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lerato
Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 2
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Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:26 pm Post subject: Jakarta |
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I'm getting ready to move to Jakarta for my first ESL job
Does anyone have any experience of living and working in J? (hopefully positive!).
Also, what is one really important thing I should take?! Maybe a
rain poncho, books, tapes... ? Maybe even marmite? |
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Chester
Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 383 Location: Australia
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 5:26 am Post subject: Bring to Jakarta |
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Its really a personal thing.
I taught in Korea and Thailand (out of Australia) before coming to Jakarta. The best thing I brought is a couple of CD wallets, packed with over 100 of my favorite cd's. throw them in the suitcase, takes up very little space, but a CD/VCD player from the department store here - real cheap. lots of pirate cd's as in thailand, but not a great selection and the plastic quality is poor, so they may not last. if you take medication like anti-depressants its a good idea to bring it with you in a big supply 'cause its expensive in Jakarta. if you take anti-ageing hormones or viagara, the opposite is so.
I find it possible to get anything i need as far as consumables are concerned. its not as cheap as some places i have lived, but the selection of western foods and products is really great and affordable. it just takes a hell of a long time getting to a department store in dense traffic. it really would be faster to walk in jakarta most times, except the sidewalks are crammed with crappy eateries and junk.
indonesian people are cool, just take care at night in poorer areas. the air is disgusting and garbage everywhere. you will make some great friends and find that there is something about Indonesia that draws you in. if and when yoy leave, you will want to return. |
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El Llama
Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Posts: 70 Location: The Big Durian
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:07 am Post subject: |
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BRING MARMITE! And if you do, can I have some? You can get vegemite here but (at the risk of offending my antipodean cousins) it is greatly inferior.
On the more practical side, yeah some sort of waterproof would be useful - when it rains here, it really rains. Bring lightweight clothes coz when it's not raining it's hot and sweaty. That said, you can buy those things here, and at a fraction of the cost that you'd pay back home.
A basic Bahasa Indonesia phrasebook is worth its weight in gold in those first couple of months. (By the way, is your school going to give you any language lessons?) I can recommend the Rough Guide phrasebook/mini dictionary.
But above all (El Llama assumes the lotus position) bring an open mind. Things are going to be very different here but hey, that's probably why you're coming half way across the globe in the first place. Good luck and have fun.
El Llama. |
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Winmar
Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 125 Location: Melbourne
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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Don't take too much at all. You'll buy loads of stuff there, so you might as well leave room in your bags to take it home again when you leave! |
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