Friends - The Album

Me with Girl J, Little C and Sister J on a night out

One of the things I will take away from my time in Jakarta are the number of friends I made. Most were British, some were American, Canadian and the odd Antipodean and Irish. I mentioned in the previous post that my friends were the #1 in things I miss since leaving. I miss drinking, laughing, eating, gossiping,travelling and crying with these people; we were a big,fat mad family. One of the saddest things to happen due to the nature of the job is that after twelve months people leave. Some go back home, some move onto another country or move onto another company within the city.My time in Jakarta was spent cultivating these friendships and Lord knows if I did not have these friendships, I would have had a difficult time adjusting to Indonesia.I want to dedicate this post to those lovely people who I left behind or left me in Jakarta. Some of them you would recognize by their 'names' from previous posts. So it would be awesome just to put a face to the name of some of these lovely people. 

 To kick off my little album, let me start with The Jays, i.e Girl J and Scottish J. These two became my two favourite people there especially Girl J. Prior to leaving the UK, I got in touch with Girl J to introduce myself in the hopes of making an amiable impression, what did I get in return? A welcome pack of an apple, Pop-Mie and a letter welcoming me to the house since everyone was at work. I was impressed! Scottish J was the first of my housemates I met. He got me sorted with changing my money and other little essentials on my first night in Jakarta. They both moved out of the house in March and lived in a nearby apartment complex due to Girl J getting a job at an embassy school. Regardless, of them leaving we remained close. I saw Scottish J a lot through work and socializing, while Girl J and I did lunch, window shopped and other girlie pursuits. Scottish J has been the most incredible help to me especially in times when I was doubting myself as a Business English teacher, not to mention he is also one of the nicest guys I have ever met. The Jays finish up in Jakarta in July and August respectively, but they are going to be in Scotland this week with Girl J staying with me for a couple of nights.

 Little C - Another nice Canadian girl who made the first six months in Jakarta awesome! Best housemate I ever had for sure. One of my personal highlights was her birthday. We all went to Immigrant, a posh nightclub where we danced our asses off till 5 in the morning. Along with Sister J, she dubbed our little group 'The Oreo'. Funny and gregarious, a part of me died a little when she left in July but here we are looking forward to seeing each other in Denmark in May after 10 months of not seeing each other.

Sister J - Whenever anybody needed a ray of sunshine, just look at Sister J's smile and all is right with the world again. When I got the job in November, I asked the recruiter for the e-mail address of a new teacher to ask them about their experience living in Jakarta. We began to exchange e-mails and became Facebook friends. I was pleasantly surprised that she was black and quickly bonded over black girl issues mainly hair related. She lived and worked in the North Jakarta so I did not get to hang out with her as much as people that lived in the centre with me but she was good value for hanging out. Sister J left in October and has since resettled in London. We got back in touch when I returned and plan to meet up in London as soon as I start working. 

D - My friendship with D started like how all new friendships start, over social media. I was introduced to D by her former workmate who I met on Twitter to discuss living in Jakarta said workmate put me in touch with D. When I added D as a Facebook friend, I was surprised to find she was friends with my Dad. It turns out she shot a documentary about Jerk cuisine and my Dad was one of the chefs she interviewed. Small world or what? Her contract finished in March but she has since got a job in Bali and we maintained contact ever since. This lady's spirit and wanderlust is awe-inspiring and it is just always awesome to meet Jamaicans in far flung parts of the world. Check out her blog right here!

Kiwi E and Manc C - My workmates and the dearest of girls. Manc C (from Manchester) was in Jakarta only a couple of weeks before me and worked at another school and lived in the north of Jakarta. We bonded on our trip to Singapore and decided to celebrate us passing our probation by going to Lombok and the Gilis together. Eventually Manc C moved into my house and school and are friendship continued to grow. She decided to stay another year to explore the scuba diving that's on offer here. Kiwi E came in April and we quickly bonded over our mutual love for Facebar, Ladies' nights and small children (more me than her). I had a giggle with these ladies at work and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

 

B - My delightful Irish housemate who arrived in August. After losing Little C, I did not know who was going to replace her but I hoped it was another lovely girl. Thank goodness for her! B's good nature, sense of humour and radiant smile won me over and we became really good friends. We plan to meet up in London or Dublin or Edinburgh. I look forward to seeing her again and have right ole knees-up.

Kitty -  I met this delightful American through Aussie R and Girl J at an Indian lunch buffet. At the time she was working for another franchise of my company where she was the only girl yiikes! As such, she was taken into the our sisterly bosoms as one of our own. We bonded over musicals, costume dramas, Richard Armitage and Disney. She has stayed on another year but teaching at an Australian feeder school where she teaches Literature and Global Citizenship where she is relishing her role. She even masterminded a hilarious but poignant goodbye video for me. I am hopeful we'll see each other again whether it's here in the UK or in her hometown of Boston drinking a cup of tea singing a song or two.

Lola -  This party-loving creature of the night is all kinds of awesome. She had her own dance, her own style and her own laugh. She took me to the airport where we both tearfully said goodbye to each other.I am so grateful for that as I would have gone to the airport on my own and cry by myself. I look forward to seeing her when she gets back here; I do miss her cackle.

Boy L - One of the sweetest guys you will ever meet. Boy L moved in in October after the sacking and eventual departure of 'he who shan't be named'. He had no problems joining in the Cang (pronounced chang) family. We both shared a love for football and tennis and engaged in banter and he's a great laugh on nights-out. I'm super excited for all the cool things this year has in store for him personally and professionally. Without a doubt, one of the best people I met out there and I miss the wee dear.

The album is to be continued.