>
Today is the anniversary of my relationship with this city. We’ve been together for two years now. I haven’t seen much of Indonesia yet, but I can say that my roots are growing deeper in these grounds. The chemistry between me and Jakarta has been just right since the first time we’ve met. It’s not a pretty city, nor has the charisma that some of the ugly cities do. But I like this city.

I like it because there is sunshine. I like it because I can see big, lovely smiles through out the day, even if I don’t do anything nice in particular to deserve them. I like it because it makes me slow down and be aware of life, of myself. I just like it.

So happy anniversary to me. Here’s to you Jakarta!

>

I’d never thought I would be a blogger and I’d love it. Even when I became an enthusiastic blogger, I’d never thought I’d blog in English. I’ve always felt I could express myself much better in my mother language which is Turkish. It is still a very valid fact, but there are two reasons that I decided to start blogging in English. One is that I really enjoy helping people that are new to Jakarta and meeting other fellow bloggers. The other reason is that I have quite a number of family and friends that do not speak Turkish, and I’d like to share my blog with them as well. So here I am, taking the courage to write in English despite all my typos and mistakes.

This blog is completely personal and reflects my own opinion and experiences of our life in Jakarta. It’s more of a diary, a collection of memories. Our family has been living in Jakarta since April 2008. We love living in Indonesia and we have a deep respect to the Indonesians. In my posts, I write about my experiences in Jakarta as a working mother of two.

This blog may or may not be a complete duplicate of the Turkish one. As I know that some of the posts will not make sense or will not give the same feeling when they’re written in English. Anyway, I’m starting the New Year with a new challenge; a brand new blog in English and I’ll do my best to keep it updated as much as possible.