Customer Reviews

Culture Shock! Jakarta: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! at Your Door) (Cultureshock Jakarta: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)

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I am not quite sure why I bought this book!

Maybe it was to make sure that the authors (Terry Collins and Derek Bacon) get at least some royalties for their efforts or perhaps the more likely excuse is that I needed to see whether my experiences were the same or similar to others. Then again maybe I bought the book because I just wanted to criticize the characterization or stereotyping of what it is like for us white folk living in Indonesia and particularly Jakarta!

The book set me back some IDR 163,000 from Kinokuniya in Plaza Indonesia. I was in Kinokuniya to buy a cross-stitch magazine for my better half and I happened to see the book and thought, why not? So, I whacked it on the counter and I now have my very own copy!

You might be wondering why a bloke who has spent so long in Jakarta wants to read anything to do with Culture Shock. Well, even after all this time living in Indonesia I am still "hey Mister" and perhaps this is both the beauty and the beast that is Jakarta; no matter how long you might have lived here and no matter how much you have integrated into society, you will never get away from being "Hey Mister!"

The book is well written (at least for my mind) and I found myself smiling and chuckling to myself as I read through it. It is surprising how much of the experience is common and how much we tend to forget of what has happened. It was nice to read and remember some of those long forgotten experiences that were jogged back into the more conscious memory!

I know one of the authors (Terry Collins) and perhaps I should make this as a disclaimer. Nevertheless, those of you that know me would know that I pull no punches. If I thought the book was garbage I would say so in not such an eloquent way! Yet, the book, I have found has been worth the money I outlaid for it, if for no other reason than it reminded me of moments that I have enjoyed during my stay.

Funnily enough most people are reporting that they are not finding this book in the arrival halls to Jakarta but rather in the departure shopping areas. I guess this might afford those on their way out of Jakarta a chance to buy the book for the purposes of answering this question: "what the hell just happened to me?"

I would have thought though that the best spot for this would be in the departure lounges of foreign locales and the arrival lounges of points of entry into Indonesia...but I guess this is why I studied law and not marketing!

But for anyone interested in learning the "ins and outs" of the Jakarta experience then this is perhaps the book for you. The book contains sections on the history and politics of Jakarta, settling in for those of you who might want to be more than tourists, visa and immigration information, business information, food and entertaining, fitting in, and communicating, among a number of others.

I think the most valuable learning tools in the book are the short glossary at the end, the culture quiz, and the "do's and don'ts" section.

So, go out and buy the book as it might just help you understand the experience you are about to have or the experience that you have just had!

Culture Shock! is the only must-read book on how to survive the confusing "monster" named Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Being born and raised there, Jakarta hasn't stopped surprising me to this very day, especially since I no longer reside there in the last decade.

This revised version is more comprehensive and up-to-date, as the co-author Terry Collins is, undoubtedly, superbly skillful in describing and explaining how Jakarta has evolved and will continue to evolve as one of the most unique places on the planet. Overall, it is a great book to read and keep on your bookshelf. Suitable for those who intend to visit Jakarta for pleasure or business for a few days, weeks, months, or even years.

I have been waiting for this book to come out for a few months!

I wish it was available when we first arrived in Jakarta.

This book is a very comprehensive guide to life in Jakarta, it should be compulsory for all new expatriates as it makes life so much easier when you understand whats going on around you. Even after living here for nearly 12 months I learnt a lot.

The book was originally authored by Derek Bacon nearly 10 years ago and has just been thoroughly revised and updated by a renown Jakarta Blogger, Jakartass.

Some of the topics covered:-

* First impressions
* History, Geography and Politics
* Fitting into society
* Settling in
* Food and entertainment
* Culture and travel
* Communicating in Jakarta
* Doing business
* Fast facts

I was very impressed with this book and hope you will be too.

As an Indonesian born and living around Jakarta, reading this book still managed to give me insights about the little and not-so-little things that escaped my attention. This probably says something about how "kuper" I am, but also about how the authors are quite keen observers. In addition to writing this book, Terry Collins has also been keeping his Jakartass blog busy for years with posts on the subject of politics (which coincidentally I have zero interest in). Politics being a big part of staple news here in Indonesia and substantially painting a good picture of the country, along with the author having 20+ years of experience living in the capital city, should probably make him pretty competent to write this particular book.

For the most past, I'd say roughly 85% of the observations are spot on. The sarcastic style of writing also somehow matches how Indonesians are in general apathetic and untrusting about their government with their corrupt officials. As with any text of sufficient length, there are some incorrect facts, generalizations, or misattributions, but they are quite minor and forgivable. For example, plastic wrappers on sofa incorrectly being called polyurethane. Also be reminded that many characteristics that are said to belong to Indonesians actually belong to the Javanese or Sundanese culture. People from Batak, to take one example, are usually much more to-the-point and have little problem saying no or be in a confrontational situation. In fact, people from one region would experience as much culture shock should they live in another region. Such is the diversity and vastness of Indonesia.

What's not forgivable though is the sloppy editing and the bad usage of Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language). The text has an annoying habit of missing one period in the last sentence of a paragraph. There must have been 10 of this, I lost count after that. There's a half-page worth of text being copy pasted some tens of pages apart, so you'll find there are twice as many words for rice in Indonesia, because you'll be reading them twice!

There are many gross misspellings and misusage of many Indonesian words and names, even for the most common ones. And it's even more ironic since the author decides to stick in one Indonesian word in the text for every 25 words or so. He uses 'gotong royong' when it should have been 'musyawarah'. And he keeps using the word 'mandi' (to bathe) as if it's a noun, even though it's clearly only a verb. Obviously not a single Indonesian is involved in proofreading the manuscript, if any. Judging from this, the reader can safely skip the chapter on Language/Communication and find some other good book on it.

Nevertheless, it's still a very enjoyable read.

I loved the book! I'm going to go live in Indonesia, possibly Jakarta, and the book gives all the tips you would want to know. I would buy this series for any new place that I want to live. It goes over everything from how to pick a house to weather patterns. It give a great description of what the people are like and how they think. A must buy for anyone moving to Indonesia. Priceless information that would take years to learn on your own.

My cousin said this book is great... that it exceeded her hopes and expectations.... that it is better than any of the other book she was considering.

Viewed from a safe distance, it's easy to assume that these days it's just one bad thing after another in Indonesia. How terrible must this place be to actually live in? How on earth do people manage to live there?

It's easy for the outside world to get a distorted view of life somewhere, when all that seems to come from there is bad news. But these are just events, little blips that get reported along the way. It's in the moments between these events where the real picture lies, where day-to-day life goes on, apparently as normal.

If you want to stand any chance of knowing Indonesia at all, you'll need to be there at ground level, with it whizzing all around you.Towering well over 1.83m tall, my co-authoring friend Terry Collins is definitely at ground level. In this reworked version of CultureShock! Jakarta, Terry brings our picture of Jakarta bang up to date.

With 20 years of Jakarta living under his belt, he is well qualified in shifting the story forward. And, crucially, he still has enthusiaism for the Jakarta life. He may of course completely deny this, but it's this very enthusiasm that has helped paint this much fuller picture of the city, and one too that helps guide us through the often confusing decade of change (or non-change) since President Suharto made his dramatic exit in 1998.

So here then is Jakarta today. It's big. It's frustrating. It really is a monster. Don't say we didn't warn you.