Job Discussion Forums

khmerhit · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 12:44 am Post subject:

Girlfriend no 4

The White Swan

papers

eddie izzard

bullseye!

purchasing canadian whiskey at Xmas as if it were something special--which it is in blighty

bayabule · Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia

Be VERY careful what you wish for!
After two and a half years in Indonesia I finally scraped together the several months salary and confidence in Garuda Airlines required for a visit home just before Xmas. I was desperate for snow, pickled onion Monster Munch, Irn bru, hot showers, wine, soaps, Heat magazine, a bed with a duvet, pubs, being able to walk down the street without getting shouted at or run over, fast internet, seeing old friends, Branson pickle, decent newspapers, going for walks in the country, clothes that fit me, oh yeah and my family.
Anyway with 3 weeks to go til my return to Indonesia here's the situation. I gorged on the dodgy food items and have put on about 2 stone in weight. Also I have no money left to buy any more of it even if I wanted to. Last week we had 5 days of snow (hurray! what a lovely winter wonderland! It was the perfect snow for snowmen only I just couldn't be arsed) and I found myself shovelling the damn stuff off the drive several times a day only for it to snow again. The soaps are rubbish, the showers too hot, the duvet to heavy, the old friends have all moved away and anyway have to work or have kids so can't go to the pub EVER as they can't afford babysitters, I've lost my tan, my skin's gone all dry. The only good things have been Heat magazine and wine. Oh yeah and my family, who have been great, bless em.
I'm amazed at how I am pathetically dying to get back to Indonesia and what I now see as "normal life". I miss my motorbike, nasi goreng, rendang, green apple Quickly Tea (no jelly), my students, friends, warm Bintang beer with ice cubes in (never thought I'd ever say that) mad conversations with random becak drivers. Outdoor pools, snorkelling, cold mandis, karaoke, three in one Nescafe sachets, the sound of the mosques, kaki limas, even the mall (arrgh!) and that lovely smell of drains. Also after 3 months off I even miss teaching!
I never ever thought I'd miss all these things but I do. But I'm glad I came home as it's made me appreciate how good life is over there.
As I said, be very careful what you wish for! Although, having said that, I'll be taking a years supply of Branston pickle and Irn Bru back with me...

bayabule · Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia

Oh yeah, and I forgot to add the worst part... Peter Andre (remember him? Think he was in neighbours) is at Number 1 in the UK with a re-release of Mysterious Girl that pseudo-reggae hit he had in 1996, there's no escaping him. All thanks to his appearance in "I'm a Celebrity Get me out of Here" which, BTW I was addicted to, and the fact he's sh***ing Jordan. I'm an EFL teacher get me out of here.... Please?!

kaw · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 2:53 am Post subject:

Things I miss from the UK - how long can the list be???? Most things I can pretty much find here in Jakarta but I know when I head off back to sunny Oman there will be quite a few I

Cheddar Cheese
Bacon flavoured crisps (Frazzles especially)
The smell of freshly cut grass
Magazines that don't cost a fortune
Proper bread (though I did actually find some (very pricey) stuff in a very expensive shopping 'mall' near by.
Bicardi Breezers
Smirnoff Ice
Umm dare I say this??? (Eastenders and Casualty)
Yorkshire pudding
proper french bread
up to date newspapers
books, books and more books (2nd hand ones are available here but are very very expensive).

Apart from that..........not a lot really

[/list]

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

The only thing that's British about me is my passport.

West Brom · Joined: 20 May 2003 Posts: 28

Being able to disappear in a crowd, not standing out like a sore thumb,
The Baggies,
Dodgy birds,
Chicken kievs, taramasalata
Nothing else

Sara Avalon · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 254 Location: On the Prowl

- Coming home to the flat by taxi (those alone are great) going in only to find a year's worth of soot and smog coating ever piece of furniture and even on the inside of cupboards. Spending a whole day cleaning the mess.

- cleaning pigeon shiet and feathers off the balcony.

- good tasting cereals, shoe laces and other candies from the Sweet Factory, and fresh french bread at the Europa. Pizza hut's make-it-yourself salads.

- walking in the hyde park. Ice cream stands. (Strawberry coated vanilla my favorite)

- Teletex (cfax) BBC1/2

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I miss those nice television chats from that nice man Harold Wilson.

Is he still Prime Minister ?

Lanza-Armonia · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 5:26 am Post subject:

Sara Sara Sara!!!

You are joking right? The BBC still runs TELETEX? I remember using that like 10 years ago playing interactive games on it. Tell me, in this day and age of technology that you do NOT use TELETEX???

LA

Marcoregano · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 872 Location: Hong Kong

Sara wrote:

- Coming home to the flat by taxi (those alone are great)

Sara, please elaborate....I don't know what you mean by this....??

Sara Avalon · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 254 Location: On the Prowl

Mike_2003 · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 344 Location: Bucharest, Romania

BBC Prime has CEEFAX. I also use it a lot to check the headlines and the TV schedule. Much easier than logging on to the net to do the same. For some reason they stopped broadcasting sports headlines and results a couple of years ago - I have no idea why.

Slim Pickens · Joined: 25 Nov 2003 Posts: 299

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

If you have access to BBC prime then the office is getting shown quite soon

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

I miss being abroad. Although, I have grown fond of my friend's fish. Gloop!

Iain