About Jakarta

As was the case with Albania, I have people asking me all sorts of questions about Jakarta. Time to give you all some answers.

Where is Jakarta?
Yes I've had this question. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, located in Southeast Asia on the Java sea. It is very close to Australia, and boarders the Indian Ocean.

What is the population?
More than 10 million people call the city of Jakarta their home. Jakarta is the most populated city in Southeast Asia, and ranks the 13th most populated city in the world. For this reason it is known as the "New York of Asia." I'm fully prepared to be overwhelmed.

What language do they speak?
This is a hard one to answer. The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian (known as Bahasa Indonesia, literally translated to language of Indonesia) but there are more than 700 living languages spoken on the Island. Basically I will be teaching myself Indonesian as best as I can. So far I've learned many of the greetings, please, thank you, and the numbers 1-6.

What is the currency?
Indonesian Rupiah. I was nervous about conversions. I've been lucky in Albania to just add a decimal place before the last two numbers and have it equal American dollars. (450 leke=$4.50) Indonesia will be a bit harder. I'll have to add the decimal before the last 4 numbers. Thus, 50000= a little more than $5, which is a bit more confusing, but I'm sure I'll adjust.

What kinds of food do they eat there?
Get ready, because I'm going to get fat. They have cuisine from around the world, so hopefully I'll be able to find the things I miss from home. But more importantly the food there will be delicious and cheap. Lots of peanut sauce, coconut milk, rice dishes, seafood, tropical fruits, and spices! I'm so excited. Also, don't worry, I looked into the beer selection. I haven't managed to find any IPA, but there is a brewery in Bali that specializes in stout. It was rated pretty high and I plan on making a trip to Bali to tour the brewery at some point. It also sounds like they serve many delicious non-alcoholic, smoothy-like drinks. Most consist of coconut milk, fruit, and some kinds of spices blended together with ice to help cool you off. Yep. I'm going to get fat.

What is the religion?
Indonesia recognizes 6 religions, all though, by far the most practiced is Islam (87%.)  Protestants are next in line with 7%, about 3% are Catholic, 2% Hindu, less than 1% Buddhist, and a very small majority practice Confucianism. I will be working a school that was started by a pastor and a christian church,  however the school does not associate with any religion as the majority of our students are not from Christian backgrounds. Basically the school tries to encourage the morals of the christian religion. They promote kindness and respect, and encourage students that they have a purpose in life, and that if they work hard enough they will achieve that purpose.

What is the history like?
Agh!I used to love history when I was in school. When did I grow to dislike it? Basically my viewpoints on learning the history about a place is that it is much more interesting once you are actually there. I loved learning about the Balkans when I was there but I could never get myself to figure any of it out through books or the internet. What I know is that Indonesia used to be used for international trade (and I'm guessing their spices.) Eventually it became part of the Dutch East India company and was controlled by the Dutch. Japan took over during World War II , and when the Dutch tried to reclaim power after the war they eventually recognized Indonesian Independence. The government is now a republic with presidential elections.

What is the climate like?
Hot. It's going to be a shock for my Minnesota bones, but luckily I'll be arriving during their winter, which will give me a small period of time to adjust. It is a tropical climate. Jakarta is about 5 degrees south of the equator. Monsoons are frequent happenings, and there is a wet and dry season, with generally high humidity. The average temperature is about 82 degrees F (it was a high of 86 in Albania today and I'm dying.)

Some very interesting things:
Indonesia is made up of more that 17000 Islands (the majority of which are uninhabited), and at least 150 active volcanoes. It is also frequented by earthquakes and flood. Remember the tsunami of 2004, and that flood in February(when I was interviewing)? What did I get myself into?