Home » Practical Information » Getting Involved in the Expat Community » Children and Family Life in Indonesia

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Jakarta Style

Here we are, expats in a foreign land, far from home and facing the holiday season. Since not everyone can take a trip home for the holidays, we need to think about how we can celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Years in Indonesia.

Recreating the Holidays

Most families follow one of two approaches. They try, with their available resources, to recreate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's celebrations as close as they can to what they experienced back home. Or, they may choose to create new holiday traditions for their families during their stay in Indonesia.

Yes, Christmas is celebrated in Indonesia. most of the western-oriented supermarket chains stock turkeys, cranberry sauce, and other western Christmas goodies, however, expect to pay inflated prices compared to the prices that you are used to at home. Sometimes these stores have limited stock so it is best to buy items when you see them as they may not be available on your next shopping trip.

Planning a typical Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner may take visits to three or four different supermarkets in order to get all the ingredients, as seldom does one supermarket carry them all at one time. This can create major problems if you have left your grocery shopping to last minute!

Pine trees can be purchased at larger road-side nurseries. Normally in front of RRI in Senayan there is a good selection, as well as many Poinsettia plants. An artificial Christmas tree can also be purchased in major department stores and malls. A wide selection of modern Christmas cards and western-style Christmas decorations can be found at major department stores. supermarkets and hypermarkets, ACE Hardware, and at Mangga Dua. The Christmas bazaars also offer a lot of handmade decorations which appeal to expat's tastes.

The expatriate community organizes many holiday activities for their members such as holiday teas and Christmas caroling evenings, as well as charity functions that benefit some of the less fortunate in the city. The larger women’s groups organize Christmas bazaars that usually take place in late October and November. This gives expats a chance to shop for Christmas presents before holiday home leave as well as raising funds to be donated to charity.

What are holiday traditions?

We don't have to limit ourselves to customs and traditions from home. Part of the expat experience is enjoying the customs and traditions of other nationalities within the expat community.

Parents can recreate Christmas traditions that are important to them, which they remember from their childhood, so that their children can experience the memorable customs. Even though Indonesians predominantly, Christmas is recognized as a national holiday. However it is not as commercialized as it is in western societies. In the United States, even small companies distribute holiday bonuses and give business Christmas cards to their employees. This allows parents an opportunity to perhaps stress the more important aspects of the season which are sometimes forgotten in the bombardment of holiday advertising in the west. It may take more of an effort on the part of the parent to plan and organize events; however the end result may have a deeper meaning to the entire family.

Many expats also opt for new and different ways to celebrate the holidays during their stay in Indonesia. They can be anything, from something you've done every year since you were a small child - to new customs and practices. A tradition is simply something that you did last year, want to do again this year and plan to do again in the future. It doesn't take long for something new to become a family tradition.

Think about different types of holiday traditions that can be celebrated with your family in Indonesia. Travel is an obvious choice. Instead of the usual skiing vacation, your Christmases in Indonesia could be associated with an annual family trip to Pulau Seribu or perhaps to Puncak if you want to be in a cooler climate and have a fire in the fireplace.

One of the Christmas traditions we started with our small children many years ago was the ride in an andong to Senayan to buy a Christmas tree. It's something they always look forward to - and it's become a tradition in our family. The pine tree still has roots, so after the holidays we can plant it in the front yard and watch our Christmas trees from past years grow throughout our stay.

Make giving a part of your Indonesian holiday celebrations

There are scores of needy organizations that can use charitable donations. Contact your women's group, church or other community organization and organize a special drive or donation in commemoration of the holidays. It is a great way to clear out your closets prior to the holiday season. Often it is an enlightening experience for children to go to an orphanage and hand deliver gifts or donations. This can help to put their relative prosperity and expectations into perspective.

Introduce your staff to your holiday traditions. Gifts under the tree or filled stockings on Christmas morn for the household staff or an office Christmas party with a gift exchange are always welcomed by your staff. Just as you show interest in Indonesian cultural traditions, your staff will be interested in yours as well!

Many websites on the internet will provide you with a myriad of Christmas gift ideas as well!

Missing family during the holidays

A big adjustment for most expats in Indonesia is not being able to celebrate the holidays with family. Consider having family members travel to Indonesia and spend the holidays together in Bali - what a memorable Christmas that will be for all of you! Since December falls in the rainy season, the weather is comfortable and a nice warm break for those coming from a northern winter climate.

Instead of being sad about not spending the holidays with your family - do what you can to stay in close touch with them. Send greeting cards, schedule a special family Skype/chat session on the Internet, call family members and send gifts. Your family will appreciate the extra effort you make to stay in touch.

Sending holiday greetings to family and friends at home also benefits local charities as groups such as Maranantha, Unicef which create holiday greeting cards with an Indonesian flair. For your friends that are online, considering sending them an e-postcard from the Expat Web Site post office. Many other companies offer online cards which are very economical (no postage charges) as well as have faster delivery for those of us who tend to procrastinate in getting our Christmas cards sent.

Celebrating with the expat community in Jakarta

Look around at your circle of friends in Indonesia and make a new 'family gathering' to celebrate the holidays. Part of our traditional Christmas celebration, for many years now, has been the gathering of the families in our play group. The moms organize special games with a Christmas theme for the kids, fix a great potluck lunch with turkey and all the trimmings and Father Christmas makes his appearance with gifts for the kids. Because the families are from six different countries, our traditional Christmas party includes a piñata from Mexico, holiday crackers from England, an American turkey dinner, stockings for the kids, and traditional Irish and Swiss dishes. This annual event has become an important Christmas tradition for our children.

Community organizations plan numerous activities to help their members and the expat community in general get into the holiday spirit. Christmas bazaars certainly wet our shopping urges. Special lunches and teas with friends, progressive dinners, pictures with Santa, gift exchanges, Christmas parties, special musical performances and many other activities are held each year. Both ANZA and BWA organize children's Christmas parties for their members' children.

Religious services are not forgotten as all the major foreign-language worship services hold special Christmas celebrations that are open to the public. Check with the organizations you belong to, as well as on community bulletin boards and the Expat Forum to find out about upcoming events.

Hotels and restaurants in Jakarta put on delicious meals to celebrate the holidays and offer sumptuous turkey buffets for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday treats in their bakeries throughout the holiday season. Many offer the option of cooking your holiday meal for you and delivering it to you “ready to eat” to your home, eliminating the need for a busy hostess to cook at all! Look for ads in the newspaper leading up to the holidays or check with your favorite restaurants to see if they have a special buffet or set dinner for the holidays.

Most of the major malls and shopping centers get into the Christmas decorating in a big way! Activities include huge lighted trees, photos with Santa, special performances in the atrium areas, Christmas music, and more!

Christmas school vacations may leave your kids with some extra time on their hands. Consider getting them involved in a short course or lessons to take advantage of their free time.

New Year's Eve in Indonesia

Big, extravagant New Year’s parties are planned by most of the major hotels in Jakarta. Events may include an extravagant dinner and dancing in the major ballroom, to informal dining in the lounges and lobbies. Whatever venue people choose, it is always a very noisy location come 12:00! Check newspapers and your favorite hotel or club for information on New Year's parties. Buy your tickets early as the good parties sell out quick!

New Year's fun in major cities often entails buying terompet from sellers on the streets. Made from recycled paper and foil, these colorful trumpets are made in Central Java along with party hats. “Ranging in size from small horns suitable for children to paper versions of an Alpine flugelhorn, these instruments of merry-making manage to transform normally reserved and dignified people on New Year's Eve into mindless dolts, seemingly content to toot-toot-toot for hours until eventually succumbing to fatigue or respiratory failure.” (Bali Discovery) Many people celebrate New Years buy buying these trumpets and loading as many people as possible in an open trucks, buses or private vehicles and driving up and down the main thoroughfares of the city while blowing their horns. This causes traffic jams, therefore party goers that are celebrating in hotels or other people’s homes find it easier to party on until 2 or 3 in the morning, waiting until the traffic jam around 12:00 o’clock has cleared.

Assure your children that yes, Santa Claus, Father Christmas or Sinter Klaus will find their home in Indonesia - stockings will be hung and the children will be just as excited as they are back home. Make Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's in Indonesia special for your family by participating in expat community activities and start some of your own special Indonesian holiday traditions.

Practical Information  |  Expat Forum  |  Site Map   |  Search  |  Home Page  |  Contact

Copyright © 1997-2012, Expat Web Site Association Jakarta, Indonesia http://www.expat.or.id All rights reserved. The information on Living in Indonesia, A Site for Expatriates may not be retransmitted or reproduced in any form without permission. This information has been compiled from sources which we, the Expat Web Site Association and volunteers related to this site, believe to be reliable. While reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the facts are accurate and up-to-date, opinions and commentary are fair and reasonable, we accept no responsibility for them. The information contained does not make any recommendation upon which you can rely without further personal consideration and is not an offer or a solicitation to buy any products or services from us. Opinions and statements constitute the judgment of the contributors to this web site at the time the information was written and may change without notice.