For you guys who have lived through Indonesian's common childhood era, most of you will probably be familiar with various different handshake games that we used to play at school, along with the songs.
The first time I came to America, I was amused by the variety of handshakes that random people do to each others. Well, most of them are friends though, but they're still random to me.
And it's funny how they're trying to teach me how to do those different styles of handshakes, that sometimes each person differs from the other. For example, for a particular person, you like clap-clap-bump-clap, and others like clap-bump-clap-clap-sshhh (I have no idea how to pronounce sound effect).
And it's very amazing when you see in shows like The Voice, sometimes the judge and the participant just randomly do the handshake and they're so corresponding with each other. As if both of their souls were made for each other.
Oh well, this just amazes me.
Showing posts with label American Stereotypes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Stereotypes. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
#8 Huge Portion
No kidding, the portion in America is indeed really big.
Most likely because most people in here grew up with a bigger capacity than us living in Indonesia, perhaps.
But the great thing about it, you can order kids meal which is basically a smaller, much more Indonesian-like portion food. And if you order kids meal in Chick-fil-a, you'll get a free toy or a free book that you can trade with a Dream Cone, a better, healthier sundae in a cone. Yum!
Most likely because most people in here grew up with a bigger capacity than us living in Indonesia, perhaps.
But the great thing about it, you can order kids meal which is basically a smaller, much more Indonesian-like portion food. And if you order kids meal in Chick-fil-a, you'll get a free toy or a free book that you can trade with a Dream Cone, a better, healthier sundae in a cone. Yum!
#7 Using tissue in toilet
I know for some people, it's weird to use tissue instead of water to clean yourself after using the toilet.
And for Americans (or probably most people in the world), using water to clean yourself is weird.
Their reason of saying that it's weird because you're supposed to feel "dry" after using the toilet, and the fact that you wet yourself with water for cleaning purpose doesn't make any sense.
But here's the thing. You don't clean your body by simply using towel to yourself, right? You need to take shower, to use water to at least clean your body. Sometimes you can even dry your body without towels, which is quite weird. But you get my point. You don't clean yourself just with tissue, because basically even your body realized that using water is way cleaner than just sweep the sweat away with towels.
Me? I use both.
And for Americans (or probably most people in the world), using water to clean yourself is weird.
Their reason of saying that it's weird because you're supposed to feel "dry" after using the toilet, and the fact that you wet yourself with water for cleaning purpose doesn't make any sense.
But here's the thing. You don't clean your body by simply using towel to yourself, right? You need to take shower, to use water to at least clean your body. Sometimes you can even dry your body without towels, which is quite weird. But you get my point. You don't clean yourself just with tissue, because basically even your body realized that using water is way cleaner than just sweep the sweat away with towels.
Me? I use both.
#6 Paper Towel, Tissue, Toilet Paper, Napkin
What are the common among all of those?
All of them are basically just TISSUE. A freakin' tissue.
The first time I came here, I remember my hostmum asked me for a paper towel. At that time, I thought she literally asked for a towel, like a towel that you used in the bathroom. But then she showed me the tissue that is quite thick, the kind that you usually use to drain oil from your cooking.
And then there's toilet paper, the rolling tissue that you used in the bathroom.
And Tissue, the regular tissue that you usually use, but it normally comes in boxes, so that kind is called tissue.
And napkin, a prettier kind of tissue that you use when you're eating.
And all of them are basically just tissue. The same thing.
All of them are basically just TISSUE. A freakin' tissue.
The first time I came here, I remember my hostmum asked me for a paper towel. At that time, I thought she literally asked for a towel, like a towel that you used in the bathroom. But then she showed me the tissue that is quite thick, the kind that you usually use to drain oil from your cooking.
And then there's toilet paper, the rolling tissue that you used in the bathroom.
And Tissue, the regular tissue that you usually use, but it normally comes in boxes, so that kind is called tissue.
And napkin, a prettier kind of tissue that you use when you're eating.
And all of them are basically just tissue. The same thing.
#5 Big Soda Can
I know this might sound pretty useless, but still.
Everything in America is big, even the soda can is big.
One time I saw one of my classmates brought her beverage to class. It was tea in a can, but the can was like two times the size of a normal Coca-Cola can.
Still, this thing amazes me.
Everything in America is big, even the soda can is big.
One time I saw one of my classmates brought her beverage to class. It was tea in a can, but the can was like two times the size of a normal Coca-Cola can.
Still, this thing amazes me.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
#4 Quick and Mobile--Everything is Fast and
As you probably know, America is famous for its motto of being independent, fast, and efficient. All of the fast foods, the services they have are to serve the purpose of having a very beneficial life.
I am not a big fan of fast food, rarely eat in it although I gain weight anyway. But I love their phone system. They set a service where you can even fill money to your phone through the customer service and they will bill it to your debit or credit card, and it doesn't cost you any money, so in case you in need of phone money yet you can't go anywhere, you can just call them and they'll do the work for you.
Somehow I wish the system in Indonesia is as easy as in America. Sometimes, though.
I am not a big fan of fast food, rarely eat in it although I gain weight anyway. But I love their phone system. They set a service where you can even fill money to your phone through the customer service and they will bill it to your debit or credit card, and it doesn't cost you any money, so in case you in need of phone money yet you can't go anywhere, you can just call them and they'll do the work for you.
Somehow I wish the system in Indonesia is as easy as in America. Sometimes, though.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
#3 Drink from the Fridge is NOT Cold
WEIRD, RIGHT?
First time I came here, I was so stunned when both of my host parents pulled tea from their fridge and then put ice cubes in it. I was like, "Isn't drink from the fridge cold already?" And they said no, you should put ice cubes to make it cold.
I wonder if I ever do that in front of my mom, she would probably shouted at me and say I'd get sore throat with that.
I still don't get the idea of putting ice cubes in the already-cold beverages.
Another weird thing is the fact that when my host dad was sick (he coughed and had flu), when I asked him what would he like to drink for dinner, he said he wanted tea with ice. I bluntly said that it's weird how you drink cold beverages which is not good for your throat (and your heart, apparently) when you're sick, and I told my host mum about what my family would do to me if they saw me drinking ice when I was sick.
They'd probably gone crazily mad.
First time I came here, I was so stunned when both of my host parents pulled tea from their fridge and then put ice cubes in it. I was like, "Isn't drink from the fridge cold already?" And they said no, you should put ice cubes to make it cold.
I wonder if I ever do that in front of my mom, she would probably shouted at me and say I'd get sore throat with that.
I still don't get the idea of putting ice cubes in the already-cold beverages.
Another weird thing is the fact that when my host dad was sick (he coughed and had flu), when I asked him what would he like to drink for dinner, he said he wanted tea with ice. I bluntly said that it's weird how you drink cold beverages which is not good for your throat (and your heart, apparently) when you're sick, and I told my host mum about what my family would do to me if they saw me drinking ice when I was sick.
They'd probably gone crazily mad.
#2 A Very Different Politics
I was pretty shocked the first several weeks I was in America. FYI, the time I came to America was when they had their presidential election (and all of the campaigns as well). At that time, the candidates from GOP (Republican) was Mitt Romney, a successful businessman who was currently a Governor in Massachusetts, and from the Democrats, Barack Obama, the first African-American president who was trying to run for a second term
The first time I saw the campaign, I was confused. The whole campaign was talking about Barack Obama, but then in the end of the campaign, it stated "Vote for Romney". The same thing applies to Barack Obama's ads. I bluntly asked my host dad why on earth both candidates are showing the other candidate's picture but then said vote for them.
And it turned out that almost all of the political campaigns was about booming the other candidate's negative points, mudsling as they called it. I was pretty shocked the first time I knew about it because that was really uncommon. In Indonesia, since the candidates were plenty (we have more political parties than in America), most of the candidates are busy to sell their pretty lies to the public, busy creating good image for the future president. But in America, the competition was so tough and so limited that they don't even care about good images anymore. It's about who's the worst.
Well, at some point, not bragging about lies is probably a good thing. The public wasn't deceived with their good sheep wool that they put on their wolf thick skin. But for me, that was pitiful enough to see that people can publicly attack another people.
Probably that's the reason why our culture is so different with America. We, Indonesians, are raised in such culture where politeness and gratitude are held high, respecting people comes first, and so on. We are growing up to be people who don't like to attack other people from the front, but most likely from the back or slowly from the front. We are raised to be patient, I guess.
America, on the other hand, is a country where free speech is supported, and most of the people in it are free to say anything they want, so easy that they can easily sue people whenever they want to for a simple matter. You know who your enemies are and you can freely attack them without any hesitation of the result. Americans are raised to be combatants, I guess.
But again, I cannot say that either one of them are better than the other. Or either one of them are worse than the other. That's just how both cultures diverse so much that you can even see the difference from the political perspective, which I thought won't be so much different. Well, I guess I'm wrong.
The first time I saw the campaign, I was confused. The whole campaign was talking about Barack Obama, but then in the end of the campaign, it stated "Vote for Romney". The same thing applies to Barack Obama's ads. I bluntly asked my host dad why on earth both candidates are showing the other candidate's picture but then said vote for them.
And it turned out that almost all of the political campaigns was about booming the other candidate's negative points, mudsling as they called it. I was pretty shocked the first time I knew about it because that was really uncommon. In Indonesia, since the candidates were plenty (we have more political parties than in America), most of the candidates are busy to sell their pretty lies to the public, busy creating good image for the future president. But in America, the competition was so tough and so limited that they don't even care about good images anymore. It's about who's the worst.
Well, at some point, not bragging about lies is probably a good thing. The public wasn't deceived with their good sheep wool that they put on their wolf thick skin. But for me, that was pitiful enough to see that people can publicly attack another people.
Probably that's the reason why our culture is so different with America. We, Indonesians, are raised in such culture where politeness and gratitude are held high, respecting people comes first, and so on. We are growing up to be people who don't like to attack other people from the front, but most likely from the back or slowly from the front. We are raised to be patient, I guess.
America, on the other hand, is a country where free speech is supported, and most of the people in it are free to say anything they want, so easy that they can easily sue people whenever they want to for a simple matter. You know who your enemies are and you can freely attack them without any hesitation of the result. Americans are raised to be combatants, I guess.
But again, I cannot say that either one of them are better than the other. Or either one of them are worse than the other. That's just how both cultures diverse so much that you can even see the difference from the political perspective, which I thought won't be so much different. Well, I guess I'm wrong.
#1 No Age Difference
This is the most common one I found so far.
You guys do realize how in Indonesia (or most Asian countries), we refer older people with some entitlement or whatsoever. For example, you put -san or something like that for formality in Japan (right?), or put Bapak/Ibu or Kakak to older people both formal or informal.
As you can see in most Hollywood movies, you can refer to older people without any entitlement, although it's only for informality. But still, I will never ever call my grandma just by her name, I'd most likely get spanked.
In some circumstances, this is pretty convenient, because then you have no age difference and no social expectation of how you should act. You can treat anybody equally without any hesitation. You can be anyone you want without worry of the entitlement. You can work with anybody with any superiority (expect when it's pretty obvious). I do enjoy this because I can refer only by their names to some people that I know.
But then, for me, being raised in such Eastern manner, I feel that the way of giving entitlement or honor to certain people made my life more secure than having it as free as it is in America. Referring to older people with entitlement made me feel that I have respected their life or at least put an awareness for myself to pay attention to my behavior around people. Even though some people might see the entitlement as a bad way to socialize, for me, having someone refer to you with title make you aware of your common obligation as human. It made me straight and respect people the way they respected me.
Like someone told me before, you don't need to be taught how to be naughty or bad because it gradually comes within you, but you need to be taught how to be nice, tolerant, respectful. Being free is okay, according to any human rights that are stated in this world, but respecting and showing gratitude is another form of taking care of yourself. I think.
You guys do realize how in Indonesia (or most Asian countries), we refer older people with some entitlement or whatsoever. For example, you put -san or something like that for formality in Japan (right?), or put Bapak/Ibu or Kakak to older people both formal or informal.
As you can see in most Hollywood movies, you can refer to older people without any entitlement, although it's only for informality. But still, I will never ever call my grandma just by her name, I'd most likely get spanked.
In some circumstances, this is pretty convenient, because then you have no age difference and no social expectation of how you should act. You can treat anybody equally without any hesitation. You can be anyone you want without worry of the entitlement. You can work with anybody with any superiority (expect when it's pretty obvious). I do enjoy this because I can refer only by their names to some people that I know.
But then, for me, being raised in such Eastern manner, I feel that the way of giving entitlement or honor to certain people made my life more secure than having it as free as it is in America. Referring to older people with entitlement made me feel that I have respected their life or at least put an awareness for myself to pay attention to my behavior around people. Even though some people might see the entitlement as a bad way to socialize, for me, having someone refer to you with title make you aware of your common obligation as human. It made me straight and respect people the way they respected me.
Like someone told me before, you don't need to be taught how to be naughty or bad because it gradually comes within you, but you need to be taught how to be nice, tolerant, respectful. Being free is okay, according to any human rights that are stated in this world, but respecting and showing gratitude is another form of taking care of yourself. I think.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Americans, huh? #1
NO FORMALITY
That's a bit awkward at the first time. I mean, in Indonesia, we used to kiss older people's hand when we meet them, address them with "Sir" and "Ma'am", bow when we walked in front of them, offer others some food when we eat in front of them, etc.
In America, there's no such thing. You don't now when you walk on front of them. You sometimes called your teacher without any "Sir" and "ma'am" and it's fine. You sometimes don't bother your teacher.
It's not wrong, though. Basically, it's culture. And there's no right or wrong culture, right? It's just... A bit different. And different is good.
That's a bit awkward at the first time. I mean, in Indonesia, we used to kiss older people's hand when we meet them, address them with "Sir" and "Ma'am", bow when we walked in front of them, offer others some food when we eat in front of them, etc.
In America, there's no such thing. You don't now when you walk on front of them. You sometimes called your teacher without any "Sir" and "ma'am" and it's fine. You sometimes don't bother your teacher.
It's not wrong, though. Basically, it's culture. And there's no right or wrong culture, right? It's just... A bit different. And different is good.
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