Expat Interview With Luke - English Teacher in Jakarta

Luke is from England and has spent the past 6 years in Indonesia working as a Teacher. He has been writing his blog for the past 3 years and uses it to help communicate with friends and family back home, record memories and share information about life in his new home city, Jakarta. He enjoys travelling in and around the city and also throughout the country when he can. Recently married to an Indonesian he has no real plans to return to England in the near future. Luke blogs at Jakarta News (see listing here).

Here's the interview with Luke...

Where are you originally from?
I am from England

In which country and city are you living now?
I am now living in Jakarta, Indonesia

How long have you lived here and how long are you planning to stay?
I am now in my sixth year and I have no time line for when I will leave. I have just got married, so I guess that means I am staying

Why did you move and what do you do?
I moved to give me a new challenge. I used to work in Food retail in England and now I am teacher in a private English school in the west of the city

Did you bring family with you?
I came alone

How did you find the transition to living in a foreign country?
It was fairly easy. I had spent 2006 travelling the world including some parts of Asia and so moving and deciding to settle was a fairly easy process for me.

Was it easy making friends and meeting people; do you mainly socialise with other expats?
Making friends is easy, making the right friends is harder. I work with a migratory group of expats so good friends are hard to find. I socialise with around 7 expats from over the world

What are the best things to do in the area; anything to recommend to future expats?
Indonesia has everything you need depending on interest. There is pretty much nothing that cannot be done here. Its a country of over 15,000 islands. It has glaciers in the east and some of the best beaches in the world. Mountains to climb, rivers to canoe and jungles to trek. Jakarta as a city is limited in greeen spaces but there are plenty of museums, attractions and places to visit.

What do you enjoy most about living here?
It never gets cold and I am less than an hour flight time to some of the most beautiful islands in the world

How does the cost of living compare to home?
The cost of living here is cheaper than England thats for sure. But the country is becoming more expensive

What negatives, if any, are there to living here?
The heat, the pollution, the traffic on Java and in Jakarta. Inconsistencies in Medical services.

If you could pick one piece of advice to anyone moving here, what would it be?
Dont come with any preconceived ideas. Have an open mind and acceptance to what you see and what can be done. This is not the west.

What has been the hardest aspect to your expat experience so far?
Dealing with news both good and bad from Home. Always hits hard especially at Christmas

What are your top 5 expat tips for anyone following in your footsteps?

1. Do your research but not too much.
2. Dont have too many expectations about what you will find.
3. Accept what you see and try to understand before you judge it.
4. Understand it is not your home so things get done differently.
5. Dont see the different language as a barrier.

Tell us a bit about your own expat blog.
My blog is my view of things out in Indonesia and Jakarta and I write it not only as a way of recording my life here but also to help other people learn and find out more about Indonesia. I have been writing it now for over 3 years and I enjoy sharing the things I see and the places I go to. I find that it helps my family back in England understand more about my life now and also helps them know I am surviving.

How can you be contacted for further advice to future expats coming to your area?
I can be contacted direct through my blogsite http://mylifejakarta.blogspot.com or through twitter @Luke0672

Luke blogs at http://mylifejakarta.blogspot.com/ which we recommend a quick visit if you haven't been already. Jakarta News has an ExpatsBlog.com listing here so add a review if you like! If you appreciated this interview with Luke, please also drop him a quick comment below.

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