I've talked a lot about the various differences between Indonesia and Western Culture. I've explained interesting facts, stuff that surprised me, differences that I enjoy and some that I don't. The thing is, when you look at the bare bones of life itself, many things are pretty much the same. People get up and go to work or school, do the daily grind, come home and spend time with family or friends or Netflix (which is now available here as of February. Bangarang.) I assume that's pretty much the same in most countries around the world. It's just the way life works.
But, as any actor or screenwriter will tell you, nobody wants to hear about normal life. That's boring. It's the stuff out of the ordinary that intrigues us, keeps our attention focused on the stage, or follow certain blogs. So, with that in mind, here are the details of daily life that I now consider typical or ordinary, but to my friends and family in the West might be the interesting, unusual, or intriguing bits.
For many Indonesians, the day starts at sunrise, or just before. Remember, about 85% or the country is Muslim, and the first Muslim prayer of the day is, depending on the time of year, around 4 or 5 am. So, many people will be up around that time. (I say many...I have it on good authority that some people aren't as strict with this one. But hey, nobody's perfect.) So from my point of view, Indonesians seem to be very good at getting up early. Before heading out to work, they'll make breakfast. Breakfast doesn't have any special foods, like it does in the West. You can have a piece of chicken for breakfast just as easily as for lunch or dinner. My own breakfast, and any of the other meals for that matter, usually consists of rice (obviously), some vegetables to mix in, and some sort of protein, a fried egg, some chicken or beef, or a fried soybean concoction called Tempe. And of course there's sometimes fresh fruit, possibly picked right off the tree.
A shower happens somewhere before work too. Indonesians typically shower twice a day, because it's so darn hot here. A typical Indonesian Water Closet consists of a giant basin for water, and a plastic scooper to use for showering, washing hands, and brushing teeth. It's also used when flushing the toilet, which is usually a plastic basin in the ground that drains into the sewer. Overall, it's a very economic room. Very wet, too. Water goes everywhere, but it doesn't matter because the floor is tile and there's at least one drain in the floor.
Then, it's all about dropping the kids off at school, dropping spouses off at work, and driving oneself to work. Many jobs are the same as what we have in the West, but there are also a few we don't have. There are guys that wait by the roadside, ready to refill, or even repair, your tires and sell you gas from a glass bottle. There are also the parking assistants. You'll find these fellows everywhere, because no matter where you go, you either have to pay to park, or you'll need assistance in getting back out onto the road. These guys will wave a flag or blow a whistle to slow down oncoming traffic so that you can merge back in. There are also certain jobs that are gender-specific here. You will always have a male driver in your bus, angkot, or taxi. However, the ticket person on the bus will usually be a female, as will most of the venders in the traditional markets. There are some large markets which have a large location specifically for that purpose. But there are also some smaller ones that spring up in the mornings, maybe in the middle of a neighborhood, consisting of a few vendors who have some wares to sell. These traditional markets are a great place to get any fresh food item you might want, from fruit to vegetables to meat. I, however, usually avoid them as best as I can, namely because you have to bargain for anything you want. If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of haggling any sort of deal, but especially if money is involved. I've needed to do it on a few occasions, but I haven't enjoyed any of it. Some of my friends are straight-up experts though. If I can, I usually let them do it for me. But I digress...
When lunch time rolls around, there are a few options. You can pack your lunch, using the foods stated above. You can always go out to eat, as little food stands (called warung) are extremely common. Most of these serve only a few dishes, so if you're in the mood for something specific, you know where to go. If not, there will be other options right next door. The third option for lunch is one that we don't really have in the West. The closest thing we get is an Ice Cream truck. Basically, there are men that wheel a cart around neighborhoods, or outside of businesses, and stop and chill there during lunch hour. They have a stove built into their cart, as well as necessary ingredients to prepare whatever the singular meal is that they sell. Many of them have some sort of noise-maker that they use to alert the world to their presence, like a wooden bowl that they bang on, or sometimes they just clank a spoon on a plate. If you're familiar with the carts that come through the area, you can usually tell who is outside by the noise, which, of course, is the point. A common one outside my school is the Bakso guy -- Indonesian meatballs. His noisemaker is clacking on a wooden bowl. However, these cart vendors aren't limited to lunch and dinner options. There are guys that go around with giant bags of crackers (actually it's a specific kind of cracker called Krupuk, there are a ton of various types, and everyone has their favorite), or guys that serve sweet bread treats. Actually, I get annoyed when the sweet bread guy comes around, and no, not because it's a delicious temptation. It's because his noisemaker is an obnoxious recorded tune that's about 11 seconds long, then repeats, and can be heard all the way down the street. And I mean all the way. I don't know how that guy hangs onto his sanity, having to listen to that all day. These cart guys will patrol from sun up to sundown, and sometimes later. I have, on occasion heard somebody out at 10pm, (probably the Fried Rice guy). You never know who will be hungry.
Something very common here is what's typically translated into "taking a rest." Maybe this means taking a nap, maybe it's literally just resting and not doing anything. But it's super common, after any large activity, or after getting home, or before starting a new activity. It's quite an acceptable way to spend an hour or so. It's even been nearly mandatory for me at times, when I return from some event with a friend, or arrive somewhere new, my host will insist that I take a rest. I will admit quite shamelessly that I've become quite used to taking naps at various times during the day.
After work, the day ends just like anywhere else. Massive amounts of traffic interrupting the commute home, eating some sort of dinner from any of the many options, hanging out with whoever is around. It's common for households to contain many people, including grandparents and grown children. It's very much a Western custom for children to move out before they get married. Here, there's nothing wrong with having everyone stay in the house for many years after university. It's also very common for relatives to come by and visit, or friends and neighbors. Evenings can be full of visiting and just hanging out with whoever drops by.
Of course, that doesn't mean everyone's not counting the days until the weekend. Weekends are great no matter where you live. However, in Indonesia, depending on your job or where you go to school, your weekend might not be two days. Many schools conduct classes, or at least organize events on Saturdays, and many jobs require a six-day week, instead of a five-day. But for anyone who doesn't have to work, Saturday can be full of shopping, chilling, or exploring the various natural or ancient wonders Indonesia has to offer. The university campuses are full of students holding meetings, sports, or events all over campus. I'm actually a little jealous about how much goes on at the universities on the weekend, my University never came close to that. Since most people will have off on Sunday (except, obviously anyone in public service, food service or retail -- we've all been there) Sunday has something special to offer, something that does not, and probably cannot, exist in the West. From 5:30am to 8:30am, the streets leading to the City Center are closed. Hundreds of people gather to crowd the vacated streets with bikers, joggers, vendors, performances, aerobics classes, promoters, musicians, dancing, and even some wild animals. Unfortunately, it's so early in the morning I rarely make it there, but it's always interesting when I do. I can't imagine any American cities closing down major roads for several hours every single week.
So that's the long and short of it. Turns out the daily grind looks pretty similar on the other side of the globe. Obviously there will be differences, but nothing too significant. In the end, we all do what we have to do in life, and we'll do whatever we need to accomplish it. Hopefully by the end of the day we'll be happy with the results. Either way, we'll all be going back to work tomorrow...
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