Travel writer Bill Dalton has a ton of handy tips for visitors to Indonesia, all summed up in his unique style. His tips have been amassed by personal adventure and I find some of them hilarious. Here is a selection of tips under the title 'Getting along.'
Hygiene: Westerners often take a shower once daily; Indonesians bathe at least twice daily (early in the morning or after school or work). If males need to urinate in populated places, just squat down in a ditch with knees spread to give you cover. In Indonesia, people don't blow their nose in front of others, but sniffing is okay. Westerners clean house once or twice a week; Indonesians clean the house everyday. Indonesians usually wash their clothes everyday and thus do not bring many clothes with them when they travel.
So picking your nose in a ditch is cool, but never sneeze in front of someone, especially if you haven't showered much lately.
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Hi, Nick!
I find this very interesting. While we, South Americans from the Southern tip, consider ourselves as being part of the Western World, like most of Latin America does, we have an etiquette quite similar to that of Indonesia, although so different at the same time.
We do clean our homes more than twice a week, take a shower at least twice daily, and change clothes more than once a day, while never wearing the same shirt or pants without washing in between. To blow your nose in public is not very well seen, while sniffing is also bad manners.
I’m amazed to see, though, that many Europeans blow their noses in very high volume, even at the dining table, and many of us down here, even most of us in some regions, descend from those Europeans, we have adopted quite a different behaviour. I remember a friend of mine telling about a question he was asked by his host parents, while in Germany as an exchange student. They asked him whether he had a skin problem or something, after seeing him bathing on a daily basis. That sounded hilarious to him!
Interesting world, Nick….
G’day Nick,
Just been reading some of those tips in my copy of the book. Fascinating stuff!.
Couldn’t find the section about farting in public!