Thursday 27 January 2011

You know you've been in Indonesia too long

Someone sent this to me a while ago, and I have to say that I can relate to almost every single one of these.
  • You too believe traffic lanes, stop signs and one way streets are mere suggestions and that sidewalks were meant to drive on or they wouldn't have paved them.
  • You can drive 60 kmh two inches from cars on either side of you, but cannot back into a parking space in an empty lot without two guys yelling “Kiri…Kiri Terus, Terus, Terus…”
  • You stop wondering why the concept of turning lanes never occurred to traffic engineers in Jakarta
  • You stop wondering if the concept of traffic engineers ever occurred to anyone in Jakarta
  • You can kill cockroaches with your bare feet
  • The footprints on the toilet seat are your own
  • You no longer wait in line, but immediately go to the head of the queue
  • It has become exciting to see if you can get on the elevator before anybody else can get off
  • You're willing to pay to use a toilet you wouldn't go within a kilometer of at home
  • You no longer wonder how someone making US$200 per month can drive a Mercedes
  • You have considered buying a motorcycle for the next family car
  • You walk to the pub with your arm around your mate
  • You answer the telephone with “Hello” more than 2 times
  • You are quite content to repeat your order six times in a restaurant that only has four items on the menu
  • You regard it as part of an adventure when the waiter exactly repeats your order and the cook makes something completely different
  • A T-bone steak and rice sounds just fine
  • If when listening to the pilot prove he can't speak English, you no longer wonder if he can understand the Air Traffic Controllers
  • You find it saves time to stand and retrieve your cabin baggage while the plane is on final approach
  • You're not surprised when three men with a ladder show up to change a light bulb
  • Taxi drivers understand you
  • You own a rice cooker
  • You can shake your hands almost perfectly dry before wiping them on your pants
  • When crossing a busy street you believe that a limp wrist motion with your right arm creates a force field that repels oncoming traffic
  • You think it's logical to dry your hands with Kleenex
  • When dining at a mexican restaurant, the table next to you is occupied by an overweight, bald, fifty-something Australian petroleum worker who has each of his arms around a teenaged Sundanese girl
  • You find yourself getting upset with inflation because the price of the buffet in a five-star hotel is now nearly ten dollars
  • Going out for a drink with your coworker, he shows up with his girlfriend, even though you are on a first name basis with his wife
  • Someone tells you that 10 kbs is a pretty good download speed
  • You find a fly in your Bintang, and you fish the fly out with a spoon and drink it anyway
  • You are no longer confused when you are asked if you want some 'beep bacon' (beef bacon) with your eggs.
  • A bathroom with four attendants is so disgustingly filthy that you wouldn't step into it back home ... and one of those attendants sole job is to hand you flimsy, single-ply toilet paper to dry your hands.
  • You look left, right, backwards, forwards, up and down before crossing a one way street.
  • You take a book to read on the journey to work
  • You carry tissues in your pocket for 'emergency stops'
  • The term "Blok M" starts sounding like a glittering venue for shopping and nightlife rather than part of a concentration camp
  • The titles "Mr. Bob" and "Miss Barbara" begin to sound normal to you

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