by Maureen | Sep 5, 2012 | Health, Indonesia, Motherhood, Scoops of Joy, World Motherhood
For almost 5 months, I’ve been changing my life in a way that I never thought possible before. First, I joined a gym and was working with a personal trainer 3 to 4 times a week. Then, I revamped the way I eat.
My son became used to “Mommy, are you going to the gym?”, when I kissed him in the morning if he woke up before I left for my 6 am session.
He’s getting used to it.
My weight has been an issue that I battled for years. As an emotional eater, my weight went up and down like crazy over the last couple of years. I tried many things, from crash diets to those magic ‘drinks’ that are supposed to make you lose weight. None of them worked, they were only temporary fixes.
I didn’t sit and plan that I was going to start changing my life. Actually, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. (more…)
by Maureen | Jun 15, 2012 | Communication, Indonesia, Living Abroad, Multicultural, Scoops of Joy
Raising a mixed-culture child is unique, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a lot of mix-and-match of parenting techniques until we finally find our own little blend of both cultures that works for my son and me.
Besides the obvious ability of him to speak bilingual, Indonesian and English, we have a lot of aspects that we assimilate and incorporate from both cultures.
It all started even before he was born. My dotting mother, a.k.a. the first-time-grandma, bombarded me with advice from the moment she found out I was expecting her first grandbaby.
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by Maureen | Mar 26, 2012 | Scoops of Joy
“Good looking”
“Attractive appearance”
“Maximum 28 years old”
“Minimum height 160cm”
These are just some of the lines in job ads that always make me sick to my stomach in my journey to find a new job in this city.
To be brutally honest, I might be experiencing a tiny bit of regret for quitting my old job. Maybe I should’ve put up with being underpaid and overworked, with no chance to become a permanent employee, rather than plunging myself in to the job hunting pool again.
Now I understand why some of my old friends stick with their underpaid jobs, some even only make minimum wage, because it’s a highly competitive world out here.
The last job I received was as a Personal Assistant, which lasted for 3 days. The boss said some pretty hurtful things and didn’t show any tolerance for me missing a day of work because I had to care for my mother who was in ICU at the time. So what’s an emotional, Pisces single mom to do? I quit and told the guy that I could never work with someone who doesn’t have a heart! Maybe I should’ve just dealt with the curses, the yelling and kept my job. (more…)
by Maureen | Jan 19, 2012 | Human Rights, Indonesia, Scoops of Joy, Women's Rights, World Voice
Lately in my country of Indonesia there have been two ‘incidents’ where women were being pretty much criticized for the way they dressed.
Last year, much to everyone’s shock, our very own governor of Jakarta said women should not wear mini skirts to avoid being raped after a woman was raped in minivan in public. This outrageous comment led hundreds of women to take to the central streets of Jakarta – yes, wearing their miniskirts — and they demonstrated against censorship of their clothing. I highly saluted these women for standing up for what’s right.
I love my miniskirts, and when I pair them with my wedges they accentuate my legs. Of course, I don’t go with the super miniskirts, ahem, but I do wear them once in awhile. Why do I wear them? Because it makes me feel good about myself, it shows off my legs, and I do love my legs. But do I wear it to attract the opposite sex? Never even crosses my mind, to be honest.
Then just a day ago I saw yet another article of a police officer reprimanding a young teenage girl because she was wearing shorts – the reason? To avoid “pornography.” (more…)
by Maureen | Dec 22, 2011 | Health, Indonesia, Parent Care, Scoops of Joy
These past few months have been really stressful in this household. Yes, I live with my parents and my two younger brothers. It’s considered common, here, in Indonesia, for children to remain living with their parents until they get married – or in my case, until they get divorced and move back home.
Late October my father fell ill due to twenty-something years of dealing with Type 2 Diabetes. He got so sick from gangrene on his left foot that he had to fly back to Jakarta because he didn’t want to have his surgery in Zambia alone. It was by a pure miracle he made it back to Jakarta after such a long flight.
We took him to the hospital immediately, and the doctor said surgery was the only way out. (more…)
