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Keeping in Touch with Family and Friends at Home

One of the serious concerns of families planning to move overseas is the extended period in which they will not be in close contact with family and friends. Uprooting a family from the close support group it has built through extended family, school, work and community involvements can be difficult. Concerns about aging parents, sick family members or friends with problems are hard to address when you're living on the other side of the world.

It is important that you plan ahead to keep in touch with family and friends at home during your sojourn overseas. Following are a few thoughts on the various ways to keep in touch.

Snail Mail

The fact that you're reading this article on the Internet already says that your life has progressed far beyond snail mail. Good for you! But snail mail still has its attractions. That special card sent to remember a family member's birthday, or a friend's anniversary will do much to tell your family and friends at home that they're not forgotten and that you care. Keep in mind that elderly relatives may not have internet access or may not comfortable reading messages online, therefore may still prefer a traditional card or hand-written letter.

Your toddlers' scribbling to Grandma depicting her new home will be treasured by that doting grandma until they meet again. Even though we've gotten all high-tech with the advent of the Internet, snail mail still serves a purpose!

Calling Home

In recent years, wide reaching development has taken place in telecommunications in Indonesia. Whereas decades ago it was difficult to find land line telephones in many homes, even in Jakarta, phone connections are readily available in urban areas today. It's even easier to reach people by mobile phone. Yes, your family can call you on the phone in your new home in Indonesia, and you can call them as well. Phone calls, while very satisfying, are certainly the most expensive way to keep in touch.

If your home in Indonesia has International Direct Dial/Sambungan Luar Negeri (IDD/SLI) service, you can dial direct and get discounted rates on overseas phone calls. Reduced rates are available from 21:00 to 06:00 and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Be sure to request that your landlord install IDD/SLI services before you move in.

Depending on the long-distance service your family members subscribe to back home, they may be able to request a 'designated country' for which they get special discounts. Tell them to make that country, Indonesia! For example, Sprint charge pennies per month from the US for connecting this special service, as well as cheaper phone calls during discounted periods.

Another suitable option is to use calling services that give you the benefit of cheap international calling rates. Using these cards, you can utilize landline or mobile phones to call your loved ones across the world. You even enjoy the benefit of various offers, discounts and free calls between countries. These services are easy-to-use and require no installation procedure. Hence you don’t feel a pinch of distance and you can keep talking for the entire day!

Internet Telephony - the cheapest way to call home

Known as voice over internet protocol (VOIP), Internet telephony or Internet Phone services, they are easy to use and generally don't require the purchase of any new equipment. All you need is your phone or a computer to reach most countries any time from anywhere.

Skype

Almost ubiquitous in the world of internet telephony, Skype is a software program that allows users to call other Skype clients for free or mobile/land lines for a low fee per minute. Video calls can also be made if both users have a webcam or other video input, though spotty Indonesia internet may inhibit this function. For mobile smart phone users, Skype apps are also available for iOS and Android phones. Skype

Vonage

A VOIP phone service, Vonage requires the use of a proprietary adapter which must be obtained outside of Indonesia and a monthly fee that is prepaid annually. However, your fee includes unlimited calls to landline's in 60+ countries as well as cell phones (in fewer countries), and your existing phone number can be transferred to your Vonage service. Voicemail and visual voicemail are included, and Vonage's app provides a method for smart phone users to save on their long-distance calls as well. Vonage

Internet

Since you're reading this article on the Internet, you are certainly familiar with the benefits of being connected! In major urban centers in Indonesia there are several Internet Service Providers to choose from. The first ISP to operate in Indonesia, which currently runs one of the largest networks in Indonesia, is the Expat Website sponsor, Indonet. They provide a full range of services in 34 cities throughout Indonesia through their subnet.

In Indonesia, ISPs charge a small fee for the initial registration, then a monthly fee which is based on usage.

Email sent to Indonesia can be received almost instantaneously across the globe. Without a doubt email is the one of the most economical ways to keep in close, frequent touch with family and friends at home. The ease of writing short notes whenever someone comes to mind is greatly facilitated by the internet.

Constant, frequent and instantaneous contact will do much to keep your family close to you, despite your residing on the other side of the world.

Facebook provides a global platform for all your friends and family around the world to see what is happening with your life. Daily activities, photos and instant updates are now a regular part of most people's routine. Apps such at “What’s App” and “Line” also keep people all over the world aware of what is happening in your life instantly.

How the Internet has changed our lives as expats ... read A 'Home away from Home': Expatriates and the Internet.

An interesting article on Keeping in Touch: Taking emails a step further!

Home Leave

The annual exodus to your home country, will be a event that the family looks forward to for months. Ask your sponsoring company what annual travel home they will cover. The pitfalls and pleasures of home leave are covered very well in a chapter in the AWA's Introducing Indonesia, A Guide to Expatriate Living. We suggest you read it.

Family Travel to Indonesia

Many expatriates find that their family members and friends take the opportunity to visit them some time during their stay in Indonesia. It's so much easier for your family to understand your life in Indonesia and feel closer to you if they can mentally picture you in your home, in your children's school and with your friends as well as having seen the traffic jams themselves.

There is nothing like seeing a country through the eyes of someone who lives there, and has a spare room for you to sleep in, too! Take advantage of these family visits to join them in traveling to other islands in Indonesia as well. From island to island you will find fascinating culture, delicious food, friendly people and memories to savor for a lifetime.

Photographs

Bring a good selection of family pictures with you to Indonesia. After some time in Indonesia, your small children may need a visual reminder of just who Aunt Susie is! Send photos home often so that your family and friends can see your new home, with your household staff, and at your favorite beach spot as well as how the children are growing. Pictures can help keep us close to those we love.

News from Home

If you are out of touch with local news events, it may be hard to know what issues and situations are affecting family members at home. Keep informed through online newspapers and magazines or subscribe to magazines from home.

Last updated April 4, 2019