CSC Indoneisa 8: Final Thoughts

How do I wrap my experiences and thoughts about the five weeks I spent in Indonesia into one blog post? I don't think it's possible. I'm just going to do the best I can.

Was my time with Corporate Service Corps and the Indonesia 8 team life changing? I don't believe so. However, it was life affirming. Going into CSC I had a good grasp on who I am - my wants, needs, dreams. So, nothing happened that changed any of my outlook. However, there were things that happened that affirmed who I am - good and not so good. My strengths were endorsed and my weaknesses were confirmed. I know which areas in my life I am happy with and where I need to continue to focus my growth and maturing process.

I'm not really certain what I expected going into CSC. I wish I'd written that down. But, I know what I gained from it and that is multi-faceted.

First, there is the business result. The sub-team I was on for Solo Techno Park faced a pretty daunting task that at first seemed insurmountable. However, after our first week of research and tweaking our Statement of Work a little bit we were able to work toward and accomplish deliverables that met some of the needs to STP. We accomplished things for STP as a whole, but also got the satisfaction of helping a few people one on one. Specifically, if he follows through with it, one of the incubator tenants will be granted a patent at no cost to him. That could be life changing for many people.

Secondly, there is the in-country immersion experience. My guess is I will never have another opportunity to go to Indonesia and I will never have another opportunity to spend five weeks in another culture. I am grateful I grew up traveling as much as I did. I think it made the transition to another culture more comfortable and I was more quickly able to immerse myself in that culture. While I sometimes felt a little lost I never felt uncomfortable or out of place. I enjoyed being a part of the community - from the office, to the relationships we built with our project assistants and hotel staff, to just wandering around the cities.

Prior to the opening ceremony

Finally, there are the relationships that were grown. I love looking at the picture of the 13 of us on day one prior to heading to our kickoff and looking at the pictures of us after our closing presentation was complete and our last day in the hotel before we began to head back home. We went from just standing close to each other so we could all fit in the picture to not being able to be close enough to each other. I've developed friendships, both professional and personal, that I believe will last a lifetime. Every time one of us peeled away to head home a little part of me broke, but as with many breaks those bonds became stronger after the healing.

After our closing presentations

I think I will be trying to wrap my head around everything that I've been through for many months to come. Every day brings new revelations to me - more gratitude, more emotions. I cherish every one of these moments just as I cherish the moments I had during CSC Indonesia 8 and just as a cherish the deep bonds of friendship with my fellow team members.

A part of my heart was left in Indonesia and a part of my heart was given to every member of my CSC Indonesia 8 team.

The day of goodbyes

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

The Long Road Home

Traveling halfway around the world is not an easy thing. It makes me marvel at our ability to fly and I'm in awe that we can go as far as we can in a day's worth of traveling in a large metal tube.

I left Bali on Thursday, Nov. 10. My flight was at 4:30pm and checkout time at the hotel was noon. So, at noon I used the Grab app to get a car to the airport. There is a lot of tension right now in Bali between the Grab/Uber drivers and the taxis. So, there are a few places where taxis have essentially unioninzed and other drives cannot pick-up in those areas. One of those places is the airport. I'm not exactly sure what can happen to a Grab/Uber driver if they try to do business at one of the forbidden places, but they certainly make an effort to stay away from those locations - but, everything has its price. Right?

When I ordered the Grab the app told me it would be Rp. 90,000 (about $7). However, when the driver contacted me by text he said he was not allowed to go there, but he would take me for Rp. 150,000 (about $11) and I would need to refer to him as my personal driver if anyone asked. No problem! And there was no problem. He got me to the airport and was able to get out of there before anyone said anything to either of us.

I had about an hour before I could check in. So, I wandered around the airport. There wasn't much to see. Once I checked in (my bags were under 40 kilos total - which is what I paid for!) I went through security and simply hung out until my flight left. We were about 30 minutes late leaving the ground and we taxied for a long time in Jakarta. So, we actually didn't get off the flight until about 7pm. The original plan was to land at 5:30pm.

I had arranged for a driver from the hotel to pick me up, but we were so late arriving in Jakarta I think he had left. I wandered around trying to figure out what to do or find someone to talk to who might be able to help me. This was a learning time for me because I was truly the one in a foreign land not understanding the language and not able to find anyone I could communicate with. I'm grateful I have traveled so much or I might have been in a state of panic. Eventually, I was able to communicate with someone who worked at the airport just enough to show her the address of my hotel and was told that it was actually located at Terminal 1. Fabulous! So, I took the shuttle the very long distance to Terminal 1 and quickly found my hotel. HOWEVER, this was another branch of the hotel I had booked and my hotel was actually outside the airport. So, I had to wait for the shuttle come back around and finally ended up at my hotel around 9pm. The room was very small and had no window, but all I needed was a bed - so, I was quite content.

The shuttle only runs every two hours. My flight to Tokyo left at 6:45am - meaning, I had to take the 3am shuttle to the airport. It was a short night, but I was able to sleep for about four and a half hours.

I was flying Japan Airlines to Tokyo and I had been unable to check-in online since the original ticket was purchased through American. My sister had done some stateside research for me and found out JAL doesn't offer seats with extra legroom. When I checked in at the counter at the airport I asked about extra legroom and he said he could put be in an exit row for both the flight to Tokyo (seven hours) and the flight to Dallas (11 hours) - and there would be no additional cost. Bonus! When I found my seat on the airplane I was stunned that I had about five feet of open space in front of me. It was amazing!

The flight from Jakarta to Tokyo was uneventful. I sat next to a man who was flying back to St. Louis, just on the other side of Missouri. I watched two movies - Going in Style and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was interesting the things I noticed about India in the second movie that I don't think I would have noticed before this experience and I wish I could have watched it with one of my Indian brothers to ask questions. The flight arrived on time in Tokyo.

I didn't have my luggage to deal with in Tokyo. So ,I just had to find the way to my next gate. I didn't have a whole lot of time in between flights. I went straight to my gate, bought some water and a soda and sat for awhile writing on my computer before boarding for Dallas.

I was thrilled, again, when I boarded in Tokyo to find the exit seat for this leg of the trip was just the same as the leg before - lots and lots of legroom. There was quite a lot of turbulence on this flight. It was not enough to make me sick, but it prevented the flight attendants from being able to be in the cabin much. So, we didn't get a whole lot of water during this 11 hour flight and I became very thirsty. I definitely slept during this leg - which is unusual for me - and I am really glad I was able to sleep so much. The flight went by fast and I was not nearly as miserable as I've been on some flights. Unfortunately, the plane left Tokyo about 30 minutes late and wasn't able to make up any of the time. So, we arrived in Dallas late and many of us missed our connecting flights, including me.

The airline was prepared, however, and had already reserved seats for those of us with tight connections on the next available flights to our destinations and had vouchers waiting for us when we deplaned. From getting off the plane I went through customs - which is much easier than it used to be, but the line was still really long. Then I had to gather my luggage to go through immigration and there was a long wait for luggage and a long line for immigration. After I got through immigration I was able to drop my bags off to check them through to Kansas City. But, I still had to go through a new security checkpoint - with another long line - and by this point I knew I wasn't going to make my original connecting flight.

Once I got through security I took my time because I had about three hours before my flight. I talked to a nice man who works at the airport about football (oh, how I've missed that game) Then, I went to a little bar and watched football on the TV while eating some glorious beef nachos smothered in cheese. They tasted SO good.

For the final leg for my trip - the one I had to be rebooked for - I was in the very last row of the plane. I actually didn't mind because it was quiet, there was no one sitting next to me and I could try to sleep to make the time go faster. The flight was just a little over and hour, but I was so tired and so physically miserable by this point I just wanted to be home.

I was near the last one off the plane and as soon as I saw Steve I started crying some little tears. He was waiting for me with a huge Jones smile on his face, a bouquet of roses and my coat. We caught up while waiting for luggage and during the ride home (for which he had a blanket waiting for me in the car). As soon as we got home I greeted Lewis - who was excited to see me, but more so wanted to go potty. He was still super excited that all three of us were together, again, and he's barely left my side since I've gotten home. We arrived at the house in time to see the last quarter of the Oklahoma game - which we won and for which I could barely stay awake for - and by 11pm I was in bed.

If my calculations are correct from the time I left Bali to arriving in Kansas City I traveled for 47 hours. That is a miserable amount of time to travel, but the past five weeks was totally worth every second of it.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

My Bali Days

Originally, I intended to write a daily blog in Bali just like I had in Solo City. Until I realized two things - vacation keeps me really busy and my activities were pretty repetitious and not necessarily of full interest to everyone. So, here is a synopsis.

Saturday, Nov. 4 - A group of seven of us from CSC Indonesia 8 were on the same flight from Solo City to Bali. After arriving, we went our separate ways with four staying in one hotel, two staying in another and one joining her family in yet another hotel. It took me and Karen a long time to get to the Puri Madawi where we stayed. Besides having to drive straight through Seminyak traffic we got stuck behind road construction close to our hotel.

Sunday and Monday, Nov. 5 & 6 - I went scuba diving. The first day one CSCer went with me and we went to Tulumben for two shore dives. The second day, four CSCers went with me and those who weren't certified did a guided dive. That day we were at Pandang Bay. On the second dive we saw two octopus and one clung onto and moved around a large concrete block as it changed shapes and colors. We watched it for about 10 minutes. Very cool. Sunday night a group of seven of us went to dinner. Monday night four CSCers came to Karen's and my hotel for dinner and drinks. It's fun having CSCers still in town to play with.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 7 & 8 - I was lazy at the hotel in the morning and went to the beach in the afternoon. Tuesday I went to the Woohoo club at the W. You can use their deck and pool for free and they just hope you will buy food and drink. Wednesday I went to the Blue 9 Beach Bar at Double 6 beach. I sat in a bean bag all day long and saw a glorious sunset. Wednesday night I met four CSCers for dinner.

Thursday, Nov. 9 - The day I've been waiting for...Spa Day! From 10am-4pm I got the full treatment at Spa Bali - massage, body scrub, flower bath, facial, hair creme treatment, manicure and pedicure. It was glorious. After my day of pampering I met one CSCer for dinner at the beach and my final Bali sunset.

Friday, Nov. 10 - My last day in Bali. I had to checkout at Noon and my flight was at 4:30pm. I swam and laid out at the hotel pool until about 11am and then showered, packed and took a Grab to the airport. The flight was delayed leaving the ground and delayed waiting for a gate in Jakarta. I finally deplaned about 7pm and did not make it to my hotel until 9pm. I had to get up at 2:15am to be ready for the 3am shuttle to the airport. So, it was straight to bed.

I could have used a couple of more days in Bali. I didn't see any of the historical sites and didn't get to shop any in the hip Seminyak shopping district, but relaxing was what I needed and wanted to do. Being under the water and on the beach were exactly what was called for.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

The In-Between Day

By mid-morning Friday the first group of our CSC team was off to the airport to fly home. That left 10 of us in Solo City for another 24 hours. We all had different things on our agendas to do on that Friday. After having lunch together at Mr. Chubby's we split into smaller groups and we were off.

Donnacha and I had some last minute souvenir/batik shopping to do. It was really hot and we didn't feel like walking all the way to the batik mall. So, we started out trying a couple of batik shops nearby. The first one was really expensive and the second one was reasonable, but didn't have a lot of selection. We gave in and decided to go to the batik mall after all, but we were wimps and hired a Grab (it's like Uber) to take us there. Once we were at the mall we split up to find what we were looking for. I left with a few good selections...I hope! Side note: The batik mall has dozens of stalls and a ton of things to select from but it is sweltering hot inside.

When I got back to the hotel I packed. Let me start off by saying I WAY over packed for this trip. Not surprising because it was me doing my packing. I've thought many a time since being here how much I wish I had followed through on getting by super-packing friend, Michelle, over to the house to help me pair down my wardrobe. Now, I'm stuck with two huge suitcases. So, packing took awhile. I tried to be very deliberate and use one suitcase for things I would not need in Bali and one suitcase to unpack in Bali. At least I did okay with that part.

Friday night the remaining 10 of us went to a nice restaurant for dinner. We'd been there once before near the very beginning of our stay. We sat outside at a long table and it was a pleasant evening. Even though the restaurant was out of many things it was a good meal - and I got my coconut chicken soup. So, I was happy.

We then went to the pool bar for a little while - our last night to hang out with Lutvie the bartender - and then headed to our rooms to finalize things for checking out the next morning.

At least the goodbyes were over...until Saturday morning, that is.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

Assignment: Officially Over

Friday was a bit of a stunner. I woke up to the fact that our CSC assignment and my consulting time at Solo Techno Park were complete. I still had a week before heading home, but this remaining time was for me - both to decompress with my teammates and to have some time of my own for reflection and rejuvenation.

The entire team was still in Solo on Friday morning. We were able to have breakfast together. However, we had three team members leaving late morning to head home. We gathered as a group in the lobby for some final photos and the beginning of our farewells. The goodbyes were hard. The close group we have formed is beginning to naturally splinter and take us in our separate, but necessary directions.

Ever the creative group, we formed a human arch for those who were heading to the airport to run through. I'm proud to say we are continuing this tradition as we ripple away one by one.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

The Big Day - Closing Presentations

Thursday was the day we've all been working toward since our consulting projects kicked off on Monday, Oct 9th. It was the day for each sub-team to give their closing presentations to our host organizations, each other, IBM and Pyxera team members, the vice-mayor and other distinguished guests.

My sub-team has worked really hard for the past four weeks. What started out as a daunting task turned into a final presentation to the client with 30 recommendations on how to grow Solo Techno Park on an individual level and to expand it to 100 locations across the country, as is the goal of Indonesia's president.

Our closing presentation went really well. We had 15 minutes to give an overview of both the work we have done, but also some touchy-feely stuff about our time with our host organization and our time in Indonesia. It was a bit of an emotional day for all of us.

Once the presentations were over there was a lot of photo taking and hugging. Then, it was back to the hotel to meet with Pyxera and do a debriefing of the past four weeks. It wasn't disappointing or disregarding, but it's interesting that all of our work from the last month culminated in a 15 minute presentation and a 40 minute debriefing. Every moment that went into our final deliverables was totally worth it and I'm so proud of the work that my sub-team did and all the sub-teams did. I think we made IBM proud.

By 6:30pm we were officially finished with our assignment. What an odd feeling. It was our last night at the hotel with all 13 of us. We went out to dinner and then headed over to 11 12 Beer Garden
for some fun, last moment time with each other. One thing that has been so wonderful about my experience is the Indonesia 8 team. We've become closer, as one would expect, as the weeks went by. The great thing is we all really, really like each other. Sure, there were closer friendships made between some people than others, but there was no splintering off from the group. We spent almost every dinner and every evening together as a group for the four weeks we were here.

I couldn't have asked for anything better or more rewarding.

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

Kembul Bujono

After a rather tiring and frustrating Wednesday afternoon we were treated to a very special evening. The special evening wasn’t because of the afternoon we had had. It was already planned, but it put a good cap on what could have been a little bit of a downer of a day.

Our entire team was invited, as guests of the hotel, to a dinner of kembul bujono, a traditional Javanese dining style. The table was beautifully set and filled with many bowls of a variety of Javanese dishes. Before we ate there were a few words of appreciation from several people - the IBM Indonesia Corporate Citizenship manager, the IBM Asia-Pacific Corporate Service director, the general manager of the hotel, the Prime Minister of Surakarta

and another manager of the hotel.

The manager of the hotel said it would be nice to hear from one of the CSC team members about our stay…then, without much hesitation he called on me. I spoke for a couple of minutes and hope I did justice to summarize our stay, our joy and our gratefulness to everyone at the hotel.

The food was glorious. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that hungry. I mostly ate rice covered in a coconut soup. You can’t go wrong with that! Following the meal we were entertained by a traditional Javanese dance and that was followed by a cold coconut water palate cleanser.

After the wonderful meal from the hotel we were treated to another special tradition by Aban and Ibad, two of my CSC teammates. They had made arrangements with the hotel to be able to make traditional chai at the pool bar. So, we all went to sit there and visited for a little while before the chai was ready. It was a little different than what I know chai to be, but that was not surprising. American chai is much sweeter than traditional chai. It was quite tasty. We stayed at the pool bar for quite some time before I headed to my room for the night.

Tomorrow is a big day…stay tuned!

#IBMCSC #CSCIndo8 #IBMIndo

Sometimes Things Go Off Script

My sub-team had all of yesterday planned out. We had some finalizing to do to our documents, a couple of meetings with our client scheduled and then planned to take Candra, our project assistant, and Bayu, our translator, out for a nice lunch. Than, around 9am we received a message that we were required to be back at the hotel at 11:15am to take a tour of the Palace of Surakarta. So, we had to move and combine a couple of our meetings and cancel our lunch plans.

Around noon most of the CSC team headed to he palace. It turns out the Prime Minister of Surakarta is the former President of IBM Indonesia. So, our local IBM CSC host scheduled a tour for us. Honestly, there wasn't a lot to see.

The palace is under major renovation and there was scaffolding and half painted walls and ceilings everywhere. It was interesting to hear the history of it, but it was a hot day to be walking around in fairly dressy clothing. First we were given the standard tour. Then, the Prime Minister came out to meet us and we visited with him for awhile. The bonus we got was that the PM took us on a behind the scenes tour of the palace. In order to go further into the palace grounds we were all required to put a red and yellow ribbon around our necks and the women in pants had to put on a sarong. Additionally, before entering any of the palace area those of us who did not have closed toed shoes had to take off our shoes and go barefoot. Really, it was quite an attractive look. The tour took about two hours and we were all definitely hot and tired by the time it was over.

We thought we on our way back to the hotel, but sadly, the bus passed the hotel and kept going. Little did we know it was in the plans unknown to us that we were going to have lunch. I can't recall the name of the restaurant. We had really delicious lamb satay and if we weren't hot, tired and caught off guard we probably would have enjoyed it more. We certainly enjoyed each other's company, however.

We got back to the hotel around 3pm and had a traditional Javanese meal to attend at 6pm as guests of the hotel. That, however,, will have to wait for another post.

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