First Impressions

This is what the boys think house hunting is: “There are lots of little houses running all over Jakarta and Mummy has to go out with a bow and arrow or a sword and shoot one in the heart and then we can live in it.” (This little nugget was from Kieran, although I suspect that Richard had something to do with it.)

I have been house hunting for over a week now, and there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.  After three relocations, we not only have our requirements list down pat, we also have a healthy sense of perspective – I could live anywhere for three years, as long as there are plenty of kids round the corner. The other important factor, due to traffic conditions in Jakarta, is that the house be close to both Richard’s work place and the boys’ school. Thankfully, there has been a large selection of houses to look at, and for the first ever time, we may even have our own personal swimming pool (many houses here do - even the ones in compounds).

The other no-brainer is our ‘to do’ list; items I have ticked off so far include: (in order or priority) getting the kids into school, joining the local expat association, signing up for lessons in Bahasa Indonesia, getting an internet connection, opening a bank account  and buying a fascinator to wear to the Melbourne Cup next month. (Items outstanding: getting a driving licence, finding a maid, joining a nice country club, actually learning to speak Bahasa, and not getting too drunk on champagne at the Cup...)

I’ve been asked whether I prefer Jakarta to Dar; the obvious answer is that it is far too early to tell. The most obvious difference are the differences between a small town and large city – there’s a lot more traffic, huge shopping malls (the kids are in consumer heaven) and you get the sense that, having been made welcome, you will be left to get on with it.  The expats are scattered all over the city, so less tightly knit. You can go into the shops and not know a single person there (an experience usually limited to holidays in the UK). 

The other change, and a nice one, is Not Having To Do It All By Oneself. Richard’s company have been really good about providing help (right down to conducting the negotiations on the above-mentioned houses) and, used as I am to doing it all, it was quite a treat to find that the more mundane facts of life such as visas, licences, drivers, and even a temporary maid were all taken care of. In fact, on day one, we arrived to find a fully stocked fridge, toiletries in the bathroom, and cartoon-themed towels and bedding for the boys – someone really did think of everything!

Food shopping is proving to be a bit of a challenge  at the moment, though. I generally pride myself on ‘going local’ as soon as possible. Oddly though, local fruit and veg seem quite hard to find; so far we have been mostly eating imported potatoes, imported bananas, imported carrots, imported peppers, and I even saw an imported papaya in the hypermarket the other day.  I have no idea why this is so (although I did buy some domestic carrots eventually – bit of a mistake), since I assume the climate isn’t the problem. All I can think of is that perhaps things like carrots and potatoes aren’t really native to these parts (when did you last see a potato in chinese cooking?) so perhaps it’s not worth growing them for the few that want it. That argument doesn’t work with the fruit of course, although when I did venture out to a local pasar (road-side market) to try to buy a non-imported papaya, negotiations broke down due to my lack of Bahasa.

And of course, there is the weather. While it’s mostly like Dar es Salaam (ie, hot and humid), the wet season is a lot more WET. It has simply chucked it down at around 4pm most days, heavy enough even for a rain-loving person like me.  We’ve had a couple of thunderstorms, which had the boys huddling close to me on the sofa. (Rohan has since decided he’s going to pretend they are simply a fleet of aeroplanes flying overhead.) I’m looking forward to the time when we are all able resume our favourite past time of dancing in the rains.

All in all, it has been a good fortnight here in Jakarta. The boys appear to be settling in at school, as is Richard at his work, and I’m learning my way around South Jakarta (the little bit which we inhabit). I’ve been to a few coffee mornings, made a few friends, and even found time to start this blog.

Now...if only I could learn how to say ‘vegetables’ in Bahasa...