Experiencing a Different World - Outside the U.S.

[Bursting the Western Bubble]

View over Sidorajo, Indonesia

-On the Other Side of the World-
I've done a decent amount of traveling for business as well as pleasure in the last 7-8 years, but usually places that seem familiar within the Western world. But not this time - this time I am quite literally on the other side of the planet. Instead of being back home in New England while the temperatures drop and the Christmas season closes in, I'm working in the hot and humid land of Indonesia.

Traditional with modern backdrop

Over the years I've been Canada, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany, but nothing compares to the culture shock of visiting Indonesia in comparison. Not only is it a different experience, it's my first time visiting any part of Asia, and what an introduction. Not Japan, China, Singapore or Korea - Indonesia: a country that presides it's rule over 17,000+ islands with an incredibly rich culture and proud history. Indonesia has endured brutal European colonization, Japanese occupation during World War II, politically and ethnically charged-mass slaughtering during the Cold War, corruption and periods of rapid economic change.

The country to this day still struggles with widespread poverty, education standard challenges, and getting past four decades of authoritarianism to make way for modern democratic processes to permanently take hold in the state.

On the other hand, in all the years of traveling I have never found such friendly people to interact with. Although many do have at least a rudimentary understanding of English, even without a common language it doesn't seem to make communicating with native Indonesians or Javanese any less of a joy. The turbulence in their past and even recent history has yet to falter their everyday upbeat nature in the present.

-Some things that makes Indonesia Unique?-

Environment (East Java)
It's apparent that you're somewhere else far, far away when walking or driving (if you're brave enough) down the avenues of Jakarta or even Surabaya. It's a cacophony of  street-life screaming at the top of its lungs. From the constant buzz of thousands of small displacement motorcycles, to street vendors selling locally-picked fruits and vegetables, to whistle-blowing police officers, to Javanese music blaring over radios, it's everywhere. The bustle and move is intoxicating to most visitors. There is so much to take in, but there are flaws in the surroundings. One of which is the overwhelming amount of garbage everywhere and often the pungent smell of sewage made worse by the constant heat and humidity.

"Light" city traffic

Something I wasn't expecting was that most commercial businesses have their own security checkpoints including the hotel I stayed at and the company's compound I worked at due to crime. And for the record, I refer to it as a "compound" because it's several large warehouses, administration buildings and offices all totaling over 7,500 employees.

Visitors not used to summer-like heat all-year-round will find Indonesia's staggering temperature and humidity oppressive. It's like living in Miami where most people try their best to move from one air-conditioned environment to the next. There's often a haze in the skies over cities like Jakarta and Surabaya that's a combination of the pollution, heat and humidity. Standing on a street, even in shade will cause most people to sweat endlessly. It's certainly an experience.

Food
Indonesian cuisine is one of the most vibrant and colorful cuisines in the world, full of intense flavor and incredible spice. In 2011, Indonesia cuisine began to gain worldwide recognition, with three of its popular dishes making it to the list of 'World's 50 Most Delicious Foods (Readers' Pick), a worldwide online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International. With Indonesia's 6,000 diverse populated islands it is no wonder such a unique selection of cuisines arose. Among the Indonesian cuisines there are countless regional dishes from different areas and ethnicity including:  Betawi, Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese, Batak, Minangkabau, Malay and more.

Lunch out with Chinese and Indonesian colleagues

There is a wide variety of dishes and even vegetarianism is well represented in Indonesia which supports the small numbers of Indonesian Buddhists that practice vegetarianism for religious reasons. Nasi or streamed rice is the staple, surrounded by sayur-mayur (vegetables and soup) as well as lauk-pauk (meat or fish side dishes).

Culture and Religion
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, which is apparent as soon as you get off the plane. That majority also shows in the workplace where I was based for two weeks, where most of the women wear traditional hijabs - which is not is not legally mandated, but is religious choice. Interestingly enough there is very little tension between religions in Indonesia. I personally know and work with both Muslim and Christian peoples in Indonesia and tension is non-existent. Probably because it isn't a heated topic of controversy and strife like in the US or Europe. Even more impressive, "the world's largest Muslim Sunni movement against ISIS based in Indonesia just launched a global anti-extremist campaign running at about 50-million members with the simple message to ISIS of: Get Lost.^"1

Shift change for production employees

"Although Indonesian Muslims are a numerical majority, they live alongside Hindus and Buddhists who predated them on the island, and they share and mix spiritual traditions. Indonesia's national motto is bhinneka tunggal ika, or "unity in diversity,” and that ethos is central to the country's Muslim traditions."²

Certainly there is something that can be learned with that kind of commitment to unity instead of stomping on people who are different just because of a minority of them that are terrible. You could always make the assumption that all Americans are members of the KKK too, but nobody does that. On the note of international tension seeing the words: "The War on Christians" is a bit heavy-handed in my opinion and although I do feel for those that have been effected in the worst of ways by fundamentalist terrorists in very recent times, this isn't the entire religion of Islam against Christianity. This is a small fringe group trying to stir up Western civilization's opinion of Islam as a whole so that they'll alienate more Muslims and cause them to turn to ISIS - and sadly it's working very well.

Masjid Nasional Al Akbar Surabaya

Go back long enough there was actually a war on Jews. Look it up if you don't believe me, it's called the Jewish-Roman War. That was an actual war and it lasted nearly 70 years and turned the Jewish people into a scattered, persecuted minority for the majority of human history. And yes, that is literally ancient history, but for argument's sake the holocaust isn't. And people wonder why Israel has been fighting and defending itself so aggressively since it's independence. So when you say there's a "War on Christians," maybe you should throttle back on that opinion just a bit because in the grand scheme of things most would not call it a "war."

Somerset Hotel in Sidoarjo, Indonesia

I had asked a colleague here about many of the Christmas decorations I had seen in the hotels and shopping malls. 

"I didn't think Christmas would be so popular here," I asked. 

His response was simple: "Everybody just respects the different religions here." 
Nobody getting bent out of shape because someone said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" here. And nobody being offended and complaining because there's Christian holiday decorations in public places. Sounds nice to me.

Getting back on topic - Indonesia is a colorful, unique, albeit flawed country with many things to experience and see. While I do miss home, I don't entirely dislike staying and working here just a little while longer...

Indonesia's first submarine, gifted by USSR in 1959

 

Lunch at the House of Sampoerna

^1,2 Varagur, K. (2015, December 2). World's Largest Islamic Organization Tells ISIS to Get Lost. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theworldpost/