Why Jakarta?

For everyone who is asking themself, why actually go to Jakarta? And not Hong Kong, Tokyo or Australia with its beautiful beaches? Well, actually i have been asking that myself. But only when Patricia and I sat on the plane on our first stop to Dschiddah. Many people will find the answer long before they get to the airport. Which I would also advise, because it is not an easy decision to make, where you spend the next 6 months. 

 

However, I have decided for myself to not actively deal with this question. For me it was clear long before the journey that I must go to Asia. Travel it, get to know it and explore it myself. Not through the eyes of others, but through my own. Even now, after we have been here to Jakarta two weeks after our arrival, I can not answer the question, except that it was the best idea that could come to my mind, which I pursued without much thought.

 

The country and the people

Asia is also incredibly diverse. With its various cultures, ethnicities, religions, traditions and customs that couldn't be more different from one country to another. The people who inhabit this continent are the carriers of their beautiful diversity. 

 

A week ago I met someone from my home country Germany who has been living in Indonesia since the 1990's and has been traveling around the world for the last 30 years. He kindly told us about his experiences and impressions of his many travels and the years he had spend in Indo
nesia. One of his sentences stuck in my mind. 

"The people of this country are hard to beat for their friendliness, warmth and courtesy."

This is something that I have also experienced myself until now. 

 

   

Studying in Jakarta

To come back to the original question, why choose Jakarta for a year abroad? 

 

It would possibly help some of you to deal with it beforehand, other then me. Or maybe some of you would also like to jump into the cold water. But for those who like to prepare themself or are interested for everything that comes to it, you all are warmly welcomed here. I will share some thoughts with you why Jakarta is a very good place to spend your semester abroad. 

1. Doing a semester abroad is great. It's not just the experiences that matter. You experience a new everyday life in a foreign country and adapt to a completely new rythm of life. This will not only be a exciting adventure but you also make memories for life.

2. Cultural differences will always show up, doens't matter where you are. But isn't that, what makes it exciting? Learning about a culture that is completely different from everything you are used to. Personally, I can only say that I imagined the adaption to Indonesian everyday life to be more difficult than it actually was.

 

3. Regarding our time schedule for our lectures at the University, we were lucky. Since we only have classes from Monday to Thursday, we get plenty of time to travel Indonesia over the weekends which I  can only recommend, since you can visit all the beautiful places within only a few hours.

4. With 10€ a day you can get around by really well, because the price level in Asia is generally much lower. This makes the cost of living and traveling much more pleasant. For example, we were able to book our accommodation for our first trip to Bali for 8€ per person per night. 

 

5. Jakarta is different from most of the cities in Europe. When you look for a downtown, you won't find one that would usually act as the center of the city. So it doesn't matter where, you're always in the center. Though, there are huge malls that you could almost resemble to as fantasylands, since you can find there anything from cinemas to ice skating rinks to roller coasters. But they also serve as protection for people from monsoon rains or from the heavy heat.

 

See you next time!

Love, Kristina