Random thoughts: Initial reactions to culture shock

August 30th
Jesse

So we are settled in Jogja and just spent last night in our new place fending off lizards, frogs, ants, and firebrats. Then the power went out... and the noises got louder...  But that's another post for another day. For now here is a collection of random thoughts I've put together since being here. Enjoy.

-I've seen like five people wearing Agnostic Front shirts. As in the obscure punk band. I only ever saw like two in Canada. But they always wear English shirts they have no idea about. Or shirts that say 'Rocking Gear Funky Town Cool Gang' or something like that.

- There are stray cats and chickens everywhere. There were dogs all over Bali but I haven't seen any in Jogja.

-I've heard the song "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith about 40 times since I've been here.

-The devotion to religion is outstanding. The sung prayers come out of every nook and cranny of the city throughout the day. It's actually not surprising that they are really good singers since they practice 5 times per day. Many buildings have loud speakers set up 50 feet in the air that project the prayers far and wide.  One of the songs kinda sounds like that "Got my head in a cage, Feel like I'm twice my age..." song.

-Best signs we've seen so far: "F-R-I-E-N-D-S RESTAURANT, eat your food not your friends." "WHATEVER PERFUME" and "JACKASS PENGUINS" at the zoo.

- I was prepared for poverty and though there is certainly poverty, I'm not sure that's exactly how I would describe my overall impression now that I'm here. There is so much stuff (some of it quite nice) everywhere it's hard to imagine people being poor.  Everyone seems to own a small business and three scooters at least. The cars for the most part are on par with Canadian cars or maybe even a bit nicer on average. So I don't think poverty is the main problem. The infrastructure and overpopulation are the glaring in-your-face factors here. The infrastructure is abysmal, it's actually really impressive the way the Indonesian people take matters into their own hands but there's only so much they can do. If you are out on a walk and smell sewage you know that there is a huge hole in the sidewalk somewhere close. And when I say sidewalk I mean the 2 feet of road pedestrians can feel confident that scooters and cars will swerve out of their way if someone happens to be walking. And no I did not say they would slow down.

-Speaking of small businesses, I have no idea how the economy works here. I've seen more small shops (Warungs) than residential houses by about a two to one ratio. There are about 50 shops per city block. I don't know what kind of role credit plays here but I can't imagine it's huge, so how did everyone manage to put together these shops with all this merchandise that they are literally selling for pennies?

-The breadth and depth of these shops is insane. I've seen a half dozen chandelier shops since I've been here, roadside stands that sell nothing but fans, birdcage stores, there are custom stamp shops everywhere (my teacher said it's because everyone wants to seem more legit than they actually are) and then there are fruit stands with all the types of fruit, fruit stands that specialize in juice, fruit stands that make fruit shish kabobs and fruit stands for every individual type of fruit. In our cab one day I decided to count the number of sunglass stands outside the university. There were 21 identical sunglass stands side by side. How do they make money?

-One thing is for sure, their labour costs are not too high. I have not seen one shop yet that is understaffed. Most of the time shops and restaurants will have about 3 people working and about 9 or 10 standing around. It's cheaper to rent a car with a driver than it is to rent a car by itself. Every parking lot has an attendant or three. We will have a security guard at our house everyday from 7pm till 7am. I'm very curious how much they make for a days labour but I don't know how rude it would be to ask. I'm guessing it's well under 10$ a day.

-The kind of prices we're paying here range from about on par to 10% of Canadian prices. It really depends where you are. An entree at a fancy restaurant costs about $7 but you can buy your dinner from a little Warung for $0.90. It's just a matter of bravery. Jenn and I checked out the mall which was the most westernized place I've seen since we've been here. It cost pretty much the same as Canada.

-There was a guy on a bicycle moving two full sized couches on his back. Our host family was telling us those guys bike couches in from 10km out of town and people usually buy them because they feel bad. If the bikers don't sell them they have to bike them back.

-Traffic is absolutely insane. The only time anyone stops is at traffic lights, other than that it's just slow down and speed up. You see guys on scooters with 10 foot long 2x4s on their shoulders weaving in and out of traffic like it's nothing, going like 50. If you can make something work to your benefit you do it. Case and point we had a cabbie who was waiting for a traffic light and got a little impatient so he just went into the oncoming traffic lane and waited there. He then drove in front of an entire line of cars as soon as the light turned. The funny thing is as soon as he did that every car behind him followed so it basically became a one way street for about 90 seconds except oncoming traffic didn't slow down at all.

-I'm finding I'm actually doing well on the scooter because the basic idea is that everyone drives like an asshole but they also respect and accept that they are surrounded by assholes. So basically you are allowed to do whatever you want whenever you want. The thing with Canadians is they try so hard not to be assholes but then when someone else drives like an asshole they overreact and start driving like assholes. So we're all traffic assholes, Canadians are just angry about it.

-Other than the traffic, I have not felt any sense of danger or the slightest bit unwelcome whatsoever at any point this whole trip. Even the most hardcore looking tattooed badasses greet us with giant smiles making silly faces at Benny.

Hong Kong to Bali Photos

13 hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong makes for a tired Benny...

...and a tired Mama.

Watching the planes go by outside our window in HKG

HK airport getting ready to do it again! We are thrilled. Next stop: Bali!

Arrived at our hotel: Febri's in Kuta, Bali. Jet lag in full force.

Kuta Beach, it's a shame such a beautiful place is polluted with so much trash, really makes me appreciate how clean we live on V.Island.

The days of sneaking into resorts for skinny dipping are behind us, now we sneak in to use their playgrounds.

Benny might be able to get used to it in Bali after all

yah, I think we'll do alright.

Jenn's side of the story.

August 20th, 2015
Yogyakarta (Jojga)
Jennifer

So I thought I would invite myself to contribute to Jesse's blog, mostly for your benefit, because Jesse seemed to do a lot of whining in his previous post--the trip to Indonesia was pretty exhausting and challenging, but it wasn't all that bad. I would definitely like to thank him for taking care of ALL of the diaper changes on our 13 hour flight to HK in the tiny little bathroom with the tiniest little change table that would even make Asian babies be like 'this is TOO small!'

I could also point out that I knew Jesse would be thanking me when he got off of the plane at what would have been 2am our time and all he had to do was walk across the airport to our hotel in HK rather than save the $50CAD and commute into the city with all of our luggage and a jet lagged toddler from hell just to turn around and do it again the next morning for another 5 hour flight..but no one likes an 'I told ya so'.

Adjusting to a new time zone reminds me of when I was like 20 and could stay up all night drinking vodka redbulls and chain smoking until the sun came up, but without out any of the fun and 2x the anxiety the next day. Add a toddler in the mix and you've got a nice prescription for Zoloft :) :(

Ok, but seriously, we have nearly recovered from jet lag so we have decided this trip was a good idea after all. Benny is a huge hit in Indonesia. We have paparazzi following us around giggling all day long so Benny is developing a bit of a complex. We actually had a young Asian girl pick Benny up at the mall today to pose in pictures with him while all of her friends pulled out their iPhones. When they were done I told her it was $50,000 Rupiahs, but they thought I was joking! Benny is a fantastic ice-breaker though, I highly recommend everyone to bring a blonde-haired, blue-eyed toddler with them when they visit SE Asia, it will make getting directions much easier.

So we are in the city of Yogyakarta, known as Jogja by the locals. I have to say we would not manage very well if it weren't for the help of our friends from Jesse's school UGM. Novi and Cahyo have been our lifesavers here in Jogja and I don't even care if Novi is only our friend because she has a huge baby crush on Benny, I actually think her exact words were "You should breed everyday!" and Jesse didn't hesitate to reply "Well it couldn't hurt to try!" But really, without them I would still be standing in the middle of the Indonesian grocery store being like "ok, so what do I do with this?!". They have helped us complete all of our immigration requirements, are helping us find a home, and have been huge sources of comfort for us when we are so immensely overwhelmed with culture shock, not to mention we would have been dead trying to cross the street about a dozen times without them. As soon as we find a place of our own I will have them over for a terrible homemade Nasi Goreng. I should also mention that our host family at our current home-stay, Andelis Homestay, is also incredible. They are super welcoming and have been so good to us with Benny. They have a daughter a few years older than Benny and it is so good for him to be able to connect with another little person and even though they don't understand each others' language they manage to be friends, children really are our teachers, aren't they?!

Showering in Indonesia is the worst. If you don't know what I am talking about, the showers here are just fixtures attached to the wall in the middle of the bathroom, there is no separate shower like you have at home (forget about a bathtub). So, when you go to have your shower you fill the entire bathroom full of water. Like really, how do they do it? Actually, most people don't I suppose, they just have that little pail next to the tap and give themselves a little rinse, like what you might do in the morning before the walk-of-shame with your shoes in your purse. I guess that's why they have that sign Jesse mentioned about washing your feet in the toilet.

Tonight we went to an Indonesian cultural festival just down the street from our house. The traditional Javanese dance and music was beautiful. We were the only 'bulai' there and the emcee didn't mind pointing us out on stage and saying something in Bahasa and then giggling with the crowd, but it probably wasn't about us... One of the dances was a Javanese healing ritual, the costumes were so colourful and the dance was so elegant, Benny was completely in awe of the entire experience, it was beautiful. I just wonder if the dance will heal traveller's diarrhea because dinner was only 90cents CAD and that worries me a little.

All kidding aside, our week in Indonesia has been a blessing and we are so grateful for this experience. We would like to thank our friends and family back home who supported us in any which way to make this trip possible and the people of Indonesia who have welcomed us into their country and into their lives with such generosity and hospitality -- we are so thrilled to immerse ourselves in your culture, to learn your language, to eat your delicious food, and to become your friends.

Selamat Malam!

Jenn

Making It Out Alive

Monday August 11-Wednesday August 13th
Vancouver/Hong Kong/Bali/
Jesse

First post of the trip!

I decided to start a blog detailing our Indonesian trip so I don't have to worry about my Facebook updates competing with people complaining about people who complain too much or memes about dogshit. It's 8:30pm in Yogyakarta right now and probably the latest I've been awake all trip. This is not as lame as it sounds because Benny started the trip waking up for the day at around 2 am and is finally back in a decent rhythm.

I'll be adding photos as I go but I'll start with the trip over though I'd kinda rather forget it. It was like having to make small talk with a client you hate that owes you money... for 72 hours. Add in the fact that I had a 30 pound, intermittently-screaming human being hanging off my neck the entire time and you get the idea. I would just like to take a second and thank Jenn for all of her work on the logistics of this trip. She packed all the bags, sorted all the Visas, and booked all the hotels and flights. I helped by telling her she was spending too much money every chance I got but she pretty much knocked the ball out of the park.

So the trip started after a frantic last minute packing session/guitar lesson/dentist appointment. We hit the 3 pm boat to Vancouver and crashed with Dr. John Maile at his beautiful home. This was by far the best part of our commute as he made us some amazing puttanesca and told us about his travels around the world including Yogyakarta. Benny was much too excited to sleep more than 2 hours though so we stayed up all night not partying.

Then came the big flight. We arrived at YVR at 10am on Tuesday and spent the next 18 hours in lineups, in other lineups, finding new configurations to carry our 7 pieces of luggage plus Benny, in more lineups, in close quarters in a dimly lit flying cylinder with 300 other peoples whose listless eyes were lit up only by mediocre movies on the tiny screens before them (although Rango is badass), trying every technique we could to make a toddler sit quietly, giving up on life and allowing Benny full reign over the airplane because I got to the point that I don't give a fuck what the Mandarin word for 'bad parent' is,  finally getting off the plane, collecting our 7 pieces of luggage from various lines checking in to a Hong Kong hotel for 8 hours and then starting the whole process over!

HKG is the by far the nicest airport I've ever seen and is likely among the best and most well-run airports in the world. It was basically West Edmonton Mall but less animal cruelty. The number of Asians/crappy cartoon statues was right on par though. We also used our first cheap ass traveller trick as the only restaurant open at 6am (we were up since 2) was trying to charge $50 CAD for the buffet. So Jenn got the buffet, I ordered a single egg and all three of us ate like kings. Before you get all judgy, we also ordered Benny a milk from room service: $9.60 CAD. Who's the real criminals?

I can barely remember the flight to Bali because it was physically painful. We were all dead inside and Benny was not happy at all. Well he was happy at times but at those times he was REALLY happy. Like scary happy. Like Jim Carrey happy. The kind of happy that don't last. So that was painful.

We landed in Bali to a couple dozen cab drivers harassing us and an overwhelming smell of everything that has ever died on earth. We tried to appreciate some of the beautiful art at the airport but quickly realized that making fun of everyone was way more fun. There was a little 'do's and don't's' instruction manual next to the toilet: apparently you are not supposed to wash your feet in the toilet bowl or shit while standing balanced on the seat like a tightrope walker. At least, I assume they would happen in that order.

So we overpaid for a cab to take us into our hotel. That first venture into an third world city in a severely sleep deprived state was not something I can say I liked or disliked. It was just weird. At our hotel we struggled to keep our eyes open as we enjoyed some mispronounced live music while waiting for our room. When we finally got our key and unpacked the most important things and built Benny's crib believe me when I say we PASSED THE FUCK OUT... (until Benny woke up at 2 am.)