The Cultural Surprises ...
Each of us went to our own direction. But we sometimes crossed paths and simply asked each other how we were. We sort of agreed to meet at the same point when we had free time, near the Visitor Information booth.
In one of the occasions, I met Pak Harsono, Pak Nuryasik and Pak Susilo at our meeting point. I asked them how they were so far. They mentioned they had enjoyed attending some sessions and had got some books they needed. There was a bit of hard feeling creeping in my heart when I heard that at one time they were approached by other participants and asked where they came from. When Pak Harsono answered: “From Indonesia”, the person drew his hands up and said: ”Don’t kill me.” It might mean a joke, but somehow, I felt unhappy. I recalled in some occasions in Indonesia when our fellow native speakers felt awkward getting questions like:” Are you married?”, or “Do you have children?” This was worse.
There was also another occasion when those three, pak Harsono, Pak Yasik and Pak Susilo, were walking down the street to their hotel, and asked by a child:” Where are you from?” and when they answered: ”Indonesia”, the child asked: ”Are you a terrorist?” and yet the parents kept quiet.
I mused. In most CCU lessons I got at school, it was always ‘we’, the learner, had to understand ‘their’, native speakers, cultural aspect. Now I questioned myself…”shouldn’t they learn our culture, too?” But then I came to a point I said frequently when we talked about CCU – cultural understanding is a very personal matter. CCU happened at home, at work, in class, with spouse, with classmates, with friends, with everyone. For me, it was no longer native speakers’ culture or Indonesian culture, but in such case, the boundary became very personal. In the above cases, I did not want to say “American did not learn CCU,” it was simply whether that person or that child was taught to give adequate comment to strangers, or not. CCU, as it goes with the boundary of politeness, for me, after all, begins from home. Deep in my heart I was relieved to learn that Pak Harsono, Pak Yasik and Pak Susilo did not react by punching those two people on their faces.
Had they …..
In one of the occasions, I met Pak Harsono, Pak Nuryasik and Pak Susilo at our meeting point. I asked them how they were so far. They mentioned they had enjoyed attending some sessions and had got some books they needed. There was a bit of hard feeling creeping in my heart when I heard that at one time they were approached by other participants and asked where they came from. When Pak Harsono answered: “From Indonesia”, the person drew his hands up and said: ”Don’t kill me.” It might mean a joke, but somehow, I felt unhappy. I recalled in some occasions in Indonesia when our fellow native speakers felt awkward getting questions like:” Are you married?”, or “Do you have children?” This was worse.
There was also another occasion when those three, pak Harsono, Pak Yasik and Pak Susilo, were walking down the street to their hotel, and asked by a child:” Where are you from?” and when they answered: ”Indonesia”, the child asked: ”Are you a terrorist?” and yet the parents kept quiet.
I mused. In most CCU lessons I got at school, it was always ‘we’, the learner, had to understand ‘their’, native speakers, cultural aspect. Now I questioned myself…”shouldn’t they learn our culture, too?” But then I came to a point I said frequently when we talked about CCU – cultural understanding is a very personal matter. CCU happened at home, at work, in class, with spouse, with classmates, with friends, with everyone. For me, it was no longer native speakers’ culture or Indonesian culture, but in such case, the boundary became very personal. In the above cases, I did not want to say “American did not learn CCU,” it was simply whether that person or that child was taught to give adequate comment to strangers, or not. CCU, as it goes with the boundary of politeness, for me, after all, begins from home. Deep in my heart I was relieved to learn that Pak Harsono, Pak Yasik and Pak Susilo did not react by punching those two people on their faces.
Had they …..
posted by Kun Herrini at 9:49 PM
1 Comments:
Well stereo type can happen anywhere in the globe. When I gave an orientation to the British Voulnteers 10 years ago, one of the asked me "do you have toilet paper?" and I said "yes we have the factory in Tangerang".
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