Disturbing the Harmony
In the Bahasa Indonesia textbook that I’ve been using to teach myself when I’m not too tired to stay awake, there is a “Kebudayaan Indonesia, Indonesian Culture” section called “Maintaining Harmony.” And I quote:
“Indonesian people, and especially the Javanese, tend to live in a state of ‘balance’ and ‘harmony’ with each other at all times. To see an Indonesian lose his/her temper, to curse or to denigrate another person is extremely rare. Everybody knows that it is much better to maintain the harmony, even if inwardly you are seething with anger… Indonesian people will go to great lengths to avoid saying anything which could possibly offend another person… Rather than saying ‘he is stupid’, they would tend to say ‘he is not all that bright’. Awful-tasting food might be described as ‘not all that tasty’ or ‘less than tasty’, in case the cook should hear of the criticism and the harmony be broken. They might say about another person that he/she is ‘less than polite’; in other words he/she is impolite, but they are not going to be impolite enough to say so.
“To Indonesians the most important trait in people is their ability to maintain harmony, to be well mannered and to speak politely at all times. So, take care when describing things and people, take care not to offend, and take care not to disturb the harmony.”
Well, in light of this recent cultural sesh, I guess Mr. Nick pulled a major cultural faux pas today. During my last class of the day, after sweating through three absent teachers and five hours of airless classrooms, I walked out on a class that had been misbehaving for the past hour. I was getting no participation, no answers, and no English. I simply said thank you, goodbye, and left the room.
For the rest of the day, students approached me with a sense of mortified reference, bowing to me and touching my right hand to their foreheads. “I am so sorry, Mr. Nick,” was a common refrain throughout the afternoon. “Tidak apa apa, don’t worry about it,” I would invariably respond. I may have disrupted the harmony, but the kids were doing their damndest to set my bule blunderings right.
“Indonesian people, and especially the Javanese, tend to live in a state of ‘balance’ and ‘harmony’ with each other at all times. To see an Indonesian lose his/her temper, to curse or to denigrate another person is extremely rare. Everybody knows that it is much better to maintain the harmony, even if inwardly you are seething with anger… Indonesian people will go to great lengths to avoid saying anything which could possibly offend another person… Rather than saying ‘he is stupid’, they would tend to say ‘he is not all that bright’. Awful-tasting food might be described as ‘not all that tasty’ or ‘less than tasty’, in case the cook should hear of the criticism and the harmony be broken. They might say about another person that he/she is ‘less than polite’; in other words he/she is impolite, but they are not going to be impolite enough to say so.
“To Indonesians the most important trait in people is their ability to maintain harmony, to be well mannered and to speak politely at all times. So, take care when describing things and people, take care not to offend, and take care not to disturb the harmony.”
Well, in light of this recent cultural sesh, I guess Mr. Nick pulled a major cultural faux pas today. During my last class of the day, after sweating through three absent teachers and five hours of airless classrooms, I walked out on a class that had been misbehaving for the past hour. I was getting no participation, no answers, and no English. I simply said thank you, goodbye, and left the room.
For the rest of the day, students approached me with a sense of mortified reference, bowing to me and touching my right hand to their foreheads. “I am so sorry, Mr. Nick,” was a common refrain throughout the afternoon. “Tidak apa apa, don’t worry about it,” I would invariably respond. I may have disrupted the harmony, but the kids were doing their damndest to set my bule blunderings right.
posted by Nick Taranto | 7:25 AM
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