Travelling Technologist

Life in these United States

2013-03-11T11:00:00.000+07:00

We ended our Indonesian adventures, at least as a family, on July 4, 2012. That was over eight months ago. I returned for the month of October to complete a project, and I'll be back again in May for two weeks for my annual visit, but now I travel solo.

I long debated how I would wrap up our time in Indonesia. I used this debate as my excuse for not concluding our adventure on this blog. I never did decide, and eight months is a long time, so now it's just time to do it.

I guess it is best to begin with the question - why did we leave? First, we always viewed the assignment as temporary. To some extent, living in a foreign country was on my bucket list and once I had accomplished that, there was no compelling reason to remain. To a larger degree, I would probably single out familial health concerns as the primary factor. Our middle son's health was not improving and the medevac trip scared us. We also have a niece, who I briefly mentioned in this post, battling a serious medical condition. We felt the clean air and water in Arizona would help our son, and we wanted to be closer to our niece and her family to help in any way we can. Our son has since had an adenoidectomy and is much better (and I can't believe the medevac was just a year ago!).

A logical next question is: would we do it again? My answer, without a doubt, is a "yes". My wife....I think it would depend on where. Indonesia, really, any third-world nation, is probably not in our future. I would love to work in Europe; I've been eyeing our Spain operations for many years. Santiago, Chile is also on my wish list. The highest probability, though, is we won't. I believe to do so I would have to work for a different company, and I'm happy with the company I work for now.

Another common question we receive: Any regrets or, anything we would have done differently? I'm not a fan of looking back and thinking about "what ifs". I also believe we tend to more regret the things we don't do than the things we did. I do wish we had traveled more in the region, both within Indonesia, and to nearby countries like Thailand and Australia. Australia remains on my bucket list, so I'm sure we'll get there eventually. When I think about why, however, our lack of travel makes sense. We didn't travel more due to the age of our children....and the fact my wife was pregnant or nursing for the majority of our assignment. Toddlers and infants do not make the best international travel companions. We can travel from anywhere, however, so I don't really see this as a regret.

A final question: do we miss anything? Absolutely.....but not enough to go back. We miss $20 one-hour massages, $5 hair treatments, and always having affordable childcare. We miss the friends we made, our favorite haunts (Hacienda, Kinara, Taman Safari), and the opportunities the lifestyle afforded us. We miss nasi goreng, gado gado, and sapi lada hitam.

But what I miss most, is my free time. You don't really realize how time consuming life is until you've had help and then lost it. I used to have 2 hours per day during my commute to read, watch movies my wife wouldn't watch with me (anything with explosions), or even just nap after a long day. Now I have to drive. The dishes, laundry, yardwork, and pool all used to magically stay clean. My wife and I now split these duties. As much time as we spent in traffic in Jakarta - and hated it - not having to do chores gave us so much more free time that we could dedicate our weekends to our children, have a date night twice a week, and do yoga and other sports on weeknights because we had reliable, affordable childcare. No more.

Life is much more.....normal, now. I drive myself to work. My wife drives our son to preschool and walks our daughter to first grade at the school up the street, and drives both of them to their extra-curriculars like swimming and gymnastics. We live in our old house. We have a dog and an aquarium. We do housework, and yardwork, and repairs. My wife still goes to yoga on nights I can get home in time. My exercise is walking the dog. If we have an hour to ourselves in the evening before crashing, it's a blessing.

Time is no longer mine. It belongs to my company. It belongs to my family. It belongs to our retail business and to my games. I used to read four or five books a month. Now I read a book every four or five months. I used to write one or two short stories a month. I haven't written one in the eight months we've been back.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

A Birthday Swim with Dolphins

2012-07-01T10:43:00.001+07:00

I've reached the point in my life where I have both everything I need, and everything I want. Not because I have everything, but because I am finally able to live the adage: "A wealthy man doesn't have what he wants, he wants what he has."

This makes my birthday a challenging time for my wife. I told her I don't want things, I want experiences. I've found that experiences last longer than things, anyway. So this year, the experience she bought for my birthday was a swim with dolphins at Samudra water park in Ancol.

Samudra is a water/animal park that also has a few rides and 4D theater. We'd been to it once before in our early days in Jakarta but had not yet returned. This was well worth the return.

Like many things with children, the idea of swimming with dolphins was far more exciting than the reality. It didn't help that when we began our initial interactions with the large mammals one of them butted my leg fairly hard with the end of his nose and all three of them kept rising out of the water with their mouths wide open. I decided I had to set the example and get in first. It was still another fifteen minutes before my wife would join me. The kids got in when she did. Our daughter never fully felt comfortable, but our son loved it. I think fear takes a few years to settle in.

After the dolphin swim, we let the kids to one ride before we returned to our hotel (more on that later) for the day.

Great time!

Rangunan Zoo

2012-07-01T10:26:00.004+07:00

The same Saturday we hosted my work colleagues for an Indonesian feast, we needed something quick to do with the kids to spend some time with them before dinner. The Rangunan zoo is nearby our home, but we never really went to it because of our first experience. It was, however, a perfect activity for a few hours before preparing for our dinner.

We arrived early, which helped with the crowds. We also moved quickly. Our kids were riding their scooters and had no intention of sharing with over-eager locals.

The camel rides are always a hit.

We even ran across a dance troupe practicing a traditional Javanese dance

Our daughter found time to use her roller blades for the first time.

Final Team Event: Trans Studio, Bandung

2012-07-01T10:11:00.000+07:00

Every year, my team in Jakarta has a team building event away from work. In my first year, we had the event shortly after my arrival. We went bowling and had pizza. The following year, we decided to raise it up a few notches and did the first of our two rafting adventures. This year, my final year, we wanted to have the team event before I left. The dry season is not conducive to rafting, so we had to determine a new location. After several weeks of discussion, we settled on an indoor amusement park in Bandung called Trans Studio.

Like any other event in Indonesia that requires driving more than a few hours, our day started at 5 AM. Bandung is a two hour drive from Jakarta, and we needed to arrive there with enough time to have our event, have dinner, and return to Jakarta by 11 PM. A long, full day. We met at the office, loaded on the buses, and drove to Bandung.

Upon arriving at Trans Studio, we spent the first few hours doing team exercises. The first event was mathematical. Everyone was assigned a value. Men were 100, women were 75, anyone with a hat was 50 and women with short hair were 25 points. The emcee would then call out a number - "350" - and everyone had to group together so that the sum of their values totalled that number. Anyone who couldn't join a group sum was eliminated. We played until three people remained.

In the second event we had to create the longest contiguous line possible using only items we had on us. If this took place in Europe I think we would have had several people standing around in their underwear. In Jakarta it meant removing shoe laces and belts. I had the idea of also laying end to end. My team's line was the longest.

The final event was balloon popping. Each member of the eight teams tied a balloon to their ankle. One team was red, one team was white. Single elimination determined a champion. My team was in the fourth and final group of the first round. I got the bright idea that if the other team couldn't reach our balloons, they couldn't pop them. I was chasing people while hopping on one foot. This was effective at preventing my balloon from popping. It wasn't so effective at popping any of theirs. We changed tactics, but it was too late. We lost badly. I don't think we popped a single balloon.

After the team events we had free time to wander the park ride the rides, see the shows and visit the science museum (which is where I spent most of my time, solving the puzzles they had out). I did take in a show and a few rides. While watching the show, I noticed a little girl wasn't eating her ice cream, so I finished it for her (at least the picture makes it look that way!).

We ended our day with a dinner at a hotel in Bandung. Excellent buffet spread. After a few speeches, we took another team photo and hopped on the bus for our return trip to Jakarta.

For those interested in going to Trans Studio, think of it as a smaller version of Universal Studios. It has a roller coaster, a free fall, and several spinning rides. There is a haunted house ride and several shows throughout the day, including a parade just before closing. Probably not enough for young children, but for kids tall enough to ride the high speed rides, there is plenty to do to fill a day. But, Dunia Fantasia in Jakarta is a better option for your money. Trans Studio can add to your trip to Bandung, but should not be considered a destination on its own.

End of School

2012-07-01T10:09:00.000+07:00

When my boss asked me to extend my overseas assignment, the request was for another year. That would have had us returning in April. When we agreed to do it, is was under the condition it was until the end of the school year. That happened the first week of June.

Our daughter, attending the Jakarta International School, ended her year with what they call a "Work Share Day". This is an opportunity for the children to share the work they've accomplished throghout the year in every subject. Our daughter shared with us the books she'd read, the stories she'd written, the plant she grew in her science class, the pictures she painted and sculptures she made in art class, and, finally, the kids all sang some songs for us to demonstrate what they had learned in music class.

This event occurred on a Tuesday morning the second day of my boss's visit from the US. The Montessori school my son attended this year, the same my daughter attended for two years, always holds their event on a Saturday so father's can attend. I was one of three fathers attending this event. Mothers were in abundance.

We left very impressed with all our daughter had accomplished throughout the year. We're very proud of her.

Our son's program was the following Saturday. This year's theme was Bugs. Per usual, their songs and speaking had a strong emphasis on good citizenship, caring for the environment, and having confidence in oneself.

This was our son's first ever performance for anyone other than family (unless you count the time at Universal Studios that music resulted in his spontaneous transformation to "dance mode"). He was excited and practiced for us for several weeks in advance. We were looking forward to seeing the songs he practiced within the greater context of the larger performance. As it turned out, none of the songs and dances he did for us were part of his routine. They were from the older classes, but he apparently enjoyed them more.

When he walked down the aisle with his class, we remarked how cute he looked in his costume. "He is such a cute caterpillar", my wife said. "Why is he white?", I asked. In the car ride home, we learned the answer.

"What were you dressed as?", my wife asked him.

With as much pride as a two year old can muster, he replied: "A maggot."

Lovely.

An Unnecessoiree

2012-07-01T10:04:00.001+07:00

In March, we started accumulating alcohol (a difficult commodity to acquire in Jakarta) in preparation for an Ancient Civilizations party in April. When we had to rush our son to a hospital in Singapore, we lost two important weeks for planning and coordinating the party, and had to cancel it. Then we looked at the thirty bottles of booze and realized: "We'll never finish this". So we planned a new party, smaller in scale, dubbed "An Unnecessoiree" so we could empty our bar.

The party was well attended with roughly forty people in attendance. One couple even flew in from Malaysia specifically to attend. Hacienda catered the food and we hired bartenders, serving girls and rented a large sound system. Several attendees, including ourselves, arrived in costumes they had prepared for our earlier party.

The primary events I will remember:

Tequila Pong. For those of you familiar with Beer Pong, this is it's older, angry brother. We had two teams of two, men against women, face each other on our back porch. They stood about twenty feet apart. In the center, we placed a small plastic cup, about the size of a coffee mug. Inside the cup was 2-3 shots of tequila. The object of the game is to land a ping pong ball inside the cup. If you achieve this objective, you can make someone on the other team drink the contents. Each person on both teams gets one try until either everyone misses, or one person makes it in. If no one lands in the cup, they all move one foot closer and try again. A gentleman who goes by the name "Shrek" (because he looks like him, only without the green skin) and his partner faced off against our yoga instructor and her partner. Big mistake. Using a yoga pose, she balanced on one foot, leaned all the way forward, extended her arms, and basically just dropped the ball in the cup. Three rounds, three losses, three double/triple shots for Shrek. He disappeared after the third round and it was a long time before I saw him again.
Buffalo. About an hour after Tequila Pong, the party was in full swing. We had finished twenty bottles of wine and at least three each of vodka, rum and tequila. I was in our makeshift bar watching people dance, when, from the backyard, strolled in an American friend of ours completely starkers. He whad a blank stare and obviously had no idea where he was. He walked in and stood in the middle of the dancers with a goofy grin on his face. Someone handed him a towel so he could cover himself, but he just held it at his side. He eventually wandered back to from wherever he had come. The next time I saw him he was soaking wet and dressed in street clothes despite having arrived in a toga. The next day, everyone started calling him by the nicknames "Naked Zombie" and "Buffalo".
The Give Away. To encourage people to have a good time, we gave away a Kindle Fire to the most memorable attendee. At the end of the night, I asked everyone in attendance to vote for the person they would most remember. Per usual, the voting came down to two people, and the winner won by a small margin. In this case, the winner was a Swedish (or was he from Denmark?) gentleman who came dressed as Jesus. Shrek was the runner up, and as I awarded the prize, everyone was asking where Shrek had disappeared to. When no one knew, we became worried. He was pretty drunk after the Tequila Pong losses. It only took a walk out to the front lawn to find him. There he was, feed on the driveway, butt on the curb, back on the lawn, looking up at the night sky. I asked him if he was okay and he seemed surprised I would ask a person laying by themselves on my front lawn such a ridiculous question. He was fine, but the next day he didn't understand why his back was so itchy and covered with bug bites.

The party was a lot of fun and accomplished its objective. Forty bottles of booze were gone by the end of the night. Our maid had to mop the floors four times the next morning before it was clean.

Entertaining Colleagues

2012-07-01T07:08:00.002+07:00

For the last two years my team has feverishly worked on a large, global project my company has slowly rolled out region by region. In October, it is Indonesia's turn, which means employees from around the globe are visiting us in Jakarta. My boss and several of my North American peers came out in early June, and I wanted to give them a taste of Indonesian hospitality. In addition to our standard hosting of a traditional Indonesian feast, I also asked my team to arrange a more adventurous outing. They selected mountain biking near Puncak Pass followed by everyone's favorite: Taman Safari.

The logistics of our biking trip were rather interesting. To reach Puncak Pass from Jakarta, we have to drive for two hours through Bogor, then up a winding mountain road to the top. From 8 AM until 2 PM, the winding mountain road, which is barely wide enough for two cars, is one-way uphill. From 2PM until 8 PM, the road is one way downhill. All other times it is bi-directional. Our biking adventure was to start near the summit, and wind its way down to Taman Safari, where we would need our drivers. This meant our drivers, in order to be able to drive back down the hill after dropping us off, had to leave the summit far enough in advance of 8 AM to reach Taman Safari before the road changed. So our morning began at 5:00 AM so we could arrive at the biking launch point by 7 AM.

We arrived shortly after 7 AM and donned our riding gear. The biking company provided bikes, shirts, helmets, knee pads and elbow pads. We gathered in a circle for a brief prayer for safety, followed by a safety briefing in which they explained not to use our front brake too much or we would fall over the front wheel. We tested that our bikes all worked and we were off.

Our ride was split into two sections, each expected to require up to two hours to traverse. The first section was through jungle (environmentalists prefer the less-dangerous sounding "rain forest") and tea plantations. Technical requirements (steering, braking, balancing, etc) were high in the first section. The path was narrow and muddy. Several times we had to dismount and walk our bike over difficult to traverse boulders and narrow stream beds. A few locations had sheer cliff to our left, and twenty meter drops to our right with barely two wheels worth of width on the trail. We all made it through safely, though not without mishap.

As we drove through the tea plantation, a root jutting out onto the trail managed to find its way between the spokes of my front tire. My bike came to an immediate halt. I didn't. I learned the hard way that tea plants appear much softer than they actually are. I landed hard on my left side. My back started to spasm and I knew I would have several large bruises by the end of the day. Thankfully, nothing was broken and I was able to continue.

At the midway point we stopped in a small vacation village for drinks and snacks. The technical portion of our trip took just over an hour, so we were ahead of schedule. Our break lasted roughly thirty minutes and we began the endurance segment of our trip. While the technical portion was 90% downhill, the endurance section was 30% uphill. Leaving the vacation village, we first had to travel roughly a kilometer up a seven percent grade. Most of our team had to dismount and walk the bike, unable to manage the bike.

We then rode downhill most of the rest of the way to Taman Safari with one exception. About halfway to the zoo we encountered a hill so steep that cars required a running start. I don't think anyone managed to ride up this incline. The rest of the trip was an unventful, relaxing coast downhill on paved roads.

When we neared Taman Safari, several groups of children ran to meet us, hoping we would pay them to ride our bikes to the finish line. They targeted the heavier members of our group with a little more fervor than the rest of us.

We took our final break before the zoo. The second leg of our trip required thirty minutes. We finished the estimated four hour ride in just over two hours. We couldn't leave the area until the road changed directions at 2 PM, so it was good we had plans to see the zoo from the beginning. We cleaned ourselves up the best we could with a bucket and ladle, drank some fresh made juice, then made our way to Taman Safari.

I won't go into details of our Taman Safari trip. I've written of it several times on this blog, and the experience is always the same: First timers leave in awe, and it never gets old. We drove through the feeding zone, fed watermelons to elephants, visited the petting zoo (though my colleagues were far more nervous than I ever was - maybe the growling scared them), and waded out to the waterfall.

We left Taman Safari and I arrived home by 5:30 PM. Another wonderful experience in Indonesia.

Company Olympics

2012-06-13T21:30:00.000+07:00

When I learned that the company Olympics this year were scheduled a month earlier than prior years, I was very happy. The earlier schedule meant I would still be around to participate. I really enjoy them, and I'm one of the few (if not the only) expat who participates in anything other than the golf event. The golf event is typically expats and government relations - the only people who can afford to play golf regularly (GovRel because that's where the government Ministers want to talk). This year I signed up for Futsal and Bowling.

The first game of Futsal was on a Tuesday night. I arrived early enough to warm up by running the field. I also typically need to burn off much of my adrenaline - I am still a competition junky. Four teams play two, twenty-minute halves. Teams 1 and 2 play their first half, then teams 3 and 4 play, then back to 1 and 2. I was glad my team was in the first group.

Futsal is a 5 on 5 game of soccer played on a field roughly the size of a basketball court. Teams typically field one goalie, two defensemen and two strikers. Ten years ago, I would have played striker. Now I'm too slow, but I can still pass and still defend, so I took the position of floating defender - the position that plays distributor on offense, but must also get back quickly on defense. It requires stamina and age hasn't taken that from me yet.

The first half of our first game was close, finishing 2-1 in our favor. After our break and some snacks, we took the field for the second half and scored once more to their nil. The other teams finished the night in a draw, so we finished Round 1 as the first place team. Our second game did not stay close for long. We jumped out to an early lead and the opposing team's only score occurred when our goalie and our other defender fell to the ground, the ball squirted out to the other team, and they kicked a shot that ricocheted off my stomach into the goal. The half finished 3-1; the game finished 7-1. Heading into the third and final round tomorrow night, the only chance we have of losing the gold medal is if we lose the game by more than five points.

The second event, bowling, was more eventful. I haven't bowled in nearly a year, and we were on new lanes, so I knew I'd be rusty. I arrived an hour early to warm up and determine how I was bowling that night. It's a good thing I did.

My first practice game I bowled a 72. I think that's the first time I've been under 100 in the last twenty years. My second practice game was an 85. I did not have high hopes for the evening, and I'm supposed to be my team's ringer! Two years ago, the last time I participated, I bowled the highest game in the competition with a 189 - respectable, but not near what you'd expect a first place finish to be in the US. I was ready to call it a night, but I knew everyone was counting on me. I tried five more practice frames, and finally started throwing strikes and 9-pin first balls. My groove was back.

In the first game of the competition, thanks to three spares and a turkey, I bowled a 169. Of the six lanes playing, no one in the other five lanes came within 30 points of my score. Unfortunately, I was in the high performer lane. One guy did not have a single open frame and finished with a 218, my primary competition from two years ago bowled a 183. The fourth person in my lane bowled a 132.

The second game saw all of us drop. I fell to 129, which I attribute to drinking a beer without having dinner, and the others were all below 180. In ten frames, with my first ball I threw seven 9's, two 8's, and one 7. I kept leaving the number 5 pin. I finished the night with the 4th highest game and third highest series. I think that wins me a trophy of some kind, but I don't know.

The highlight of the night, for everyone who witnessed it, was when I became frustrated warming up and declared that, on this throw, I was going to get a strike. Period. I took my place on the second dot from the left, with the dot underneath the ball of my right foot. Stepped forward with my right foot, then my left, then started my swing as I stepped forward with my right. As I brought my left foot forward for the final step, I unintentionally dragged my toe. This caused me to fall. My knees hit first, then my chest, then my face. My momentum actually carried my body forward enough that my feet lifted into the air and I was momentarily balancing on my face and chest. Somehow, I had the wherewithal to still throw the ball. And I got a strike.

The cheering and laughing was thunderous. I stood up, looked at the result, shrugged my shoulders and sat down.

If I wasn't already, I'm sure I am now the legendary: "Bule Gila" (Crazy Expat).

Another rafting adventure

2012-06-13T20:58:00.000+07:00

In mid-May, while a colleague was visiting from the US (and was nice enough to bring me a Seagrem's 7!), I arranged another rafting adventure with him and several of my expat friends. Most of these adventure tours in Jakarta claim to require a minimum party of 10 people. The reality is they require fees for ten people, they will happily depart with just eight. Six is what we had, but we paid for ten, so the two drivers were able to raft, also.

On my prior rafting trips - two with my staff, one with my friend from Austria - we walked down the hill to gather our gear, loaded into the back of a truck and made our way up the mountain to our launching point. We then rafted down to the place where we collected our gear, took a break, and then rafted to our final spot another thirty minutes or so down the river. This time, I arranged for us to raft to the sea.

Our day started at 7 AM in Jakarta. Myself, a colleague, and four expat friends met at the Hero's in Kemang, divided into two groups - one in my car, one in my colleague's car - and drove to Sukabumi. The trip was much faster than prior attempts and we arrived by 11:30 and had lunch. We were scheduled to begin our rafting at 1 PM.

At 12:30, the guide collected us. We gathered our gear, listened to the safety briefing, and, instead of boarding a truck for a ride up the hill, we split into two rafts right there. Myself, my colleague and two good friends from Jakarta loaded into one raft, the two drivers and my two other friends loaded into the other raft.

Our first stop was the location where all my previous trips had ended. We rested, drank coconut water, and watched a group of village boys ages 5 - 10 swim and playfight naked in the river. That isn't something I thought I'd ever see in a country as conservative as Indonesia.

When we had finished our break, I quickly regretted having not brought a camera. I'd been on the trip so many times before, and already had so many pictures, I didn't think there would be anything new for me. I hadn't counted on the river beyond my prior stopping point being so markedly different from my prior trips.

The top of the mountain is mostly jungle. There are a few random houses dotting the landscape, a few rice plantations, but it is mostly rock, waterfall and jungle. Beyond our rest stop, there was life. Houses built on the banks of the river with steps carved into the rock to give access to the water. People bathing, washing clothes, and even brushing their teeth in the river. Kids floating on inner tubes, laughing and waving as we paddled by. This was a true representation of life in an Indonesian mountain village, and I missed the opportunity to photograph it. Some of the others brought their cameras, but we were so busy taking in all the sights, fighting the rapids, and feeling excited when we smelled the salt air, no one thought to take pictures.

Our adventure ultimately ended before we ever sited the sea, which would have been the Indian Ocean. We left the river after crossing underneath a bridge. Two trucks awaited and we loaded the gear in one truck, and the rest of us piled into the open-air bed of the other truck, and held on for dear life as it drove back to the launch point via highway, village roads, dirt roads, and one stretch that was so steep even people on motorcycles were waiting their turn so they could build up speed and tackle it alone. It's amazing we didn't fall out the back.

When we returned to Jakarta, everyone said we had to return and this time, take the full, 8 hour trip from the top of the hill to the sea. I tried to get something scheduled for June but, as often happens, talking about doing it was easier than committing to it, and the long trip won't occur before we leave.

I have now rafted in Java more times than we've done anything else other than Taman Safari....and eating at Hacienda. I think that means I enjoy it.

Fishing in Jakarta

2012-05-19T12:48:00.000+07:00

For over a year, our daughter and eldest son have asked to go fishing. Our son even pretends to fish in our pool. They've never seen anyone fish other than on TV, so I've always been surprised by their interest.

A few weeks ago, we went to the Waterbom water park with another family. On the way there, we noticed a fishing lake where one could rent gear and bait and go fishing. We took the opportunity of a mid-week holiday to take the kids fishing for the first time. There were a few surprises.

First, this wasn't a normal stocked lake. This was a lake for competitions. They wouldn't let us just buy gear and fish. We had to wait until noon (an hour after we arrived) and join the competition. Twenty dollars to join, fifteen dollars to rent gear and bait, and five dollars for a "caddy" later, we listened for the lottery to call our name and assign our spot. Lucky number 8. We caught our first fish with the first cast. In thirty minutes we had four fish. And these aren't small fish. The smallest weighed in at six pounds. The heaviest was about fourteen pounds. None of these were going to be enough to win the competition and a $300 prize. It usually takes twenty or more pounds to win.

Second, the caddy did everything except reel in the fish we caught. He baited the hook, cast the line, took the fish off the hook and even told me when it was time to reel it in if I wasn't paying attention. I tried a few casts. My first cast was awesome. My second cast caused the people next to me to object. That's when I noticed the numbers on the pipe in the middle of the lake. We all had lanes. We could only fish in our lane. After that, I let the caddy do the casting.

Third was the bait. I was glad I had a caddy. They didn't use lures, or worms, or raw meet dangling from a bobber. We watched them prepare it. They mixed a flavored powder with water to create a plasma-like substance. They then covered this plasma in fish pellets, created three small goopy balls for three tiny hooks and then one golf ball-sized clump they put above the hooks. The fish are all bottom-feeding carp, so you cast this group of food out into the lake, let them fall to the ground and the fish grab it from there. Pretty effective, but we did also catch one plastic bag.

The kids had fun and even got into the action of reeling in the fish, but they were bored after ninety minutes, which was halfway through the competition. We left our caddy to finish the competition and try to win.

I'm looking forward to some real fishing when we get to Michigan. We'll need smaller poles, though.

Candy Party

2012-05-19T11:09:00.000+07:00

Our daughter's birthday isn't until mid-June, but that's when all the non-working spouses and children return to the home country for the summer while the working spouse remains in Indonesia. If we wanted to have a party her friends could attend, we needed to do it this month. May 17th was a holiday in Jakarta (Ascencion of Christ), so we chose the afternoon of the day before.

When we asked her what kind of a party she wanted, she said a "Candy Party". We imported boxes of candy from the US, decorated our house like peppermint sticks and lollipops, and hired a cotton candy and popcorn machine. The same company also offered several different types of games that we hired, too.

One of the more interesting events was one of our daughter's friends asking to perform a magic show at the party. We agreed and it was pretty good! We also let our son invite his friends so the party doubled as a farewell party for the kids, too.

The Big News

2012-05-19T10:00:00.002+07:00

The first week of May we were able to confirm our return date to the US. We leave Jakarta shortly after midnight on 4 July and arrive in Phoenix with enough time to view the fireworks (after eating at Chipotle, of course). We've enjoyed our time in Indonesia, but we are ready to go home, and stay home. Jakarta isn't home. Arizona is home. We'll be home soon.

Our baby decided that our repatriation date couldn't be the only major event that happened in May and decided he would grow his first two teeth. He is now capable of eating Oreo Cookies....well, at least capable of scraping off the cream filling!

Two of the things we will miss from our time in Jakarta: walking through the kampungs and feeding the chickens; and our weekly trips to Hacienda. I think climbing on daddy will continue.

April

2012-05-19T09:01:00.001+07:00

April was a busy month both in Indonesia and at home.

We started the month by taking our staff and their families to the local copy of Disney, Dunia Fantasi (DuFan), on the Good Friday holiday. This was a big treat for them. Most had never been before. It's pretty expensive for locals. On Sunday we then celebrated Easter with a bunch of sleepy kids.

Later in the month, on Earth Day back in Arizona, we had a fundraiser for our niece who is fighting a tough battle with Pulmonary Hypertension and two holes in her heart. I had the idea to use our retail store, Kid to Kid, as a fundraising opportunity to help pay the medical bills. All of the profits earned on that Saturday went to the medical bills fund.

In March, our daughter started two soccer leagues - a coed league on Friday afternoons and an all-girls league on Saturday mornings. I help coach the one on Saturday. She is one of two girls on the co-ed league and didn't enjoy soccer very much until she started the all-girls league. She's getting pretty good. I hope she sticks with it.

Our youngest son reached a new milestone by starting his cruising phase. Anything that he can hold onto and walk, he does. Including the little kids chairs that will scrape across the marble floors like nails on a chalkboard. He's pretty proud of himself, though, so we just grit our teeth and let him go.

My wife and I also try to find time for fun. We took the kids to another Disney on Ice (we've been to all four visits from them since we arrived in Jakarta). We also made it out to dinner with friends - something that happens far too infrequently.

March

2012-05-17T21:33:00.000+07:00

Where I grew up, we often said March would arrive like a lion and exit like a lamb. Things are different in Jakarta.

For us, March arrived like a lamb. We had a nice family vacation scheduled in Singapore, I was buying the first property for our new Real Estate business, and we had tickets to attend the St. Patrick's Day ball and spend that night in a suite at the JW Marriott, the location of the ball.

Then the lamb bared its teeth and transformed into a lion. The Friday before the ball, my wife and I joined our friends at an Irish Pub to welcome in the holiday and watch traditional Irish dancers. We had a great time and were looking forward to taking the kids to a carnival at our daughter's school the next day and then attending the ball with the same group of friends.

We arrived home from the dancing to find our two-year-old son struggling to breath in his sleep. We had taken him to the doctor earlier in the day due to a persistent cough. The doctor said he was fine. His lungs were clear and he did not have a fever. They gave him some antibiotics and an antihistamine. When we arrived home, he still did not have a fever but he was definitely having difficulty breathing. We woke him up, planning to give him some medicine, and he immediately vomited. We observed him for about twenty minutes before deciding to take him to the emergency room.

The ER put him on a nebulizer minutes after our arrival. The nebulizer should rapidly resolve breathing issues. His blood oxygen wasn't improving and remained below 90%. The doctor also indicated that his secondary muscles were now controlling his breathing. Those muscles kick in when the primary muscles become so fatigued from labored breathing that they fail. There is no back up to the back up. Jakarta lacks a respected pediatric respiratory care center, so the doctors advised us to do a medical evacuation (MedEvac) to Singapore immediately in case his lungs started failing and he needed assistance breathing.

The next twenty-four hours happened very fast....and without sleep. My wife and son took the MedEvac flight. I worked with the airlines and hotel to reschedule all the flights and room reservations we had for our vacation and I followed them with our other two kids about six hours later. I even had time to take our daughter to her school's carnival for about an hour before we caught our flight.

After checking us in at the hotel, we all met up at the hospital where I spent the night with our son while my wife returned to the hotel with our infant son and our daughter. For the next four days, I slept at the hospital at night and spent the days at the hotel with our other two kids. My wife did the opposite. Thankfully, our hotel - the Rasa Sentosa - had a Kid's Club that entertained our daughter all day, every day.

Our son spent those four days on antibiotics, fever reducer, and getting blood tests and chest x-rays. Nothing conclusive in any of them. Eventually he started feeling better and they decided he had a non-specific viral infection in his lungs that caused him respiratory distress. He never really felt sick, but the doctors were really worried. We just tried to keep his spirits up and have as much fun as we could.

On Wednesday, our son received a clean bill of health and checked out. The pediatrician seeing him requested we have a follow up appointment on Friday. Our "Family Vacation" was also the time for my wife and I to receive our annual physicals, so I had mine on Wednesday while my wife swam with the kids, and she had hers on Thursday while I went to the beach with them. We had big plans for the weekend to help everyone forget the medical stress we just experienced.

The appointment with the pediatrician was Friday afternoon. He had been swimming all morning so we expected a clean bill of health. To our surprise, she said his lungs sounded bad and readmitted him to the hospital. We ran through the same battery of tests. This time, they discovered he had Influenza B and started him on those treatments. He remained in the hospital until Monday. We finally left Singapore on Wednesday.

What was supposed to be a five-day medical vacation with two days of physicals and three days of fun became a ten-day medical emergency for our two-year-old. This is the second medical scare he's given us. I hope there isn't a third before we get to leave.

Hospital Pictures:

Having Fun Pictures:

Pictures from Jakarta

2012-02-26T20:50:00.000+07:00

Pictures from the last several weeks of activity.....we've been busy.

In January, we went to see a Tarzan circus. The fencing you see is all that separated us from the tigers. The show was okay.

Whether it be to a surprise party for a close friend, or to celebrate Valentine's Day with a night at the Ritz, we do find time to get out on our own without the kids.

Staying fit is always important. And there is no better way to stay fit than to play Futsal with a bunch of apparitions....

Driving our daughter to school, a mere five miles away, can take up to an hour more. Why? Take a look:

Most of all, we just hang out at home and have fun....though our son has decided to give roses to every young lady that walks through the door.

Work Life Update

2012-02-08T10:19:00.001+07:00

The last few months have been very interesting for my company. In July, our union workers staged a walkout that lasted a few weeks. The intention was to gain management's attention and it worked. For the next several weeks the two sides negotiated…unfortunately without resolution. The workers then went on strike in September.

The union initially demanded 300% increase in pay and they weren't budging. We offered 11% and weren't budging. There is a bit of a gap between those two numbers. To justify their demand, the union pointed to the wages we pay in South America, specifically in Peru and Chile, as examples. Their argument was our Papua mine is the most productive asset in our portfolio yet the local workers are paid a fraction of the workers at our other mines (approximately $600/month).

Taken by itself, it's a pretty compelling argument. There are, of course, two sides. The first is basic economics: Supply and Demand. We pay wages according to the local market. The average income in Indonesia is $130 per month. In Papua, where our mine is located, it's even less than that. Cost of living is also dramatically lower in Indonesia than in Peru or, especially, Chile, which is an industrialized nation. Indonesian workers earn less because the market demands less. The second argument against raising wages so much is the in-kind benefits: housing, medical insurance, meals, no-interest loans, free education for family. We don't offer most of this at other mine sites. Finally, and this, to me, was the selling point: number of workers. At our mine in Arizona with similar output to our mine in Indonesia we employee roughly 4,000 employees and contractors. At our Papua mine that number runs closer to 30,000. I joked to the negotiating team we should agree to their demands if they agreed to let us terminate 26,000 employees.

Ultimately, the two sides came together at a 40% increase in pay over two years. The agreement ended the three month strike which resulted in major losses. The Indonesian government alone lost $1 million per day in lost tax revenue. We counted our losses in the tens of millions and ended the year with a 60% reduction in production quarter to quarter. Brutal.

Simultaneous to the labor issue, our security issue has worsened. You may remember three years ago one of our expats was shot and killed on the road connecting our mine to the lowlands of Papua. Over the last three years, the shootings have continued unabated. During the work stoppage, the frequency and brutality increased. Some linked the two, but it is doubtful they were related.

The shootings began as long-range shots from high-powered rifles. As our security tightened, the attacks became more, not less, bold. The worst involved the top two members of our security department having their vehicle fired upon, then lit on fire, burning the two passengers alive. Recently, another vehicle was fired upon and flipped over. They burned one person alive inside, and pulled the other to the middle of the road and executed him while he kneeled on the ground in front of them. In a third incident, the driver of the vehicle managed to escape with nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises by running into the jungle and hiding several hours until our security swarmed the area. He had seen everything and could identify the perpetrators by sight. He stumbled out of the jungle and collapsed. They rushed him to the hospital for treatment and he was released a few hours later. Two days later this perfect eyewitness was found murdered.

I think everyone knows who is behind the shootings. Papua itself is a very secure area. The Indonesia government is very picky about who is allowed to visit Papua, as a rule barring foreign journalists. Further, our mine site is a protected asset and is swarming with police and military. The fact that we have any of these issues at all should provide hints as to the perpetrators. The problem is not just proving it, but convincing the Indonesian government to take action based on the proof.

In the meantime, we continue to make adjustments to our transportation and security protocols. For example, we transport workers up and down the hill every day for work. We used buses until they became easy targets on the slow, winding road and we had to change to helicopter. That worked for months until a helicopter was fired upon and struck, injuring two passengers and causing an emergency landing. We now are back to buses with heavily armed escorts in front and back. That just moved the shootings to new locations with easier targets.

The safety and security of our employees is incredibly important. When people hear a mining company claim the safety and security of its employees are the top priority, they often scoff. Part of it is because everyone knows profitability is the number one priority for any company. But the other part is mining companies have a bad reputation because the work we do is dangerous and, as an industry, injuries are common. It's far safer than crab fishing or firefighting, but it isn't office work, either. I, however, believe them. I'm involved in many of the efforts we are undertaking to improve the security, and I've personally heard our top executives commit to large expenditures, that will reduce profit, so we can keep our employees safe.

While we wait for these efforts to take effect, all we can do is support the bravery of the men and women who continue to work in the face of this adversity. Like police officers and military personnel, they are performing a job I would not be willing to do myself. For that, they have my thanks and praise.

At Long Last, My Novel

2012-01-30T20:42:00.002+07:00

Finally received the excellent cover art for my novel. You can purchase it here:

You can also find my short story collection here:

New Year's Eve

2012-01-26T19:01:00.002+07:00

With Christmas in the books and 2011 behind us, it was time to focus our efforts on closing out the old year and bringing in the new one.

We received such great feedback for our Halloween party, we were hoping to host a smaller, but just as fun, New Year’s Eve party for those who did not return to their home country. Unfortunately, only one other couple was able to commit far enough in advance for us to make proper arrangements, our two families decided to book rooms at the Shangri-La in Jakarta and attend the New Year’s Party at the hotel club BATS (Bar At The Shangri-La).

No sooner had we booked the room and purchased our non-refundable tickets then the inquiries started coming in. What are you guys doing for New Years? Are more tickets available? Can we bring friends? Our party of five quickly ballooned to a party of 19….a great size for a hosted New Year’s Eve party that would have saved us all money on hotel rooms and tickets to the club.

For my family, the hotel needed to accommodate three adults and three children (my wife’s cousin from Idaho was joining us). My booking was for a suite with an adjoining deluxe room with a baby cot and additional bed in the suite. When we arrived, we were told the rooms were already setup with the additional beds and were on separate floors. I objected, showing them the confirmation on my reservation. Forty minutes later, they had moved us to a new location, but said they would have to give us keys to the adjoining room later because it was “dirty” and needed cleaning.

The family we originally made reservations with sent me a text notifying that they were at the hotel and in their room. He complained they had moved them from their first room because something was broken. I asked what number he was in. He said they were being asked to move again because of an “engineering issue” in their room, then told me the number they were currently in. It was the adjoining suite! I knocked on his door and said: “You’re moving because you are in my suite. You must be the ‘dirt’ they were referring to.” The hotel apologized for the mix-up by providing them with a $300 bottle of champagne with which to bring in the New Year.

After settling into our rooms, my wife and her cousin went shopping for a dress to wear that evening and I took the kids to the pool. My son amazed me by jumping from the wall into the pool and swimming to me. He hadn’t shown the capability in the past and, once he realized he could do it, he spent the rest of the afternoon doing it non-stop. My daughter amazed me with her patience. I couldn’t entertain her and catch my son at the same time. She waited until he was tired and ready for a break, then her and I went and swam together for a while. A thunderstorm finally drove us inside.

We ordered the kids a room service dinner and got ourselves ready for the night. We were meeting friends for drinks at 8 then heading down for a 9 PM dinner. The kids ate and we got them ready for bed. Then, the beds for the kids never showed up. The second time we called, they told us they had none to bring us because they were sold out.

We left the kids with our nannies at 8 PM and went to the Club Lounge for drinks prior to heading down for dinner. The club lounge is for guests in suites and those who have paid extra for access to the floor. They have a special concierge for these VIP guests. I explained our bedding situation and asked them to rectify it quickly because our kids were ready for bed. I showed them the confirmation and said I wanted them to fix it even if they had to take a full size bed out of another room and go to the store to buy a new crib. Twenty minutes later they came back to tell me everything was fixed and they gave us a bottle of wine for our troubles. I love companies that recognize when they make a mistake and apologize for it. A strong track record before this incident, and the way they handled this one, are why we will continue to use Shangri-La hotels.

After finishing our drinks and meeting a new couple who would join us for the evening, we headed down to BATS for the evening’s festivities. Dinner was great, and they special ordered me a few items because of my allergies to seafood. Most people had a first course of Shrimp, followed by a lobster bisque, then a Salmon main course. I had a garden salad, tomato soup, and a nice steak. After dinner a live band covered the major hits and introduced the New Year. I made a fool of myself on the dance floor and we were all ready to crash when we finally went to bed at 2 AM.

The next morning we woke with the kids at 5:30. We waited until 9 to go down for the buffet breakfast, only to find ourselves standing in a very long line. We changed our mind and instead went back up to the Club Lounge and had breakfast there (both were free to us).

After breakfast we returned home and spent New Year’s Day fighting to remain awake while the kids played.

Christmas

2012-01-26T18:58:00.002+07:00

It’s difficult to make Christmas feel like Christmas in Jakarta. I imagine people who grew up in Hawaii wouldn’t notice a difference, but for those of us who grew up in the Midwest, or even in Arizona, Christmas here is very different. The malls still decorate with big trees, have carolers singing, and some even have snow fall from the ceiling, but the city doesn’t feel Christmas like cities do in the US. That doesn’t stop us from trying, though.

This year, Santa decided to introduce our family to his “Elf on a Shelf” program. With this program, he assigns an elf to each child in the family (except the babies) and the elf watches them all day and reports back to him each night. The elf arrives while you are sleeping, finds an observation point for the day, and changes location each day. You are required to name your elf, and you may talk to him or her, but touching is absolutely forbidden and could result in the forfeiture of all of your presents. It is important the elf does not see you misbehaving and deliver a bad report. And they move every day because half the fun is trying to find their new hiding spot!

Our kids must have been really good because Santa brought some cool new toys. The toy kitchen I’m sure required several hours of hard work with inferior tools and misleading directions to assemble. I’m not sure Santa was thinking of the parents when he gave our toddler a toy drum, but it has turned out okay nonetheless. Gifts from family were overwhelming for everyone, but, thankfully, they all arrived on time (at least from those who sent them on time).

We continued our tradition of hot chocolate and cinnamon toast for breakfast, and the kids enjoyed playing with their new toys all morning….then got bored with them, as they are wont to do. Mom and dad got cool gifts, too. I got a pogo stick and enough books to keep me occupied through February (finished half already), and my wife received I Love Lucy DVDs and the electronics I mentioned in our Singapore post. Santa had a few choice consumables for us in our stockings, too, but our kids ended up eating most of them.

The hardest part about Christmas in Jakarta is being away from the rituals, the culture, and the company of family. Exchanging gifts via DHL is not the same as playing the Gift Trade game where we steal and exchange gifts in a free-for-all fight of luck, timing and team strategy….ahhh, good times. Saying thank-you in person is always better than sending a note….requires less effort! And I hate not being able to veg-out in front of the TV watching football. Holidays are just not the same without watching grown men maul each other in the hopes of holding up a trophy at the end of the year.

But mankind is nothing if not adaptable, and we adapted to Christmas in Jakarta….so long as there isn’t another one.

Singapore

2012-01-25T22:19:00.000+07:00

As the end of the year wound down, I found myself with vacation and travel allowance balances I needed to use before the end of the year. I reserved a few days for when we had visiting family, and we booked a four-day weekend in Singapore with the balance.

When we visit Singapore, we typically stay in the city and walk to nearby attractions or take the subway to Universal Studios or Sentosa Island. This time, we decided to stay on Sentosa Island intending to have a relaxing beach vacation. I booked us a suite at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort, right on the beach. Unfortunately, weather did not accommodate our plans.

In my prior post, I related the travel experience. The key lesson there: they will let you travel with an expired passport, but it will be a trying experience. I elaborate on our stay in this post.

We arrived on a Friday and awoke to overcast skies on Saturday. We had our large breakfast buffet then took a walk on the beach before heading to Chinatown for some holiday photos of the kids. That required most of the morning, and it was raining by the time we returned to the hotel. We had lunch, hoping it would stop raining, but it didn’t. We decided our best option was to complete the shopping we needed to do while in town, so that’s what we did. We loaded up on supplies for the kids, and I bought my wife her Christmas present from me (a Macbook Air) and from our kids (a new digital camera because our daughter broke the last one).

After a room service dinner, we passed out from exhaustion of travel and wandering the city all day. We awoke Sunday morning to more rain. We hoped it would clear after breakfast, but it never did. Not knowing what else to do with the kids since all of the activities we had come there for were outdoors, we suggested she try the kids club run by the hotel. She was reluctant, but agreed to try it. We didn’t see her again, except at dinner, for the rest of the trip. She absolutely loved the activities they offered. Thank you Rasa Sentosa!

That left us with the two boys. The baby is easy to entertain. Feed him, change him, hold him and let him observe and he’s happy. Our 2 year-old was a little harder. Sunday, we tried the toddler play area, but that only took up an hour. We tried playing in the room, but that didn’t last long either before he became bored. During a few breaks in the rain we did manage to go for a swim or watch the boats in the ocean, but the day just seemed to coast by in boredom for everyone.

When Monday greeted us with more rain, we knew staying at the hotel was not an option. We dropped our daughter at the Kids Club and took our sons across the street to the Aquarium. It’s small, and the weather shortened the one sea lion/dolphin show they have to a mere fifteen minutes, but the kids enjoyed viewing the big fish and watching daddy pet the sharks in the wade pool. The aquarium only ate up a few hours, but the rain had slowed to a mist when we finished, so we walked further up the street to Fort Siloso and took a tour. It is an interesting tour with good history of the Japanese invasion during WWII, but difficult to do pushing a stroller and under slick conditions. I nearly slipped off the wooden bridge as we maneuvered our way down the hill. The signs warning us to watch for poisonous green tree snakes did not contribute to our enjoyment in the least.

It is unfortunate the weather was so poor. The hotel was great and would have been even better had we been able to enjoy the beach, the sea water activities, the pool and the water slides. The resort is built with families in mind….though I would have preferred a hot tub that was actually hot. Even the stray monkeys jumping from balcony to balcony in search of food and mischief were scarcely seen due to the weather, though we did manage to get pretty close to them when they meandered by our room.

I hope we get an opportunity to go back. I don’t think we obtained the full enjoyment we could have from the experience.

Kids Update

2012-01-25T21:48:00.000+07:00

Most of the content of my blog focuses on life as an adult, with minor glimpses into the life of an expat child. This entry will be more about life as a child….or at least, the lives of my children.

Our 5 year-old daughter began kindergarten this year at the major international school here in Jakarta. None of the friends she made in pre-school transitioned with her, so she had to start making friends from scratch – something she’s done every year since we arrived. Some stayed at her original school, others went to a different international school – German, New Zealand, British, etc. Luckily, our next door neighbor attends the same school and is in her class. On the one hand, the experience of starting over will help her when we move back to Phoenix. On the other, continuity of friends is a fond memory I have from my childhood, and I’m sorry she hasn’t experienced that yet.

As expected, she has thrived in Kindergarten. So much so that she is sad and upset on days she doesn’t go to school. She looks forward to school. The school she attends includes students from K – 12. It’s where I used to play rugby on Thursday nights (something I’ve long since stopped doing). We originally drove her to school each morning, but now she takes the bus, which picks her up in our driveway. On days she does not have after school activities, she takes the bus home. In Phoenix, she’ll be walking to school each day, so riding the bus is a limited-time experience for her.

She has a teacher with an assistant for her primary lessons – math, reading, writing and general behavior - and a separate teacher for art, gym and music. After school she has Tae Kwon Do and Dance on different days of the week. She really enjoys Tae Kwon Do and has already advanced from beginner to her second belt! Now she’s teaching momma how to kick properly – “use your heel, thrust from your hip!” In December, on the last day of school, she had her Holiday Program and sang and danced for all the parents in attendance.

Moving away from our old home at Kemang Club Villas has made it more difficult to stay in touch with friends and spend time outdoors, but we’ve found ways to make it happen. We’re on our fourth nanny, but believe we have a good one now, and the kids really like her, too, which is important.

Our 2 year-old son started his first school last year, too. He’s attending the same Montessori our daughter did. We started him with just a few days a week, but he enjoyed it so much we extended him to full-time. His language skills are advancing rapidly as a result. We’ve invited a few classmates over on play dates and for his birthday party, but we’ve stopped doing it because he ignores them. He prefers to play with his big sister and her friends or with momma. I’m sure that will eventually change.

He is really interested in things that move – cars, trucks, buses, airplanes – always calling them out when we pass them and playing with his toy versions of them. He also mimics his sister like an echo. If she doesn’t like something, he doesn’t like it. If she likes something, he likes it. At 6:30 every night, when Disney’s Jake and the Neverland Pirates are on, he cheers and shouts like his sister does, even if she is not in the room. He even sings the theme song now.

We’re starting to get glimpses of his personality, too. He is persistent, brave, and very curious. Nothing stops him, nothing scares him, and he wants to be involved in everything. A few anecdotes:

Sunday afternoon and momma and sister are getting their nails done and I’m watching the two boys. We go out back to get some playtime outside. The 2 year-old sits in the chair next to me and says “Talk to me”. I nearly laughed out loud. I asked him how he enjoyed school and he rattled on for a good two minutes about his teacher, singing, and funny stories. Of course I only understood about half the words he said, but I got the gist of what he was saying.
Earlier this week after dinner, on a night both children were denied dessert for different reasons, our daughter was on the couch eating a second helping of home-baked fries. Our son, who also likes fries, thought this was dessert and approached us asking: “Dessert me too?” We assumed he was reminding us he did not get dessert, either, and we agreed. He then walked back to the couch while my wife and I remained at the dinner table in conversation. Soon, he shrieked in frustration, our daughter yelled at him, and he came screaming into the dining room clutching a fry. He points to his momma and says “Dessert me too!” I called him over, took the fry from him, and said: “Did someone give this to you?” “Yes”, he replies. “Who gave this to you”, I ask. “Me”, he replies. Hilarious!
A few days ago, he climbs on the chair at our home office and announces “My chair.” I say: “No, that’s my chair.” He replies, “No, my chair. Sit on my lap.” “I can’t sit on your lap”, I reply, “I’m too heavy.” “No, I’m strong”, he says. So, I sit on his lap, slowly putting more and more weight on him, waiting for him to say I’m too heavy. He never does, so I stand up and he says “See, I’m strong.”

Last but not least is the baby. He’s nearly six months old now and he is by far the quietest baby we’ve had. He seems very content to just watch the world around him. He’ll cry if he’s hungry, and occasionally when bored, but nowhere near the frequency or volume of our first two. He’s sitting up on his own, and he isn’t yet crawling but he spins himself in circles on his stomach. We’ve just started transitioning him from liquids-only to rice and baby food. He finds his older sister absolutely hilarious and also laughs when you make noise by blowing across the open mouth of a water bottle – not sure what that means. He hasn’t had a hardy, sustained laugh, yet, but we’ll video and post it the moment he does.

Overall, we couldn’t be happier with or more proud of our kids. It’s a blast watching them develop.

Simple Way to View US Financial Woes

2012-01-19T07:25:00.001+07:00

Let's see if I can simplify the US Deficit/Deb situation using the numbers provided here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tables.pdf

2010 Tax Revenue: $2,163,000,000,000

2010 Expenditures: $3,456,000,000,000

2010 Deficit: $1,293,000,000,000

2010 Debt: $9,019,000,000,000

2012 Budget Cuts: $38,500,000,000

Remove 8 zeroes to bring this down to what a household budget might look like:

2010 Salary: $21,630

2010 Spending: $34,560

2010 Amount added to debt: $12,930

2010 Credit Card Debt: $90,190

2012 expense reduction we're proud of: $385

Filling a Void

2012-01-18T07:49:00.001+07:00

There are no poems about Expats,

At least none of which I'm aware

Doctors, soldiers and athletes

All seem to have their share

But there are no poems about Expats

It's like they don't even exist

Not wanting this void to continue

I've written the world this.

December was a whirlwind!

2012-01-04T09:27:00.001+07:00

December was quite the busy month for us in Jakarta. There didn't seem to be a free night, weekend, or afternoon anywhere. January is starting in similar fashion, so I'll give a brief summary today and circle back with pictures next week.

Illness. The Flagyl worked and I hope I never take it again. It wrecked me. Tired, nauseous, constant headaches - it was almost worse than the disease it was curing. Once I finished the cycle, I then had to fight a bacterial infection with a different set of antibiotics for another week. If I ever find the food preparer who didn't wash his or her hands before cooking my food, I'm going to force them to wash their hands until the crack and bleed.

Events and more events. My daughter had her end of semester Christmas program. I always enjoy watching my kids perform on stage. Proud is an understatement. As long as she's having fun doing it, we'll always be there to watch. I could do without some of the other kids, though....especially the ones that like to draw attention away from my daughter! Are those other parents really there to watch their own kids??

When school completed for the term, we hopped on a plane for a four-day relaxing vacation in Singapore. Only it wasn't that relaxing. They almost didn't let us out of Jakarta, and then they almost didn't let us out of Singapore. Why? Because my wife's passport expires in May. Singapore requires six months eligibility to enter the country. The airline wasn't going to allow us to board the flight, but in the end, decided to allow it. Singapore immigration didn't even mention it. Same problem leaving Singapore, only this time, I had to spend forty minutes convincing them that because we were Jakarta residents with resident visas it wouldn't be an issue. Indonesian immigration didn't care, either - but I had someone from my office meet us there to help grease the wheels a little. The trip itself wasn't that great, either. It rained non-stop the entire four days we were there. Thankfully the hotel - Rasa Sentosa - had a kid's club. Our daughter enthusiastically spent all four days there while we tried to entertain the two boys.

When we returned, we had several dinners and events to attend. First was a going away party. Two expat couples are transitioning. One is taking a job with the United Nations in Kuala Lumpur, the other is taking a job in another city in Indonesia. At the party, we thought they would both be leaving Jakarta, but it turns out the one taking a job in another city will be able to continue living where he does today and just commute. That was good news. After that party was a dinner party with my staff and their spouses. This is an annual event we do around the holidays each year. The next day was our 8th wedding anniversary. We finally broke our fondue tradition and instead ate at a French restaurant far too pricey for the size of the food (which means it was a typical French restaurant). We were one of two tables so service was impeccable.

A few days after Christmas, my wife's cousin arrived for a two week visit. We made the requisite trip to Taman Safari the next day, followed by a tour of the famous historical sites in Jakarta the following day. We're now capable of being tour guides if anyone else wants to use our services.

Holidays. Of course the major events of the past few weeks were Christmas and New Year's. Santa paid us a visit and left behind hours of work for daddy and days of fun for the kids. I don't know why Santa bought our two year old a drum, but I'll have to be move involved in HER gift selection process next year. That thing is loud.

For New Year's Eve, we originally planned to host a party at our house. When we couldn't get enough people to confirm in advance, we instead decided to get a suite at the Shangri-La in Jakarta and go to one of the events they were hosting. Another couple joined us. Then another. Then another. Eventually, my reservation grew to 19 people. I informed them we all could have saved a bundle of money if they had just confirmed attendance at our party. We still had a great time. The food was excellent, the band was phenomenal, and the companionship of friends was the best. We finally returned to our rooms at 2 AM....only to wake with the kids at 5:30 the next morning. Ugh! Sunday afternoon naps are awesome.

Another Illness

2011-12-06T20:00:00.001+07:00

If you read through the 3-year blog history, you'll find that illness is just as much a part of the Indonesia experience as anything else. In the first fifteen years of my professional career, I probably missed two weeks of work due to illness. In the three years I've lived in Indonesia I have missed nearly a month. We're sick more often, and with harsher illness. Last week was yet another example.

When I arrived home from work on Monday, I told my wife I felt "odd". My skin felt raw and I was warmer than usual. Thirty minutes later I was shaking with chills and skipping dinner. Ninety minutes later, after the kids are in bed, I'm curled up in a ball on the couch burning with a 102 (39) degree fever and trying to stay warm with a blanket. Medicine isn't bringing my fever down.

I fell asleep at 10 PM. My wife woke me a few hours later to make me take more medicine. I was burning up. I was surprised when she told me I'd been asleep only two hours. I would have sworn I'd been asleep at least six. It was a rough night after that. Between fighting the fever and frequent trips to the bathroom, I hardly slept.

At 8 AM the next morning, after all the kids were at school, I went to the medical clinic. I was able to see a doctor within twenty minutes. She took my vitals, asked my symptoms, and walked me to the ER. I spent the next several hours in the ER hooked up to an IV under observation while they ran some tests. They were trying to keep me hydrated and bring down my fever. They were able to keep me hydrated.

Around noon they gave me my diagnosis: Amoebic Dysentery. Ugh. Same thing my daughter had last year, though our symptoms were slightly different. They gave me three different pills, one to kill the amoeba, one to help the issues that pill would cause in my stomach, and a third pill to fight the nausea caused by the other two. I would be taking 750mg of Flagyl three times a day for the next five days.

The medicine alleviated my symptoms almost immediately. My fever disappeared within hours, and the other symptoms began to improve. However, the medicine was brutal. Flagyl has a list of side effects and I experienced every single one of them. The worst for me was the headaches and the nausea. They left me incapacitated and in the fetal position for hours at a time. I kept trying to play with the kids but did not have the energy to do it. Being light headed didn't help either.

I stayed home from work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I went back to work on Friday simply to honor a family rule: We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do. I had a farewell party to attend and was hosting a poker party Friday night. If I didn't go to work, I wasn't going to do either of those events. Toughest day of work I've had in recent memory. Several times I doubled over to catch my breath. I did make it through the day, however, and attended the farewell party and the poker game, though everyone commented I looked very ill.

It's now Tuesday, a week after my trip to the ER. I took my final dose of Flagyl on Sunday AM and I still have the side effect of a sour taste in my mouth, though it's not as bad as it was yesterday. For the most part, I feel better, but I'm about 10 pounds (4 kg) lighter and don't have my full energy back yet. My appetite is slowly returning.

I went back to the medical clinic tonight so they could run more tests to confirm the amoeba is gone. They said it would take an hour, but realistically I don't expect to hear anything until tomorrow.

The worst part for me is knowing that my daughter went through this. She's a tough little kid. She had a lot more energy than I did!