tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post1058820518068388758..comments2023-09-08T17:06:00.295+07:00Comments on Confessions of an ELF in Indonesia: Monkey LoveJuliannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705513185308466455noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-55629522427099290092009-11-09T09:56:56.269+07:002009-11-09T09:56:56.269+07:00Jonna - That is so funny about Thursday and Sunday...Jonna - That is so funny about Thursday and Sunday nights! I had no idea...<br /><br />Anna - I'm so happy to hear you've caught up on reading my blog! So good to know you're out there reading about my life in Indo. How is everything in St. John?? I miss you so much and I would love to Skype, but see my most recent post about the difficulties of Internet access here. If God is willing we shall Skype soon!Juliannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03705513185308466455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-38372878522722005942009-11-09T05:35:13.705+07:002009-11-09T05:35:13.705+07:00Finally I've found a moment to catch up on all...Finally I've found a moment to catch up on all your adventures. Yay! I thought of lots of comments along the way, but this one goes for everything- your writing is so good. It totally pulls me in. I'm so proud of you, Julianne. You're such a bad-ass. Do you think we could skype sometime?Anna Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088889792172737589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-4237725196548700952009-11-08T02:27:58.639+07:002009-11-08T02:27:58.639+07:00I also discovered that Thursday and Sunday nights ...I also discovered that Thursday and Sunday nights are the designated nights in Gorontalo to have sex. I discovered this cultural nuance after Arzal got married: we were having a Friday department meeting, and one of the lecturers kept giving Arzal a hard time. Of course this was done all in Indonesian, so I asked for further clarification. "We are saying Arzal must be tired and thirsty from last night." Nudge nudge, wink. No further explanation. Of course I started laughing hysterically and asked: "Well, what if you dont' want to do it on those days." "Well, it's ok then Ibu Jonna. You can do it on Friday." Oh Indonesia. :)Jonna and Peter Meidalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05062873059111435165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-67528718152387824162009-11-05T20:25:43.180+07:002009-11-05T20:25:43.180+07:00Thanks for your encouragement, William! I always e...Thanks for your encouragement, William! I always enjoy reading your responses to my posts, and I especially appreciated this one. <br /><br />I think a lot of my frustration with learning Indonesian also stems from the fact that I am used to being competent in another language (German) and here that competency has been taken away and I no longer feel like the “insider” I did in Switzerland, where I could easily understand everything being said around me and could easily converse with the Swiss about all sorts of professional and personal topics. <br /><br />I also really liked and admired the Swiss way of life. Granted it sometimes seemed more formal or stiff than American culture, but it was also clean, organized and efficient – qualities which I rarely encounter here in Indonesia. I liked Switzerland so much that I wanted to blend in as much as possible and thought the ultimate compliment was to be mistaken for a Swiss. Here, I have no such desire to blend in. <br /><br />So, thanks for sticking up for me at a time when I didn’t even stick up for myself. I’d like to think I do have more cultural sensitivity than the average expat who lives in their own expat world. But I still find it hard to connect to the Indonesian culture and language on the same level that I connected to Swiss culture and the German language.Juliannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03705513185308466455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-21813530732172985962009-11-03T11:25:20.603+07:002009-11-03T11:25:20.603+07:00First, please forgive me for strongly disagreeing ...First, please forgive me for strongly disagreeing with something in your blog. In your last post, you wrote "I am becoming the person I always hated; I am becoming the foreign expat who doesn't speak the local language..." Well, let's leave aside for the moment the part about learning the local language. I really do not think you're becoming the type of expat whom you hate. <br /><br />This blog entry clearly shows that. You might not be making the progress in the language that you initially hoped for, but you've managed to write a senstive, informative, and thoughtful essay about marriage and courtship in Gorontalo You've included both numerous specific examples and a more general perspective on some of the joys and perils of love and family. Not an easy thing to do. <br /><br />This is a tricky subject to write about cross-culturally: people tend to swing between a rose-tinted view and complete rejection. You avoid both of these extremes and instead describe Indonesian marriage in a way that I think most of your local informants and friends would find credible, sympathetic and nuanced.<br /><br />Take a minute and ask yourself--honestly--how many of the "expats you hate" write in this vein? Very few, if any. You're clearly making friends, and that's something the proudly monolingual expat doesn't do. You also don't pontificate about some monolithic Indonesian culture (something monolingual expats love to do) but instead work with an ever-growing body of empirical facts to try to make sense of a very different culture.<br /><br />I look forward to reading and learning from your blogs as they continue to emerge.whatsithisreallyfoolshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03505791713912756746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-62246081414328202982009-11-03T08:42:16.548+07:002009-11-03T08:42:16.548+07:00One of my students ran up to me the other day (out...One of my students ran up to me the other day (out of the blue) and asked "is it true that in America couples sometimes live together before they are married?" I said yes. I opted not to tell her that for 7 years I was one of those couples. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7276625069258118388.post-2731643990602608932009-11-03T08:42:02.964+07:002009-11-03T08:42:02.964+07:00http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue18_contents.h...http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue18_contents.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com