The other side of the Indonesian postcard

Its fair to say the positives outweigh the negatives thats why most of us are all here and the challenge of living away from what we would consider normal  is probably why we like it here.
For me I have faced many challenges out in Jakarta and they include;

Death of a colleague and dealing with the news and aftermath.
My house being broken into a month before my wedding and losing so many wedding items and rings  etc.
Living in a house which relied on groundwater which ran out for a few months.
Some health scares and other family matters here and in England.
Dealing with difficult news or fantastic news from back home but not being able to attend or help.

The biggest thing for me is often the isolation whereby I am not able to share with friends and family directly like you can at home. Coming to terms with that and understanding that the life I now lead cannot be explained or shared took some time but eventually I have come to accept it.
I think that means for me I have had to learn and understand who I am to accept why I am here and what I am doing.

My post card has to include a picture of beaches and volcanoes and the message I would write is that I am l living the dream but its not always sunny in paradise so be prepared because when things go wrong they go really wrong and sorting things out is not as simple as it is back home.

Hopefully thats not too melodramatic but its sometimes how I see it.

Luke, IMHO you hit the nail squarely on the head...big time.

Well done!

Yes luke, U right...
Everyone have a same problem

One of the nicest things in Indonesia is the friendliness of the people. Aside from that the sheer natural beauty of the countryside and the delicious food. To me Indonesia is still very much unspoilt compared to some of it's neighbours. There is also the strong feeling of it's unique culture wherever we go.

The other side would be traffic jams in Jakarta, lousy postal service, corruption.