Job Discussion Forums

[BlackKnight]

Hey Mazzer/Baybule

I too will be making my way over to Surabaya in the near future (fingers crossed) any advice on what to expect as this is my first TEFL job and first time living abroad?

Mazzer how have you found working with EF and your life outside work?

Anything to bring that you can't get locally there?

[mazzer]

Dear Blackknight

My partner and I found living in Surabaya very difficult as did many of the other teachers we worked with. Working for EF was fine and the other teachers lovely and very helpful. However I would say the general consensus was that everybody wished that they were teaching elsewhere.

I would look to work in other areas of Indonesia. however if working for EF try to get as much info about that particular franchise as possible as there are some real dodgy operators out there.

Also be aware that you know have to pay 2.5 million rupiah if you want to leave Indonesia ( that's about �180 or 250 dollars) as well as paying a further 700 thousand rupiah (70 dollars) for an exit visa if you want to go outside of Indoensia while your visa is active.

My partner and I are did not finish our contract and left early. We are very happy to be away from Surabaya. The city is a concrete jungle full of ridiculously large shopping malls, no museums, no galleries, no parks, no culture, not much in the way of bars. if you like shopping then you could be very happy there.

I would recommend Yogajakarta we loved it there, Jakarta in Java or perhaps somewhere in Sumatra or Kalimantan.

I have travelled and taught in places all over the world and Surabaya is the only place I didn't enjoy being in.

Do some research and make sure you feel it's the right place for you before going.

I hope I haven't sounded too negative but I wish someone had written something like this to me before we went.

[Vertumnus]

Mazzer, thanks for the heads up. A colleague of mine had visited there and disliked it, but I put it off as just one opinion. It certainly doesn't sound like a nice place!

FYI - you only have to pay the 2.5mil FISKAL if you fall into certain categories. If you work here, make sure you have an NPWP card. When you are getting ready to go to your gate, there's a window/stand where you get exempted from the FISKAL tax. After that, you can pass through the FISKAL gate with no hassles (unless they're corrupt). I did that recently and they just looked at the exemption stamp and let me through.

The NPWP is yours to keep when you leave your employer. It is specific to you, not your sponsor, but you need to make a copy of it for your next employer so they can pay taxes under the NPWP number you have.

There was a thread about the NPWP back in, I think, January, and I posted some details about who is exempt from the FISKAL, etc. Check it out...

-D

[pPamela]

Hi,
There is a guy who posts on Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Indonesia forum and he taught English in Surabaya and enjoyed doing so.
Why not join this forum and do a search for timdog and send him a Private Message and ask him. He is a very helpful chap.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=23&keywordid=95
Pamela. ( loves Indonesia, but have never taught just travelled there 8 times in last 12 yrs.)

[gwbusan]

Hello everyone,

Im working for EF in Surabaya and worked with Mazzer so I hope to shed a little more light on the very unfair comments she has made. The people at the school where she worked all with no exceptions think her comments did not at all reflect their feelings. In her comments she takes pride in the fact that she did not finish her contract. That alone should say something about the kind of people her and her boyfriend are. It doesnt seem to matter to her that their leaving in the way they did has caused other teachers to have more work. The ownership here are so open and kind but people like Mazzer and her partner make it more difficult for them to be so free with financial help as they lose money every time somone does this cowardly act and run away without fulfilling their obligations. Sure Surabaya isnt Paris or some of the most exciting places in the world but it sure isnt the armpit of the world either as Mazzer would have you all believe. Their are some very nice malls here but not these huge malls she has said. Got to Manila to the Mall of Asia if you want to see big or Minnesota to the Mall of America or even The West Edmonton Mall in Canada is maybe 5 times bigger than the biggest mall in Surabaya. It is very central to many interesting places which you have ample time to visit with the generous vacation time. A total of 6 weeks for your first year here is not so bad. Go to work in Korea an see what you get as an English teacher. I worked there for 6 years so I know that ist 10 days and not your choice of when you get them. To sum it up, her comments are simply way overexaggerated and a lot of them just totally not true. I welcome any rebuttal to this or comments from anyone who really wants to know more about EF Surabaya and the area from an honest perspective.

[bayabule]

Wow, I had completely forgotten that'd I'd ever replied to this post and have just stumbled upon it by chance after having left Sby several months ago. Sorry to hear that Mazzer and partner didn't make it. On the other hand I completely agree with gwbusan, not finishing a contract is so irresponsible and unfair on the colleagues who have made time to welcome and support you. In my years there I and my colleagues have also a few times unfortunately had to take on extra hours to cover for a new teacher who suddenly upped and left. It's especially depressing when you've all spent lots of time helping and getting to know that person.
Don't go to Surabaya if you're expecting a tropical paradise, because the slightest amount of research will tell you it isn't, so don't waste people's time and the school's money. This is also why the salaries and conditions are better in Sby than elsewhere in Indonesia. If however, you're up for a challenge and the exciting aspect of living in a proper Asian city then go for it. The thing I always loved about Sby was that the people saw a bule and said 'hello' and offered help rather than immediately calculated how much money they could get out of you - something I experienced in many other (lovely) parts of Indonesia.
For me the main issue was always, 'as long as I'm happy with my job, I'm good' and I always was. If you take the time, you can find so many fascinating things about Surabaya. Sure, there's no opera house (and when was THAT ever part of Asian culture? if you want operas and art galleries go to Prague with the other wannabe beatniks) but there are hundreds of cultural things happening all over the place if you just take the time to find out about them. Sadly they are not handed to you on a plate. Surabaya is a city where you need to make friends (not hard since folk are so open) and get to know the place. Then on your holidays you go to elsewhere and get to know the country.
I'm not sure about this new fiskal as I left just as it was coming in but as far as I know my old school was paying it for teachers once a year which is exactly the same as they were doing for the old 1mil fiskal before. Indonesia is such a huge diverse country that it's not exactly a hardship to have to spend 3 out of 4 of your holidays there. There are thousands of amazing places to visit - I was there 8 years and regret that there are so many palces I didn't make it to.
Also, re: Timdog on Lonely Planet. I know him personally and he's a great writer. He also has a fantastic blog which is proof that a little bit of open-mindedness and ingenuity goes a long way in finding the vibrant hidden life of Surabaya and Indonesia. http://tahannigan.blogspot.com/
Good luck to anyone heading to Surabaya, you'll either love it or hate it but at least the jobs are good!