A Sunday afternoon Starbucks at Amplaz is still my favorite treat. I can’t believe I live in Java and still love carrying this ridiculously overpriced green-accented plastic cup around the mall so much, but there it is.
Surprise, surprise, I stopped writing in this a few months ago. I wonder what the average death rate is for overeager expat blogs. I’d tell you I’ll get back to it, that I’m sorry and hope to be better, but I might not, unless I change the types of things I talk about in here, which is still possible.
There’s probably a turning point living abroad, maybe 3-4 months in, where the everyday delights start being just that — everyday. You lose track of what’s interesting and what’s mundane, since everyday facts like food tents and motorbikes seem as interesting to talk about as any other meal or practice in any other city. I also don’t want to exotify the place I live now, cheapen it in any way, since Jogja feels as much like home as anywhere else I’ve lived and deserves more than being caricatured.
I can’t fully describe my life out here to you, but I can tell you that it’s wonderful. I can tell you, knocking on wood, that the year wrapping up right now will have been one of the best of my life. I’m lucky I landed in Java, especially Jogja. Every hour here is still a delight, displays of indirectness as occasions for wriggle room which leave both parties comfortable, deep breaths and leisure and smiles preferred above hurry and discomfort. It’s incredible to keep realizing how empty I had felt before coming to Indonesia, that shell of myself who lived in DC.
Heads up – I might move to Bali for work in October. They first mentioned this to me in January and at the time, I lost my mind. I was at the start of a fascinating relationship, picking up Indonesian as I went along, developing close friendships with several people, starting to feel part of a team at the office, falling in love with all things Java. I would ride my motorbike across the bridges at night and refuse to sleep since sleep meant fewer hours awake in Jogja. Now the relationship has run its natural course, my language is on its way to fluency, many friends I love are themselves leaving Indonesia, and I’ve had an incredibly productive few months at my NGO. I’d be starting over in Jogja anyway, so the transition process might as well move to Bali. Why not? Maybe I’ve always been destined to pull a Julia Roberts yoga’ing my way to self-discovery in Ubud.
I’ll be in the United States August 16 till Sept 13, then back to Indonesia. See you soon?
mcljava 