Cheers!
Hey! It's your (not so) loyal blogger here... I am slowly losing my grip on the English language, which is why, despite my New Year's Resolution being to 'write in my blog more', I haven't made a post in like a month. Life just happened to happen, I guess, and writing in my blog has fallen to the wayside. What can I say - my life here feels normal. Ubloggable, if you will. I have a routine, I have friends, I have a basic command over a completely foreign language. It's around the middle of my year and I can't believe I only have about 5 months to go. Craaaazy how time flies!
Along with all my AFS-approved adjustments, I've started to take on the
mannerisms of and begun to form myself to better suit Indonesian
culture. And I thought that today I might let you guys know what that
entails:
You Know You've Gone Native When...
- The very thought of putting butter in your rice, as you used to joyously do in America, makes you vaguely sick
- Kalau belum makan nasi, belum makan! (If you haven't yet eaten rice, you haven't yet eaten) - that meaning, you need to eat rice at every meal just as much as the Indonesians do
- Eating chicken around all the bones isn't a particularly big deal anymore
- Bones in chicken doesn't just mean the leg or the thigh, it means ALL of them - even the spine, ribcage, and head
- Eating with your hands feels completely natural, and you can't even remember why Western culture looks down on it
- The thought of eating rice with a fork makes you cringe.
- "Apa?" is your automatic response to everything
- You can tell the difference between Indonesian and Javanese language - when people speak one, you can understand about 70%, and when they speak the other, you get maybe 10%
- You know that people who automatically speak simplified Indonesian to you are absolutely the best in the world
- You see a bule in the city and are just as shocked and amazed as your Indonesian companions, despite technically being bule yourself
- You marvel at bule when you go to a tourist destination. Their shorts are so short! Their hair is so blonde! Their women are so tall!
- Using water and a hand instead of toilet paper is much more practical, and you even kind of prefer it
- You breathe a sigh of relief when you see a public toilet is the squat type - it's much more hygenic!
- You feel washing your hands with tap water sans soap is all you really need!
- You get the questions in English class wrong
- The thought of not making salim to your parents and teachers in America is just strange, and in Indonesia you make salim without a second thought! Salim being the practice of touching an elder's right hand to your forehead/cheek/nose/etc as a sign of respect
- You've given up on the idea of ever finding American foods in stores outside of Jakarta, and instead resign yourself to waiting for packages from home to tide over your Pop Tarts and Goldfish cravings
- Having more than 10 mosquito bites at one time isn't even anything to complain about anymore, you just slather on the minyak kayu putih and get on with your life
- It's not particularly strange to socialize with teachers like you might with your classmates, and it's normal for teachers to touch students (in a friendly way) too
- A girl and a guy are sitting together, alone? Ciiiieeeeee~ !!
- You don't even have to think about not making much physical contact with the opposite gender, it's just automatic by now
- You watch a movie about high school in America and cringe at all the PDA
- You've gone out in public wearing jilbab more than once, and love to do it
- You respond to 'assalamu'alaikum', even though you're not Muslim, because it's awkward being the only one in the class who doesn't (and you DO wish peace upon other people, right?)
- Your English is atrocious and you know that some things are just easier to say in Indonesian, which makes it hard to talk to people who speak English only
- You get really into it when there's a spontaneous massage train
- Seeing how much boys freely touch each other doesn't amaze or shock you anymore
- Gangnam Style is EVERYWHERE and EVERYONE knows how to do the dance!
- You know that the Chinese malls are the best places to go for a good deal - malls with real brand names are just for walking with your friends or family
- There's no mall without a grocery store in it
- Traffic jams. Traffic jams ERRWHERE.
- It's completely normal for your car to screech to a stop just a few inches away from the bumper of the next car, and close calls in traffic barely make you blink anymore
- Everyone has their phone out and are texting furiously while at dinner
- You know how to operate a Blackberry despite not owning one because you've had to use your friends' so many times
- Taking pictures everywhere with everyone isn't annoying, it's just a part of life
- Showering by scooping water out of a basin with a plastic hand-held bucket isn't unusual... it's refreshing and convenient!
- You realize that taking two showers each day isn't just a national quirk, it's really kind of required if you don't want to be stinky and gross
- You take longer getting ready to go to a wedding reception than you actually spend there
- You don't have to worry about forgetting someone's name - any young man can be 'mas', any young woman can be 'mbak', and men are 'pak' while women are 'ibu'. Perfect for forgetful exchange students!
- The thought that you once wore shoes (and anything but pajamas) inside your home is horrifying
- You no longer have to hold on to anything while riding a motorcycle
- Four people, one motorbike? No big deal! Small infants and toddlers being loosely held by their parents? Ehh, they're tough, it's no problem!
- The thought of wearing anything but long pants when out in public is an odd one
- When not wearing a jacket outside you get a chill, and you can nearly freeze to death when the AC is cranked too high
- You start to believe that when you're sick, masuk angin may indeed be the cause. You thus avoid winds of any kind
- Walking anywhere is soooooo kampungan, it's always better to take car or motorbike even if the distance is short
- Having 5 people smoking within a meter of you at all times is now accepted as a part of daily life
- Being able to stop a bus at any time is normal! So is the concept of it never stopping while you get off
- You're much more animated in your speech and freely insert words like loh, dong, kan, lah, kok, and other random ones you pick up from your various Indonesian friends
- You can't imagine living your life in only a Western country. Indonesia has overwhelmed, broken down, and rebuilt you from the foundations of your being up, and you know you'll never be the same, no matter where you are or where you live.
