Emma’s Year in Indonesia

I flew back into Sydney yesterday morning, so here is the last post for my blog.

I did the flights as directly as possible, flying from Yogya to Jakarta in the afternoon and then from Jakarta to Sydney that evening. Doing that made the whole trip feel quite quick, and caused me to feel quite weird. One moment I was in Yogya, the next I was in Sydney. I had a lot of trouble yesterday trying to convince myself that being home wasn’t a dream or temporary, that this was it.

Yogya already feels a world away, although I’m already missing my friends there. At the moment I’m enjoying the novelties of being back - the nice weather, being able to wear whatever I want (today I’m wearing a singlet top and am finding the sensation of wind on my bare back really strange, having footpaths to walk on (not climbing around bikes, on busy roads, up and down drains, trying to not fall in holes) having carpet (everything is tiled in Yogya), having more freedom because I can drive here and getting to eat and drink things like unsugared bread and real milk. I know that it will only take a few days to start missing Yogya,  though I can honestly say life here is much easier, and I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead of me where I can enjoy my comforts again, and catch up with all the family and friends that I have missed so much.

When I was leaving the airport at Yogya I felt so mixed because in one sense I was going home but in another I felt like I was leaving home. It was hard to think that I wasn’t going on another holiday, that I was moving somewhere permenantly and that visits to Yogya again would be my holidays. But I told my Indonesian friends there not to worry too much, because I’d be back again, and soon too. There’ll always be an abundance of reasons to visit Yogya again, it would be pretty hard to keep me away. I also felt proud of what I’d done, and the experiences I had behind me. Being back home in my old environment again has made me realise how much the experience has made me change and grow. I’m so glad that I did it.

I’ve finally finished for the semester! It feels like its been a long semester, its gone for nearly 5 months. I had my one and only exam today and handed in a couple of essays. Handing in the essays was chaotic, and I’m hoping they make it to the lecturers.

The past few days have been really really busy, finishing everything for the semester and getting things ready to go home. On Saturday I met up with some of the other few students still in Yogya for what was meant to be a Becak race, where foreign students decorate becaks and then ride them. But unfortuntely there were no other entrants so we were invited to be part of a parade down the main street of Malioboro. It was heaps of fun, but it got a bit intense at times, with heaps of people taking photos and laughing at us. We were wearing things like rubbish bags on our heads and riding a becak so it was warranted. Steve and the others came up with an environmental theme on the bike, with a sign saying “Reduce CO2 emissions, ride a becak”. I was meant to be helping them decorate things that morning but couldn’t make it until the time of the race. What happened was that I went to the post office to send some things back home. I went to the atm to get money out to pay for it, but the atm ate my card. I then used my backup Travelex card but that had insufficient funds. I was going to get some travellers cheques but then I remembered that immigration has my passport so I can get the right stamps to go home. So after hours of running around trying to find some money I eventually did so and was able to post my things. It was a huge day, which ended with a taxi driver trying to kiss me (girls - never ever sit in the front seat of a taxi! I did so by accident).

A lot of busy-ness, a lot of adventures still unfolding even right up to the end. I don’t think my experiences here will really sink in until I’m home and have a chance to sit down and think about everything.