Bert Vierstra
The title of this forum is pretentious don't you think?. What is an expat really? How many big international companies are located on Bali and send their people to this island? Would be happy to know a few names. No, my guess is that what we call expats here are actually adventurers, escapists, dreamers and people hoping for a lifetime holiday, or to start a new life. Nobody send us here did they? Free will, right?Things in Jakarta are different however. There are the real expats, no romantic girls and boys like us, but people that are in real danger. High profile Jakarta based expats see pictures in magazines where they are targeted by hit squads, and have to live with the stories of beheaded expats in Saudi Arabia.ICAC was originally set up by parents to do something about the drugs and drinking problems of expatriate teenagers, but last year also took 1132 people (mostly expats) for counseling. "Helping people to sift between perceptions and reality". The article in the Jakarta Post where this post is based on kindly mentions the effect of the "Travel Advisories" on the expat community. "Ass covering" they call it, those travel warnings.Travel Advisory "policy" makers, go and have a chat with the ICAC, do some sifting.Look here for details : [url="http://www.icachouse.or.id/"]http://www.icachouse.or.id/[/url]
Jen
Wow!I wish there was something such as this in Bali when I lived there! I found it difficult and extremely fustrating trying to work out the ins and outs of living in Bali! It was trial and error big time. I believe a system such as this would save a lot of time and heartache. I also found a lot of so called 'friends' in Bali were all part of the secret expat society. It was like "Ah ha, I had to battle to find out all the information about living in Bali on my own, now its your turn!!!" It was like other expats like to see you suffer, trip up and fall down. It was like you had to earn your 'stripes' and become part of the so called expat scene. Little snippets of information would be released at a time, but never from woe to go. Alot of abovementioned was bound together with peoples ego's and insecurities that you may actually end up better off or Heaven Forbid more knowledgeable about their Sacred Bali!I think its brilliant that people from all over the world got together and implimented this great system.Would like to hear of anyone actually using the system up there in Jakarta.
Tracey
Jen, Sounds similar to the situation I found myself in over the last few years organising visa's for my hubby to come to Melb...Others had been through it, but it was like getting blood from a stone... Now I help who I can, after all, if someone had of helped me things would have been much quicker, but I am also glad i did it my way myself... It wasn't until I had decided on a path to take that people (so called friends) nwould make comments, of course all saying i was going the wrong way about it etc.. But he is here now & all is & was worth it!Now I have helped about 5 friends & I actually like to help them...Even though the others that never helped me ask why, I say well if I know it why not share it!?
Roy
Bert, what in dickens were you sipping on when you started this post? An expatriate (expat for short) is anyone who lives in a country other than of their birth, and do so by choice. Whether they work or not, or live on retirement income or their lotto winnings is a mute point. As for large companies who send their employees here...sure, there are many. Almost all of the major five star resorts (which are internationally owned companies) have expats as their General Manager. Jen, I never in six years ever experienced this "secret society" mentality among expats here. Just the opposite has been my experience. Maybe this is just the case among Ubud based expats, but the fact is, you can't find a more helpful bunch of people from all sorts of backgrounds and nationalities who are willing, able and do, help each other out. In fact, this whole subject is a chapter in the newly released book, UBUD IS A MOOD. The chapter is called "Foreign Ubud" and was written by Stefan Reisner. DrIvEr...I am confused. In another string regarding babysitting, you wrote today, "if i were in bali i'd help you out." Here you write, "I think I'd be looked upon as a "non-expat" (which I am) by expats since I don't work in Bali, but "merely" live there." Which is it? Do you live here? If so, then in my opinion you are an expat regardless of your means of income. So, back to you Bert. No, I don't think the title to this forum is pretentious in anyway. Quite the opposite is the truth. And anyone who takes the time can find a whole lot of excellent and useful information here. I only wished it existed before I moved to Bali. And no, I don't think the Jakarta or Java based expats are anymore deserving of being called an expat then we are. Are they really in "any more danger" than we are? Think about it. There have been a whole lot more foreigners killed in Bali over the past few years than in all of Java. So that's my two rupiah worth of opinion. I can't say what the expats are doing up in Lovina, or down in Sanur/Kuta, but around here, we're not just sitting around and dreaming. Ubud Rotary is perfect proof of that!
Bert Vierstra
I sort of had the idea that an expatriate was somebody that was send out.But according to the definition you can also send out yourself :oops: I guess I had an identity problem. :shock: Oh I didn't say that you were a dreamer Roy.. I offered more options :twisted: ex.pa.tri.ate ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-sptr-t)v. ex.pa.tri.at.ed, ex.pa.tri.at.ing, ex.pa.tri.ates v. tr.To send into exile. See Synonyms at banish. To remove (oneself) from residence in one's native land. v. intr.To give up residence in one's homeland. To renounce allegiance to one's homeland. n. (-t, -t)One who has taken up residence in a foreign country. One who has renounced one's native land. adj. (-t, -t)Residing in a foreign country; expatriated: "She delighted in the bohemian freedom enjoyed by the expatriate artists, writers, and performers living in Rome" (Janet H. Murray).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Medieval Latin expatrire, expatrit- : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin patria, native land (from patrius, paternal, from pater, father. See pter- in Indo-European Roots).]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------ex.patri.ation n. Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Main Entry: ex.pa.tri.atePronunciation: ek-'spA-trE-"AtFunction: verbInflected Forms: -at.ed; -at.ingtransitive verb : to voluntarily withdraw (oneself) from allegiance to one's native country intransitive verb : to renounce allegiance to one's country and abandon one's nationality voluntarily -ex.pa.tri.ate /-trE-&t/ noun -ex.pa.tri.a.tion /ek-"spA-trE-'A-sh&n/ noun Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc. expatriate\Ex*pa"tri*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expatriated; p. pr. & vb. n. Expatriating.] [LL. expatriatus, p. p. of expatriare; L. ex out + patria fatherland, native land, fr. pater father. See Patriot.] 1. To banish; to drive or force (a person) from his own country; to make an exile of.The expatriated landed interest of France. --Burke.2. Reflexively, as To expatriate one's self: To withdraw from one's native country; to renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born, and become a citizen of another country.[Try Merriam-Webster Unabridged.]Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. expatriaten : voluntarily absent from home or country [syn: exile] v : expel from a country [syn: deport, exile] [ant: repatriate][/quote]
Sanurian
[i]...I pity the poor immigrant...[/i]Definitions of [i]"expatriate"[/i]...is this part of the forum turning into some kind of class in [u]101 Psychology[/u]?I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. Nontheless, it's an intersting topic in its own right (I guess).Anyone here heard of [i]Yellow Bamboo[/i]? Maybe there should be a link to their site where we can supposedly learn techniques such as make an attacker fall down without touching them (from a distance), and other groovy stuff.After many years of listening to peoples' problems (in the west), I eventually came up with a very simple classification:[b]YAVI'S:[/b] (Young, Attractive, Vertbal and Intelligent)[b]YAVU'S:[/b] (Young, Attractive, Verbal and Unintelligent)[b]PITA'S:[/b] Pains In The Arse[i]Yavi's[/i] usually do OK in life, unless they get caught up in too many drugs. [i]Yavu's[/i] can (and do) survive quite well also...in their cases, too many drugs can be a bonus. And as for [i]Pita's[/i]: No hope whatsoever: refer them to a specialist.Most expats I've met have been good and relatively sane people. There are exceptions, of course. The exceptions give all other expats a bad name.I might add here, just for the record, that I regard myself as an expat [i]ala[/i] Roy's definition. Whether I'm good, bad or sane is for others to judge. :lol:
a playful dragonfly
Hi Sanurian, I don't see myself in your catagories. I must be a OWAVI'S(older, was attractive, verbal, intelligent)...although some may say I'm a PITA'S, at least sometimes. LOL
jogry blok
HI,I do agree with Jen, Not too many people gave much help to me, finding out where to shop for this and that. We had to find it out ourselves. Sometimes I had the feeling not being wanted.Jogry
