What's to miss????

So, we have less than 5 weeks to go. J left 2 weeks ago, the house will be packed up in less than 2 weeks.

It is all coming to an end. We will miss somethings - we will grateful to leave others.

But the experiences we will miss the most (not in order (except the first) ) ....

Really great friends ......

Being able to take a photo like this, which was taken in a normal department store (by one of the people working there ) .....

When your kids are part of a great team (which is part of school) - even when the colour of your football team is what is used to describe you for the next year (yes, red is best).......

When a night out leads to a nightclub at 3am - and you are over 35 ......

When a weekend away with a view of an active volcano is commonplace....

When the resources of your amazing school seems perfectly normal (can't say I haven't always been acutely aware of how lucky my kids are (or us for their behalf)).......

When this is a perfectly normal set up to have in your house for a 5th birthday party ....


When this is a normal hallway (after now buying a house in Aus we realise that not all hallways are 3m wide - but they should be).....

When a holiday to another country is no big deal (Langkawi - Malaysia - Bear's 8th birthday) ....

When your child goes near an active volcano on a camp and it doesn't even get mentioned until you see the photos.....

When this is just another normal night out with ANZA (I would hate to imagine Jakarta without ANZA - you need to be with other people from your own culture at least once a month - it's good therapy)......


Where great friendships are made and exciting adventures are undertaken (Sentosa - Singapore - long weekend in May 2009).....

When a visit to the zoo makes the kids beg to never return - and a photo is sent to an animal rescue program (ok - won't miss the zoo - but still miss these kids)......

When this becomes an acceptable toilet (Barito river - Borneo 2010).

We are still awaiting Mt Merapi to give a big blast - Australia is not reporting anything and the only world media covered was while Obama was coming/here/just leaving. Guess 300,000 people displaced is not really a big news item.

Mr Obama - I would have voted for you if I could have and I love that you are doing your bit to save the world without a care of being voted in for a second term. But your visit to Jakarta caused my normal Wed morning trip to work to be extended from 40 minutes to just over 2 hours - and the last 15 minutes was spent walking 300 m (otherwise it would have been another 1/2 hour) - where I counted 63 motorbikes coming towards me on the footpath (yes - very lucky all were coming towards me and none were coming from behind). Unfortunately I felt it my obligation to pass on my english language - where I had to yell / gesture wildly along the lines of - "this is a footpath - get off you "@****#&LF." Definitely a fine example of showing restraint - you have no idea how much you want to not TRY to push a motorbike rider over. Such satisfaction will never be achieved - but I am sure it would be VERY satisfying.

Don't judge unless you have experienced it - and if you do experience it and don't get fustrated - what is your secret.

Won't be missing the traffic. Still got another 33 days. 10 days of going to work.

Conundrum

Not sure if this is a conundrum the world over or is specific to a place like Jakarta where families in far flung villages are being supported by working children in big cities.

We have 4 staff that we spend an awful lot of time with. They all speak varying degrees of english, and we get by with zero bahasa, so the varying degrees range from moderate to excellent (not complaining about this, but if they didn't know english we would have been forced to learn more bahasa - we have been spoilt in the true sense of the word).

Now for the most part, I really like my staff. Two of them I like 99.99% of the time, two are similar ages to me and we have about 1 week a month where there is a bit of tension, but it resolves itself and we go on for another 3 weeks of getting along fine (headstrong x 3 does not always work). Either way - we are lucky to have them and that's why after 3 years we have no intention of living here without them - they do their job well. Life with staff is much easier than life without them.

That said, we do enjoy staff free time as it feels different (like we are on our best behaviour when there is someone who is not family with us) - we enjoy breakfast, dinner time and Sundays when we are Staff free. We still appreciate that everything has been done and we can go to school/work on monday with the house looking like chaos and know that it will be pristine by the time we get home. We also love the very occasional car trip where it's just our family, but that doesn't mean that we don't appreciate having a driver - who weaves through traffic, tries shortcuts (I ride shotgun with a map) and avoids motorbikes and gets the family around safely. We also enjoy our holidays that are also - just us, as we will never, ever take anyone with us - they don't want to spend a night away from their family, we aren't going to ask them to.

Anyway - back to my Conundrum. My Nanny is a 23 year old married mother with a two year old. She works very hard 6 days a week and I would not hesitate to name her "worker of the week," every week (and she does so without complaint).

On Saturday she asked for a loan for what is essentially one months salary so that she can buy a handphone for her 14 year old brother. He is in 9th grade and isn't going to school or sleeping at home. He has told her that he will not go to school until he a) gets a motorbike or b) a cool handphone. The culture of Indonesia is such that she sends a lot of money home to her family to look after them (they live in her village 100's of km from Jakarta and there is no old age pension, so adult kids help parents). Her brother refuses to go to school until he recieves this phone - he has missed one month so far.

So - what do I do? The issue isn't the money itself, it's that she works so hard for her money, and this 14 year old is blackmailing her with his own future. I was open mouthed in shock when she told me. She has told him that what he is asking is unfair, she has told him that he is being selfish. But he will not go to school (or sleep at home) until this phone is delivered to him. His own future..... not as important as a hand phone. He has two parents - but she is the one wanting him to complete high school.

I have told her she could have the loan (I don't want him not going to school again to be my fault). But I have asked her to tell him - if he misses one day of school - phone gone for a week. If he misses school for a week - phone gone forever....... but I seriously doubt this will implemented.

Can you think of a smarter, more useful solution? I feel terrible that she is being forced to spend a whole months salary on this. A signed contract saying that he will go to school and if he misses one week she gets the phone back, sounds like a solution, but isn't going to be monitored, so won't work - I am absolutely not buying a handphone for her little brother - I just do not want to open myself to buying it myself- the staff have 7 children and who knows how many sisters/brothers. Yes, I want to help the children of Indonesia - but this isn't what I was meaning.

Please - creative solutions are welcome, but they can't be complicated. Fire away

Farewells to friends

We've had very emotional week. While we were away our very best friends (who we could drop in on at any time and who organised 100% of our non school socialising) moved into our house after their furniture was packed.

We got home from holiday on Saturday morning totally jet lagged and unable to sleep at night, but with our friends staying with us.

We really made the most of the week. I spent Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with Jen. The kids missed school on Monday and Friday (for extra play time). Everyone had tears in their eyes these photos.

One last Jenny pose (for a few months anyway). You've got to admit - the Jenny pose does work well. Unfortunately this is part of living as an expat. It hurts like a pain in the chest, but friends in these places are so precious and so a part of surviving (and thriving), it would be horrible to not have such great friends to start off with.

Idul Fitri

G'day,

Been back in country for the last 5 weeks - time for another holiday.

This one is the most deserved of the entire year.

We have ENDURED 3 1/2 weeks of 90% of the population fasting from 4:30am - 6pm every day. That's right - every day. No food, no drink, no cigerettes (as if).

Do you know how much energy people have at the moment? That's right - NONE. Like an empty duracel battery........everyone is flat.

Whereas you might have a reliable driver who turns up on time and takes you somewhere, now you have a driver who arrives late, is tired all day (because you have to get up at 3:30 to eat), gets really confused and although - he doesn't fall asleep - he is a bit doppy this month (no food does that even to the best of people).

Same goes for everyone around you - office boy, security, nanny, gardener (the other day I opened our gates because the security man was praying (fair enough) and the gardener was sound asleep - ssshhh wouldn't want to wake him while our garden dies from neglect.

Anyway - believe it or not - that isn't the worst of it.

I usually leave work at 5. I usually get home just before 6. During Ramadan I get home between 6:30 - 7 (last night I walked the last 1km and beat the driver by 10 minutes).

Everyone is trying to get home so they can eat - fair enough I know. But it makes what is normally bad traffic - impossible traffic. Like - stand still and not move (J got out and stood in front of oncoming traffic the other day, we had been stuck trying to go through it to the other side, cars just kept ignoring us.

LUCKY for me - I worked Monday and Tuesday and I am now officially OVER IT.

Best part - I got through it. By this time the last 2 years I was ready to kill someone, this time - I'm calm and collected.

Going on holidays (along with the rest of Jakarta) very soon. By CAR believe it or not. We are planning on leaving at 4am to avoid traffic. Wish us luck.

The following two photos are why the youngest in our family are collectively known as the "monsters". First photo is after silence fell on our house one saturday afternoon in Australia (they used all of C girls makeup she had been given for her birthday (there is a god).

On our last trip to Aus, they wore these masks for about 3 hours at seaworld. Note the distance that C girl is sitting away from them?????