I have now been in this country for three and a half months. It occurred to me today that there are loads of crazy things that happen around me, some not so crazy but still pretty weird, whose impact have been dulled by the passing of time. With about five weeks left in Yogya before I move on to Jakarta, I have been reflecting once more on the many peculiar phenomena which are inherent features of daily life in Indonesia and in the life of foreign students generally.
For a start, there's the fact that I have friends from many countries here including Japan, Germany, Korea, Turkey, New Zealand. The peculiar thing about our friendships however is that, excluding obviously the English speakers, we all speak to each other in Indonesian. Of course, that is probably rather an obvious thing to most of you, however picture this scenario: a bunch of Australians, Japanese, Koreans and a German go out for dinner and spend the whole evening speaking Indonesian. White people and foreigners generally already get stared at anyway by Indonesians without needing to draw further attention to ourselves by speaking their language in their absence! They seem to find that scenario rather hilarious, but in a nice way.
Another dominant lifestyle-affecting characteristic of this place is the weather. I wake up in the morning usually to a clear blue sky and it feels about 30 degrees by about 9am. However, more often than not, I get out of class in mid-afternoon and it is torrentially down-pouring which inevitably means - in a country with an average sewerage system, motorbikes as the dominant form of transport, and a generally, erm, flexible attitude to time - the only way to deal with such conditions is to either make friends with someone who has a car, or wait.
An example: on the way to the movies the other day, in a period of five minutes, a massive storm developed and purged itself with equally impressive speed. We were on motorbikes at the time and had no option but to park them in the middle of nowhere and huddle under the eaves of a translation shop and plough through the usual questions (Where are you from? Why are you here? etc, etc) with the owner. We waited for an hour and when we eventually decided to resume our journey, still ended up quite soaked. You have no choice but to wait. I am developing remarkable patience in this country.
Other circumstances that require patience...
The bus continues to provide me with great amusement. A new phenomena that I have observed is the proclivity of the driver to just randomly stop for a rest and drink a cup of tea or chat to his fellow bus-driving mates for as long as he sees fit. This seldom occurs when I am on the way to campus (thankfully, because I rarely allocate enough time for such unexpected occurrences in my morning schedule) but often happens on the way home when I am about 1km from the kos. I always have to toss up whether to just get off and walk or hope that his conversation is sufficiently boring that he drinks his tea quickly and gets moving!
It occurred to me the other day also that when we all go home to Australia we are quite likely to develop psychological paranoia about being ignored by the people around us, because we will be able to once more walk down the street and not have anyone care less about where we have come from (Dari mana?), where we are going (Mau ke mana?), are we studying in Yogya (Kuliah di sini?) and why we are walking alone (Kok sendirian?). It is absolutely mustahil, impossible, to go anywhere incognito in this place.
I went down to the bakery near my kos today, "Parsley", to buy some bread and realized how that although I used to find it weird to see cheese and chocolate used in the same baked good or to see for example cheese as a topping on cake, I hadn't even thought about it for two months as being anything other than normal. In Bandung, where Brownies are apparently a specialty, they make a cheese version (eww). The absolute over-sweetness of everything here would also be normal if it wasn't for the fact that I am constantly reminded when I smile at myself in the mirror how bad my teeth will be when I get home. The default taste of hot drinks here (Milo, coffee, tea, green tea) is hyper-sweet. Out of control, cavity-inducing, stomach-churning sweet. Alas, being an adaptable creature and one who is not prone to being fussy, I have learnt to accept it. This is in lieu of other options other than the rather unpalatable "don't have a drink" option.
Oh and by the way, I eat rice and sambal (chilli sauce) for breakfast. The girls in the kos think it's hilarious. But they all do it too. Anyway, that's a pot pourri of random tidbits.
By Adelle Neary, 22 [at the time of writing], Adelaide University [taken from http://www.acicis.murdoch.edu.au/]
I really enjoyed reading about her impressions of Jogja. I can relate to many points, and could add many more examples, especially to the “circumstances” that require patience. For instance: Buying groceries in the “Super Indo” supermarket. Somehow Indonesians seem never to be in a hurry. Even if there are only 2 people in front of me with only a few items or a half full basket, the waiting time will take forever. It looks like as if the cashier (till girl? Not entirely sure what’s the correct word in English) would inspect each item separately before scanning it as well as before putting it in the bag. Is anyone under the same impression? In Germany it is not common that the cashier is also packing your groceries into a bag, whereas in the U.S. for example there is even a second employee doing the packing for you. I think it is really interesting noticing and comparing little differences like this.
ReplyDelete"I think it is really interesting noticing and comparing little differences like this."
ReplyDeleteIt's like doing deep research for a best selling novel in the future.
"Cashier" is probably the word you want to use here. It may be a British English preference. "Till girl" does not really sound familiar to me. Interestingly enough, I notice that if you Google it, several mentions of "till girl" on the top page are actually German/English dictionaries defining "Kassiererin".
I had never heard the word "till girl" before to be honest. I was not quite sure about "Cashier". I always think of cashier in a bank related way. And yes "Kassiererin" is the German word which i googeled. Maybe a lot of German students had the same issue in the past.
DeleteOff topic: Adrian, did you find a way to receive notifications if someone replies on your comment? I just noticed a "notify me" button on the lower right hand side of this box. Maybe that is the solution?
Ah, now a pop up with the information "follow-up comments will be sent to..." appeared.
Let's hope it works.
I also enjoyed reading about Adelle’s experiences in Yogya. I can agree that Indonesians are never in a hurry. If you go to a shop it can take some time until the shop assistant finishes his or her facebook chat, then you will be helped – or tried to be helped because I have quite often the impression that Indonesian shop assistants don’t know a lot about their products or where you can find what in the store. Another phenomena that I will never understand is the oversupply of shop assistants. In a 30 – 40 square meter store in Europe usually only one person is working. In Indonesia it is at least three people. That makes big stores crowded with employees who most of the time just stand there, relax or have a chat with their colleagues. Recently I went to the hairdresser with a friend. At least 7 people were working there, of which only one was able to cut hair. So I had to wait until my friend’s hair was done until I was served. The other women working there were busy with their phones or sitting in front of the mirror making their own hair curly instead of helping the customers. Another thing that I will never understand is how people can make a living of having a warung. I mean the small ones which sell exactly the same stuff as Indomaret. I can’t believe that they earn a lot from that.
ReplyDeleteSame here, I also enjoyed reading this! She got such interesting experiences in Yogya and I'm glad to know that.
ReplyDeleteBecoming an exchange student is something you will not regret. I was an exchange student too and I learn a lot. There are some differences culture you will know after you've experienced it. For example: I found out that actually Eastern People are more friendly and sociable. In some part of America, finding friends isn't an easy task to do. When my first day I was going to school there , i couldn't find any friends at all. There weren't students come to me and greet me. They didn't even care that there's a new friend. It's really different than in Indonesia. I'm not saying that all peope in Indonesia are nice and friendly but some people in some parts of Indonesia are nice and friendly. For example: When i was in sophomore, there's an exchange student from Germany. He studied in my school. In his first day of school, i already found someone to talk and guided him around the school. Some students came to him and talked to him.
We can see that every country has its own culture. As an exchange student, learning another culture is our task. And it's actually fun!
There will be something big that happened in your life after you become and exchange student.
I also have to agree, reading Adelle´s impressions of Yogyakarta was quite interesting. I also experienced “ loads of crazy things that happen around me”. The sudden change of the weather in the rainy season for example is a thing I will never get used to. You always have to be prepared at least with a raincoat to drive on with your motorbike, but sometimes a boat as a means of transportations would just be the better option. Once I was driving back from UGM, and it started to rain so heavy the streets were flooded immediately and I really thought I am going to swim with my motorbike. So as Adelle said, you have to be patient as so often in Indonesia and better wait until the rain gets less instead of risking your life or the life of others. But one point in Adelle´s story really surprised me. How is it possible that all the international students were talking in Indonesian to each other? Hardly none of the international students that are here now, has ever learned Bahasa Indonesia before he or she arrived here. Some of the students including me takes an Indonesian course in Yogya, but this is still not sufficient to have a good conversation.
ReplyDeleteThis article is really interesting. I want to know what are people thinking about if they are foreign and visit Jogja as a place to study. I really agree with Yuka’s opinion. Become an exchange student is a very good experience. We have to adapt in the new place and new culture.
ReplyDeleteI also have the experience living in other country without my family. I joined the informal homestay conducted by my Japanese teacher in my high school. I went to Japan. Well, it is maybe only in a short time, ten days. Maybe it was really short time and my experience to adapt in a new place is not as much as Yuka’s did. But, I learn something from that homestay. At that time, I am not alone, because I went there and studied there with my high school friends who joined that program as well, it means I had friends at that time. There were also my Japanese teacher and her friends who greeted us in a very good way. I lived in a Japanese people house, they have two children and they are twins! Wow! I was really excited. Me and one of my friend stayed at their house. They greeted us very well.
At the first time we met, we asked first, whether the family could speak English or not. The mother can speak English, but the other members of the family couldn’t speak English. Frankly speaking, my Japanese language is not so good as well, so sometimes I mixed English and Japanese. Can you imagine that?! Haha. Yes, it’s a little bit weird. But I enjoyed it. My friend, Jessica, and I slept together with the twins, their name is Emi and Yumi. The peculiar thing was there was the computer with Google Translate program in the corner of their room. If we didn’t understand what they mean, we could search in Google Translate. That’s funny, isn’t it? Well, it was a little bit hard to communicate not in the same language, but it was fantastic, we had to struggle to communicate with them.
I really enjoyed my short homestay program. Sometimes, they send me e-mail and one day they sent an e-mail with an Indonesian language. Haha. I know, they wrote it in Japanese language and then translate it with Google Translate or other translator into Indonesian. And if I may say, the Indonesian language was really funny (worse) but it’s okay because they just try to communicate with me. It was really good and I really appreciate it.
I can learn from this short homestay program about learning a new language and culture, also live in a new place. I learn how to wear kimono, how to drink Japanese tea called Ocha, and also participating the tea ceremony. It was really fun and I won’t forget it. It is one of the best experience I have.
I found this article is pretty interesting. It’s just interesting to read the foreigner’s impression towards our city and also towards us, Indonesian, especially Yogyakarta citizen.
ReplyDeleteThe funny fact that I found from her experience is that we’ve a common feeling about the public bus in Yogyakarta. I’m a Yogyakarta citizen, but I only used the public bus for a couple times. The first time I used it by myself is when I’ve got to go on a leadership camp as a requirement for my junior high school’s organization which called OSIS.
At that time, I was surprised to find out that the driver treated us based on his mood. I mean, he could stop wherever he wanted, he could took a rest, had a cup of coffee and maybe had little chit-chat with people in that area based on his will. And, I found it annoyed me. I should wait for more than 30 minutes for the driver to continue his job. But, yeah I didn’t have another choice, so I’ve to wait. And, it’s annoying.
Exchange student programs are something that you surely don’t want to miss out. It opens your mind about the differences in the world, and an experience of a lifetime. It’s really nice to read about what she thinks of Jogja. She must have known so much about the culture and norm that she speaks Indonesian on a daily basis even with her fellow foreigner friends. This is what always caught my attention, that sometimes foreigners are interested in our country more than ourselfs. We ignore cultural studies and national events when other people from outside the country are so excited to participate.
ReplyDeleteSlightly getting off topic here, but I’d like to share my experience on my exchange student program to New Zealand. It was only two weeks long in Wellington, not as long as my other friends who spent a year abroad. Syifa and Refqi was one of the lucky twenty that got the chance to go there. We were assigned to our host families and buddies at school, and luckily my buddy was also my host so we got really close. Surprisingly, my family spoke fluent Indonesian because their relative married a Balinese woman. Our house was a block away from Orlando Bloom and Peter Jackson’s house, and where they basically shoot a few scenes from Lord Of The Rings. Classes in Wellington High School start from nine to twelve, and after lunch break we took endless tours, shopping trips, and fish and chips culinary adventures. Studying wasn’t even mandatory; we were allowed to skip classes so we hang out in cafes and spent our days shopping. The coolest thing was enjoying the classes that were so different than the Indonesian curriculum. I took Art, Home Economics, and Geography. When we are dictated with homeworks and never ending exams, they spend their day playing games and interactive coursework. It’s so nice to see what Kiwis are like; they are very proud of their country, absolutely love sports especially rugby, they worship friendship and independency. Maori, the original tribe of New Zealand, has an interesting culture. It made me realize is that we have so many cultures but I don’t even know their characteristics as well as Maori. I suggest for you who wants to try being independent in a country you are not familiar of then give it a go!
Wow, I found this article is pretty interesting to be read. It’s a good thing to know that she has a good experiences while she was staying in Yogyakarta. I couldn’t agree more about her experiences about the public bus in Yogyakarta. And this become one of the reason why i’d prefer not to use the public bus in here. My experiences maybe almost the same with Sally’s experience. This is really annoying to know when we’re in a rush then we’re going to use the public bus but the driver didn't really care about the passenger. He just drive and stop as he want. So that’s why I didn't use the public bus in Yogyakarta. Actually, I’d like to share a bit of my experiences when I'm joining in exchange program with my high school to Prague, Czech Republic. At that time, I'm always using public bus when I need to go somewhere. Although I have said before that I didn’t really like using a public bus but I have to say that I'm quite enjoyed using public bus while in Prague. It’s because the bus driver is always punctual (based on my experience) and they may stopped for a break when it’s already their time to stop working, unlike in Yogyakarta.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article, I think she was so interested knowing the city's condition. Unlike me, I found that it is not such of an interesting situation. And the suddenly changed weather is a common phenomenon in Indonesia, especially in Java and Yogyakarta. If you are a motorcycle-rider, you must be aware and be prepared in case of sudden rain, like preparing a rain coat in your motor cycle bagage, or bring an umbrella if you are a pedestrian, in some case. Cities' transportation in Indonesia has the same characteristic; bus that randomly and suddenly stop in order to gain more passenger. Don't get shocked to see that moment. Public transportation in Yogyakarta also not provide a really good service which bring the cause of traffic jam. But i think there are some lessons that i found from Adelle, eventhough she faced maybe a lot of problems in that city, but she just keep on patience and keep go on. I think that is what I should undestand, talk less do more. In my future if i were a city leader I will try to undestand and develop and also improve the city's facilities so that foreigners could feel enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI also find it very strange how patient Indonesians can be. In my home country we have to everything as efficient as possible within a strict timetable. Here Indonesians are more free to ‘just take it easy’. The writer seems pretty good in adapting yourself to new cultures and habits, I have more trouble with that.
ReplyDeleteApparently the raining season should already have been started…. where is the rain? It is everyday around 36 degrees and a clear blue sky. Not that I mind, but I was worn for the heavy rainstorms here in Indonesia.
I don’t know how long it took her to be able to speak in bahasa Indonesia the whole dinner. I have had a few classes now and have been here since the end of August, but my conversations are not that interesting. It goes only about the usual things like; where you live, where you are from, what your age is, etc.
Though I think Indonesia rocks and I am looking forward to do another semester here!
That idea of having rice and sambal for breakfast are weird too for most of Indonesian unless you want to know how does it feel constipated 5 minutes before class start. As for our breakfast we prefer to consume food or beverages that are soft in texture and taste; rice would be served as porridge with a little slice of protein, or to bring in just small portion just like in ‘ nasi gudeg yogya’ and if it has to be our comfort food fried rice, it will be served much less amount than when taking it as lunch or dinner. In general, I think for most of Indonesian kitchen, to prepare light and healthy-conscious breakfast are understandable. It’s year 2013 anyway, even at those small groceries we can get milk, butter, egg, oat, yoghurt, jam, etc. What else do we need? Maybe, a very big will to prepare it is necessary too? Without mom, surely it would not be like “voila! A ready breakfast on the table”. You guys must miss home, sorry for that!
ReplyDeleteNow, I have things to address to Exchange Students fellow; I admire your brave choice of study afar from your comfort home, family and friends. I welcome you and do not hesitate to bring your curiosity for our narration.
Becoming one of the students in the student exchange program is one thing that I never regret. Although my exchange program was just two weeks long, it gave me many new experiences and learning’s. I’m not surprised with this writer’s respond for everything happened during her exchange program in Jogja. I felt several surprise responds too during my exchange program in Wellington, New Zealand. I think everyone must have that surprise respond when they were on the other country and then something different happens. Like this writer told, for us, Indonesian, things she mentioned are the ordinary things, but for them, foreigner, it must be quite irritating to be asked where to go, where they come from, who are with, why alone and other questionings. Also the food, they find it’s weird with the cheese and chocolate used in the same baked good, but for us it’s so usual isn’t it? Those things happen to me also. It’s not usual for me, to cook a chicken just with a spoonful of salt and almost all of the snacks in New Zealand taste almost plain for me. On the other hand, my host mom founds it’s not usual when I drank a milk and add ginger powders into it. Those differences including culture, habit, and other things are so appealing to feel because in my opinion, differences are created so that we know each other better.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article. Because I always curious on foreigner’s stories and opinions about student exchange, especially to here, Jogjakarta, Indonesia. After I read the article, I think it’s must be very interesting to experience how it feels to be an exchange student in a place that totally different with our home country. I think someday I’ll sign up for student exchange program. I want to taste different kind of foods, see different traditional art performances, and learn new different culture. I never thought it would be this interesting. I used to be so afraid to sign up for exchange student programs. Because of the language barrier and surely that means I will be so far away from my parents. But since I went to college, it’s not a big deal anymore. Because now, it looks like I already used to face that kind of situation. I Laughed when Adelle Neary said that “The peculiar thing about our friendships however is that, excluding obviously the English speakers; we all speak to each other in Indonesian.” I thought she would say that she was so confused about our language or something like that. She also said “The default taste of hot drinks here (Milo, coffee, tea, green tea) is hyper-sweet.” I totally agree with this. I’m also not used to Jogja’s default taste of drinks and foods. It’s too sweet for my personal taste too. Thank you for reading.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to know about the exchange student perspective who came in Jogja for exchange program, I am glad to know that Adele Neary has got a good experience when she in Jogja. It is also very embarrassing for me Yogyakarta citizens to know that some foreigners have to be patient under the circumstances in here, by the way the public bus is not also annoy you, everybody got the same feeling when dealing with that annoying bus drivers. But beside that, I am happy that people of Jogja can kindly treat foreigners, hopefully in the next day, Jogja public service can continue to grow, making it easier for us all to live a day-to-day activities in Jogja. other than that, I hope that in this modern era we can maintain the purity of our culture in order to be an attraction for foreigners who come to Yogyakarta.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really interesting to read about Adelle’s experiences in Jogja as an exchange student. I also ever heard almost the same experiences that ever through by another exchange students when finally they choose Indonesia as their host country. I think it’s quite funny and interesting knowing that she starts to observe the whole aspects of living in Jogjakarta. Such as: people’s daily habit or behavior, public transportation, food, and language since the first time arrived here. Although, she said there are lot of crazy things happened around her but all that things should be considered as the most unforgettable experiences she ever had. Then, it’s absolutely true if everybody requires patient to live in the country such as Indonesia where we can’t make sure everything is well maintained. It’s really recommended for most of foreign students who want to live in Jogja to ride motorcycle whenever they wanna go to college. Beacuse, public transportation in Indonesia is not well organized yet, then there is always possibility coming late to campus.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading Adelle’s experience of being an exchange student in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Indonesians are known to be very friendly with everyone, including the foreigners. So, it is common for us to ask something like “where do you come from” to the foreigners. I think Adelle will miss this kind of attention. I agree with Adelle, I find the weather here is annoying, the weather changes quickly. We really can’t predict the weather. After that, I just know that Australian finds it weird to see cheese and chocolate used in the same baked good or to see for example cheese as a topping on cake. They think everything here is absolute over-sweetness. Indonesians think it is normal though. Actually, the cheese version of Brownies is my favorite. It taste pretty good. The sweetness is just normal for me. Then, I’m surprised to read that she eats rice and chili sauce for breakfast. If her friends in the boarding house think it's hilarious, then me too. By the way, I have never tried to eat rice only with chili sauce.
ReplyDeleteSince I’ve been living here for quite a long time, I love to read some people’s reflection on my city. I’ve read a lot and it comes to be the almost the same. For example like the taste of tea or coffee. A lot of foreigners complained about that, and I have to admit that those drinks are hyper-sweet. One thing that I didn’t know before is when Adelle is on the bus and the driver suddenly stopped to take a rest and drink a cup of coffee or tea and chat to his fellow bus-driver. She also mentioned that the bus driver stopped as long as he sees fit. Haha. That’s actually funny and new for me since I’ve never used public bus before.
ReplyDelete“A bunch of Australians, Japanese, Koreans and a German go out for dinner and spend the whole evening speaking Indonesian”
I really can’t imagine that scenario! How could they speak that fluent haha. I know that she’s been living here for about 3 months, but it’s just to fast for a foreigner to learn new language, isn’t it? Or maybe she’s learnt it before.
By the way, I’ve never eaten rice with sambal before.
-Jeka-
This an interesting story. We all know that being an exchange student is hard and its impossible not to have any difficulties. The funny thing for me is that "A bunch of Australians, Japanese, Koreans and a German go out for dinner and spend the whole evening speaking Indonesian". This is really queit strange. I wonder why they are speaking a language that is well known and speak English otherwise. The other funny thing was that she ate rice and sambal (chilli sauce) for breakfast. No wonder the girls in her kost were hilarious, normally people from other countries, especially from Europe don't really like to eat chili. Even people in Indonesia don't really prefer eating chili for breakfast because it could end up with a bad stomach ache. But she did it, which means she is adapting quickly to the culture here. It shows that being an exchanged student maybe harsh sometimes but the longer time goes by the longer you will get to know and understand.
ReplyDelete