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Continue reading →: Hitler in Indonesia
Bruno and I saw a shocking sight while walking through a street market in Yogyakarta a few weeks ago. For sale at one stand, amid posters of Bob Marley, Asian boy bands, Spanish soccer teams and former Indonesian leaders, there was a poster of … Adolf Hitler. To us such…
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Continue reading →: In Central Java, taking our time in a becak
This short story will tell you much about Indonesia. Bruno and I were in a part of Yogyakarta (a city in Central Java, about an hour’s flight from Jakarta) with heavy foot traffic, and it was time to head back to our hotel, across town. We couldn’t find a taxi,…
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Continue reading →: Fast Times in Jakarta
Now that I’ve written on what Ramadan is about, here’s how Ramadan plays out on a daily basis here. A number of things change in Jakarta this month. First, Muslims (i.e., most of the city’s population) get up before dawn. Indonesians tend to be early risers anyway, and strict Muslims…
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Continue reading →: Tidak vs. Belum: It’s about outlook
Let’s assume you have never visited China, and have no plans to do so. If I asked you in English, ‘Have you visited China?’, what would you say? Probably just “no,” which in Indonesian is tidak. In Indonesia, however, you would not say tidak in this case. You’d use a different word: belum. Belum’s literal translation is not…
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Continue reading →: Ramadan in Jakarta
It’s Ramadan, the Muslim holiday during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. I was afraid that, in a country with around 200 million Muslims, I was about to be surrounded by groggy, cranky people. This judgment was based on personal experience: More than six hours without a bite to…
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Continue reading →: The Natural Alarm Clock
Our week of language classes in Yogyakarta yielded quite a few interesting lessons. During our long days in class, we got to discuss differences with people who were quite open to explaining their culture. One very telling difference was the symbol for waking up — “bangun” in the local language. While…
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Continue reading →: The Two Temples
Borobudur and Prambanan temples in Central Java sit less than 26 miles apart. Built during the same century, one is Buddhist and the other Hindu. These two temples offer a powerful example of the confluence of religious cultures in Indonesia (slideshow below). The exact history of the temples is unknown,…
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Continue reading →: Karma for the Vegetarian
Vegetarianism has a few drawbacks, especially when living abroad. Finding decent food that doesn’t have meat can be difficult, and you run the risk of offending or inconveniencing others. In Ecuador, ham manages to make its way into almost all foods without being identified, such as “vegetable quiche,” “lentil soup,”…
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Continue reading →: Making sense of Chaos (or chapter 2, page 1)
Upon arriving in Jakarta, all I could see was chaos. Hot, sticky, polluted air. Cars everywhere. No sidewalks. Just people along the sides of the road and cars parked right up against shop doors. It turns out that past those crowded streets, peaceful oases are tucked down little alleyways and…
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Continue reading →: Singapore
Singapore is kind of like a futuristic utopia where all cultures seem to merge, and high-rises and highways mingle with nature. But the cultural melting pot’s common denominator is consumerism, and is underpinned by a tightly regulated civil life, and constrained liberties. And for all the green city planning, Singapore…
Hello,
I’m Katherine
I started this blog while living as a single expat more than 20 years ago. Now with husband and two kids in tow I’m keeping the adventures alive. Follow along for travel tips and life detours!
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Adventures for the whole family 