How did this happen? I swore I would never, ever, ever, EVER live in the suburbs. I mean no disrespect to those of you who do live in the suburbs. I understand many people find the suburbs to be the best of both worlds. I'm simply not one of them. And now I find that I live in an honest-to-goodness suburb. Crap.
It's not like I didn't know that my school was located on the outskirts of Jakarta. It's just that Jakarta is huge and before arriving I thought of it more like Los Angeles than Chicago. In Los Angeles, everything is a suburb, so technically suburbs equals city. And I gotta say, I was perfectly happy with that explanation. In my three months living in said suburb, I have found that it can meet my basic needs. It's easy to get to work. There are a ridiculous number of malls where I buy necessities and find entertainment. It's green and pretty, if you ignore the trash and pollution. Yes, I've seen parts of south and central Jakarta, but usually I'm either in a car or it's dark out. So, while I realized that my part of the city had a different feel, I wasn't able to make an apples to apples comparison. Plus, I was still kind of starry eyed and overwhelmed with every new thing.
Now that I've had some time to get settled in, I'm starting to notice the little details. Like the women who live in my city dress like suburban moms. And they all drive SUVs. And their kids are massively over-scheduled with things like piano and badminton and English lessons (Yes, I realize if there were no English lessons, I wouldn't have a job). Okay, so that's fine. I just figured that was all part of the culture of Jakarta. And partly it is. But this weekend, I discovered Kemang.
Kemang is an area of the city that is a long way from where I live. I'd heard about it--mostly that a greater number of foreigners lived there--but I'd never been. On Saturday, that changed. I hung out there in the afternoon, and had a chance to stroll up and down the equivalent of the Main Street. It feels different than Kelapa Gading. Very different. It took me about five minutes to figure out that's because it's urban. Which means Kelapa Gading is not. Hence, my realization that I live in the suburbs.
It's okay though. Kelapa Gading still has everything I need and now I know about Kemang. If I had to compare it to a Chicago neighborhood, I'd go with Bucktown. It's got plenty of boutique-like stores, restaurants and hip bars where you can hear live music. It also has a sports bar where I had a Twilight Zone moment. We walked in and everyone was white. It could have been any sports bar in any English-speaking country in the world. There were Americans, and Brits, and Australians and Canadians and probably some Irish too. And basically only the staff was Indonesian. It was weird but it will probably be a fun place to watch the World Cup games. We ended up at a place called the Elbow Room--no connection to the Elbow Room in Chicago--where we heard an excellent band while enjoying reasonably-priced cocktails.
It made me so happy to be in a place where I can look around and realize everybody is cooler than me. It also made me think about Chicago neighborhoods and how there are a lot of parallels to be drawn. My neighborhood, for example, is Oakbrook. Kemang, like I said, is Bucktown. The people are urban and there are lots of cool things to do. Jaksa, where I've been hanging out sometimes on the weekends, is like Rush Street--which explains why it kind of bores me. It also explains why people there drink so freaking much. Ancol, on the water, is like Navy Pier and Grant Park--tourist traps and open-air festivals. Each neighborhood has its charms. But I can't wait to spend more time in Kemang!
Update: I just read another blog where the writer called Kemang a suburb. Pshaw, I say.
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