How it all Began

When you travel, you will inevitably experience culture shock. The first stage is dubbed the honeymoon stage. It is when everything is new and exciting. We, however, jumped straight into the frustration stage. After we landed, I had to wrangle an overtired, active toddler and juggle our 3 carry-on bags, laptop bag, diaper bag and car seat while my husband went to claim our 5 suitcases. This was after going through a couple of lines to obtain our visas. By this point, we were all exhausted. As I waited for my husband to rejoin us, I looked around. The airport was huge, with ferns covering the entire wall on one side. It was extremely hot and humid, even inside the airport. Smiling workers bustled all around.

Finally, we headed outside to where our ride was waiting. We had packed fairly light, considering we were not planning to be back in North America for several years. We had my toddler’s playpen, blankets and diapers in one suitcase. We also brought clothes for him for up to 3T. Our luggage allowance would have enabled us to bring one more suitcase, for a total of 6 checked bags. It had looked like such a small pile while still in Canada, on the large luggage cart. Now, in Indonesia, the tiny carts buckled under the weight of only some of the bags.

The lady who picked us up exclaimed, “I didn’t think you’d have so many suitcases!” I bit my tongue. After nearly 72 hours with only 4 hours sleep, I knew better than to reply. She called another taxi to take my husband and the rest of the bags. Then we were off. Our overtired toddler cried himself into an exhausted sleep, happy for the familiarity of his car seat.

We arrived at the apartment complex, but had to wait for the owner to arrive. This was our first taste of the “relativity” of time here. Appointments were, after all, only suggested times. Between traffic and the relaxed attitudes of most Indonesians, it’s amazing if anything ever begins on time. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and stretch out.

We were originally supposed to view a few different apartments. When we finally got into this one, we didn’t even care anymore. We would have taken anything at that point. The apartment wasn’t much bigger than a large hotel room. There was a main room, two small bedrooms, and a tiny bathroom. Since it was already furnished, our suitcases filled the open space of the main area. No matter. We were home.