Another Taste of Civilisation

I have just got back from another enjoyable trip to Australia. It was nice being somewhere that I could understand all the conversations around me, and didn't have to stop mid-sentence to gather my thoughts and process my next response. Coming back was a culture shock - I transited through Bali where, thanks to the number of Australians in the airport, it was a 50/50 mix of English and Indonesian being spoken. When I got to Jakarta I was reminded that I was in a foreign country when I couldn't understand a word of what was being said.

Anyway, my trip was successful - three meetings in one morning. This is something that can't be achieved in one day in an Indonesian city due to the traffic. I was afforded some spare time to go shopping and so I stocked up on food (bacon and cheese mostly) and popped in to Tiffany & Co to buy a bracelet for Rae (one she'd lost in the robbery). I won points for that purchase :)

And even though I was surrounded by comforting sights and sounds, there was still an element to Australia that reminded me I was in a foreign country. During one of my shopping forays I spotted some some imported tinned Ayam foods (an Indonesian brand of food) and a book about living and working in Britain. Both are strange because in Indonesia we get imported Australian food, and in the UK we can buy books about living/working in Australia. I found it very perverse.

My next trip is scheduled for the start of march, and as it coincides with my birthday I'm hoping to take the family out with me and have a weeks R&R.