Derek Bacon - CultureShock! Jakarta: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

This 2nd edition published in 2011, reprinted 2013 by:
Marshall Cavendish Corporation
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www.marshallcavendish.us

First published in 2007.
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eISBN: 978 981 4435 56 7

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Photo Credits:
All black and white photos by Derek Bacon except pages (Ian Viney). Colour photos from Photolibrary. Cover photo: Getty Images.

All illustrations by TRIGG except pages 137, 151 and 213 (Derek Bacon)

Culture shock is a state of disorientation that can come over anyone who has been thrust into unknown surroundings, away from ones comfort zone. CultureShock! is a series of trusted and reputed guides which has, for decades, been helping expatriates and long-term visitors to cushion the impact of culture shock whenever they move to a new country.

Written by people who have lived in the country and experienced culture shock themselves, the authors share all the information necessary for anyone to cope with these feelings of disorientation more effectively. The guides are written in a style that is easy to read and covers a range of topics that will arm readers with enough advice, hints and tips to make their lives as normal as possible again.

Each book is structured in the same manner. It begins with the first impressions that visitors will have of that city or country. To understand a culture, one must first understand the peoplewhere they came from, who they are, the values and traditions they live by, as well as their customs and etiquette. This is covered in the first half of the book.

Then on with the practical aspectshow to settle in with the greatest of ease. Authors walk readers through topics such as how to find accommodation, get the utilities and telecommunications up and running, enrol the children in school and keep in the pink of health. But thats not all. Once the essentials are out of the way, venture out and try the food, enjoy more of the culture and travel to other areas. Then be immersed in the language of the country before discovering more about the business side of things.

To round off, snippets of basic information are offered before readers are tested on customs and etiquette of the country. Useful words and phrases, a comprehensive resource guide and list of books for further research are also included for easy reference.

Viewed from a safe distance, its easy to assume that these days its just one bad thing after another in Indonesia. How terrible must this place be to actually live in? How on earth do people manage to live there? Its easy for the outside world to get a distorted view of life somewhere, when all that seems to come from there is bad news. But these are just events, little blips that get reported along the way. Its in the moments between these events where the real picture lies, where day-to-day life goes on, apparently as normal. If you want to stand any chance of knowing Indonesia at all, youll need to be there at ground level, with it whizzing all around you.

Towering well over 1.83 m (6 ft) tall, my co-authoring friend Terry Collins is definitely at ground level. In this reworked version of CultureShock! Jakarta, Terry brings our picture of Jakarta bang up to date. With 20 years of Jakarta living under his belt, he is well qualified in shifting the story forward. And, crucially, he still has enthusiasm for the Jakarta life. He may of course completely deny this, but its this very enthusiasm that has helped paint this much fuller picture of the city, and one too that helps guide us through the often confusing decade of change (or non-change) since President Suharto made his dramatic exit in 1998.

So here then is Jakarta today. Its big. Its frustrating. It really is a monster. Dont say we didnt warn you.

It is often the Jakarta way to beg, steal and borrow ideas and information, so much of what you read here is available under the Creative Commons licence or is otherwise in the public domain. If anyone should feel that there has been a copyright infringement please contact Marshall Cavendish.

That said, an enormous acknowledgement must be made to the Living in Indonesia website, circulated it to magazines but, as it remained unpublished, in March 2004 I resorted to putting it online on my blog Jakartass. It has since been plagiarised but, hey, I dont mind if it makes the living easier.

This edition is not so very different from the last edition in 2007, which had Dereks original tome, published in 1999, as its core. So the first big personal thank you goes to him for that and, above all, for the many years of friendship.

Id be remiss if I didnt thank the following, listed in alphabetical order, for help with this edition, for increasing my knowledge of Indonesia, or for no other reason than just being there (or here).

Anita and Nick Fenton, for this and that.

Dan Quinn for Gunung Bagging ( www.gunungbagging.com ), a heightened knowledge of Indonesian music, particularly gamelan but not dangdut, and many pleasant shared Bintangs.

Dave Jardine, for being there.

Gary Dean ( on the business labyrinth.

Leonardo Pavkovic ( www.moonjune.com ) for encouraging Indonesian ethno-jazz.

Maureen Rohn ( www.tatterscoops.com ) for TMII.