Bintaro Bound

There's a concept I remember from Psych 1100 called object permanence. If I recall correctly, (from googling it a minute ago), it's a child development concept associated with Jean Piaget. He believed that kids don't understand that when they can't observe something it has not completely ceased to exist. This might explain the enduring popularity of peekaboo amongst infants. By the time kids get through their sensorimotor stage, normally around two, they are believed to have figured out that things still exist when they can't be observed. I look around and see all kinds of signs that maybe some folks may not grasp the idea of object permanence until much later in life, if ever.

Ever watch Survivor? How long are contestants on that show away from home? 39 days at the longest. Most don't last a month. And I think it is usually before the 30 day mark that viewers have to suffer through the message from home and visit from friends and family episode. I like Survivor but I wish they would stop with this episode. People moan and groan and turn on the waterworks and fling themselves to the ground rending their garments and beating their chests crying out in anguish as though firy coals have been heaped upon them. Why? They haven't observed their loved ones or the comforts of home for like 27 days. And with the exaggerated displays that seem to get even more exaggerated every season, one would almost believe those people having lost sensory perception of the lives they had grown accustomed to, might think they had ceased to exist.

Am I wrong? Or is one man's comfortable sameness another man's insufferable rut? I've been home in Canada for three years now and from those first days blogging from the internet café in Smithers I've been promising to look at the positive things about Canada. Try to remind myself of all the things I can do here that I just can't in Korea. Walking on grass, eating all the foods I like, visiting with friends and family, playing hockey and baseball, fishing, golfing, cutting firewood with friends, drinking Canadian beer and watching Hockey Night in Canada... Now I look at that list and think, "How many of those things have I actually done?" How many can I afford to do? How many times have I had the free time and/or had friends who have the free time to do them? In fact if I had stayed employed in Korea and just came home for a vacation 3 times I could have done just as much or MORE of all of them except the food and beer. And to be honest, it wouldn't hurt me to eat less Canadian food and drink less Canadian beer.

Why has this been the case? It's partly because all the things I like to do in Canada went and got all expensive while I was away! And at the same time jobs went and got all cheap. I was stoked about my first job in Victoria paying 10 bucks and hour! What a great wage! I thought. But it was poverty wages. I worked a straight year of midnight shifts, a great way to limit your social life, and never had the time or money to do much of anything. Because if you're me and are just what Canadian employers are NOT looking for, you have to work you damn ass off to have barely enough money to do even some of these things. And then you may not have the free time or the energy. Same exact thing goes for the people with whom I want to DO all of these things. And what are we all working our asses off for? What is all this leading up to? A HOUSE! That's the dream, isn't it? That's been MY goal for years. A house that costs us so much in mortgage payments and upkeep that we hibernate inside and come out even LESS.

What I'm saying is it almost appears that Canadians have become much more comfortable in their sameness. They go to Tim Horton's at exactly the same time, order exactly the same coffee, get the exact same greeting and return the exact same greeting, take the same route to work, do the same shit at work, maybe eat something different for lunch to put some spice in their lives, get home at the same time, watch the same shit on TV, go to bed at the same time. And for one or two weeks a year they go to Puerto Vallarta and do something different. But boy they are glad to be back! They really REALLY missed their couch and TV and friends and maybe their pets or even kids SOOOOOO much, that it's almost as if they believed they had all ceased to exist.

Now I know this is exaggeration. For some more massive than others. For many it might only be a small exaggeration. But I don't think it's really Canadians' fault. I think it's our culture. It's in a rut. People don't socialize, visit, play sports, or just hang out as much as they did last time I lived here and MUCH less than they did when I was young. Even kids don't play outside. We've all seen the TV ads about this. It has a lot to do with the fact that we have electronics in our homes that make it so much easier to avoid socializing, but I don't think that's the only excuse. You probably know where I'm going with this. It's where I go with EVERYTHING! Doesn't mean it's wrong or I'm a conspiracy theorist. Hey, what would you prefer for a worker if you ran a large corporation, an adventurous soul who mountain bikes with buddies, white water rafts, heli skis in the winter, is constantly putting himself out there in harm's way because he likes the rush of living life to the fullest or a homebody who takes no risks and you always know where he's going to be? There are ways of transforming your workers into the latter, the ideal employees. Make sports and all social activities really expensive, make healthy food really expensive and fast food really cheap, make home versions of everything you can think of and invent ways to buy everything without leaving home, make that home so ridiculously expensive that you feel that to get a fraction of your money's worth you should probably only leave it when absolutely necessary. You get the idea. Make things exactly the way they are in Canada.

I am going to Indonesia. Not only because I am bored to tears in Canada but because I pictured myself living life here in Canada the way I live life when I'm overseas. But it sure hasn't worked out that way. If I had a better job, more time and more money it might be different but I just have to wake up and smell the Tim Horton's coffee, that's not going to happen for me in Canada. When I get to Indonesia I have already decided to look for a place in Bintaro where my friend Annemarie lives. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to squire me about the little town of Jakarta and I tell you, she is a fantastic cook! I just know she'll make some Indonesian green curry or something like that as a welcome back to Asia meal. The place I'm going to work has many other teachers and I will find a few, or maybe more than a few, who enjoy doing things like hiking up volcanos, scuba diving, snorkeling, island hopping, searching the jungle for Komodo Dragons, and enjoying everything there is to enjoy in Indonesia. And there is a LOT to enjoy there! When I'm not exploring a jungle somewhere I'll be visiting a friend's place or maybe entertaining friends at MY place. Something I have done a total of two times in my three years in Canada.

I have heard that I can get a VERY nice place in Indonesia for 400 bucks a month. You get a shit hole with bedbugs in Canada for that. I get a back yard, swimming pool, maid service, gardener, driver, two bedroom air conditioned HOUSE in Indonesia for that.

And the work! So much more interesting than what I've been doing in Canada! I'll have students who are movers and shakers in Indonesia. People who you read about in newspapers or see on TV. Not all but some. I will have the freedom to teach the way I want to teach. I will have a job that is rewarding. And something that I talked to my Mom about last night on the phone that is very important to me, and we reckon should be more important to everybody in a position to do so, I will be able to HELP people. When I have my life under control I think it's a great joy to be able to help other people. I have done none of that in Canada because my life has been out of control for three years.

When I bring up the possibility of going overseas I make people in Canada cringe and make the sucking noise and squinty eyes at how dangerous, different, out of the ordinary that will be. "Are you sure you want to take that chance?" Folks I am sure I want to take this chance and what's more it may sound cold but I won't be missing my bed, my TV, my friends and family like I think they have all been wiped from the face of the Earth. They'll all be there when I get back. Something one of my fellow world traveling friends posted on facebook the other day makes a lot of sense to me: "In life you can choose to have things or you can choose to have experiences." She went on to say that we've been so programmed to believe we need a house, SUV, big screen TV etc. but in their final days nobody ever talks about their TV reception or the really great double double they got one morning at Timmy's, they talk about things they did. I'm just not DOing anything in Canada. I'm not making enough memories. I've had some good times. Visiting with family has been fun, camping, Rob and Terri's wedding, seeing Kiss, Sabrina and Dan's wedding, cards at Jamie and Colleen's, fishing a few times, helping people move, (yes those are always good memories for me!), chicken wing nights, but in three years I could have done so much more! It's about time for me to get outta here before my body completely forgets how to produce adrenalin.

If all goes as planned I will be on a plane by late March or early April. I really don't think anybody will notice much of a difference while I'm in Jakarta except me. I know there will be things I won't like. The heat, humidity, mosquitos, giant metropolis life, wearing a tie to work, but overall I think it's going to be a whole lot better.

So now I have a TON of paperwork and tedious straightening away to do before I go. I think the worst of that will be trying to get my taxes figured out. But I will not be surprised to have all of that done by the end of this month. Then I'm Bintaro bound baby!