International communities in Jakarta can feel at home with the presence of clubs and organizations catering to them throughout the city.

An example of such communities is the Nordic Club Jakarta, a social club established in 1983 that serves as a platform for Nordics in the capital to gather and meet up.

The club’s members consist of nationals from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Club president Birgitta Berg said the club consisted mainly of families and also acted as a reference for those who wanted to get to know Jakarta before moving in.

“I know [what] it feels like to be a newcomer in a different country where you do not know anyone or anything. One could feel completely overwhelmed and this is where the club steps in and helps,” said Berg who is originally from Sweden and has been living in Jakarta for five years.

“As a social club, we help them to settle in by having social events such as our monthly ‘Coffee Morning’ gatherings where newcomers can meet new people and make new friends within the club.”

Besides monthly coffee morning sessions, the club also hosts hiking activities, cooking classes, pub nights, weekly yoga, golf sessions and a book club.

“For the last three years we have been throwing an annual Christmas party in December where the majority of the members gather and everyone brings a traditional dish from their respective countries. It is definitely a traditional celebration and it feels great to have a close-knit group like this since we are miles away from our families,” Berg said.

In terms of obtaining ingredients to prepare traditional cuisines, Berg agreed that there were differences in terms of food preparation for each country but it was not impossible to get needed ingredients to prepare any Nordic dish in Jakarta.

“There are members who bring ingredients from their countries to Jakarta but we could get other ingredients easily. As for me, I do bring Kalles Kaviar from Sweden, which is raw fish paste in a tube and is usually eaten with breads. They do not have it here in Indonesia,” she said.

The club, which has a membership fee of Rp 400,000 (US$30) per year for a family holds eight board meetings every year.

In the 1990s, the club mainly focused on charity programs that were set to help local charities and orphanages.

However, a change made by the Indonesian government in 2014 requires all clubs to be legalized and work under a set of rules by the government in order to remain as a charity organization.

“We already have our own set of rules and regulations and over the course of the past five years the numbers of our members have declined to half, due to many reasons. It would cost us a lot if we legalize the club and work under the rules set by the Indonesian government with a fixed cost that we would have to comply to.

Therefore, we decided to stay as a social club where any funds or donations we received from our members will be spent on them by having events or gatherings,” said Berg.

Berg also said Jakarta’s infamous traffic jams were the main obstacle that most newcomers had to adapt to.

“It takes a lot of time for most of them to get used to the traffic here but once they have settled in and are more comfortable being in the city, they learn that the key to not let the traffic bother you is to plan the journey an hour ahead and occupy the time stuck in traffic wisely. This city has definitely taught most of us the new meaning of patience,” she said.

Berg also mentioned that having domestic helpers staying at their homes is a foreign concept to most Nordics.

Most of the members agree that it is odd to have strangers walking about in your personal compound despite the helpers’ intention of wanting to be at your service at all times.

“The Nordics are not familiar with having domestic helpers because we think that our house is a private space. To have them being at home with us is something that we are not familiar with in our culture but we are getting used to it,” she said.

Berg said the club already had upcoming events lined up for March such as a trip to the Puncak tea plantation and having cooking classes — mainly focusing on varieties of curries — requested by the members.

“The board members will have another meeting at the end of February and we will finalize the dates for all these events then,” she added.
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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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