I'll post the letter I wrote family and friends when I arrived and will edit it as I go along.
It's been pretty whirlwindish since we arrived here! We were met at the airport by Sam Cook, the head, and his wife, Teresa and during the hour it took us to get to our house, we both had such a good feeling about the place. Jakarta did not look like the 'dive' we'd read about - in fact, it is green and modern in many places and in terms of work, Sam & Teresa are just so 'real' and kind. We were shown to our house on campus which is a two storey, 3 bedroom very spacious place and is fab as it means we have the outdoor swimming pool (with toddler pool) and gym and sports facilities as well as a fabulous kindergarten and lower school outdoor play park to use whenever we want as well as having 24 hr long security, so we are considering ourselves very lucky. Some of the to her staff are in apartments about 10 mins drive away, which are apparently beautiful, but bills are extortionate - we don't have to pay for any electricity or water as it is all linked to the school's system so we're laughing!! Finally, I can keep the house as cool as I like! (The environment is another matter I know....)
We were also introduced straight away to our two nannies/maids the school organised for us who live in a place 5 min walk away so another bonus that we don't have to have them 'live in' with us 24 hrs a day! The girls are adjusting relatively well to being looked after by them (Susie and Lachme) although there are still lots of tears and grabbing hold of legs etc whenever I leave the house in the morning. (Not so good for my heart-strings, but I am trying to be brave!) But my classroom, is, literally, 50 ft away from our home so I can pop back whenever I feel the need to, although I'll try to keep it to a minimum otherwise we'll never get through it! The nannies are sisters and are very sweet and are keeping our house absolutely immaculate - it's scary, really, how tidy it is ALL of the time! Next door to us live another new couple (Jane & Ricky) and their 2 year old daughter,Tyler, from New Zealand so the girls are happy to have a playmate. We can be seen hanging out with them most evenings sharing a beer or three! The Head also has a 2 year old daughter, Abby, so we've seen loads of them too. I've also found a lovely little nursery for Annalise that is just behind the school and costs the ridiculously cheap price of 60 US dollars a month to send her 5 mornings a week to help keep her occupied. There is a 2-3 year old class and a 3-4 year old class so Juliette will be able to go after Christmas which will be great.The new staff all seem fun: two New Zealand couples in their 30's who've come here on their first overseas posts and one British lady who's been teaching in Penang for the past two years and Kuwait before that.The old staff have been so accommodating and friendly and we had a lovely staff social at an Italian restaurant last night to get to know everyone. We were also told by the Head at a meeting last week that the board of governors had stated last year to staff that if teachers had to work past 4pm on a school day, then something was going terribly wrong, so that's a refreshing change in work ethics for us!Every day since we have arrived has been filled with social gatherings and outings and we have been soooooo pleasantly surprised with Jakarta itself. We are in the North West of the city and it is really quite pretty and laid back and is so much cheaper to live in than Taipei (although we have spent almost 1000 pounds since we arrived, but that's been on getting our house and toys etc sorted). We've been shown around the hospitals which seem wonderful and met with pediatricians etc in case we needed to see them in the future, as well as shown maternity wards etc (if the need arises - not for us for a while at least!) so our minds have been set at ease re: medical care. Our insurance will still fly us to Singapore for any major surgery, but most people seem really happy with care up here in the North for most things.
We went to a zoo and safari yesterday - oh my goodness - it was FANTASTIC!! We went in one of the small 12 seater school buses and you basically buy loads of fruit and veggies and then open your windows and let the animals come to you!! We hand-fed zebras and bison and llamas and kangaroos and deer, antelope, some strange African animals I have no idea what they were called, hippos, monkeys and so many more - the kids were squealing in delight - actually, we were all squealing in delight and excitement - the larger animals tried to get their whole heads in the windows - one of the Zebras laid it's head almost on my lap - it was AMAZING!!!!! Then we went into the more 'dangerous animal' safari areas so we had to wind up the windows, but we came face to face (or face to window) with lions and rhinos and tigers, cheetahs, jaguars etc - it was just thrilling!! The wildlife park was fantastic - open and so spacious - the animals all seemed so content and were obviously well-fed as the dangerous animals didn't even try to pounce on us. I would say it was as close an experience of an African safari as you could get. The entrance fee was 5 US dollars!Things are so cheap here. I went with a couple of teachers and the head's wife to a spa down in the South of Jakarta today - had a full massage, pedicure, manicure, shampoo set and gorgeous lunch for 35 US dollars! Glad I'm not living in the south though (which is the main part of the city, where most of the big schools and embassies are) as traffic is horrendous and it was all a little more dirty and busy and crazy!! We were quite pleased to get back to our sleepier little part of the city!Monday is the start of all staff induction week and I am busy trying to get my head around teaching Grade 5 curriculum and sorting out my classroom! Eeeek! I'm very excited and very nervous, but the Head's wife, Teresa, is teaching Grade 4 and is being sooooo helpful so I think I will be OK! Think I'll be a chapter ahead of the kids for a while though!Anyway. Just thought I'd check in and let you know all is fine, that we're at the very excited stage so all is wonderful. I'm sure reality will kick in soon but for now we're relishing the refreshing change of scene and lifestyle.
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