After trying to stay in Sweden with my mother, and a short visit back in Ottawa, with my aunt, I took a TESOL course and applied for English teaching jobs online. Within 2 weeks I had job offers from Taiwan and Jakarta. I decided on Jakarta, Indonesia. Although I knew absolutely nothing about Indonesia, I figured that it would have more tropical fruits and vegetation being closer to the equator, and I was a strict vegan at the time. On February 2, 2001, I arrived in Jakarta and worked for EF in Kebon Jeruk.
What was Indonesia Like?
Jakarta was the biggest city I've even been to in my life, and it was also my first asian country. I was surrounded by people who looked, spoke, and thought nothing like me, but within a year I was fluent in Indonesian and I had been able to save the majority of my nominal EF teacher's salary by moving out of the house I had rented, and moving to the place where the local street venders live. I slept on a plastic mat and bought nothing in the way of furniture. Not even as much as an air conditioner. So me, my plastic mat, small fan, squat toilet, dresser and ironing board lived together for a year :-) and then came the reward. I had saved 40 million rupiah! That sounds like a lot, eh? Actually it's not that much. Around $4000 or so, but it was enough for me and my Indonesian boyfriend at the time to travel around Indonesia by land! I went to the Gili Islands in Lombok, Jogja, Spent time in Batukaras, stayed nearly 8 months on and off in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, which was just indescribably magical, Lake Toba, Penang, Singapore... and eventually... back to big bad Jakarta. Indonesia had me hooked. It was so beautiful and exotic. People were so friendly and kind. I missed it whenever I left it, and I had to stay. And here I still am after 10 years.
Datang ke Indonesia
Setelah mencoba tinggal di Swedia sama Ibu saya dan merasa tidak cocok, saya tinggal sementara sama bibi saya sambil kursus mengajar bahasa Inggris. Setelah itu, saya cari pekerjaan sebagai guru lewat Internet. Dua minggu kemudian, saya dapat tawaran dari EF di Jakarta Indonesia. Saya tidak tahu apa-apa tentang Indonesia saat itu, tapi saya lihat di peta bahwa Indonesia adalah negara tropis dan karena saya vegetarian dulu, saya pikir "Pasti banyak tanaman dan buah-buahan!" Jadi saya terima pekerjaan itu dan langsung berangkat ke jakarta pada tanggal Februari 2, 2001.
Indonesia Seperti Apa?
Jakarta adalah kota yang paling besar yang pernah saya kunjungi dalam hidup saya. Saya dikelilingi oleh orang - orang yang menurut saya asing dan memiliki cara bicara dan cara berfikir yang beda dengan saya, tetapi setelah lewat satu tahun, saya sudah lancar bahasa Indonesianya. Dan saya juga behasil menyimpan sebagian besar dari gaji saya sebagai guru karena saya memilih tinggal di kost yang sederhana dan jarang shopping dan jarang main, kalau libur, saya naik bis ekonomi :-) Ternyata savings cukup untuk jalan-jalan banyak di Indonesia waktu itu kalau naik bis. Saya ke Gili islands, Jogja, Batukaras, Lake Toba, dan Bukit Lawang (sampai 8 bulan). Setelah itu... saya pulang lagi ke Jakarta.Indonesia memang memesona dan juga misterius. Saya selalu kangen kalau pergi jadi saya masih di sini sampai sekarang setelah 10 tahun.