Indonesia....at last!

I'm happy to say I arrived in Indonesia yesterday!  It was a long 2 day journey.  On Tuesday we were supposed to get a bad snowstorm in Raleigh so I took an earlier flight to make sure I got out of town before the storm.  That meant that the Tuesday morning I had planned to relax and get my packing in order was shot - so I was in a bit of a rush to get out the door.   So much for a relaxing morning.

This was my journey:

• 4 hours waiting in the Raleigh airport
• 1 1/2 hour flight from Raleigh to JFK
• 8 hour layover in JFK
• 15 1/2 hour flight from JFK to Hong Kong
• 4 hour layover in Hong Kong
• 5 hour flight to Jakarta

The airport in Hong Kong

38 hours after I left my house in Raleigh I was in Jakarta.  I got some sleep on the plane(s) but nothing solid so was exhausted when I finally got here.  My driver was waiting for me at the airport and we navigated the crazy traffic to get the hotel.  I did manage to stay up until about 8pm last night (almost fell asleep waiting for room service for dinner) then took some melatonin and had a great night of sleep. I was awoken once or twice by what I thought were gunshots but learned this morning that it was fireworks from the start of the Chinese New Years celebrations.

The view from my hotel room in Jakarta

This morning I met up with one of our group leaders for breakfast in the hotel, which was nice.  It was an amazing breakfast spread.  I heard that the last CSC team that went to Indonesia all got sick from the food so I am trying to be careful, but our team leader from the Phillippines said that even she gets sick in Indonesia - so it's probably only a matter of time.  I did bring enough probiotics to get me through the next 7 weeks so hopefully they will help a little bit.  I can guarantee that if I don't get sick from the food I will get motion sick from the erratic taxi drivers at some point.  Ahhh this will be quite a journey.

Most of my team will be arriving this afternoon and we're planning on meeting for dinner at a local restaurant this evening. Until then I am going to relax, maybe take a walk around outside of the hotel, and check out the pool here which is supposed to be top notch.  I'll be living out of my bag for the next 2 nights because we're heading to Yogyakarta on Sunday and I don't want to have to repack.

Things happen in threes....

Tomorrow is the big day!  I leave in the early evening to start my journey to Jakarta.  I first have a short flight from Raleigh to JFK, then a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong, then a 5 hour flight to Jakarta.   I decided to fly in the day before a lot of my team mates because I am sure I will be a sleepy jetlagged mess when I arrive and not particularly ready to greet everyone with a cheery face.  I'm definitely going to try to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Today has started out on a rough note so I am hoping it gets better....

First, today marked the day I was supposed to start taking my anti-malaria prophylaxis - basically doxycycline antibiotic.  While there isn't supposed to be malaria in Jakarta or Yogyakarta, Indonesia does have it in some of the outlying areas and we might be doing some weekend trips out of the cities.  It is also present in Cambodia.  I took it this morning as directed (on an empty stomach) but let's just say that didn't go over too well.  Taking it with food decreases its effectiveness but I don't think I am going to have a choice.  Now the question is whether or not to try to take it with food tomorrow morning the day I have to leave.

Then, there is the packing situation.  As suspected, not everything fits into my bag.  I am good with my checked bag but my carry on is having a few issues.  Once I feel a little better this morning I am going to tackle that again and be ruthless with weeding stuff out.

Lastly, it's looking like Raleigh is going to get a big snowstorm starting tomorrow evening, which of course is when I am scheduled to leave.  Snow itself is not a big deal but down here the towns just aren't prepared for it - so a few inches of snow typically shut everything down.  I might try to see if I can get onto an earlier flight to JFK tomorrow just to make it out of town before it hits.  That is, if I am not sick from my medication and actually have my bags packed!

Here's to starting my adventure tomorrow.  Wish me luck!!

Afternoon update: 
Two out of my three problems have been "solved" - First, I went out and bought a bigger suitcase.  It was going to be 50% discount starting on Wednesday but I convinced the cashier to give me the discount now because I was having a packing disaster and am leaving tomorrow.  Miraculously she called a manager and they honored the discount - that saved me $150.   Now I'm repacking everything into my new suitcase and feel much better that I am actually going to have room for souvenirs to bring home.

Then, I dealt with my flight situation.  I drove to the airport so I could talk to a representative face to face.  She was nice and re-booked the first leg of my journey for no additional charge so I can leave earlier in the day tomorrow to miss the storm.

The other good news is that my new ATM card arrived in the mail today, just in the nick of time.  Two weeks ago I learned that the bank had canceled it because I rarely use it, and they never let me know that it was canceled.  Dealing with the runaround with the bank took 2 weeks - they supposedly expedited a new one that would take 2 days to get to me, and it took 5 days. 

I am (almost) ready to go!

To Thailand or not to Thailand... that is the question

For those who follow international news, you might have heard that Bangkok, Thailand declared a state of emergency the other day leading up to their Presidential election in early February.  Over the past weeks there have been increasing protests and some violence but it's mostly been contained to governmental areas and a few key intersections across the city.  There is definitely a lot of uncertainty as to if it's going to escalate further in the coming weeks.

Knowing that my post-assignment vacation plans include a brief stint in Thailand, a few folks have asked me what we're going to do.  The short answer is we are keeping a really close eye on the political situation and are going to wait until at least early February to make a decision on what to do.  If the elections are held on schedule the protests may or may not dissipate, and if they don't dissipate, they may or may not escalate.  Our vacation wouldn't put us there until the beginning of March so we're going to wait and see how things shape up.  The majority of our itinerary is actually outside of Bangkok proper but we were planning on using Bangkok as our hub for the first week of our trip before we head to Cambodia.  We purchased really good travel insurance so if we have to change anything on our itinerary that should help. Please keep us in your thoughts as we really had our hopes up to go to Bangkok so we are keeping our fingers crossed that there is some resolution that would make it safe for us to go as planned. 

No matter what happens though, we will be going somewhere after my assignment ends - just not sure where! 

Our last team wrap-up call before departure

This morning our team had our last logistics call in preparation for us leaving for our assignment next week.  The energy level was great and we're all really excited to meet face to face.  The IBM CSC leadership team has done a wonderful job preparing us - from making sure we're all comfortable with travel logistics to helping us with packing tips to arranging local Indonesian cell phones for us so we can stay in touch with our teammates, our clients, and the IBM help resources that will be available to us if we run into any issues while in-country.

Before I can really think about leaving, I need to make it through this week at work.  It's been a rough week so far, as I expected it would be before leaving for 7 weeks.  I'm working on a big assignment that has to be done before my last day in the office (which is Friday) and unfortunately I was working on it until 3:45am this morning.  That coupled with our 7am CSC team call made for a rough night.  It will all be worth it when I board my plane to head to Indonesia.  Time to go rest now.  I'll definitely need my rest for my big adventure that starts next week!!

The packing has started

I somehow suspect that this will NOT all fit into my bag

Yesterday I started packing in earnest.  Until now, everything has been in a big pile and I put things in the pile as I remember them.  Up until yesterday, I haven't really gone through what I am taking  vs. what I am leaving home.  My main concern is making sure I have enough supplies with me but forcing myself to limit what I bring only to items I am positive I am going to need.  My husband might disagree but I am typically not an overpacker.  For this trip, however, I suspect I will be one.  I am not too worried about the clothing part, as I know I am going to have to do laundry a few times.  On big international trips I am always careful to put enough in my carry-on-luggage to keep me going for a few days if my main bag gets lost. Years ago I had an unfortunate luggage situation in Paris where the airline lost my checked bag for 4 days - and I was only there for 5 days with everything critical in my checked bag.  Lesson learned.  When I started going through everything this weekend I had to resist the urge to put it all in my carry on pile - it's clearly not going to fit!  After a few hours of running around the house finding things and inventorying what I had pulled out, I gave up for the day.  This is definitely going to be a multi-day one step at a time undertaking. 

Receiving our project assignments

Today was a turning-point day and one my team has been anticipating for the last three months - we received our in-country project assignments!  Two of my teammates & I (Daniel from Hungary and Nicole from Austria) will be working with the city's local tourism board to update the city's tourism marketing strategy & vision and to introduce them to social media that will be useful in promoting their travel advertising going forward.  We will have a lot to accomplish in a very short period of time but we are very eager to meet our client and dive right in.

Logistics, logistics & more logistics

T-minus-less than three weeks!  I was away on a business trip this week which put a bit of a hiatus on my pre-trip planning (although somehow I did end up spending $150 on travel clothes at the mall and at REI), but I realized that I only have two more full weeks of work left before I leave.  That's pretty scary but also pretty liberating.  You realize quite quickly that you have great teammates and work will go on with or without you.  I've received so much support from my colleagues - both in offering to help out while I'm away and wanting to make sure I send them my blog URL so they can virtually follow me on my journey.

We had our weekly team preparation call this week and found out some more details about our assignment.   After our team meets up in Jakarta, we'll be touring the IBM Jakarta offices and meeting the IBM General Manager of Indonesia.  Our CSC team will then travel together to Yogyakarta.  Our hotel in Yogyakarta looks better than I expected and it's located near the center of town.  I am not a picky traveler at all and love staying at little boutique hotels. 

We also found out this week that our kickoff event is turning out to be quite a lavish and high-profile affair.  It's going to be held at the palace of the Sultan of Yogyakarta and both the Sultan and the Vice President of Indonesia are scheduled to meet us and to be keynote speakers.  I feel quite privileged and humbled to be participating in this event and to meet such influential leaders.

On our prep call this week we were again reminded that business dress in Indonesia is quite conservative.  I had been planning already to bring a few ankle-length skirts and 3/4 length sleeved tops, but we were asked today to also bring scarves that we'll probably need to wear every day.  We women on the team will want to make sure we have our necklines appropriately covered and we'll also want to be prepared for covering our heads if needed as there are often religious ceremonies before meetings or large events.  I'm a bit nervous as I do fine in tropical climates so long as I am dressed appropriately for the climate - this however is going to be quite a challenge because during the week I'll need to be covered almost head to toe.  I think (another) shopping trip is in order this weekend to try to find some loose long sleeved shirts that will (sort of) keep me comfortable in the heat.  I definitely want to be respectful of the culture we'll be immersing ourselves in but I need to find clothes that aren't going to give me heatstroke.  Another item on our list is a rain jacket.  February is the monsoon season in Indonesia, so I'm quite thankful I got a Gore-Tex rain jacket for Christmas.  If the rains are that heavy though, no jacket will really keep you dry.  This will be quite an experience.

Amazon.com has become my best friend during this pre-trip planning process.  From extra luggage locks to travel guides to rehydration powders, a first aid kit, and a small personal fan so I can try to keep cool in the oppressive heat - I probably have gone overboard with supplies.  My husband has been so patient with me as I place orders at least once or twice a week and our front door often has stacks of small boxes waiting from the delivery man.  This week's order consisted of a small Indonesian passphrase book and a combination-style cable lock for my laptop computer so it doesn't get stolen.  I tried ordering the cable lock through work but my order got rejected 2X so I finally gave up and bought it myself.  I also ordered some business cards, as I don't carry them for my regular job but we've been told that Indonesians hand them out quite frequently so we should be prepared to reciprocate.

I'm very excited about my assignment, but also very excited about my plans after the assignment.  I'm going to fly to Bangkok after my assignment, and my husband Marc is going to meet me there.  We're going to explore around the Bangkok area for a week - seeing the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha, Wat Arun, the floating markets, the Ayutthaya temples, and the Bridge on the River Kwai.  Then we're going to hire a private car service to drive us to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we'll tour the Angkor Wat temples, Tonle Sap lake, and the ancient city of Angkor Thom.  We got our Cambodian visas the other day and are all set for the vacation part of the journey.

"Congratulations! You've been accepted to IBM Corporate Service Corps Indonesia #5 team."

"Congratulations!  You've been accepted to IBM Corporate Service Corps Indonesia #5 team."   That was the email I received three months ago while sitting in the middle of a tedious conference call, trying to concentrate.  I had applied for the CSC program a year and a half prior and had to unfortunately turn down a different assignment earlier this fall due to a personal timing conflict.  Then miraculously, my Indonesia assignment appeared in my inbox.  There was no more concentrating on my conference call as my mind suddenly jumped to many other things.....  This would be a month-long sabbatical from my "real" job to do an assignment in an amazing country very very far away.  As many of you know, my husband  & I love to travel - but this would be TRAVEL!  '40 hours to just get there' kind of travel.  'Putting your home life on hold for a month' kind of travel.  'Having a very real and very important consulting deliverable for a host organization that's counting on me' kind of travel.... in essence this travel will be like none other I've ever done.   Suddenly what I had waited for had materialized and this adventure was soon to turn very real. 

Starting in November, my team and I started to get to know each other over weekly conference calls to plan for our trip.  We have a great group of IBMers on my team (from the US, China, India, Austria, Italy, Spain, Mexico & Hungary) and we can't wait to meet each other face to face.  Teamwork is going to be fundamental to our success.  We're also learning a lot about each others' cultures, approaches to solving problems, and the Indonesian culture we'll be immersed in. The nice thing about these preparations is we really get to know our team before meeting in person - so we can hit the ground running as a cohesive group when we get to Indonesia.

Speaking of actually getting to Indonesia, that's a complicated topic.  My last month has been filled with completing my visa preparations (easier said than done) - gathering the necessary employment and sponsorship letters.   I'm happy to report that after breaking down and deciding to hire a visa processing service, my 60 day single entry business visa was delivered to me yesterday.  I was so relieved that is actually came on time and was correct.  I'm going to be in Indonesia for 31 days and was very stressed that I'd only be issued a 30 day visa.  Success on the visa front.

The other day it hit me that I will be leaving in  3 and a half weeks.   For those who know me, I am quite a planner, so I already have the major preparations knocked out - specifically several doctor's appointments & lots of scary vaccinations.  I've been buying travel supplies like a fiend and have quite a large box set aside in the corner of my bedroom hoping that it all fits into my suitcase (can we say compression bags?!?)  The other day I went to the pharmacy to stock up on a few over the counter medical supplies.  Let's just say the cashier probably thought I had something VERY wrong with me medically.  I would much rather have things like that with me than not be able to find them when I get there.  I'm probably the most worried about motion sickness.  I've battled it my entire life very badly and figure that being a back seat passenger in a van heading to/from work each morning is not going to sit well with me, but I'm going to try to make the most of it and hope my teammates are accomodating.  I stocked up on 6 boxes of motion sickness medicine, travel bands, and, yes, portable airline type baggies in case things don't go so well.  Please say a little prayer for me in this regard.  I've also been trying to figure out what type of clothing to bring.  To those not familiar with what Indonesia will be like in February, it's going to be the monsoon season - very hot, rainy, with very high humidity.  It's very difficult finding work clothes that will keep me comfortable in those conditions, but I've lined a few outfits up.

I forgot to mention where we'll be headed. Our main assignment will be in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, located on the central island of Java.  It's located mid-way between Jakarta and Bali.  I've heard lots of great things about this city and its people.  During our down time, I'm really looking forward to exploring, especially the Prambanan and Borobodur temples that are close to town.  Yes, it is near a volcano.  Yes, there are earthquakes.  Yes, there has been a tsunami (although the devastating one in 2004 was not near where I am going.)  Basically, the ring of fire.  Thankfully IBM Security will be monitoring conditions for us at all times.  It's a little scary but this opportunity is one that is too amazing to really worry about things like that out of our control.  We'll start the first few days of our assignment in Jakarta meeting teams from the local IBM Indonesia Jakarta office and then will travel as a team to Yogyakarta a few days later.   These next few weeks will be filled with preparations - both getting ready for the trip and making sure all is tidied up on the work-front to leave my colleagues in good hands while I'm gone.