Ask and you shall receive

2013-10-14T18:52:00.001+01:00

I was traveling in Borneo with my friends and we had been hiking all day in the heat. When we finally found our way to the hotel all I wanted was a hot shower - to wash away all the mud and sweat. To my greatest disappointment all I got from the tap was cold water. Being tired and very frustrated with the situation, I called the reception and complained "there is no hot water". Soon there was a knock on the door and one of the members of staff entered the room - with a bottle of hot water. They thought I wanted to have a cup of tea. How amusing! We all just laughed.

The result: Hot water, yes - hot shower, no.

Ilona (female), Finland

"Your Internet or your life!" - Or how to shock the Balinese

2013-09-23T11:57:00.000+01:00

"In my 1.5 weeks since moving to Bali it had been one of the worst days yet, and I STILL didn't have internet. Getting anything done in Bali often requires transporting a large distance with no guarantee that, when you get to your destination, you're actually going to get the thing done that you needed to get done.

I had already tried to get my beloved internet connection from Smart Fren two days prior, but they had decided to close early (happy thoughts, happy thoughts). Finding this out after driving 45 minutes from Nusa Dua to Sunset road in heavy traffic made it all the more "sweet". So, two days later, I decided to nail 4 birds with one stone with a big errand day. This would involve driving to all ends of the South side of the island, and I thought myself very clever for having such a plan.

Needless to say, about 2 out of three of these errands so far proved to be frustratingly fruitless, but at LEAST I could still head over to Smart Fren and close out the day by collecting my beloved internet connection. As I headed over I thought of the lovely time I would spend alone in my home, huddled in the glow of Facebook, Google, YouTube, and... well you can use your imagination. I wouldn't have to do anything for days! You call it an addiction, so be it! This would be exactly what I needed to finally ease into my home and into this new culture.

I walked into the store with a 20 kilo backpack full of the days' groceries and findings, and I plopped it on the floor and readied myself for that lovely little stick.

"Halo! I am looking for modem!"
The cunning Smart Fren female clerk replied, "Sari, Pa, no activation today".

No activation today.

Suddenly a rush of despair, defeat, and disgust came over me. My arms went limp, I made the SLIGHTEST "ugh" expression, and my motor key, hanging from my wrist, made a sound SLIGHTLY louder than a tap when it hit the glass table top. This is all it took for the clerk to GASP and jump up in her seat as if I were sticking a gun at her, demanding she empty out her pockets. I can't tell if this was her genuinely reacting to the incident, or if she was being dramatic in order to deal with another impatient foreigner, but at first glance it appeared that Indonesians might have an ultra sensitivity to the vibe in the room. I was being a whiny child.

Needless to say, I was immediately aware of my change in attitude, and I handled the rest of the interaction in a more gentile fashion. She promised me that she would call me when I was able to sign up for the service, and she also gave me a number to text just in case she forgot to call. I lopped the 20k monster on my back and left without victory.

Should one have a reason to be upset in matters like this? Do we, as humans, have the right to the services a situations we expect? Is it "their" fault when things don't go quite the way we're used to? I don't know, I'm trying to figure that out. In the meantime I'm looking close into a possibility that there's a way to move through this life without having our great expectations be so great. Bali is a wonderful place to practice for this goal in mind, but how far should we take it? Should we damn efficiency and progress? No. We need to find a balance.

And what of my internet? When the lovely clerk never called me to tell me to sign up and didn't return my texts, I decided to put this balance into practice. There's nothing wrong in giving support to the system that you prefer, and shunning the system that you don't, but we can do it calmly.

I am now a proud user of the internet service provider "3". Capitalism at work!"

Jordan (male), United States

Culture Bumps - Examples of Cultural Differences

Ask and you shall receive

"Your Internet or your life!" - Or how to shock the Balinese