Different Cultures, Shared Respect: A Memorable Evening in Bali.

Tag : Keseharian - Asep Haryono | Different Cultures, Shared Respect: A Memorable Evening in Bali. - Powered by Blogger

Hello everyone, especially my favorite bloggers: Mrs. Ananka from Scotland, Madam Mary Kirkland from the United States of America, and Mrs. Irina from Russia. How is it going?

As for me here in Indonesia, I am doing just fine. I would like to apologize for not visiting your blogs during the last two weeks. I have also not written any new blog posts due to the nature of my work. I briefly mentioned my current job in one of my previous posts. I cannot lie to you about this. I have been a bit lazy for some reasons.

Today is May 31st. I would like to share a little story about something that happened when I was working as a part-time volunteer for KangGURU Champions between 2005 and 2010.

One occasion that I still remember happened when I and my fellow volunteers gathered at the home of Mr. Kevin Dalton, an Australian manager of the program. I am quite sure it happened on April 25, 2009. The location was Kevin's home in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

I have edited this story in a comic-style format using real photographs, which I believe makes it more engaging and interesting. To keep a long story short, some of the photos were taken by my friends, while others were taken using my own cellphone camera.

This is the story.

CHAPTER ONE: ARRIVING AT KEVIN'S HOME
Six other KangGURU volunteers and I were invited to visit Kevin Dalton's home near Ubud, Bali. We left our hotel and took a taxi to his house. The journey only took a short time.

We arrived in the area at around 4:00 PM and had to walk for a few minutes before reaching Kevin's home.

I stepped out of the group for a moment to take this photo with my cellphone camera. As you can see, we were walking along a path leading to Kevin's house in the Ubud area of Bali, Indonesia. It looked like a small village path, at least to me.

During the walk, some of us were a little scared because of the barking dogs along the way. Their barking was very loud, and some of the dogs were quite large, which made us nervous.

After we arrived, all seven of us performed our Maghrib prayer first at around 6:00 PM.

Do you know what happened next?

Let's party... yeaaaaa!


CHAPTER TWO: NO BEER, NO PORK, AND NO KISSING
It was around 7:00 PM when the party started. I still remember some of the Australian guests who attended, including staff members from the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation (IALF), the manager of IALF, and several Australian English tutors.

With lively music playing in the background, we danced, sang, and enjoyed ourselves together. There were plenty of beverages, snacks, and cakes available

Some of the food they were making consisted of pork meat, like bacon or hamburgers. I am so sorry if I was mistaken in mentioning the menu. The bottom line is, I enjoyed all Australian cuisines they provided, even though the taste was not too spicy for me as an Indonesian, except pork.

Eating pork meat or all kinds of food consisting of pork as an ingredient was not allowed to consume based on what I believe and my religion, Islam. 

What about beer?

Oh yes, absolutely. There was plenty of beer available too.

I do not remember the brands. They may have been Australian beers or local Indonesian beers.

As we all know, Bali is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, famous for its culture, traditions, heritage, and cuisine. Visitors from around the world come to Bali every year, 

Ok I have enclosed herewith some photos were taken at the moment.  Some of the photos were taken Ririn (KangGuru Champions from Kediri, Central Java, Indonesia) and some photos created by IALF or KangGuru Indonesia.

From left to right: me, Sue Rodger from England, and Kevin Dalton, the KangGuru Manager. I watched them as they prepared our dinner that evening. Most of the menu featured Australian dishes, which were not too spicy for me.

Do you think I was going to drink that beer? Not at all. The photo was taken just for fun and as a pose. In reality, I did not drink it. As a Muslim, I do not consume beer, wine, or any other alcoholic beverages because of my religious beliefs.
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Kevin Dalton (left), the KangGuru Manager and host of the gathering, was chatting with other Australians, most of whom were expatriates and English teachers who had been living in Bali for many years.

I was sitting on the floor with Australian fellows 

Can you spot where I was in the photograph? Yes that is right. That is my Indonesian friends. I meant some of people in this photograph are from different provinces in Indonesia.  The lady on the right side is Ayu from KangGuru Indonesia, She was now in foreigh country, as senior Yoga instructor

We danced like crazy that night. This photograph shows all the KangGuru representatives enjoying themselves on the dance floor. I wasn't in the picture, probably because I was off doing something else. To be honest, I can't dance at all, and that's probably a good thing for everyone!

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From left to right: Sue Rodger from England, Ana from Australia, a senior full-time English teacher at IALF Denpasar, Bali, and the person on the right? Aha! That's me, for sure, wearing a big smile.

Can you spot the man behind me on the left? That's Kevin Dalton, the KangGuru Manager and the owner of the house where the gathering was held. He invited us, together with several staff members from KangGuru Indonesia and IALF. Most of our Australian friends were expatriates and English teachers who had lived in Bali for many years.

Ok let's continue

One of the Australian guests offered me some beer and a pork burger. My friends and I appreciated his kindness and generosity. However, all of the KangGURU volunteers from Indonesia were Muslims. According to our religious beliefs, we do not drink alcohol or eat pork.

We were very happy to join the party and spend time with everyone. The hospitality shown by our Australian friends was wonderful. However, we also wanted to remain consistent with our religious values and personal beliefs.

The party ended at around 10:00 PM. Before long, it would be midnight, and it was time for us to return to our hotel in Denpasar.

Before leaving, my Indonesian friends and I shook hands and exchanged friendly hugs with many of the guests. We tried to keep everything respectful and appropriate.

One Australian lady whom I had just greeted with a handshake attempted to greet me more warmly and tried to kiss me while giving me a friendly hug. Politely and respectfully, I stepped back and explained that, according to my religion. Islam, physical affection such as kissing between an unmarried man and woman is not permitted.

For me personally, that kind of gesture was not customary because of my cultural background, personal values, and religious beliefs as an Indonesian .

I thanked her for her kindness, continued shaking her hand, and smiled. Hopefully, she understood and respected my identity and beliefs.

We then left Kevin's home while many of the Australian guests stayed behind to continue enjoying the party.

We returned to our hotel in Denpasar, Bali.

Well, guys, that's the story.

I would like to thank my friends who allowed me to use their photographs for this article.
Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my short story about my experience in Bali.

Bye byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

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A Message From Asep Haryono

 

"Thank you so much for your time here. I really appreciate your precious moment here as well.  Please leave any comment down below.  Let me hear from you.  Greetings from Indonesia"