking is their on-the-road hobby, not necessarily bad drivers, but I try to avoid sitting next to them.
5. The mothers: These are my favorite. These guys look out for the little white girl traveling alone in Indonesia at night. Usually, they are kind of chatty, which helps me practice my bahasa.
6. The Deaf Ones: These are the ones that don't stop unless you scream "kiri" multiple times. Very frustrating.

Indonesians: if you have anything more to add go ahead :)