While visiting friends and family during trips away from Indonesia, they would often ask out of curiosity, “what we liked best about Indonesia?”. I joked, saying the best thing about living in Jakarta, was “getting on a plane and leaving to go somewhere else!” I must admit, living here has certainly been an eye opener. We’ve had our moments, but in the long run, our time here will be remembered as a “life experience”. We’ve had an opportunity to see a different part of the world, live in a totally foreign culture, experience living in a predominately Muslim country, and see how other people in this big world of ours live. In truth, I can’t say we’ll miss Jakarta, but we’ll miss many of the people that we’ve met along the way.
One of the best things that I can say about our time and experience in Jakarta, is the fact that our children had the opportunity to attend the Jakarta Intercultural School. It was an unbelievable school and a great experience for them, which we will miss.
One of the worst things that I can say about our time and experience in Jakarta, is seeing the injustice that is present in the Judicial/Legal System in Indonesia, pertaining mainly to the Neil Bantleman and Ferdinant Tjiong case. In addition to the 6 janitorial staff members (1 dead) of JIS, Neil and Ferdi are serving lengthy prison sentences for crimes never committed. Corruption and bribery are a common occurrence in Indonesia. Granted, the government is trying to correct their countries corruption, but they have a long and difficult path to go.
Signing off, from our “Life in Jakarta” …
RDG