Today I went to my boyfriend's sister's house for her birthday party.
She is married to an American guy, and she invited her friends, who mainly are married to American guys.
Actually... to be honest, the only women in the party with Asian dates/spouses are: me and my boyfriend's mom, which made the party interesting actually, because most of the American guys don't speak Indonesian and the ladies were talking in mixed language, Indonesian and English.
I sat there amongst them, strangely feeling deeply intrigued.
I observed the language and tried to dissect the sentences, how much the English was used and how much the Indonesian. Then I tried to think if English only was enough to make the sentences make sense to those who don't speak Indonesian.
Interesting. The guys did seem to understand by the nod here and there.
Although, one of the American men actually lived in Jakarta for almost 10 years. That one guy spoke Indonesian, good one, with slang words, saying "Nggak" instead of "tidak".
Then, I don't know who started first, those American guys started talking about their experience in Indonesia.
Some of the guys have actually been to more places than I am, an Indonesian citizen. one has been to basically everywhere in Indonesia, including the island outside of Java.
He was comparing experience with another guy who's been to Ujung Pandang. He mentioned sitting by the sea shore in pure darkness and just consumed by the little lights of fisherman boat. He bought a boat and went to the sea. He talked about the air, the breeze, the street vendors. How he learned about the different sounds of the passing food vendors and guessed what they were selling.
Took a becak ride and felt so bad for the becak guy. The other guy even offered to take turns to pedal the becak (I kid you not).
How he snorkeled in glass clear Bunaken sea.
How he loves Jakarta, every single section offeres something that is totally different.
Indonesia is muggy, hot, humid, but it is much alive.
It is a very lively place.
They laughed, they talked and they were being very passionate, warm hearted with their memories, just like talking about a hometown. How they bought 'ikat' fabric directly from and old lady whose hand were tainted by natural indigo. Then they visited Jepara and were in awe with the wood works. How one of them learned how to love durian (It took several try), and still couldn't stand jengkol.
The more they talked the more I missed home.
And for the gazillion times, I feel sad about all the things I need to sacrifice to be here.
And there, right there, he said, his home is Indonesia, "That's my kampung".
I just smiled, but think "Dude, ... I feel you, man... I totally know what you mean."
And the homesickness crept in.
4 comments:
I think Australia is interesting. The pace is slower, everything is easy, people is like sitting in an outdoor cafe at 5pm, while I here still held a meeting to discuss the stupid project plan.
Then my mom asked: Don't you think you will be bored? Everyday at 5pm doing the same thing, sitting in various cafe and restaurant, get some booze, etc, etc.... everyday...
I must agree with your american friends, I feel life in Indonesia.
PS: Tell to your american friend, if they ever come here again, go to Bangka Island at North SUlawesi. There you can sit under the star, and sleeping in wooden hut. Very nice.
I wish you had posted this a few days early. This is the answer I was trying to explain to my friend here, when she asked me to compare the quality of life -- between Jakarta, Singapore and US.
I did tell her that I find too many unhappy Singaporeans despite how well they do compared to Indonesians. I think we can find happiness in other things that might be less materialistic than our peers here at the every least.
But seriously, life is so plain and boring here in Singapore. I know it's cliche, and I know some of the locals might totally disagree, but seriously.... there's so much more to life than slaving yourself in a 60-hr week job.
By the way, I remember they say home is where the heart is.
If that's the case, are you sure what you're feeling is homesickness and not just some nostalgia attack?
Chocoholic: I guess the normal suburbanite lifestyle is just not cutting it for us huh?
And I don't know where my heart is. I guess, the love hate between my and my hometown is still going on.
Scal: Can't comment on Aussie, never been there. But I guess, I miss talking in my mother tongue and dive in the ethnicity of our culture.
Sigh....
How poetic is that? Basically, I'm just dead bored here I guess.
Yeah....
I guess we're the old-fashioned city downtown girls huh?
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