An Interview with an Indonesian Woman: The Effects of Culture on Travel

In an interview with Iis P. Tussyadiah, conducted on February 5, 2007, I was able to gather information regarding her family background, perspective of her culture, and her experiences in leisure/recreation/tourism as a 31-year-old female of Asian decent. Specifically, she is apart of the Sundanese ethnic group of Indonesia. Her current occupation is a lecturer/faculty member at Temple University. She has only been living away from her native country for a few years, so the information gathered through the interview process was valuable.

As previously mentioned, Iis' family is Sundanese, which is group in the western part of the island of Java, Indonesia, which she referred to as a "big city". It is the capital of the province, Bandung. The majority of her family is still living there, with her brother in the city and her parents in the suburbs. Unlike the rest of her family, Iis traveled to and lived in Sendai, Japan for 4 years, about a seven-hour flight from Java!

When asked about family traditions and/or customs of her childhood, she recalled those of her religion, Islam. The Sundanese are generally heavily Muslim. Iis explained that her family primarily celebrates two of the major Islamic holidays, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha. Her family is not very religious, but during these times, her family, regardless of location gathered at the grandparents' house in the suburbs. They would allow themselves at least a week of vacation from school or work. This was basically a good way to come together.

In addition to these two holidays, Iis mentioned that a few other traditions included celebratory dinners of all sorts. Whether it was a middle-school graduation, a get-well-soon, or an engagement party, everyone, including neighbors was invited. The dinners consisted of sitting on the floor and eating traditional foods with bare hands. In a time of celebration, gift-giving was often practiced. Friends, family, and neighbors would make a special effort in doing so. Hand-made gift baskets, abundances of food, and decorations were commonly assembled and delivered personally at the door.

These types of practices have been in her family for generations. However, they do not take place as much in the urban areas of Indonesia as they do in the villages. Iis explained that today, putting time into gift-giving is uncommon. With busier schedules and obvious technology advancements, many prefer to buy pre-made presents and to hire a professional to deliver them. Convenience, she said, was probably the main reason of this change.

What I thought of as a very surprising yet impressive aspect of Iis' cultural learning was language. At home Iis spoke Sundanese, her parents' sole language. While in school, the universal language spoken was Indonesian. This also applied to media and the political components of the country as well. As many non-English speaking countries do, Iis' schooling consisted of learning the English language as well. Furthermore, she wrote in Arabic. During her adolescence, she attended two different schools. Her "regular" education was common, but she also attended "religious" classes as well for six years. Half of her school day would be spent at each one everyday.

Language was obviously an important part of Iis' cultural learning. Her parents too played a role in introducing the Indonesian lifestyle nevertheless. For one, manners were constantly being emphasized growing up. Conserving her family values was and still is very important to her parents' generation. Through song, dance, and Indonesian art, tradition was kept alive for Iis as a child. Since she has not lived there for about 6 years, it was hard for her to discuss how these messages are currently being passed down to young Indonesian children. Art, she explains, is one that she has seen her niece practice, however. Though she is a newlywed and does not have any children, she does intend to do so. Her children will not have the same experiences that she had growing up though. Her husband is Austrian and they met in Japan, where they both lived for several years. Clearly, this indicates that her family does not disapprove the matrimony between different ethnicities.

Iis learned that other cultures were not good nor bad, just different. After all, there are 600 different languages that are spoken in Indonesia! Many of the cultures that she acquired some knowledge about were those of surrounding Asian countries. Anyone with disabilities were not shunned upon in her society, but they were not accommodated, and had a hard time functioning. This was mainly because there was not enough money available. Though accepted were other cultures/ethnicities, or people with physical/mental disabilities, she noticed growing up that people of different sexual orientations other than heterosexual struggled. If one was gay, lesbian, or bisexual, they were forced to "keep quiet" about it. Many, she explained, would leave the country in order to be free from criticism. Despite this type of cynicism, Iis is generally proud of the culture which she represents.

Togetherness is the main characteristic which Iis will never let go of. Helping one-another is a personal value of hers. Neighbors would help build the house of a newcomer, and the rural Indonesian culture consists of very independent people. As mentioned earlier, everyone enjoys sharing in others' success. Iis also has negative perceptions of the strict, Sundanese values. When asked why she perceives them this way, she said unlike herself, they are rarely eager to leave the area, not adaptive. They would rather be with family and not "leaving the family behind".

Until she moved to Japan, Iis did not have a good idea of how the rest of the world may view her culture. She concluded that the Japanese feel as though Indonesians are more cheerful but often lazy. To her defense she described Indonesians as not being lazy, just "laid-back". Iis does not feel that she is lazy whatsoever, as a matter of fact. She has traveled to many countries, researching and learning. One accurate comparison she can make is the "loud" part of others' perceptions. When she is with her friends in a different environment, being energetic and loud is natural for her. Friends are important to her, but everywhere she has traveled, Iis feels that family values have the most cultural importance.

Family picnics in natural settings (beaches, mountains etc.) were a monthly tradition for Iis and her family. Traveling to the beach was easy for her because Indonesia is basically an archipelago of more than 13,500 islands. Her father especially loved to travel and vacations often. Her mother on the other hand, does not find as much time to make a trip because she liked doing housework in addition to her career as a schoolteacher. Growing up as a female did not have an effect on her sporting experiences. Though she did not like to play sports very often (and wasn't very good at it) there was never any pressure from her parents to participate. She still enjoyed occasional hiking with her brother. She also noted that she engages in activities held mainly to promote international cultural exchanges, introducing Indonesia's culture through performances, including dances, ensembles of traditional music instruments, folk songs, etc.

Vacationing to relatives' homes was usually the extent of Iis' journeys as a child, with the duration of about 4 to 5 hours travel. After she graduated from college, Iis traveled to many places with friends. Now, Iis' travel is mostly for business purposes such as conferences and meetings. In the summer, she travels to tourism conferences located in Europe. Some examples she gave were Switzerland, UK, and Finland. Sadly, she and her husband are not living together at the moment, so traveling to visit him is also a reason for vacation. It is obvious that Iis prefers travel over sport. While living in Japan, she visited almost all of the major cities, and some not-so-major. She prefers to travel by herself because independent travel allows alone time and a personal schedule to follow.

Though playing most traditional sports is not her forte, I asked if she enjoyed watching them. Iis has always enjoyed watching Indonesia's main sport- soccer. As in many other countries, soccer games can tend to be very competitive. On some occasions, shops will close early due to a game! Iis feels as though her culture/ethnicity has played a role in how she perceives and enjoys her traveling and recreation. She said that her personality was acquired from her mother and spontaneous ways are from her dad. She tends to be shy around people in the United States in contrast because generally Americans are more open. The Indonesian side of her still makes her feel awkward about possibly being judged, so expressing her wants and needs has made it difficult.