My entry into Indonesia was actually a bit troublesome this time around. It all started when I lost my plane ticket, which was most likely either thrown out accidentally, or hidden in some insanely clever place and my mom will find it seven and a half years from now when she’s rearranging the bookshelves. So a hundred dollars lighter, but with a new ticket in hand, I embarked on my journey. It took a total of 36 hours, with stops in Detroit, Tokyo, and Singapore. While I didn’t sleep much, I did meet some interesting people…like an editor of Japanese comic books from New York, a fellow in the merchant marines, and a soils expert from Amherst, Massachusetts. It struck me about halfway there, that I hadn’t actually gotten confirmation from the Fulbright peoples that anybody would meet me when I arrived, and I kind of pondered what I would do since I did have anybody’s address or phone numbers on me. But a car was waiting, and I was immediately taken to a hotel with a lovely hot water shower.
The post-shower Jakarta is where the real craziness begins. Apparently, as soon as you enter the country, your research visa that you worked so hard to get in the United States, is automatically null and void. In order to get it re-instated, you have to visit the immigration office in the city where you’ll be living (in my case, Bandung) and obtain the hallowed kitas, the limited stay permit. But before you can even apply for this much sought after document, you have to meet with and get permission from just about every bureaucratic officer in Jakarta and Bandung, including the department of home affairs, tons of police stations, the governing research center, the mayor, etc. And each one of these gets paid, and each one demands something new, like six copies of some document that you have not yet gotten from some other bureaucrat. But after a week and a half of meandering through the labyrinth of officialdom, only the governor’s office and a final trip to the local police station await me. And I shall leave that exciting little adventure for Monday. So, I’ll close with a little advice for anybody out there reading this, if you ever come to Indonesia, do NOT do it as a researcher. It’s just not worth it. Do it as a tourist. You get the visa in-country, 30 days, no hassle, and you can renew it later. And it’s cheap. But I suppose that this is only one of the many ways that Indonesia chooses to teach us one of the greatest virtues…patience.
4 comments:
It sounds like a trip to make Kafka cringe! Wow. I am glad to hear you made it ok though.
You are one tough chick. That entire entry story would've made me turn around and go home.
Delightful and chilling! What a thriller. I can't believe I'm going to actually have to do this myself in a couple weeks. But with all the beaurocratic problems I've had already, maybe I'll get lucky and never actually get to Indonesia.
Question: how did you have a week and a half before you visited the governor...? I thought it was just 7 days. Please explain, oh Diminutive Big Sister of Indoresearch.
Hey Indogooberstudlypunkstar Ethan, dude, buy your plane ticket! Otherwise, who else can I share my exhaustive knowledge of Indonesian beaurocracy with?
Actually, you only have to report to the immigration office and the local police station in area of your field site in 7 days. The rest of the process, they just like to drag out. Oh fyi, If you don't report to the police station in Solo BEFORE the immigration office, there's a book that states you have to pay a juta a day. I chose to play the "poor dumb woman" role to jump through this hoop. I'm not sure how well that would work for you though. :)
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