My personal bubble? What personal bubble?!?

It's hard to believe, but it's almost been 3 weeks since I arrived in Jakarta. Over the course of these three weeks, I've been surprised at how quickly I've adjusted to life in Indonesia. I guess my immigration experience when I first arrived at the Jakarta airport was a crash course that helped expedite my assimilation.

Those that know me well know that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who invade your person bubble and stand too close to you when you're in a line. Well, anyone who has stood in any line in Indonesia knows that personal space is pretty much non-existent. My immigration experience went a little like this...

I arrived in Jakarta all jet legged and disoriented at about 10:30 pm Wednesday night. I had been traveling for over 40 hours since I had left San Francisco at 2:00 pm on Monday. After a 10 minute search, I finally found the company attendant who was supposed to meet me outside of my gate to take me through immigration. I was placed in the appropriate "foreigners" line and the attendant left me to retrieve my bags at baggage claim. There I was alone in the immigration line getting my firsthand experience of life in Jakarta.

I quickly learned that forming a line is only a rough "guide" to how you get to the front of the line. Much like the automobile traffic on the roads of Jakarta, people move back and forth between lines jockeying for position. I learned after several consecutive experiences, if you don't move up the split second the line moves forward, someone may take your spot.

After a half an hour of standing in line and being able to feel every breath the man behind me was taking, I think it was safe to say I no longer suffer from the personal bubble while standing in a line pet peeve. Standing in any line is still one of the most difficult things for me to do here. I still find myself getting frustrated, especially when the people behind me push, but I'm getting better.

I've added the "standing in line loss of my personal space" to the list of the unexpected adaptations you make when you're living in another culture.