Roy
Just for fun, and I am certainly not being paid, I’ve submitted a few articles for The Bali Times, and this is the first. It was published in the February 22 edition of The Bali Times, and so far, I am still alive!
An Expat’s Journal:
What Is An Expat?
Yea, I know, “expat” isn’t really a word, but what the heck! To dickens with Noah Webster and all the other lexicologists! English is fun, as one can always make it up as they go along, and in many cases, get away with their own creative contributions. What other reason could there be for current issues of Webster’s Dictionary being about ten times the size of the original, published in 1828?
Sorry, I’m digressing.
The name of the vessel that brought all of us (or is it we?) expats here to Bali, be it the SS something, or Air something is not important, as we all got here somehow, but I sure remember that flight that ended up permanently depositing me here. It was Garuda out of LAX, and while I had my return ticket, I never used it. That direct Los Angeles to Bali flight is long gone, and I sure hope it wasn’t because of the fire I errantly ignited in the lavatory with my first Sampoerna kretek. There is something about kretek that brings on regularity even better than prunes.
I think I got away with that mishap because it was my first experience of bastardizing the Indonesian language. “It’s some porna, sorry, sorry!” The flight attendant must have thought that was understandable...nothing like hot porn! Yes, I got away with that one, but the second time was indeed painful. Not long after first arriving, I met this most lovely Balinese lady named Ketut. “Ah, fourth born” I thought, conjuring up all I had digested from the Lonely Planet guide. Confident, I extended my right hand, and in spite of my rubber knees quivering with anticipation, offered her a very warm, “nice to meet you Kentut.”
“Good grief!” Two strikes and I’ve only been here ten hours!
I don’t know an expat who cannot describe in great detail the events of their first arrival in Bali. Weren’t we all gob smacked to one degree or another? What a seductress Bali is. If you have any doubts about the gender of Bali, dispel them now, as she is certainly a magical woman.
All of us have our own story of seduction and eventual submission. In the end though, it is all about how we reacted to that seduction that determined our success, or lack of, in Bali becoming home. In Bali, expats ebb and flow like the tide. I sometimes hear numbers being bandied about declaring that less than 10% of expats who give Bali a go are still here after five years. Since the retirement visa was inaugurated, it could be that percentage has improved. I don’t know, but I do know that all of us that have been here for many years can scribe a litany of names of those departed from Bali, both on their feet and on their backs.
So, what is it that makes an expat an expat? If you explore the first definition of expatriate (the “correct” word) on dictionary.com, it is as a verb, “to banish (a person) from his or her native country.” Hmmm, I guess we all know someone who could fit that definition! On the other hand, there is option number two offered, which is, “to withdraw (oneself) from residence in one's native country.” With the assumption included therein that free choice was involved, I prefer that definition, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Expats on Bali are as diverse as are the 400 or so indigenous cultures that comprise the archipelago we call The Republic of Indonesia. They come here from all over the world, all walks of life, and with completely disparate points of view. Would Martha Stewart call that “a good thing?” Who cares...as she would be clueless anyway. YES! That is a good thing. In fact, it’s a marvelous supplement to all the other charms and richness of Bali and her people. Where else but here on Bali can one sit down at a table and very shortly find themselves engrossed in interesting conversation with folks from all over the world? For many expats on Bali, we have found the most enriching friendships and kindred spirits of our entire lives. Beyond that, many Balinese have found the same gems of life within expats, just as we have found the same within them.
Given such a great diversity among expats in Bali, it only seems reasonable to attempt to classify the various types in some understandable category. After many years of careful observation and study, as well as introspection, I have come up with nine categories which in one way or another I can nicely pigeon hole most all the expats I have come to know. This is provided solely for entertainment, but if it strikes any cords among readers, please don’t come hunting for me at Nuris or the Fly. In no particular order, here they are:
Trial Expats: No, these aren’t lawyers, rather they are the ones who prior to taking the full on plunge, give Bali life a try out for a few to several months. These are the “Mr. Spocks” as they are able to maintain pure logic and a repetitive schedule here in Bali. For them, it may take several years after permanent residency for Bali to take full effect. While their methodical ways are somewhat admirable, it all seems so boring and unadventurous. In case you were never a Star Trek fan, you can also refer to these expats as The Predictables.” Wherever you spot these expats, the chances are good you will spot them again at the same time and place tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and on.
Hardship Posting Expats: I derive that term from an internal revenue designation of American expats assigned to a foreign country by their employer. We all know some that fit this category. In Bali, they tend to be the GM’s or other senior management of the top class resorts, especially those resorts which are internationally owned. These expats come here knowing full well in advance that their years on Bali are numbered. Understandably, these expats don’t mix all that much with the locals, they hardly if ever attend temple ceremonies, and their kids always attend the international school with lots of other anak bule. I say that is understandable because the flip side of the coin is only greater angst and pain when it comes time to leave Bali. Another term I like for them is “Just Dating Bali” expats.
Expat Retirees: Since the inception of the retirement resident visa, this group is surely the fastest growing group of all. This isn’t surprising given all the appeal that Bali offers to pensioners from all over the globe. Bali has been rated number five of the best places in the world to retire by the AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons which is the largest membership organization in the US, having over 25 million members. In the years ahead, we will surely be seeing a lot more of these expats. Likely as well we will be seeing more and more housing communities for these retirees, which like in the US will range from “Pulang Kampung Mati” to “Pulang Kampung Kupu Kupu.”
Neo-colonial Expats: These are the expats who have come to Bali to make their fortune. Their desire for success in business has brought them here, convinced that their “never thought of before” business idea will be instantly successful. For many of them, the end result is often yet another restaurant, art shop, villa development, or export business. These expats are very easy to spot, especially when you get invited over to their villa for dinner, as their house staff will always be uniform clad, sometimes even with photo id tags pinned on them. At least that is better than a number tattooed on their wrist. Another term for these expats that I like is “Warung Expats.”
Zen Expats: Usually living comfortably on trust funds, or a generous mom or dad, these are the expats that have come to Bali to find enlightenment and to embrace their spiritual side. These expats are hardly seen except at art or writers festivals, but occasionally, some of these expats can be seen wearing left over carnival clothes aimlessly wandering the streets of Ubud. They are never to be spotted at Ibu Oka, or sipping a martini, but can be found at the farmer’s markets. Talking to these expats can often be difficult, as their mind always seems to be somewhere else.
Full On Plunger Expats: These are the expats who came to Bali fully intending to return to their motherland, but simply haven’t gotten around to it...10, 20, 30, or more years latter. These expats are the utterly smitten ones who have learned to throw all conventional wisdom out the door and have denounced logic and all its evil ways. For these expats, Bali is the ultimate narcotic. Year after year, they never seem to come down from this high. If you are a pragmatist, you will quickly learn to take any advice they offer with a large grain of salt. When spotted at an Indonesian embassy renewing their visa, these are the guys still using their 20 year old plane ticket as proof of having an out bound flight from Bali.
Snow Bird Expats: That term also comes from the states. It designates folks who spend their Summers in New England, and their Winters in Florida. Here it applies to those expats who live in Bali for part of the year, and somewhere else for other parts of the year. “Drawn between two lovers” another lyric comes to mind, “better go home son and make up your mind.” These expats are difficult to keep as close friends as it is impossible to keep track of their whereabouts.
Coffee House Expats: These are the expats who most enjoy being photographed wearing tropical straw hats, holding cameras and with a cigarette planted between the lips. These are the cognoscenti of the arts, who have come to Bali for the rich inspiration she provides which may enable them to write that perfect novel or create that masterpiece canvas. Personally, I most often find the most entertaining and fun loving expats among this group. They can easily be spotted as most of them keep a martini as a pet.
And finally there are the you’ve got to be kidding expats. These are the expats you occasionally run into who leave you thinking just that...“you’ve got to be kidding.” These are the expats who inadvertently spawn betting pools by other expats based on the number of months they will last living in Bali. These expats ignore everything around them, and are capable of truly mind blowing business ideas like sleuse mining for gold in the Ayung River, or selling golf carts to Balinese villagers to make it easier for them to get around. No fooling here, as all of us in Ubud got to meet one such expat last year. One needn’t worry about spotting such an expat, as they will find you. Cheers!
ronb
The article quoted below is from Sunday's Jakarta Post, and as I read it I was reminded of various expats and tourists I have met. The group described by Trisha complain vehemently, so let's call the the "whiners".
It reminded me of Roy's categories in this post, so have re-read it to see which categories are most likely to include whiners. My impression is
Trial Expats :arrow: you will find whiners in this group
Hardship Postings :arrow: not so many
Retirees :arrow: lots of whiners
Neo Colonials :arrow: maybe a few
Zens :arrow: should not be any - not their style
Full on Players :arrow: some - they are proud to know true Bali values, but may not be vocal complainers
Coffee Housers :arrow: a few
You've got to be kidding :arrow: not many - they are thinking of other things
[quote]You get more than you bargain for
Trisha Sertori , , | Sun, 04/06/2008 10:44 AM | Headlines
Sitting at a warung the other afternoon, I overheard the predictable litany of complaints against Indonesia's taxi drivers. Smugly the overseas guests said they had managed to get a good price to the airport from Kuta. "I told him I would pay 20,000 rupiah and that was it. You've got to be tough," said this foreign visitor, who interspersed his conversation with what low prices he had managed to get for his shipment of crafts, which he was set to make a packet on back home.
Within me was a boiling urge to pop this self satisfied character on the nose. At no point had this chap, or his business colleagues, considered the life of a taxi driver in Indonesia. Perhaps they were looking only through the eyes of their home countries where taxi divers usually pull 12 hour days for fairly miserable wages. But they do get to go home and sleep, they have their taxis supplied and normally earn an hourly rate.
Things here are a bit different. I recently took a taxi from Jakarta's airport into the city. Chatting with the taxi driver I discovered he works 24 hours a day, he lives in his taxi. His family is way up in Bandung, a couple of hours up the freeway. He has not been home in four months. He has been living this way for 20 years. He is a friendly chap who complains not at all; happy to have a job and the meager earnings that help to keep his kids in school.
At the same warung a woman is whining about the difficulty of getting a visa into Indonesia. "I have to fly to Malaysia and then come back. It's expensive. I am on a pension," she blisters as she tucks into a meal that costs around 10,000 rupiah or a dollar in U.S. terms. So often I hear people complain about the difficulties they face getting an Indonesian visa. There is a choice of visas available from the 30 day tourist visa on arrival, the Social Budaya that extends up to six months and for the business mob it's an easy two months that lets them traipse around the country and fill containers with profit.
Good for them, good for Indonesia, so why the whining. All visas take is a trip to Singapore, or if you prefer some real color, Dili, and a couple of days wait and you are right for another couple of months in paradise. Try getting the same visa into Australia, the U.S. or Europe, particularly if you are an Indonesian citizen. The fact is Indonesia has some of the most generous and welcoming visa requirements in the world, we should be very, very grateful.
Just outside the entrance to the warung is a young Indonesian girl, perhaps 9 years old. She will never have the opportunity to travel to distant lands. Dusty faced, hair unwashed, dressed in hand me downs that have been handed down too often, she begs for Rp 1,000, 500 if you could spare that. The bitter pensioner complaining of visa costs refuses this beggar child the 10 cents she asks for. "They are all rich you know, these beggars," she says. I am not so sure. Begging is hardly a career of choice.
Giving to these poor buggers is a win win situation. The beggar gets a bowl of rice; the giver gets far more, a reminder "that there but for the grace of God go I", that dash of humility that wipes smugness from the soul. Yet the complaints from guests go on.
Next up is the price of accommodation. A swimming pool, hot water, breakfast and rooms with verandas cleaned daily for Rp 100,000. And that's for two people. Try that in a youth hostel in Singapore, the U.S., Australia or just about anywhere else in the world and you will be laughed out of the building.
Are the complaints and demands of people based on the old adage, give them an inch and they'll' take a mile. Does Indonesia, in this visit Indonesia year, need to triple its prices to reflect the true value of its products and services, address head-on that old human habit of not trusting anything freely given? Or do visitors to the country need to learn some manners, drop their presumptions and prejudices that lead them by the nose into nasty little statements that question the integrity of the local people.
Certainly most visitors to Indonesia come with eyes and hearts open, and leave with these filled with new friendships, knowledge and respect. But for those little groups who sit self-satisfied with superiority in warungs comparing deals and rip-offs, think twice before you speak, your hosts, Indonesians, are listening.
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The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 04/07/2008 - 9:46am
You take foreigners to task but don't mention anything about all the rich Indonesians who hold similar or even worse views about the "lazy" poor people. For that matter, do you, who condemns these people so self-righteously, give to every beggar you see? It's foolishly naive to do so, when often they are forced to beg by criminal gangs who keep all their money. Eliminating this problem can't be helped by tossing a few rupiah at every cute little beggar you see. It takes collective action to solve these problems, but most well-off Indonesian people are largely content to ignore the problem or direct their complaints on "outsiders" rather than look at themselves and their own inaction.
You're right, there are a lot of rude inconsiderate foreigners. But if you think they, and not the corrupt, rich, complacent Indonesians who actually have the power to change the problems you speak of, are the problem, then you are the one who is smug and self-righteous. Try writing about the real problems in this country.
Scot MacKenzie (not verified) — Mon, 04/07/2008 - 8:28am
Trish,
Apologists like you are the reason that the status quo will never change in Indonesia.
Shame on you for writing this defeatist drivel and calling it informed opinion. I have evey right to sneer at the legacy of 30 years of corrupt Dictatorship over Indonesians by fellow Indonesians without making it personal.
I don't think that the taxi driver is to personally blame for his situation, nor the begging girl, but the people who ARE to blame and whose responsibility it is to fix these things are currently bursting their pants buttons in the DPR. Who put them there? Well, if you voted, you did Trish.
Looks like there's still a fair bit of "National Awakening" to do in the Jakarta Post editorial office.
Frank Harrison (not verified) — Sun, 04/06/2008 - 2:19pm
I cringe to read stories like this, because I can well imagine some Australians behaving in this manner. The underlying ethnocentric, "we-them" mentality is painfully apparent. Please be assured that many Australians - and I am sure New Zealanders, Americans and Europeans generally - would share your sentiments.
Since the end of the White Australia policy, this country has become one of the most multicultural nations on earth, and welcomes large numbers of international students and visitors. Take a walk through central Brisbane any day of the week for evidence.
Personal daily contact with people from other cultures at school, work, and university is inevitably having an impact on Australian attitudes. Prime Minister Rudd's recent apology to aboriginal Australians who were taken from their families for a "better" upbringing in European families is another hopeful sign.
F.H., Brisbane
Arif (not verified) — Sun, 04/06/2008 - 2:03pm
Indonesian people definitely deserve a better outlook in the media.
This country is more vibrant and culturally rich than the nearest Malaysia were tourism earns highest revenue. Unlike Malaysia, Indonesia is doing very less to promote tourism in this beautiful country. Indonesian tourism officials should work hard to promote the true image of Indonesia by working with independent media.
Indonesians are very cool people but lack English speak skills compared to Malaysians. This often lead to poor communication between visitors and their hosts.
Another negative factor is the lack of transparency in the public life which adversely affect the tourism sector too. As a tourist, I like to pay fixed charges than a bargained fare and it will help me to plan a trip with budget. To me, Blue Bird taxis are better than "Tarif Lama".
Such transparent practice in every sector will bring more confidence to public life and thus to the growth of tourism sector of Indonesia.
Indonesians civil movements should concentrate more to bring transparency in public life which will make solid changes in the current tourism scenario.
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