Volunteer Hit and Run

Ok, so get this. In Indonesia, if a person is driving down the road, obeying every law, they can still go to jail or get sued for everything you are worth – even if they did nothing wrong. Why is this possible? Because, in typical fashion, there’s a law that makes no sense to an expat. If I’m driving down the street, minding my own business, and a guy walks out in front of me, drives his motorcycle into me,Read more

Starbucks, Terrorism, and Samurai

Have you seen that flick? I saw it last night – sorry, but everything takes a bit longer to reach Indonesia. What an awesome movie! I was surprised to see Tom Cruise take up this role, but in the end I think he did a much better job than I would have predicted. Maybe I’m a sucker for these “male pride/honor comes first/wish I was there” type movies (Gladiator, Braveheart), but it really was well done. The main opposing character,Read more

… Will Work for Handphone

How’s this for the last post of the year? Roll back to the year 2000. I got my first cellphone (oops, I mean handphone). It was rare among my friends to have one, and so therefore, I felt just a little bit cooler than them. Yeah I know, now they’re a dime a dozen, but back then it was more of a time for pagers and answering machines. Keep in mind this was in the States, and we’re at leastRead more

Indonesian Maids, "I See Dead People"

Well that new maid that I mentioned last week… yeah, she’s already gone. Four whole days she worked for me. Apparently she quit cause she was afraid of something. This culture is very superstitious, and often they speak of magic, ghosts, and psychic abilities. Well, I’ve had about 4 maids and a roommate say they feel ‘something’ upstairs. The other maids did not leave because of this, but they were constantly afraid of being alone in the house. This lastRead more

Expats On the Run!

It’s funny how so many expats bolt from Java as soon as they have a chance. As soon as we have vacation time, where do they run off to? The tropical beaches of Bali only an hour’s journey? Beautiful islands of Thailand nearby? Shopping in Singapore? Not a chance. Most of them return to the very place they were so eager to leave. It’s understandable that they would wish to see family and friends, but think about it – theyRead more

The Power of Color

The power of color. It’s unbelieveable how much colors can affect our moods. I decided to paint my house. It seems that most people feel that “white” is the best color for interior walls. It’s like they feel that it’s “better for resale“, or “nice and clean“, or “makes the room feel larger“. I’ll tell you what – coming from the all white school of thought, I now know that changing the colors of my walls has a dramatic effectRead more