Fun facts

Fun fact #348: Indonesians don’t use knives, only a spoon in a right hand and a fork in left. Not too difficult to eat this way, not when you compare to e.g. chopsticks.

Fun fact about #349: this is how a normal Indonesian toilet AND a shower looks like: http://www.google.dk/imgres?q=Indonesian+toilet&hl=da&biw=1639&bih=800&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=tFGa9WHwDMhCnM:&imgrefurl=http://finalaeon.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/our-new-bathroom/&docid=SjAaaLmhKJPAaM&imgurl=http://finalaeon.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/20071113_bathroom.jpg&w=520&h=390&ei=WZfQTvr4Ao7krAfigvDvDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1335&vpy=148&dur=1130&hovh=193&hovw=258&tx=211&ty=80&sig=101395844449798654266&page=1&tbnh=134&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0. You can see this kind of toilet almost everywhere: schools, cafes etc.

This is how a modern one, the one we have at home,  looks like: http://www.google.dk/imgres?q=Indonesian+toilet&start=62&num=10&hl=da&gbv=2&biw=1639&bih=800&tbm=isch&tbnid=O9LF6aUK4wi5OM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294230-d1580272-r21448084-Grand_Quality_Hotel-Yogyakarta_Java.html&docid=2AfcAvTY9Y4EUM&imgurl=http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/1c/e6/b9/oh-so-dirty-toilet.jpg&w=550&h=412&ei=LpjQTsbzHMTprQekgZHlDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1335&vpy=484&dur=60&hovh=193&hovw=258&tx=166&ty=97&sig=101395844449798654266&sqi=2&page=3&tbnh=124&tbnw=168&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:62

Fun fact #350: when you put a new sim card to your phone, you have to provide a lot of information. And I mean A LOT. E.g. passport number, birthday, religion, sex, hobbies and etc. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have to indicate my hair color…

Fun fact #351: there is a raining season from November till March in Indonesia. So, practically all the time I’ll stay there. During the raining season every morning is clear and bright, with sunshine. Then, around 12-13pm it starts heavily raining and lasts for an hour or two. And then again you have a nice evening.

Fun fact#352: Malang is surrounded by 4 volcanoes. Active ones. Would be fun if all of them erupted at once, wouldn’t it?

Fun fact #352: This is how a Muslim swimwear looks like:  http://www.google.dk/imgres?q=muslim+swimwear&hl=da&biw=1639&bih=800&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=U62A7UtyCYqQuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/47517&docid=K3HX3wNvVB2q3M&imgurl=http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/2/5/7/7/3/3/i/4/7/5/o/Bourkini_Muslima_swimwear_bourkini_nl.jpg&w=248&h=350&ei=hAzWToymEtHIrQee_7W9Dg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=865&vpy=394&dur=120&hovh=266&hovw=188&tx=87&ty=170&sig=101395844449798654266&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=84&start=0&ndsp=46&ved=1t:429,r:29,s:0 I went to buy one with my “mom” since she asked to teach her how to swim. We’ll see how that goes…

Fun fact #353 : When the coffee is too hot , Indonesians simply pour a little bit of it to a coffee plate and drink from it…Trust me, it’s really weird when someone offers you to taste a coffee from… a coffee plate.

And a random fact about my family. Remember when I said that boss calls me Tina? Well, he usually calls three times (Tina-Tina-Tina) and knocks on the door meanwhile. Reminds you of something? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCy0EgW_od0&feature=related

More on the family, house, everyday life

I got the chance to meet other relatives of my family that live in other cities. Not that I was too eager to meet some Indonesians that speak no English whatsoever, but I didn’t have much of a choice. So we went to Mojokerto (another relatively small city) to spend the day with the family. Needless to say, it was utterly boring for me. And dammit, I really need to start taking money for posing for pictures! Well ok, not everything was so bad, got the chance to get accustomed to Indonesian traditions, e.g. before leaving the house children (well, including me…) have to ask parents’ permission to leave the house. I managed to do that in Indonesian and felt so damn proud! Hehe. Then the grandpa gave me permission and apologized for his house not being too comfortable. Oh, it just reminded me of some houses in Lithuanian countryside plus the in-house praying room/mosque. Then dear grandpas decided to go to a shopping mall, and guess what, praying time came! That meant that we had to look for a mosque in a mall and I had to wait while the whole family prayed while being stared at by some children. And I thought shopping with my grandma was bad enough!

Ok, I’m done bitching, now I want to show you a bit of the house since I assume you’re all curious where  I live.

That’s the living room and you can see the praying room on the left:

And that’s the house:

And I can’t, simply can’t leave out this picture:

Isn’t the little guy cute? Getting ready for the kindergarten! Yes, the uniform is compulsory at Muslim kindergartens. Don’t ask me why it’s pink though.

And this is an example of what we eat. A fish with chili served on banana leaves. I will never ever remember the Indonesian name for it.

And a short news flash, I joined a gym. The gym also includes  sauna, Jacuzzi, and a huge swimming pool. Take a look:

Kinda beats Fitness World for a slightly higher price. Swimming in the dark under palm trees and looking at the stars. Seriously, what can be better? 

High School. Indonesian High School

Since my “mother” is English teacher , she asked me to show up at her school a couple tikes this week to talk about European culture and just to talk, in general. Since apparently Indonesian kids in Malang can see foreigners only on TV this was a big deal for them. REALLY a big deal. You have no idea. We arrived to school early morning by motorbike. Three persons on one. Yeah, lil’ guy who had to go to kindergarten in front, “mother” who was driving and me in the back. Apparently Indonesians are quite economic people, who manage to fit three people on one motorbike. Saves money, saves gasoline, saves the planet… probably doesn’t save that many lives, but anyway.

So, we arrived to school and I was given a tour around the premises with heads turning everywhere I went. I went to say hi in a couple of classrooms and the reaction was literally as if they had seen a Hollywood movie star… I also visited teachers’ room which was just a simple classroom with many desks loaded with books and papers and many shy teachers hanging around. Only a few of them could speak some basic English. Despite that, I got called a Barbie girl at least three times that day…

Then I went to the actual classroom where I had to give presentation and there were only boys, maybe around 20 boys aged 17-18. When I asked the English teacher if this was a special class for boys, she said that they don’t discriminate between boys and girls while composing classes. The thing was, that English is supposed to be a “masculine” subject and that’s why mostly boys choose it. Yeah, I know..humanities and languages=masculine. Wtf? Indonesia, land of wonders.

So I shortly presented where I’m from, what I’m doing in Indonesia and guess what, the teacher had to translate almost every word to Bahasa Indonesia…. Then there was the question time. And the questions were posed in Indonesian again, translated for me in English and then translated back to the kids in Indonesian. Teacher was embarrassed..God damn, she should be!

The next class was the class of my “mother’s”  and the situation was much better, there was hardly any translation needed, I could understands kids’ questions and they could understand me. Also, it was a mixed class.

Who knows me, knows that I’m totally not a kids’ person and I usually have no patience whatsoever to teach. So I was not expecting too much from this schooling experience. I was so wrong. I loved to see how unspoilt Indonesian kids are. They were curious, respectful and actually INTERESTED. They had no clue how life in Europe actually is, but did their best to find out.

One of the most popular questions were how old I am, where I live in Malang and if I’m married. These questions might seem inappropriate for Europeans but are perfectly normal conversation starters for Indonesians.

Fun fact  about Indonesia #347: kids, while leaving the classroom, have to kiss their teacher’s hand. When class is constituted of around 30 -35 kids that takes some…They even kissed my hand as well. And yes, that was weird. I actually talked to one elderly American who works as an English in one of many Malang’s universities. He was also totally freaked out by this tradition. He didn’t mind the girls though. But he feared that he might look like a pedophile to western onlookers who saw young boys kissing his hand and then touching their cheek with his hand. Again, this is Indonesia, take it as it is or leave it!

P.S. I heard that younger classes are protesting that I didn’t visit them...School principle promised to do something about that, i.e. invite me again. At this rate, they should start paying me for this!

So, this is picture of me and the 1^st class with only boys:

This is school’s parking lot. Quite different from Denmark, huh?

The So Called Work

Ok guys, I’d like to tell you more about my work. I’m supposed to help boss at the office with marketing activities, planning, brochures, website and etc. I say supposed because so far I’ve done the normal office work for maybe three days only. The office is being renovated, there are workers going in and out so it’s practically impossible to work. So until the renovation is over, my work is to go with the boss to many tourism conferences he goes to. During one week, I’ve been to three of those.

A conference usually looks like this:

That is, around 40-50 Indonesian guys wearing traditional hats and shirts with traditional patterns and me sitting in front. Yes, in front…. Yes, they do their best not to stare.. Doesn’t really work out though.

The conferences are of course held in Indonesian. Yeah, fun for me. So the first part of the conference I usually spend daydreaming and playing the game called ”find 5 differences between  40 men” and during the second part I have to say something smart about tourism marketing in Malang. Then I have to “test” tourism driver’s ability to answer questions about trips and try to sit in the jeep. Drivers usually do not speak much English making the test even more fun… I have to give the evaluation and at the end shake hands and take pictures with many government officials. If I’d asked money for pictures I’d already be a millionaire. Oh wait, with the rate of Indonesian rupees, I already am!

That is how usually every conference goes. Oh yeah, and they have free food after the conferences at the best hotels!

Testing the jeep:

Fun fact about Indonesia #346 : the handshakes in Indonesia are limp. I read  about it before coming, but it still felt weird in practice when they barely squeezes your hand while shaking it. I probably almost crushed the first hand I shook before realizing that I should just gently squeeze it, since a limp soft handshake is simply polite.

First Experiences

Selamat datang! Welcome to Indonesia!

Have you ever seen TV series called “Aliens in America”? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790603/ It tells the story of a Muslim teenager living in a Christian family in America. My situation is the exact opposite. A girl from Europe living in a Muslim family in Indonesia, city of Malang.

I will try to describe my experiences and help you imagine how life down there in Indonesia is.

What do you know about Indonesia anyway?

Jakarta? Bali? Java?

Probably the most important fact about Indonesia is that it is comprised of around 13.000 islands. I live in one them, Java. Not in the capital city, Jakarta, but in a “small” town of Malang (~1.000.000 people). Fun fact about Indonesians –they have no clue how many people live in their city. When asked, the number of inhabitants in Malang varied from 1 to 6 million people. Quite a big error margin, huh? So let’s trust Wikipedia for the time being and believe that there are around one million people.

That one million speaks Javanese language, which is totally different from the national language called Bahasa Indonesia. My boss and “father” Mister Sugiyanto is doing his best to teach me Bahasa Indonesia. Still a loooong way to go in this area.  And yes, I said boss and “father” cause I live at my boss’ place which is situated exactly 1 min walk from his office.

More about the family. Super caring, sometimes even overprotective Muslims. “Father” Sugiyanto – the owner of Malang Tourism Center and future owner of TravelCafé. “Mother” Baroroh – English teacher at Indonesian high school. “Sister” Diena – very shy 16-year-old and “brother” Brian – totally not shy 5-year-old. Another fun fact about Indonesians – they usually add the word “Ba” in front of any name, so one would say Ba Diena, instead of just Diena. Teachers and mothers are called by the name “Ibu”. That’s how I have to address to my “mom” and how kids at school have to address to their teacher.

Ba Ugi (this is how I have to call my “dad”) christened me Ba Tina (Ba-for miss, then cross out Justina and this is what you get). The little Brian seems to enjoy this quite a lot as he runs around and boasts to his friends that now he has two sisters- Ba Tina and Ba Diena (pronounced Dina).

Family is quite devoted Muslims who take their prayers seriously. They have a so-called Mosque in the house (it’s just a room meant for praying), where they pray every afternoon, wearing special clothes. Ibu prays wearing a hijab and a white gown covering all her body. She looks something like that: http://islamicsoftware1.blogspot.com/2011/09/islamic-clothing-islamic-clothing-for.html. I would lie if I said that I didn’t freak out not even a little bit when I saw her first time like that. I felt relieved when I found out that she wears only a hijab and normal clothes for everyday and uses the previous outfit only for praying. Men, on the other hand, don’t need to wear any special clothes while praying, they only have to take a shower beforehand. Muslims in general are not very religious in Indonesia. According to Koran, women have to cover all the body with clothes, though in Indonesia three quarter sleeves are quite popular among women. Some don’t wear a hijab altogether. This changes with time, as the older generation still wears a full-body covering outfit.

More on the religion. Muslims are supposed to pray 5 times a day and repeat the prayers four times. Though I have seen my family pray only once a day. On the other hand, Muslims in the mosque right next to our house are much more devoted. I am woken up every morning at around 3.30am by super loud singing, chanting and what not at the mosque. Apparently, out of the 5 praying times, this early morning and late afternoon are the most important times during which the singing is much louder.

That’s it for the time being about family and religion.

Oh, I almost forgot. The family has a maid and a personal driver. How cool is that?

And they all ride motorbikes. Even cooler.

More about my everyday life and pictures coming up next!