Our new pembantu in Seminyak Bali
Monday morning our new pembantu, Anna, showed up. Anna is about 35, married and from Solo in Central Java. She speaks not a world of English and Ika is firmly in control. The one thing Ika did say was she would prefer a younger woman, as she feels more comfortable in asking a younger person what to do. In Indonesia the greeting you give someone indicates your perception of him or her.
For example if I am addressing an older man its polite for me to call him 'Pak'. If I want to kiss his ass I will say 'Ba Pak'. Anytime I go to a fancy hotel the female sales staff are all "Ba Pak Nick, thank you Ba Pak Nick". I tell them to quit the Ba Pak and just call me Nick. I told Ika that in western countries people have no worries telling others what to do. Yuppies in fact have no respect for anyone below their own income level. Hopefully Ika will learn to be comfortable with being the boss, but not look down on her helper. I always had a comfortable relationship with Wayan and she had a lot of leeway regarding her duties.
By Nick | Permalink
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