Simplyme92's Blog

I found out about Matt and Kim around this past January when MTV U played “Daylight” religiously. Since then, I have constantly put their songs on repeat.  What appeals me to this duo is their artistic creativty. “Daylight” is one of my favourite songs from them, however another song I would recommend is ” No More Long Years.”

One of the first things I noticed about Jakarta, besides the traffic, was the insane amount of people here who smoke cigarettes. I think Asia, especially South East Asia, smokes more profusely than the United States. In America, there is always controversy if too many cigarette ads are advertised. Here in Jakarta, you will see them everywhere and I seriously mean EVERYWHERE. And EVERYONE smokes. Well, at least a great deal of them do.

I, personally, do not smoke because I choose not to smoke. When I was younger, everyone who I saw smoked I would launch myself at them and start harassing them. Obviously, I cannot do that now…I won’t do that now. Now that I am older, I have come to accept people who smoke. I have learned to not mind them, especially after moving here.Plus, smoking is very much a social thing to do. So if I go out with my friends there is a pretty good chance smoking is going to be  involved. And when I return home, I will smell like smoke.

I do not mind. I really don’t. I am the one who chooses not to smoke. Other people can, but I won’t. Moving to Jakarta does not mean that I have to change my ideals just to blend in. Character and personality…that is what matters.

I have lived in the United States for the majority of my life. Actually, I have basically lived in the United States my whole life. I grew up in an American society, with American influences in my thinking, behaviours, and lifestyle. Though that is true, I still will not consider myself a part of the typical American lifestyle. But even so, I am still an American.

Moving to Indonesia, I took myself out of that culture and placed myself in an immensely different world. And looking back to America, I am finally able to see an outside perspective on the United States of America. What the world sees, I can now see. What America is too blinded to see, I can now see.What I am referring to is not necessarily the politics, but more of the lifestyle and culture and the American people themselves. However, America is America. It is still one of the best places to live in the world, if not the best.

My mind is opening up and expanding at an endless rate due to living here in Indonesia.  Never have I felt so…wordly ( ?) , if that is the correct word.I just hope that one day American society, as a whole, will learn to open up their minds too. That way, they will be more accepted and respected by the world.

Popular top 40 Indonesian music can typically be classified into one category: soft rock. A couple of months ago if you told me that I would be listening to Indonesian music I would have blown you off. However, this band caught my attention. In April when I was in Jakarta for spring break, I was wandering around a music store hoping to find some Perfume CDs, which sadly the store did not have. My mom had given me money and I wanted to spend it on something, so I just grabbed a random CD from the “Most Popular” section and, voila, I bought a Vierra CD. I do not normally go for their type of music but for some reason ( I do not know why), this band’s music appealed to me. And surprisingly, I liked almost every song off the album. Here is their song Dengarkan Curhatku, which in English means Listen to What I Am Sharing, or something like that. My Indonesian is still quite…iffy.

If I could name one, and only one, thing about Jakarta that I do not particularly enjoy, it would be the traffic. Notorious for its traffic, Jakarta is a tough place to make plans. You have to have an extremely flexible schedule.It would be easier if I was located more towards central Jakarta, but I am in south, and even then it takes like an hour and a half to two hours just to go downtown. In America, if you drive two hours you are in a different state. In Jakarta, you drive two hours and you are still in the capital, probably very near the vicinity you were in to start off. Spending five to six hours a day in the car is not uncommon. I have to experience that everytime I go out.

But you know what makes it worse? The rain. During spring break when I was in Jakarta, it rained slightly. My family and I were near central Jakarta when it started raining and were immediately caught up in traffic. Two hours later,  we were only a block from where we started from. Another two hours later was when we finally arrived home, tired and hot. I have to  learn to take naps in the car, something I am not used to doing. However,  I will need to start doing that because it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to my school every morning.

Oh, another thing that contribute to the heavy heavy traffic is the unbelievable amount of motors( motor bikes.) When you stop at a stop light, a swarm of motors go in between every car trying to cramp into as much space available. Motors here are like bugs, annoying and everywhere. They swerve in and out of traffic and go in between the lanes and cars. The thing is that motors are one of the cheapest transportation means, so there are an abundance of them on the roads. If I open my window, the motorists face is literally only a couple of inches away from mine. Anyway, I have learned to become very sabar ( patient in Indonesian.)

Driving in the states is a piece of cake. Oh, how I miss cruising down empty roads with the windows down and the breeze blowing through my hair. Now, it is bumper to bumper traffic, horns blaring, and me dying of a heat stroke.