Job Discussion Forums

notsua · Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Indonesia

Is there anybody on this forum who is or has worked in Medan? I've worked here for about a month and want to know how other foreign teachers find it here.

kubulka · Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Posts: 14

How do you find it there, notsua?

I might land there in a few month, could you perhaps tell me a bit about that place?

Joachim · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 311 Location: Brighton, UK

Medan is such a dump!

It's a pity as some of the nearby places - Danau Toba and Bukit Lawang spring to mind - are absolutley amazing.

My first instinct of Medan was that i wanted to get right back on the plane and leave - smelly, noisy, polluted eyesore.

I can't imagine that teaching there would be much fun either, especially considering one or two of the teachers I know to be there.

Winmar · Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 125 Location: Melbourne

I just spent a few days in Medan, but didn't find it too bad. I don't know what Bukit Lawang is like these days, after the floods.

Smooth Operator · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 140 Location: Japan

Well Medan certainly gets a bad rep. from many people but in the couple of times I've visited there (1998 and 2002) I didn't think it was so bad. The locals are friendly and the foreigners I met living there seemed to enjoy it. It has a bit of a strange atmosphere though, and it's not a pretty place, but not the worst city in Asia, by any means. It could be an interesting experience for 6 months or a year but it's not for everyone...

Bedevilled · Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:20 am Post subject:

I've just re-signed my contract in Medan for another year. It has more to do with the school where I'm now teaching than the city itself, but if it was as bad as some people seem to suggest, I wouldn't have. It's got its own charm. Don't come here expecting it to be like home because it's not.

You need to have some patience and do yourself the favour and try to learn the language... it goes a long way. You will be infinitely more well received. I really don't mind Medan, It's not a place I'd want to settle down and live forever, but I'm having a good time here.

As to Bukit Lawang; they are attempting to rebuild despite the fact that the funding they were promised by the government never came. There are a few guest houses now and you can go see the orangutans and go trekking. If you've been there before the floods, dont' go back expecting that it will ever be like that again. Indeed the end of an era.

phis · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 250

Joachim, you are doing your usual thing of 'dumping' on places and things you have no experience of. Have you lived and worked in Medan? What is the longest period you have stayed here?

If anyone is passing through Medan, you will not get a true feeling for the place. If you can stay for more than a week you will start to realise what a wonderful place it really is.

The local government is making a big effort to clean up the city. I have been here for almost 2 and a half years, and the changes are incredible.

DON'T KNOCK WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW!

phis · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 250

Joachim · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 311 Location: Brighton, UK

Phis,

Other than a tourist, my experience of Medan is from childhood actually when we lived there for 18 months (before heading to Singapore for medical treatment).

So no I have never taught there, but I was in the region traveling for four months earlier this year. My warning about teachers (and please remember that this is an OLD post that has just been resurrected) referred to you, exclusively. You are a very unstable person who should not be in a position of authority.

Toodles.

phis · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 250

You're not a child now.