Two Years Anniversary Living Abroad

It has been two years since I lived in Europe. I stayed in two countries, Germany and Austria. I stayed for a while in Germany, but spend most of my time in Austria.

Coming from Indonesia, there are some adaptations I made while living in Germany and Austria. How I dress myself, for instance. There are four seasons in these two country, meanwhile only two in Indonesia. 

In the winter, I have to wear more garment to go out. I need to put on a basic layer, a sweater, and then a jacket or coat. Not to mention, the shoes to protect my feet from the cold. While in Indonesia, I can just simply go out of the house without taking a few minutes to put on two layers of clothes. Maybe I just wear a light jacket just to protect myself from the sunlight, not the temperature. 

During transitional seasons, I also need to check the weather forecast often. It helps me to decide what clothes I should wear throughout the day. And weather or not I should bring an umbrella. It’s more likely always in my bag, though.

Culture wise, I need to adapt too. One clear example is about the going out habit. Living in Jakarta made me have the “go to the mall” habit, especially in the weekends. In Austria, most of stores are closed on Sundays. So I can only go out on Saturdays, that even most of the stores only open until 18:00. 

I need to plan the groceries in the weekend. I have to make sure I don’t need to go buying groceries. Because if I do, the grocery stores  that open on Sundays only the ones in terminals or the airport.

Regardless, I really enjoy myself living in Europe. Everything is in order, people follow the rules, and more peaceful in general. 

Living abroad was also my dream since I was a kid. It all started with the story of my grandfather got a job in BBC London for three years. In the second year of working there, he brought his whole family to live with him. And it was not a wife and one or two kids, but SIX kids. Yes, six kids in the 70s, flew from Jakarta to London, only with my grandmother.

Hearing that story, I still can’t imagine how amazing my grandmother was. She had to take care six kids in the plane (at least two of them were still toddlers). And it was her first time flying. Isn’t that crazy?

Anyway, I heard the story over and over when I was a kid. How they went to school there, interacted with some other international kids, neighbors, and local people, saw the famous double-decker bus, Big Ben, amusement parks, even grocery stores.

It amazed me so much. I was inspired to be able to live abroad someday. I thought my mother was lucky because she got a chance to live abroad when she was young. But for me, I never even got on a plane.

Until when I was 23 years old, I got the chance to fly because of my work. Only from Jakarta to Surabaya, but I will never forget it. I was so nervous, I didn’t know how to buckle the belt, but I didn’t want to look like a first timer. I saw other people did it and imitated them. Well, I hoped I did it right 😀

I also still remember the feelings when the plane took off. I imagined myself riding a roller coaster, although now I feel silly to think that.

After my first flight, I got some other chances to fly from my company. Still within Indonesia, but to various places, like Yogyakarta, Bali, Makassar, Medan, Jambi, Padang, etc. I felt so lucky that I didn’t have to spend my own money to fly. 

On my 24 birthday, I got the chance to fly to another country, neighbor country of Indonesia, Malaysia. I went to Penang Island, to be exact. I was lucky I was picked to go. The invitation was actually for my colleague, but she didn’t have a passport yet, then my editor asked me.

I made my passport a year before. I was told to make passport by my other editor. He said, journalists usually get some chances to go abroad, so just prepare, make/renew your passport. I then made it right away, even I still had no idea when or where I will go. Thus, I think it is always a good idea to prepare and it counts as prayers too.

On that trip, I was nervous again, like my first flight. Not in the plane, but in the immigration. The officer usually asked why are you here, how long will you stay, where will you stay, etc. I had a little problem then because they asked me where will I stay in Malaysia, and I didn’t write down the hotel address, I didn’t memorize it either, it was in the email, but my phone didn’t have internet to open it. My fingerprints were also hard to read in the machine because my skin were so dry. Long story short, it was quite unpleasant experience in the immigration. In the other hand, the trip was so delightful. Penang Island is so beautiful with the buildings, street arts, foods, and scenery.

After Penang, more opportunities to travel to other countries came to me. I was lucky enough to visit some countries, like Singapore, Uni Emirates Arab, and United States only from work invitations. The other countries I have visited with friends or family, such as Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and some more.

Although I traveled a lot, but I never really stayed in one place for a long time. I never lived outside Indonesia. It means my dream actually has not been fulfilled. One of the ways to live abroad in my mind that time was to study. However, either my family nor I couldn’t afford to fund me studying further. 

“I need to get a scholarship,” I thought. So I tried to improve my English and made some trials for language exams. I never really tried the real exam, though. My work and commuting in Jakarta just possessed my time. As the result, I never applied for any scholarship.

I almost buried my dream, until I came with the idea of making some conversation with English natives in order to improve my English. I met my future husband instead and we decided to get married about a year after that.

Then it came to the point where I followed my husband to live in Austria. I considered myself lucky. I could fulfilled my dream to live abroad. However I don’t think that I am successful yet.

Successful for me is being consistent of doing what you do, which I am not yet. So that’s my next goal and I am working on it.

Being An Author and Building The Writing Habit

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I wanted to be an author. It was my dream since I was a kid, or maybe teenager. As a teenager I read a lot of books in various genres. I read novels, magazines, newspapers, and of course, school books.

I wanted to enter a language study program in high school, but unfortunately my school didn’t have that program. So I picked natural science, just because I could be more flexible with my university choice. 

At the end of the high school time, I needed to choose what study program I want to take in university. I was confused. If I wanted to be an author, it only makes sense if I picked literature, either Indonesian or any other language literature, most likely English.

However, I was convinced to focus on natural science related study programs. The reason was I should not waste my natural science program which I took in high school. I also thought, to be an author, you don’t have to study literature in university, you can study it anywhere, just keep reading.

Not to mention, if I can have another knowledge that I can write about, it would be a plus point. So I decided to take biology study program because that was the subject I loved the most compared to physics or chemistry.

I also read a lot of health magazine that time. I read professionals like doctors or nutritionists, also write in magazines. I was interested to be one of them. I could specialize myself in biology and write about it.

Four years went by. I got my bachelor degree in biology. I wanted to continue study but thought it would be better if I work first so it would be easier to get a scholarship. I didn’t have any money to continue studying, and neither my parents to keep funding me. Thus, I needed to get a job.

I applied for the jobs that are related to my study program, from a lab scientist in pharmacies, product specialist or quality control person in food and beverage industries, until a manager in McDonald’s ( I know… I know…). Nether of them gave me good news.

I was almost hopeless, until I saw an advertisement on my father’s subscribed newspaper, about a vacancy for health journalist. The health magazines I read a lot in high school rang a bell so hard in my mind that time.

“Why don’t I become a journalist so I can write articles? It’s a health journalist job so my study program won’t completely wasteful and that’s what I want after all,” I thought.

When I saw the advertisement, I didn’t directly apply for it. I was still busy waiting for the results from my latest job interviews. A week passed and still got no job, so I gave it a try to the health journalist vacancy.

Who would have thought, just a few days after applying, I got the job already. I mean, indeed after the interviews with human resources person and the managing editor. I also got a mini test to cover an event in a public clinic in Jakarta.

I got the phone call just two days after my 22nd birthday. They said, I got the job as a health journalist. I could start working on Monday. Well, finally I got my first job after graduated college.

Working as a journalist surely was a challenge for me. Not having any experience and never learned about journalism made it really hard especially in the beginning.

Being nagged by the editors were one of my daily activities. Although I’m really thankful now that I learned how to write, even in the hard way. Beside that, I also learned how to interview people with different backgrounds, reach locations in Jakarta, build connections, etc. 

I initially planned to work for maximum two years and then continue studying, but then I was moved from health department to metropolitan. It was a new challenge which made me stay longer. Anyway, I will come back to this later. 

Long story short, I ended up being a journalist for almost six years. Then, I met the love of my life and got married. I moved to another country to live with him and stopped working as a journalist.

I started my blog and hoped that I can continue to write, because you know, I want to be an author. And an author is not an author without writing, right?

However, as the time goes, I was busy with something else. I mean, running a household is not a joke. Although, I still have a lot of free time, but nothing pushes me anymore to write. I have no obligation to write as I am no longer a journalist.

I feel bad, though. I don’t want to give up my dream to be an author. So building a writing habit is important. Having a schedule to write is the key to succeed. 

So here I am now, trying to write again. I hope I can make a habit.

Easy Travel Series: Exploring Europe

For me (and I bet most of people), traveling is one the ways to refresh and learn something new. That’s why I love doing that a lot. Especially now when I have some more time for myself. I travelled quite a lot lately.

This year, I have traveled to some new places that lengthen my “countries been” list. I’m so grateful for that and looking forward to traveling more next year.

Since I really enjoy traveling, I want to share the experience and give some tips for my readers. Also, I write them down here as a reminder of my trips. Because it’s such a shame to forget what we did, isn’t it?

I will write my trips here in the series called Easy Travel. I will tell stories about my trip which mostly easy, simple, and not to mention economical.

The countries I visited this year are Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

Without further ado, let us start the series. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

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Siapa sih yang nggak suka jalan-jalan? Seperti orang kebanyakan, saya juga suka mengeksplorasi tempat baru. Apalagi saat ini mempunyai cukup waktu untuk diri sendiri. Saya pun melakukan beberapa perjalanan tahun ini.

Jalan-jalan merupakan salah satu cara untuk menyegarkan pikiran sekaligus belajar hal-hal baru. Maka ini juga sarana yang baik untuk mengembangkan diri.

Tahun ini, saya mengunjungi beberapa negara yang belum pernah saya kunjungi sebelumnya. Dengan begitu, daftar negara yang pernah saya kunjungi pun bertambah. Saya sangat bersyukur atas itu dan berharap tahun depan saya bisa menambah panjang lagi daftar saya.

Karena sangat menikmati perjalanan, saya pun ingin membagikan pengalaman saya dalam bentuk tulisan. Saya juga membutuhkan tulisan sebagai kenang-kenangan. Karena tentu sangat merugikan bila kita lupa dengan pengalaman sendiri, bukan?

Agar lebih rapi, tulisan jalan-jalan akan saya buat menjadi seri bernama Easy Travel. Seri ini akan memuat cerita tentang perjalanan yang kebanyakan praktis, mudah, dan tentunya hemat.

Negara yang saya kunjungi tahun ini yaitu Luksemburg, Liechtenstein, Republik Ceko, Hungaria, Kroasia, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

Tanpa berpanjang-panjang, langsung saya yuk baca. Saya harap tulisan saya dapat menghibur sekaligus berguna untuk Anda. 🙂

Things that Changed, After One Year Living Abroad

Living abroad sounds interesting. However, this is one of the most challenging experiences in life. Learning process is always hard, isn’t it? You can always enjoy it, though.

Since October 2018, I moved to Germany with my husband. And since he works in Austria, I also live in there. Live in a new country has changed me, especially to some habits of mine in daily life. Here is the breakdown.

1. Use plastic products a little less

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In my previous post, I already told about how I stopped using plastic for doing grocery shopping in the supermarkets. I am now conscious to bring my own fabric bag. This is automatically happening whenever I get out of the house, whenever I intent to shop or not. Because we never know when we need them, don’t we?

Yes, that is one of the habits that has changed because of the system in this country. The supermarkets here don’t provide plastic bags anymore. Customers are not spoiled and forced to bring their own bags. If they forget, they need to buy paper bags in pricey price. Need to think twice before doing it, right?

Other than plastic bags, some plastic products which are over used, such as straws and bottles. were also reduced. Generally, I already stopped using them. The reason is probably because I have more spare time to prepare my own metal straw or drinking bottle.

I used to spending more time in cafes while working, but now I spend more time at home. If I would go to a cafe, I bought my own metal straws.

2. Walk a little further

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When I lived in Jakarta, I rarely walk a lot. However, since Gelora Bung Karno has been reconstructed, I sometimes went there for walking. I have to admit, though, Jakarta is not a pedestrians friendly city. The revitalizations of some sidewalks were actually good, but still not enough. Because mostly they only were done in the central of the city, and not connected to the other sidewalks.

I once was being horned by cars just because I walked in a very narrow sidewalk (too closed to the main road). How dangerous it was, I figured. And you know what is more dangerous? Yep, the motorcycles which were rode in the sidewalks.

On the other hand, order is everything in here, everything is in order, very tidy and discipline. The sidewalks are wide and every vehicles walk in their own paths. In Vienna, the public transportation is great as well, integrated one to another and quite cheap with the salary standard here.

Riding public transportation also makes people walk more. To the nearest station from home, transit, from the last station to the destination, all walk.

3. Care a little more to coins

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The highest value of coins in Indonesia is 1.000 IDR. That is quite valuable, but not really if compared to coins in Euro. I don’t hate Rupiah, but I just want to compare the value of the coins.

In Euro, the 2 Euro coin is the most valuable, which in Rupiah the value is around 32.500 IDR. If someone has three 2 Euro coins, they almost have value of one highest valued banknote in Rupiah, which is 100.000 IDR.

That is why people put more attention to coins in Euro compared to Rupiah coins. Euro also have smaller value of coins which is cent: 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1. If someone is lazy to count their coins, they need to be prepared of having a heavy wallet. Because it’s easier to spend banknotes, but the change is usually in coins. If they don’t try to spend them, they will have too many coins which by the way are not the lightest ones.

4. Drink a little more

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This is actually not a new habit, but it is just getting easier in Europe, since people can drink directly from the tap water. I always try to drink enough every single day, which I did with mineral water in Indonesia. But since I can drink from tap water here, I don’t bother to buy a mineral water gallon which needs be changed every few days.

5. Check the weather forecast a little more often

If I rarely open weather forecast app in Indonesia, it’s the other way around in here. The weather forecast is so important, considering it helps me to decide what to wear on the day. Especially in the seasons like spring and autumn. The temperature of the days in those seasons are varied, sometimes it’s cold like 10 degree Celsius, sometimes it’s quite warm above 20 degree. It’s uncomfortable to wear the wrong clothes, definitely. So it has been my daily routine since I moved here.

Some of the habits frankly were not earned by living abroad, However, these habits for me have changed since I lived here. So, how about you? Do you have habits that changed since you moved abroad?

5 Kebiasaan yang (Dipaksa) Berubah Setelah Hidup di Luar Negeri

Hidup di luar negeri kedengarannya enak, tetapi justru ini merupakan sarana untuk belajar. Yang namanya proses belajar hampir selalu berat, bukan? Meskipun tentu tetap bisa dinikmati.

Sejak Oktober 2018, saya ikut suami tinggal di Eropa, tepatnya di Jerman dan Austria. Kenapa dua negara? Mungkin saya akan ulas di tulisan yang berbeda. Kali ini saya mau cerita tentang kebiasaan yang berubah sejak saya tinggal di sini.

Penggunaan Plastik Secara Umum

Di tulisan sebelumnya, saya sudah cerita tentang bagaimana saya sudah tidak lagi memakai plastik kresek untuk berbelanja ke supermarket. Saya dengan sadar sudah membawa tas belanja sendiri yang terbuat dari kain. Ini sudah otomatis saya lakukan setiap mau keluar rumah, mau keluar untuk belanja atau tidak, saya pasti bawa tas belanja. Karena kita nggak pernah tahu kapan kita butuh itu, kan?

Ya, itu salah satu kebiasaan yang berubah. Saya bilang dipaksa karena itu sudah sistem di supermarket untuk tidak menyediakan plastik. Pelanggan nggak dimanja dengan plastik sehingga mau nggak mau harus bawa tas sendiri. Kalau darurat, supermarket masih menyediakan tas kertas, sih, tapi mahal. Jadi mikir beberapa kali, kan, kalau mau beli?

Selain plastik kresek, ada pula kan beberapa produk plastik lainnya yang selama ini digunakan berlebihan: sedotan dan botol plastik. Secara umum, saya sudah tidak menggunakan mereka lagi. Mungkin ini juga faktor saya lebih punya kebebasan waktu sekarang untuk mempersiapkan sedotan metal dan botol minum sendiri.

Dulu, saya paling sering pakai sedotan dan botol plastik kalau sedang nongkrong atau kerja dari kafe. Namun, sekarang saya lebih banyak ngopi di rumah. Kalau saya perlu atau ingin ke kafe, saya bawa sedotan metal.

Lebih Banyak Jalan Kaki

Sewaktu tinggal di Jakarta, jalan kaki cukup jauh adalah sebuah hal langka. Meski sejak Gelora Bung Karno dibuka setelah direnovasi sekian lama, saya kadang-kadang pergi ke sana untuk sekedar berjalan kaki. Namun, harus diakui, Jakarta bukan kota yang ramah untuk pejalan kaki. Beberapa revitalisasi trotoar sudah dilakukan di pusat kota memang bagus, tetapi jika belum bisa menyambung satu sama lain, tetap saja menyulitkan pejalan kaki.

Misalnya, saya pernah nonstop diklaksoni kendaraan karena saya jalan di bahu jalan, hanya untuk menyambung dari trotoar satu ke lainnya. Belum lagi kebiasaan motor-motor naik ke trotoar dan sebagainya.

Sebaliknya di sini semuanya sudah serba teratur. Trotoar lebar, kendaraan berjalan di jalannya. Di Wina, transportasi umum juga sudah sangat mumpuni, segala moda terintegrasi dan cukup murah untuk standar gaji di sini.

Naik kendaraan umum tentunya bikin lebih banyak jalan. Ke stasiun terdekat dari rumah, jalan. Berpindah dari stasiun satu ke lainnya, jalan. Dari statiun ke tujuan, jalan.

Meskipun nggak bisa dipungkiri faktor cuaca juga yang bikin jalan kaki lebih nyaman. Di Jakarta pas lagi panas-panasnya jalan kaki bikin gosong, keringetan, bau matahari. Begitu sampai tujuan udah keburu dekil. Sementara di sini, meski matahari lagi cerah, suhu udara ga sepanas di Jakarta. Ini saya bicara pas masih musim semi sih, coba nanti saya coba pas musim panas, ya 😀

Lebih Peduli dengan Koin

Koin di Indonesia yang paling tinggi nilainya masih pecahan Rp 1.000. Itu cukup bernilai sih, tapi ga terlalu kalau dibandingin sama koin Euro. Saya bukannya menjelekan Rupiah, lho, cuma mau bandingin koinnya.

Di Euro, koin 2 Euro adalah yang paling bernilai, yang setara dengan sekitar Rp 32.500. Kebanyang nggak kalau punya tiga koin 2 Euro sudah hampir setara dengan kertas merahnya Rupiah 😀 Padahal, di Rupiah si kertas merah itu kan bernilai paling tinggi.

Makanya jangan heran kalau koin Euro punya perhatian lebih dibanding koin di Rupiah. Di Euro juga ada pecahan koin yang nilainya lebih kecil yaitu cent. Ada pecahan 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, dan 1 cent. Nah, biasanya kalau malas menghitung koin dan bayar pakai uang kertas terus, siap-siap dompet jadi berat. Karena uang kembalian koin numpuk di dompet dan bisa bikin dompet jebol (secara harfiah). 😀

Uang koin Euro memang kalau bisa segera dipakai. Di samping karena uang koin Euro rata-rata lebih berat daripada Rupiah, tetapi juga nilainya cukup tinggi. Belanja di supermarket merupakan salah satu cara paling efisien untuk mengurai uang koin. Meskipun, kalau kelamaan menghitung koin, antrean di kasir sudah keburu panjang 😛

Kasir nggak keberatan dibayar dengan koin bergenggam-genggam. Namun karena mereka juga perlu menghitung koinnya, orang harus pintar-pintar cari waktu pas supermarket nggak terlalu penuh.

Lebih Banyak Minum Air

Ini bukan kebiasaan baru sih, tetapi hal yang dipermudah dengan hidup di Eropa. Saya sudah terbiasa cukup minum air dengan cara menghitung air yang minum setiap harinya. Biasanya saya minum air mineral atau jika sedang di rumah orangtua, saya minum air tanah yang dimasak.

Di sini, air keran bisa diminum. Tentu akses air minum jadi lebih mudah. Rumah atau apartemen juga biasanya dilengkapi dengan pengatur suhu air sehingga mau minum dingin atau hangat juga sesuka hati.

Lebih Sering Cek Ramalan Cuaca

Jika di Indonesia, aplikasi ramalan cuaca di ponsel adalah salah satu yang jarang dibuka, sebaliknya di sini. Ramalan cuaca penting banget karena menentukan baju apa yang dipakai pada hari tersebut. Terutama di musim semi dan musim gugur, cuaca bisa sangat bervariasi setiap harinya. Terkadang bisa dingin kurang dari 10 derajat Celcius, kadang bisa cukup hangat di atas 20 derajat. Salah kostum mengakibatkan ketidaknyamanan, tentu saja. Jadi selama di sini, saya hampir setiap saat cek ramalan cuaca, terutama kalau mau keluar rumah.

Beberapa kebiasaaan memang sebenarnya tidak harus didapat dengan tinggal di luar negeri, Namun, kembali lagi, ini kan pengalaman saya 😀 Kebiasaan-kebiasaan ini memang baru saya dapat ketika tinggal di luar negeri.