Indonesian shopping

Like many aspects of Indonesian life, shopping is one place you can go over the top expensive or bargain your way down to paying just a few dollars (or even cents). Jakarta is the capital and (and I think its safe to say) shopping center of Indonesia. I have never seen so many malls in such a small area of land. Malls in Jakarta often have valet parking, taxi queues, movie theaters, and four or more stories. They often resemble airports from the outside by their sheer size and volume of customers.

I have spend many weekends (and dollars) shopping at these malls and just admiring them. In Indonesia it is more common to meet up with friends at the mall than in Wisconsin because there is just more to do. In the mood to see a movie? Get a haircut? Get a massage? Work out? Sing karaoke? Ice skate? Pray? You've got it all in one place.

Lately my Indonesian language skills and my independence have both been increasing so I have been able to explore more malls with my friends, both Indonesian and American. I've managed to take taxis alone in Jakarta (a city of 8 million people) to meet friends at the mall which in itself feels like a big accomplishment.  

courtesy of google but you get the idea

my YES Abroad ladies shopping(L-R: Ellen, Mallory, and I)

You can sometimes forget you're in Indonesia at the mall due to the array of Western food options and Christmas/Halloween/other holidays not celebrated by the majority of Indonesians' decorations.

I found a christmas tree at a department store!

first root beer in 3 months

However the malls can be very western, if you want a traditional Indonesian experience you'll head to the pasar (lit. market). There are both pasar malam  and pasar pagi, (night market and morning market) but I have only yet been to the latter. At the pasar, hundreds of sellers are packed into a maze of shops filled with food, batik, and anything else you might want. I have not been able to witness the pasars too many times, but it is a very interesting experience. My friend guided me around  through the array of batik while bargaining prices until we could achieve the best deal or we would just keep going. I really hope to be able to explore the pasars more and eventually be able to bargain my way into non-bule prices (which may take awhile).

pasars remind me a lot of Farmers Markets in Madison, just more palm trees

If you have any suggestions or any topics you want me to write about, please comment or email me! The more I adjust the harder it becomes to write since Indonesia is starting to feel like a regular life.

Also, tomorrow marks three months since I left home. Time works in crazy ways right?

rice fields and angkots and waterfalls in the jungle

The last few weeks here in Indonesia have been pretty crazy, I'm not entirely sure where to begin right now. I've been riding hollowed out vans through the city of Bandung, ridden a horse carriage through the village of Kuningan, and wandered through a rice field in the country side. It's been a whirlwind yet incredible few weeks here, and I'm starting to really fall in love with Indonesia and this life I'm living here.

Two weeks ago my host family and I went to the village of Kuningan in West Java for Eid al-Adha. In short, it was a time for me to meet my extended host family, eat plenty of great food, learn more about Islam and Islamic holidays,  and experience village life. To say that I enjoyed my time in the village would be an understatement. This village was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, surrounded by sawahs (rice fields) for miles and nestled along side the 3rd tallest volcano (yep volcano) in Java, it was paradise in my eyes. I spent a quality morning in the village wandering through a sawah and taking pictures while trying not to lose my balance. Since rice fields are terraced, if you fall the next terrace is about four feet down in the mud. So you really don't want to lose your balance; not that you'll be hurt or anything, just take my word for it you don't really want to fall in that mud.

We also ventured up to a waterfall on the side of the volcano in the village. We couldn't swim or anything since the water was only about mid-calf deep, but still standing under a waterfall in the middle of the jungle on the side of a volcano is pretty sweet if you ask me.

After we returned home to Jakarta I packed my bags and set off for another mini trip, this time to Bandung to visit my friend and fellow exchange student Mallory. Bandung is a city in West Java, about two hours from Jakarta with about 2.5 million people. I spent five days with Mallory staying with her host family, exploring Bandung and navigating our way via public transportation (hollowed out buses) and going to school. We got to reconnect with other exchange students that I hadn't seen in two months which was great too. Being able to journey around Bandung by ourselves was an incredible feeling, I was slowly starting to feel less like a helpless bule, which I have felt like a lot in the past few months. Having entire conversations with shop owners and street vendors alike in Indonesian is a pretty cool thing and it feels good to have that capability. 

Ben from Belgium, me and Mallory

So now I have been in Indonesia for two months and six days which still blows my mind. It feels like both a week and six months ago that I landed in Jakarta with my group and our journey began. Time works in crazy way when you're an exchange student, there's no doubting that. But I've had some of the most fun I've had here in my whole life and I wouldn't trade these last two months for anything.

2 down, 9 to go!

seven weeks

So it's been awhile since my last update, and a lot has happened. I've gone to school, done a lotttttt of shopping, and eaten a lot of spicy food. I've spoken lots of Bahasa (Indonesian) and I make more progress with this language everyday, which is a great feeling. And I continue to adjust everyday to this new climate, culture, and country. Everyday I am reminded of how incredible Indonesia is, and how truly amazing it is that I was given this opportunity. It's the little things that I fall in love with here everyday that take my breath away, from tasting some of the best noodles I've ever had in my life for less than $1 to zooming down a side alley on the back of a motorcycle on the way to school, Indonesia is both the craziest and most mind-blowingly amazing country I have ever been. 

I've been here seven weeks now, so here are some pictures to sum up my time here so far:

about to leave New York City to fly to Hong Kong

my first view of Java

driving in Jakarta for the first time

meeting my host family for the first time

the view from my balcony

my backyard

seeing a komodo dragon at the zoo for the first time

eating nasi goreng :)

this is an average mall here

Jakarta is incredible at night

life in a month

This post is very long overdue and I have a lot to catch up on, but yesterday marked my one month anniversary of landing in Indonesia. It's a pretty crazy feeling knowing that I have been here for a month, in ways its felt both so much longer and so much shorter than a month. This has been the craziest and most incredible month of my life. Every day is really just another new adventure in this country that I am slowly learning more and more about. I thought I would do a quick summary of what I have been doing with myself this month. Enjoy!

During the past 30 days in Indonesia I have...

• survived 95 degree weather wearing jeans
• ridden on the back of a motorcycle to school everyday
• not had starbucks, or bagels, or used hot water, or taken a bath (bucket showers all the way)
• listened to the call to prayer
• ate food so spicy I want to cry
• Ate enough nasi goreng (fried rice) to feed a family of four for a good year
• worn a school uniform (3 actually)
• eaten plenty of Indomie (ramen)
• gone to the American embassy
• performed the cupid shuffle/macarena/hoedown throwdown in front of the American ambassador
• met AFSers from Japan, Belgium, Finland, Panama, Argentina, Mexico, France, Thailand, Switzerland, and the Netherlands (probably more)
• spoken Javanese, Sundanese, Indonesian, Spanish, and some Finnish
• survived 26 hours of flying
• sat eight rows ahead of Bon Jovi on a plane to Canada
• listened to plenty of American music (Macklemore)
• become a school celebrity
• gained 60 twitter followers in a week
• eaten plenty of tropical fruit
• taken selfies in class with my friends
• gained a new nickname (Sarahbule)
• posed in pictures with complete strangers
• been interviewed twice
• watched plenty of "friends" with Indonesian subtitles

...and so much more. Hopefully this gave some insight into what the past 30 days in Indonesia have been like without me going on for too long. Indonesia has truly changed my life in ways I had never expected. Everyday I learn more about my own capabilities and this incredible country. Little everyday accomplishments become big scale victories when added up. Like being able to speak Indonesian to my friends at school, and understanding when they respond. And being able to order food in public places in Indonesian, surprising both the food vendor and myself in what I can say in a foreign language, a language most of my friends back home don't know exists. 

The one month mark is an interesting one to hit. One month is a long time to spend in a foreign country when you're 16. A long time. I'm spending ten months here, which still blows my mind everyday. Throughout this month Indonesia has slowly become my home. My neighborhood is beginning to feel familiar and my school is beginning to feel familiar as well. Everyday when I leave school, I really feel like I am coming home, not just to the house I'm living in. Of course one month is not enough to completely adapt to a new environment, and I continue to adapt everyday, but it's enough time to slowly begin to piece your new life together. 

So here is one more list, this time of my favorite things in Indonesia:

• the taste of freshly cooked nasi (rice)
• the palm trees everywhere
• the fact that food costs maybe 50 cents
• mango and other tropical fruit
• taking an ojek (motorcycle taxi) to school
• nasi goreng 
• my school and amazing classmates
• the heat (it's a love/hate relationship)
• cicaks everywhere (geckoes)
• bucket showers
• listening to the call to prayer
• the city of Jakarta

 More pictures to come soon!

school and other tidbits

So today is Wednesday, September 5 and its currently 6pm at my house in Indonesia, but I know many of my friends back home are just waking up and getting ready for school back at West, which honestly feels like a million miles away right now. Everything remotely familiar feels like a million miles away right now. But it's not a bad thing really, because Indonesia is slowly becoming my home. Day by day I fall in love more with this crazy country and its millions of quirks and fascinating cultural tidbits that so extremely differentiate it from any place I have ever been in my life. Every aspect of life here is so unique, from bathing to school to transportation everything is different from America. All in its own Indonesian way, and although it takes getting used to (and the first adjustment phase is HARD, let me tell you) I am falling more in love with this country everyday.

Everyday I learn something new about this incredible archipelago nation, and everyday I find another reason I love it here. Whether it be riding an ojek (motorcycle taxi) through a village to school everyday or the call to prayer radiating over the island five times a day, I find something new and beautiful to love here every single day.

But I should probably update on what I have been doing here for the last week instead. I started school at SMAN 5 Bekasi on Monday, and I love it. Apparently I am the first exchange student to go there (at least from what I've gathered) so everyone is very surprised to see me, that blonde, white bule wandering the hall in the Indonesian school uniform. 

my school's outdoor courtyard

A word about Indonesian school uniforms: it is impossible to get on the back of a motorcycle when wearing one, and I'm not quite sure how my Indonesian friends do it so swiftly and easily when I'm over here just trying not to fall off and looking even more like the helplessly lost bule that I am. Bule means foreigner/white person over here, so that would be me. 

There are three school uniforms here: batik (traditional Indonesian pattern, every school has a unique batik and they're beautifull), pramuka (I think that translates to "scout" in English, and it looks a lot like a girls scout uniform. Brings me back to those 5th grade brownies days), and the standard white top and blue skirt. 

typical white and blue uniform

Overall I really like the uniform because I can blend in a tinyyyy bit more. But there's no way to blend in here when you're blonde, caucasian, and tall (tall being 5'4"). You'll forever be a bule, but I'm embracing it everyday as much as I embrace every other part of this country.

So onto school. Everyday I ride on ojek (motorcycle taxi) to school which takes about 15 minutes. It is honestly the highlight of my day. I have my own little moped back home, so I am very used to riding mopeds and motorcycles everywhere. We ride through a little village type area down a dirt road to and from school. Definitely one of those "only in Indonesia" moments, riding a motorcycle down a dirt road through a village on your morning commute to school.


Indonesian school is really a lot of fun. There are 2 tracks here that students are put in, science and social. I am in science and I really like everyone in my class. I am taking physics, chemistry, trigonometry, japanese, PE, Indonesian language, English, and probably a few more that i can't remember. It's really funny that I'm learning trig and physics for the first time ever in Indonesian, so it's safe to say I don't understand much. But it's still fun. English and japanese are probably my 2 favorite classes. I love learning new languages, so learning Japanese from Indonesian is really fun. And English is fun because the teacher has me help teach. And I am pretty sure I gave my entire class a Wisconsin accent so thats fun.

first day of school

my amazing class, can you spot the bule in the middle?

School is definitely a lot of fun and I really love my class, 11 IPA 2. My school is great and everyone smiles and says hi to me in the hallway, I guess I'm sorta the school celebrity because I am the only exchange student here and I am the first they've ever had.

So that was this week in a nutshell, so far I can tell this is going to be a great year :)

And so it begins

I left Wisconsin one week ago today, and let me tell you it has been one whirlwind week. I am now sitting in my living room in Bekasi, Indonesia but it has been one long week to get to the point I am at now. So I'll start from one week ago, the beginning of my trek to Southeast Asia.

I left Madison at 7 am and flew to New York with my friend Ellen, who is also a YES Abroad Indonesia student from Wisconsin. Saying goodbye to our parents was definitely not at all easy, but we both knew what incredible years we had in store for us and we were both very excited. But it was still very hard for both of us and the 2 hour flight to New York was pretty rough. 

New York orientation was pretty chill and it gave us a chance to relax and prepare ourselves for what lay ahead. NY orientation flew by and before we knew it we were on the way to the airport (where we scrambled to figure out what our last American meal would be) and boarding our 18 hour flight to Hong Kong.

right before we left New York

HK airport

Hong Kong

right before our 18 hour flight

Wednesday night at 10 pm we boarded our plane to Hong Kong. We got to HK on Friday at 6 am. I still can't wrap my head around how we missed Thursday, but we did. The plane ride was about 5 times longer than the longest flight I've ever been on, but at least the plane was pretty comfy and we could watch movies. And Bon Jovi was on our flight and he sat about eight rows behind me (in economy) which was pretty cool. The flight attendant definitely laughed at us (or maybe just me) for fangirling so hard, but how can you not when it's BON JOVI?

We finally arrived in HK and after a three hour layover of exploring the first foreign airport I've been to and some incredible authentic Chinese food, we boarded our last flight to Jakarta. I was through the roof with excitement on this flight, but still pretty tired of flying after 18 hours in the air. The flight to Jakarta went very fast, and soon we found ourselves descending into our new home. Flying into Indonesia for the first time was absolutely incredible, you can see the copper colored roofs that cover the city from thousands of feet up and the palm trees and rice fields. It was the most beautiful place I have ever flown into, and that was the moment that it really hit we were staying in this place for a YEAR.

flying into Jakarta

After we arrived we were driven to the orientation site where we stayed from Friday to Sunday with other AFSers from around the world. On the drive there we basically stuck our faces against the car windows in awe, after four months of imagining this place, we were finally living in it. The arrival orientation was useful, but after NY and our two PDO's the YES Abroaders were pretty orientationed out. On Monday we had a talent show where we all did a traditional dance or song from our home countries (the american girls did a pitch perfect/cupid shuffle/ hand jive/ hoedown throwdown/macarena mashup and it was awesome). The Jakarta area AFSers (including me) all met our host families that night.

My host family is so sweet, I could really go on for a long time about them. I am so excited to spend this year with them and teach them about America and learn about Indonesia. Their house and neighborhood are absolutely beautiful, and I was so ecstatic to find that they have a balcony because I have a newfound obsession with balconies.

my host family

amigas de Mexico, Panama, y Argentina

Wisco girls

Today is my first full day with my host family and it could not have gone better. Our maid prepared incredible Javanese coffee and tea (both of which were the best coffee and tea I've ever had) and nasi goreng (fried rice). I'm slowly getting used to eating rice for breakfast, but I love it. My host dad drove me to school and I met my principles and I think got registered (the conversation was in Bahasa so all I picked up was "she is from Amerika"). My friend Atika who I met in DC at the Indonesian embassy was there, and she showed me around the entire school, where I introduced myself to her friends in Bahasa. Nama saya Sarah. Sayi dari Amerika. Saya pertukaran pelajar. I swear I have never stuck out so much in my life. Every person that walked by me stared at me, not in a mean way but more a confused or excited way. Lots of people smiled and waved at me, even if they didn't know who I was. I am so excited to start school next week and talk to everyone I was introduced to, Indonesian teenagers are really some of the nicest people I've ever me. 

Javanese coffee and tea

So today (or hari ini in Bahasa) marks one week since I left home. I am still a little jet lagged and attempting to adjust to this heat, but I feel great and I fall more in love with this country every minute. 

One Day More

So today is my last day in Madison. It's pretty crazy to realize that I was accepted to YES Abroad four months and one week ago, and here I am counting down the hours to my departure. It's felt like forever and two weeks ago at the same time that I've been preparing for this journey. And it has been one long preparation process. With conference calls, orientations, shopping for luggage and clothes, and some language study thrown in there, it has been one crazy summer. 

So tomorrow begins the first day of one incredible year away from home. A completely unpredictable but (hopefully) incredible year awaits me in less than 24 hours, which is pretty crazy if you think about it. 

I had my going away party on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun and a really great way to round up my last few days in Madison. It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone as they left, but I know that I'll only be gone for 11 months and then I'll be back sitting around a bonfire with them all again. 

I never really realized how many people know about me and what I am doing. I have had so many friends from middle school and parents of friends that I haven't seen in a few years tell me how excited they are for me and what an incredible opportunity this is. I had no idea so many people knew I was doing this outside of my friends at West and my family. I've gotten handwritten letters in the mail (I don't remember the last time someone mailed me a letter) of friends and family wishing me good luck. It's pretty incredible how many people are supporting me in this journey, and although it's a little bit overwhelming, I just feel so much more proud of accomplishing this.

So there you go. This is my last post in the pre-departure phase. I want to thank everyone who has helped me in this journey (friends, family, and the State Department especially). I seriously couldn't have done this without all of you along with me.

Here goes nothing.