Interview with Jay Bishoff: Post Bali Bomb tourist-part VIII

Baliblog: I personally haven't had anything stolen, the Balinese will tell you to put your motorbike inside the compound. They all have family compounds around their house.

Jay: Well up on the mountain it's different. I think if you get out to rural Bali that would be one thing that I would say is different.

Nothing has ever disappeared from my friend's house put it that way and he has got workers galore, he's got pembantu's. Not a single thing has ever disappeared, where as in PNG see you later. So there's the difference so maybe because you are down there in the scene a lot of stuff can happen.

Baliblog: It's not just here in the scene, it's up in Ubud too.

Jay: You know that these are western scenes. These are massive capitalistic western scenes. I'm talking like Richard is up on the mountain and is at the mercy of locals. He is surrounded by villages and there are only 2 western families up there and he has never once had a single thing stolen.

Baliblog: You did plan to move over here for part of the year and your plans have changed a bit. Do you think moving here will be in your plans later?

Jay: We will have to see how things are going for us but we'd like to. When the time is right we'd like to leave Australia. We'd like to escape from the west when the time is right. We talked about this before but the fact that making money is not the highest thing on the priority list here in Bali, really appeals to me. But I realize to stay here you have to have money, you have to generate money so that's the tricky pat you know. A place can be a beautiful place but you have to be able to generate an income obviously. So we're working hard and are trying to get over here and live here. Its feels good to be here. No place is going to be perfect, but for us we feel comfortable here we like the people, the food, obviously we like the prices. We feel ready for a cultural change, we know America, we know Australia.

Baliblog: It sounds goofy, but that's the attraction for me. On a daily basis it's the cultural change I enjoy. My first choice was to move to India, but I ended up in Bali

Jay: It's funny you mention India because for myself and Debbie India is the country that has impacted us the most. India is a very culturally powerful place and I'm not talking about the metaphysical stuff that some people go on about.

The brand of Hinduism that has muted in Bali seems a much lighter version as does the version on Islam here. You can go to Pakistan and there is a heavy kind of Islam, it has a weight in it. Here in Bali and in Indonesia in general it has a lighter feel. I don't know if it's the island or the difference in the histories, but I think Bali appeals for that lighter lifestyle. India is more hardcore, it's a hardcore choice but it can be very rich.