Job Discussion Forums

scuba066 · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 34

I am curious how common this style of house is in Indonesia. Maybe just in Bali? I don't know. If not, could others add pictures or videos of typical homes in other parts of Indonesia that fall into a ESL teachers budget. Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fYNihkF5mg

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha

actually. that looks like a kost...... in which he only rents the bedroom and all other areas are public areas........... areas used by other residents and their guests. some places allow u to use the kitchen, others dont.

honestly...... dude, why dont u tell us what part of indonesia u are going to live in and what your salary is? then prehaps we could help. if u are working at a language mill like EF, housing will be included. If u get a housing stipend, most likely you would have to live in a kost or get roommates to rent a house.

seriously, it is like me posting a video and asking if this is a typical house in australian on regular worker's salary. both vary so much from city to city and job to job that it is an impossible question to answer.

maybe look in lonely planet or u can google houses/rooms for rent on indonesia websites such as 123.com thought these tend to be a little overpriced and are targeting wealthier indoneisans/expats. also try expat.org but again these are the higher end of the market.

being more specific might get you the answers to your questions.

scuba066 · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 34

Well Dude,
I do not know where I will be living in Indonesia or who I will be working for. Also, I have looked on other sites like you suggested and I have only found high end houses and apartments.
Is it a narrowly defined question? No. However, I did mention within an ESL teachers price range. So, this does provide a ballpark of 8 - 15 million / month. With that information, I was hoping people would respond with information about there area. I do not think that is unreasonable. I would be able to provide this information for the area I live in.
You did provide new information to me. I had no idea what a kost may look like. Thanks. Please do not be concerned however, I do not expect every kost throughout Indonesia to look exactly like this one.
I am excited about moving to Indonesia and teaching english. I am just trying to get a feel for life in Indonesia.
Like I said, thank you for the information. I do not mind constructive criticism, however, in the future, if you can't drop the sarcasm, please skip my post.
Oh, I almost forgot,
hahahahahahahahahahaha.

chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

As travelnteach stated it really is hard to give you a ball park figure as to the cost of housing. It all depends on where you live.

To give you an idea of houses these are ones I've lived in.

When I worked for EF many moons ago housing was provided. Wasn't the best but it was OK for a year.

When I lived in Medan I lived in a number of different houses. I lived in a house share with friends for a while where I only paid 3/4 million a year (can't quite remember). This was right in the centre of town. Then I lived in a nice 2 bedroom house about 20 minutes from the centre. I paid 8million a year for a partly furnished house.

The last house I lived in was a 3 bedroom house on a Complex. The complex had reasonable facilities with sport courts and a swimming pool. This cost 10.5 million in 2008.

All of these houses were rented whilst on a ESL salary.

However if you're living in Jakarta the prices are far more. It varies widely from city to city. So once you know where you'll be living people will be able to give you better advice. Smile

scuba066 · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 34

Thanks chezal. The open floor plan and the compound arrangement, is that common throughout Indonesia or is that more of a Bali thing? I find it interesting how a/c is limited to the bedrooms and the rest of the living area is open to the elements.

chezal · Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 146

It really depends on the house. The house share I lived in was more like you described however the others weren't.

It is common for the houses only to have A.C in the bedrooms though. This is probably due to the layout of the houses. My living rooms have all been quite open planned so you would be trying to cool a lot of space that isn't necessary. Where as the bedroom is all enclosed. I always opened all the windows and had a strong fan in my living room.

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

dude, dont be so thin skinned. you'll never make it as a teacher or adapt to life in another country with an attitude like that. there wasnt any sarcasm, merely facts. if u cant admit that u made a mistake and the question was poorly thought out, then that is your problem. there have been tons of threads here talking about the pricing of housing. but seriously, why should anyone respond about their particular city if u have no intention of living in that city? huge waste of time. i could give u living costs in malang, surababa, semarang, bandung, yogya, batam and jakarta. why should i bother writing all this info if u are not going to live in any of those cities? jakarta is a huge city and housing varies widely depending on what part of the city you will be living. not an unreasonable request from me to ask you to narrow down the list before we reply. actually u dont even have a job, so a little like putting the cart before the horse.

chezal was nice enough to give you a run down of housing in medan, but what if u have no intention of living there? he wasted his time. I guess that is why u didnt bother to tell me about housing options and costs in your area.

also, u give a huge salary range....... from 8-15 million. by the way, esl teachers make from 3 to 30 million depending on the city and type of school they work at, so even that part of your question wasnt useful. again your housing choices would depend on whether u were at the bottom or top of that scale. also, do u have bills to pay back home? ie credit cards and/or student loans. What is your lifestyle like? how much do u want to save? do u want to live near your school or willing to travel to get a better housing deal? Is traffic a problem? are u able to live a backpacker lifestyle or do u need ac, hot water, cable tv, etc. also, are u a light sleeper? will morning prayers bother you? people walking up and down the street selling things at all hours? gated community? amenities?

if u read thru the posts, people are quite happy to share information. it woud be nice if posters thought a little more carefully about their questions before posting. i have personally gone out and found housing for several people moving to indonesia. come up with a real life situation, not a pretend scenerio, and i will be happy to give you whatever information i can, including visiting places and getting prices and numbers if u are moving to jakarta

scuba066 · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 34

If you don't like the post, then skip it.

Yes, the question is broad. However, I think it has value, especially to those of us on the outside looking in. I am hoping current and past teachers in Indonesia will provide a description and maybe some pictures of their accommodations while teaching in Indonesia. I have read many post on this site and other Indonesian sites. I have found information regarding cost, but, very few photos or descriptions. I thought it would be fun and informative.

It is funny, had you spent the same amount of effort and verbiage answering my post as you did complaining about it, the broad topic would have been covered quite well.

Thin skinned? Say what you will. I just prefer a little civility. Too often, people use the anonymity of the net to behave badly. It gets annoying.

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

if u dont like my replies, then just skip them.hahahaha

at least i live here and i am a real teacher, not some guy with fanciful dreams because i want to scuba dive

seriously, do u know how many people come one here and post every year because they have this fantasy in their heads of living abroad in an exotic locataion as a surfer/scuba diver/international traveller finding enchanting partners along the way? but they either get cold feet and do nothing or the reality of working for mediocore wages smacks them in the face and they realize it is easier to vacation in these places than live there. this is a board by teachers for teachers. we willingly help out newbies.

if u are serious, take a lesson from graham. get on a plane, take your CELTA at TBI and get a job. he already gave u all the information u need to do it.

so far we know that u have done a lot of research, even to the point of noticing male teachers clothes. research is good as long as it is followed by action. do u have a degree? over 26? have you signed up for your CELTA? anything at all? work or teaching experience? how many schools have u sent your resume to? have u even filled out 1 application? when u get a real job and can ask specific questions, i am sure everyone, myself included, will be more that happy to help u in every way possible. if your question had that much value, why havent u received any other replies.

just because i point out the shortcomings of your question doesnt mean that i am being uncivil or behaving badly using the anonymity of the internet. and u also took offense to the term " taking the piss". I doubt that u have the disposition to live and work abroad. living in a foreign country takes a lot of patience, flexibility, acceptance and tolerance. u cant expect people to talk and act like they do in your hometown. u are the one that must adapt and change. and u need to be super patient and easy-going when dealing with your students. there are other ways to travel and dive. Perhaps getting your diving instructor license and working at club med would be an attractive alternative. it was a dumb questoin, get over it. stop acting so spoilt and childish. yes, now i am uncivil and like an internet bully.

scuba066 · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 34

LOL, you are hilarious. So much energy spent on a post you take offense to. I bet people like to get a couple of beers in you and watch you go, kinda like a windup bobble head.

Now you attack my motives for wanting to teach while knowing very very little about me.

And, you do all this while extolling the values of acceptance, tolerance, patience and flexibility. Quite amusing.

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

yes i am really enjoying this discussion as well. so many buttons to push and so little time. lol

phis · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 250

You're going way over the top on this thread tNt. Your posts here aren't demonstrating 'patience, flexibility, acceptance or tolerance'.

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

thanks for your input phis. if the question was valid, why didnt u reply and put up videos of your house? i was patient and tried to be helpful the first couple of replies, but when someone insists on defending their position i have a right to defend my position. nothing i said was incorrect or out of line, except for saying it was a dumb question, which is true. if that is going over the top, then guilty as charged. but it is kinda like the pot calling the kettle black isnt it? i have read a few opinionated, terse responses from you as well.

phis · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 250

I didn't input because I didn't find anything of interest in the topic.... and because I had nothing useful to add. I read most of the threads here, but I don't feel the need to contribute to all of them.

I agree with some of what you said... but you said it all in your first response. Why belabour the point after that? Your subsequent responses didn't add anything else useful to the discussion, but rather, just became more and more over the top (and intransigent!). I felt the urge to comment after your second response, but tied my hands together and managed to forcibly restrain myself!

You post some very good advice here tNt, and I enjoy reading most of it, so it is just a pity that your desire always to have the last word sometimes gets the better of you.

And yes, you are correct. You have seen some pretty strong opinions expressed by me. I have no problem in coming forward if I feel strongly enough about something. I just don't waste my time and energy on things that are not that important. I would rather donate the last word to someone else, than get entrenched in one of those eternal round and round, boring threads where nobody has anything new to add, but nobody wants to be seen as backing off...!

We have had one or two little spats ourselves, haven't we tNt? Laughing

(That doesn't mean I don't respect you! Wink

). Having said that, I challenge you to find a thread where I continued posting once I had nothing 'new and relevant' to add to the discussion. I may be wrong, so if you do find such a thread, I guess I will have to buy you dinner!

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

Phis, u know me well and are completely right. i do have trouble letting go and allowing someone else to have the last word "win", especially when i feel justified and/or attacked. i like the way you put it... donate the last word..... maybe if i can remember to think of it lke that, i too can walk away from a discussion that has lost it usefulness. thanks for the observaton without criticism, it is much appreciated and i have learned something from u today.i can admit when i am wrong.

dear phis, u have over 200+ posts. even i am not hard headed enough to search thru them to find one where didnt donate the last word. i gladly concede that you have acted like a gentleman and i will endevor to emulate you in that aspect.

thanks,
tNt