Culture Crossing

Culture Crossing is a place where you could learn about other countries’ culture, custom and etiquettes. Its founder came across my original blog and asked if I could help them filling the blanks in Indonesia or Scotland’s section.

The website consists of 3 parts: basic, business, and students. In each section we would learn to understand how to greet men or women, how to dress properly according the occasion, how to distribute our business cards, what’s considered taboo, and so on.

Rapid Cost of Living - What Can We Do?

The recent hike in fuel prices has undoubtedly increase the cost of living. Maybe not as much as what they are experiencing at home in Indonesia, it is still making a dent for us who live in foreign countries. Not only affected those who are in foreign countries, it also have direct impact on those who have to support their family members on their home countries.

 

Big cities all around the world have become more expensive for expatriates with family members. In the Philippines, cost of living has increased 5% to 8% since beginning of the year.

The global cost of living study has comprised that London and Moscow are the most expensive global locations for expatriates, while 3 of the top 5 most expensive cities are in Asia; Tokyo, Seoul and Hongkong. 

The weakening of USD compared to Euro also contributes significantly to the changes in the most expensive cities for expat list compiled by FinFacts.Ie. This list does not account for cost-of-living savings accrued to local citizens through government-subsidized housing, health care, and education, differences in taxation, and many other factors irrelevant to expatriates. Cost of living may be much higher for expatriates than for local residents in a developing country, especially if expatriates expect a standard of living similar to a developed country. With the rising cost of fuel and gas, the impact of rising cost for basic goods and services are going to be stronger than ever, coupled by the poor performance of USD. 

How are we as expat deal with it? What sort of lifestyle changes are we most likely to conform with? We would love to hear your opinions and tips on saving whilst living away from home country. 

For more information on survey done on the topic, please visit City Mayors website.

 

 

Indonesian Society Abroad

When we land in our host country, one of the first things we do is to find and make new friends. And no matter how fluent we speak the foreign language, most of us will be glad if we could meet up with other Indonesians. It would be very easy to do so in cities like Singapore (half of the country population is Indonesians anyway) or Perth, or cities with historical link to Indonesia like Amsterdam, where everywhere we turn we practically could bump into another Indonesian.

But what if we live in not-so-popular country, like me, for example, who happen to live in Aberdeen, Scotland?

Living in Beautiful Brussels

The article is written by

Rima Fauzi, the blog owner of A Chocoholic’s Piece of Mind

–

Brussels is the city I used to hate but now have come to really love. When I first got here I hated it because of its tranquility and ‘old fashion-ness’. It wasn’t really fair because I constantly compared it to New York City and Jakarta, two cities where I lived before, cities of which are abundant with night life and modern fun. Plus at the time, I was still in my mid-20s and wanted metropolitan fun all the time. After a few years, having grown more mature and calmed down a bit, I have come to really appreciate this lovely city. I have been to most corners of the city, many times, but I never get tired of it.

Shopping
Compared to shopping areas in the Netherlands, where most of the shopping districts are all modern, or Germany with its malls, Brussels is something totally different. It has a very cool vibe, and a lot of personality. There are no malls here, only maybe three or four shopping centers (small ones, equivalent to the smaller plazas in Jakarta, not big malls) You can see what it’s like to shop in Brussels from the pictures shown here (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

Old Buildings and Churches
Belgium, at least the French Speaking parts and Brussels, which I am writing about today, are quite old fashioned. It embraces old architecture and old buildings which is why I fell in love with it in the first place. I love old buildings, and although it doesn’t have as much as Paris, Brussels have a certain charm that has made me fall in love over and over again each time I go sight-seeing in the city.

I haven’t seen much modern architectural designs in Brussels apart from the European Commission building (which scarily resembles an upside down cross - what the Christian conspiracy theorists calls ‘the anti Christ Building’ - the headquarters of all evil, unity of a number of evil Satan worshiping nations, just as - what they claim - the bible had prophesied) - click photo to enlarge picture and captions

Well, I can’t say much for the Satan worshiping nations (because it’s top secret and I’d have to kill you if I tell you), but the building does kinda look like an upside down cross, doesn’t it?

But, au contraire to the beliefs about being the epicenter of evil, Brussels actually has some of the most beautiful churches in Europe. Here are several well known Brussels churches, although there are so many others too (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

We do have several landmarks in Brussels besides the European Commission “Berlaymont” Building. These are some of the most beautiful old buildings that has also become landmarks in Brussels (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

Art Nouveau Building
Some of the most beautiful art nouveau buildings are located in Brussels, which is not surprising, considering the Father of Art Nouveau Architecture and Design, Victor Horta was a Brussels native. (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

Landmarks
Besides old building landmarks, Brussels has other kinds of landmarks, unconventional ones, with interesting histories behind it. The most famous one is the Manneken Pis, a boy who people said peed on a fuse of a bomb an attack on Brussels, thus saving Brussels from the attack. The peeing boy was immortalized into a cute little statue you can see on the third picture below. The second picture is a building called the Atomium, which was initially intended to remain for six months in the World Fair of 1958, but then became a symbol for not only the World Fair, but of modern architecture and Brussels. The monument stayed the same for almost 50 years, undergone a renovation in 2004 (replacement of the metal panels on the atoms, the old panels being auctioned off) and finished last year. (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

Café and Restaurant Culture
Brussels people, or Bruxelloises, love to sit in cafés and drink coffee or beer. Besides some of the finest and most delicious restaurants in Western Europe, Brussels is also famous for Seafood - especially Mussels. Brussels have many cozy restaurants, cafés and bars that are usually filled with people, especially during summer. (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

Cartoons
Let’s not forget the cartoons in Brussels. Brussels is truly a cartoon city, with many buildings painted with cartoon murals. I think it’s a very cool thing, certainly gives a unique edge to the city, and very good for tourists who love to take pictures of themselves and the comics. (click photo to enlarge picture and captions)

That is about it for this edition of Beautiful Brussels, there are other interesting stuff about Brussel I will share with you again next time. A bientot! Tot ziens!

*credits: Most of the photos were found on the internet (dansaertstraat and e3000 on flickr, galenfrysinger, tom galvin, brusselsdailyphoto, erasmuspc, trabel, milnerscom’s blog, brussels pictures and many more. Please contact me with your details/website if you see your photo here, so I can mention your name or site in the credits as well)

–
Rima Fauzi M.A.
http://www.rimafauzi.blogspot.com

“What-if” Syndrome of Expat Life

It is finally coming. I will be getting my spouse visa by the end of the week. I will need to get my one way ticket to the Philippines. Not that it is a bad thing, I am ready to start a new life. I have quitted my job last month. I gave my two month’s notice in March. Somehow, I have not done anything to prepare for my trip. Thankfully, we only need to be in the Philippines for six months, then we might be moving to other countries again. I am enlisting to nomadic lifestyle club! 

It has been a while since I stayed away from home. The last time was in 2000 when I went to Adelaide for school. So many doubts and questions are engulfing me right this moment. 

Have I spent enough time with my parents to make sure they will not miss me as much? Have I settled all my finances? How much should I bring? What if I get sick and my mother is not around to make me chinese herbal tea? What am I going to do there? Should I get a job? Should I become a stay home wife? What if we have to move to some weird-ass (pardon my language) country again? Can my parents come and visit? What about chinese new year? Can I come home then? What if I want to eat sambal? 

Moving away from home, is like moving away from my nest. My comfort zone. It is so hard. As it is nearer, I am feeling more and more restless. 

How do you cope with moving our of the country? What did you find is the hardest thing of the whole thing? 

 

 

Where is Hungary Anyway?

This article is written by
Sherwin Tobing, the blog owner of Goresan Ngawur.

I have been living in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, for almost a year. Hungary might sound little bit strange for Indonesians. Many Indonesians do not even have a ghost of idea on where Hungary actually is. Hungary is located in the heart of Europa and its people were originated from somewhere in Central Asia. These people, called Magyar in Hungarian, built a settlement there more than 1000 years ago.

Working in Riyadh

My friend in Surabaya is thinking about taking a job that will relocate him to Riyadh. It’s a daring and scary move, and my friend is looking for some more information about Saudi Arabia in general and Riyadh in particular. Basic stuffs from the living cost, the daily living activities, the rumours that there are many rules applied in everyday’s life, etc. He has been trying to email the Indonesian Embassy staffs in Riyadh but has not got any responds yet…

If you know someone who now is living and working in Riyadh, kindly please drop email to pixeldyne@yahoo.com.

Thank you, folks!

Journey To Verne’s Copenhagen

The article is writen in 2005
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Copenhagen*

Most people associate Denmark with famous author Hans Christian Andersen, or maybe the brilliant scientist Niels Bohr, who discovered the atomic theory, or probably rock band Metallica’s drummer Lars Ulrich, but I found Denmark between the pages of a Jules Verne book titled A Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The book, which I read over and over from the age of 15, told how Professor Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel, the main characters of the story, took their preparations here before moving to isolated Iceland where their journey began.

Living Above The Arctic Circle

This article is written by
Mulia Nurhasan, the blog owner of My Process of Learning.

See the picture above? Beautiful isn’t it? C’on..you have got to admit. And I didn’t take it from a tourism site or top of a mountain. It’s just from my window, few minutes ago , 2.22 PM local time.

I live in Tromso, they say it’s the capital of the north. Capital, yea rite, we are only 64,782 people here. Hehe. It’s 300 km above the arctic circle. Do you know what that means? It means during summer, we have no moon and during winter we have no sun. AT ALL!!!

Little Known Facts About Belgium

This article is written by
Rima Fauzi M.A., the blog owner of A Chocoholic’s Piece of Mind.

When people think of Europe, they usually think Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Geneva or Vienna. Most Indonesian visiting Europe will most likely visit those cities and pass those, albeit lovely, but less famous or even somewhat obscure.

I live in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, a gem located between the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Germany. This is one of the less famous European cities people should visit besides the five above.

Besides being the country’s capital, Brussels is also the capital of the European Union, the heart of Europe. Although Belgium is not famous for a lot of things except maybe for its’ waffles, Brussels sprouts, beers and chocolate, it is the home of many great things and people. Among many are the legendary Jacques Brel, Django Reindhardt, Toots Thielemans and my favorite detective, Hercule Poirot.