Living the expat life as a teenager in Jakarta

Diana Mehta, Contributor, Jakarta

Indian citizen -- Nonresident: That's how my passport labels me. Ironically, I don't even remember living in India as my family left the country when I was only two years old.

I have lived the expat life for about 15 years now. Being an expatriate has two sides to it. Among the disadvantages, there is always the age-old dilemma of answering the question "So, where are you from?" What IS the perfect answer?

I usually compromise by saying, "Indian by origin but living in Jakarta". This however, appears to be a rather long winded response that often gives rise to confused looks and raised eyebrows!

Another potential disadvantage of being an expatriate is that one never truly gets to put down roots permanently in one place. When the summer holidays roll round and most people talk of going back "home", I don't have that privilege.

For me "home" is simply where my family and I decide to unpack our bags for the next couple of years. On the up side, however, one gets to literally make friends all around the world. I, for one, can confidently state that I have friends in Oman, Kenya and Indonesia.

Exploring new countries and reveling in the different cultures unique to nations is another definite perk. If you're lucky, a wide array of holidays to exotic places in the region you live in is also on offer, as airfare and travel charges are considerably lower to residents.

As a student, I have had to change schools three times so far, once in the middle of my IGCSE course. It certainly isn't easy to just pack up and leave, but one learns to adapt. The international schools available to expatriate students add a new twist to the term "overseas education".

The facilities and the quality of teaching more than make up for the initial difficulties that come with making friends all over again. In fact, after a couple of months it's often hard to decide which school one prefers.

Being an expatriate also introduces your taste buds to an enormous array of new and mysterious culinary delights. I remember my first taste of nasi goreng (fried rice) -- I was so smitten with this Indonesian dish that it became part of my standard diet for months! In some cases, however, one's stomach can suffer the consequences of nutritional experimentation, such as when I decided to try spicy Padang curry!

Each country presents its own day to day way of living that one learns to fit into. In Kenya, for example, seeing a wild bamboo on the roads was not an uncommon occurrence and traffic jams were considered out of the ordinary. In Jakarta, however, I have learned to keep aside an entire hour -- sometimes more -- for city travel.

Obviously, being an expatriate causes one to stand out from the crowd at some point in time, particularly when venturing out of the protective enclaves of the expat community. However, with an open mind and a positive mental attitude, the locals of the region (Indonesians in particular) are usually more than happy to help you merge in with the national lifestyle.

After 15 years of living outside my country of origin, I have learned that being a successful expatriate definitely depends on one's state of mind. Flexibility, acceptance of new countries and respecting their cultures is vital.

Being an expatriate teaches one so much about other nations and their people. Eventually one may say that, rather than simply being a citizen of a given country, expatriates are citizens of the world.