drbruce
There just doesn't seem to be enough time to write about life over here and do everything else. Since Roy asked how things are here - culturally, etc. I thought that I would include here writing from my family page on my cyberbali site. Some of the references are things that only my family would understand, but the general ideas should be clear enough, particularly to regulars on the Forum. I'm starting with the last update on the family page in October.October 23, 2005 Well, we are over half-way through Ramadhan. Rebecca is doing her first year of full fasting, Mercedes has been fasting for years, Sam is doing his first year of half-day fasting, and Meredith "fasts" for two or three hours. After the first few days, fasting is fairly easy; the difficult part is the lack of sleep as we get up at 3:30 to eat and then go back to sleep for an hour before we start the day. Since I go to bed at 10:00 and get to sleep around 10:30, that means that I get about 5 hours of sleep a day which gets tiring during the working week. On Saturday and Sunday, I sleep until 9:00 so that re-energizes me. The kids are off school for the whole holiday so they can sleep all they want. We have about another 12 days of Ramadhan and then Lebaran (in Indonesian) and Eid in most other places.I've spent years living in two Muslim countries during Ramadhan: Pakistan and Indonesia. It would be interesting to live in Saudi or Lebanon or Egypt during Ramadhan to see how they deal with the fasting month. That has become one of the things that I would like to do when I retire - spend a few weeks wandering around those countries during Ramadhan to see what it is like there. People's behavior during Ramadhan says a lot about the national culture. (Yes, K., I still think that there is such a thing as a national culture. AFC Wallace had a major influence on my thinking as I can now see.)We had the first bites of our first fruit on The Farm (as I now call the house and grounds in Sekongkang). We picked our first watermelon today. It was exquisitely sweet with a minimum of seeds. The kids were excited and devoured the whole thing in minutes. Su was out with her camera (my very nice Nikon that I bought years ago in Singapore when I still had a lot of money) taking photos of the picking of the first fruit. We have tomatoes and chillies and eggplant growing with carrots and some other veggies about to be planted. Our sunflowers are growing as are our other flowers. Most of the mango trees survived the five weeks without water and now that the monsoons seem to be upon us, they are turning green and growing. If things go well, in another three years we will have a thriving mango crop.We're down to 21 meters on the well that we are drilling and still no water. The guy doing the drilling wants to move to the front yard which I'm not thrilled about as the grass is just starting to come in. But, we need to have an independent source of water from the village supply which we now know is unreliable.Our mother hen is fiercely guarding her eggs which she sits on constantly, and we are all looking forward to a bunch of chicks soon. We are still waiting on the mother goat to have her twins. The geese and rabbits don't seem to be pregnant so I think we have same sex animals, and Apple would love to make babies, but we need to find a good mate for him.In response to Nancy, I am posting a photo of all of the children, and I hope that it will be as good as the goat photo.I had another article published in Kabar magazine which is a Jakarta based mag. The kids and Su find it exciting that I have something published in a print mag.Computer-wise, I can't see how I managed to live without having 1 Gb. of DRAM and a 120 Gb hard drive. This computer is amazingly fast compared to anything that I've owned.I've spent this weekend working around the house and the yard. Saturday, I took out my Indonesian-style grass cutter and did the back and front yards which took me several hours, as they consume a considerable amount of space. Unfortunately, for me, this machine shoots up rocks and peebles at a wide variety of angles. I took four solid hits in the leg which gave me four large cuts and a huge lump on my foot from a rather large rock that came rocketing back at me. Seems that I need to get some tall boots to protect my legs. I was wearing safety goggles which was fortunate as I took several hits in the face as well. There is a photo of my machine down below. I saw a really nice lawn mower that you can ride at ACE hardware in Bali, but at $2,500 I'll go with my $100 model. On Sunday, I put a locally made grouting material around our bathroom sink. Will see how that works out in the next few days.The point of the paragraph above is that I came to a moment of epihany while I was cutting the grass and thinking about where I could get some good grass seed to use on parts of the yard that were destroyed by my less than brain-surgeon construction guys who kept making cement on the grass instead of on a sheet of plywood that was provided. As I was considering this, I realized that I've taken on the characteristics of an American suburban homeowner while living on a tropical island in Indonesia. Somehow I missed this revelation when I was attending school board meetings a few weeks ago. Then, too, Su spends most of her day during Ramadhan baking goods for the less fortunate which are distributed at the local mosque after evening prayers. The kids are on vacation for the month of Ramadhan, not unlike American kids who get a few weeks off at Christmas time. We watch a 43-inch television with a satellite feed from Jakarta: the kids watch the Disney Channel or the Cartoon Network, Su watches Indonesian soaps, and I watch the Playoffs and the World Series on ESPN. We take hot showers (when we have water - ok this list of similarities to American suburban life has to veer off somewhere), have air conditioned bedrooms, and everyone reads the Jakarta Pos daily. We have the family dog, two rabbits, two parakeets, a parrot and some other bird (the two geese and two goats are another veer), two motorbikes, and a new car. Workers are out in the front yard laying a driveway so that we can get our vehicles in and out during the monsoon season. One living room wall is taken up with five bookcases, and two computers. So the question then is am I bringing American culture to Sekongkang, or is an Indonesianized version of American culture really taking over here? A good anthropologist would answer these questions with some fieldwork, and I have been doing something like that without invading people's homes. (OK, George DeVos, my mentor at Cal, was right. I do have this thing about normal fieldwork techniques.) But, from my limited research, I've found that the people that can afford the luxuries that we have, buy them. When we had the schoolboard meetings about assessing parents to buy computers for the school, the questions weren't about whether computers were good educationally (people assumed that they were after hearing the presentation from the teachers and administrators), but how they could make affordable payments. Parents here in Sekongkang, a quiet little village on a remote island, want the same things for their children (and themselves) that American parents want for their children. Besides the epihany about the yard, readings from some expat websites and American ones, which demonize Islam and Muslims, have sparked these thoughts.The purpose of these sites appears to be to set Muslims against the rest of the world. The Muslim fanatics do a good enough job of that with their suicide bombings, particularly the most recent in Bali. The anti-Muslim sites work on the basis of depicting Muslims as unknowable, irrational others from cultures willfully living in a non-recoverable past bent on conquering the world.
Jimbo
Ramadan in Saudi depends on a. how rich you are b. what kind of job you have and c. what kind of company you work for.If you are rich you tend to go to bed very late 1 or 2 in the morning. Get up for prayers and food and then go back to bed to escape the worst of the fast. In the evenings you eat very rich food and then go out shopping to the shops that stay open intil 2 am.Poor and manual workers work pretty much as normal, many looking after the rich and work a reduced day.Government workers and those working for Saudi owned companies will work a maximum of 6 hours.All in all its taken very seriously and religeously but more and more its like in the christian countries for christmas where the spirit is gradually changing to a more secular feast. Many newspapers here comment upon this.
drbruce
Thanks for the information Jimbo. The situation in Pakistan is not that much different although shopping doesn't stay open quite so late.
pooochie
Dear Dr BruceI am not looking for a fight here :shock: , I have spent many years living in the US 8) and very much appreciate the people :) . I like your posts, they show that you have a great deal of intelligence and that you are very knowledgeable . I am writing the following on my holidays stuck in the snow and wishing to be in Bali :( So the question then is am I bringing American culture to Sekongkang, or is an Indonesianized version of American culture really taking over here?[/quote]Please, if I may, let me induldge you in my perception on this. Please bearn in mind I am only 29 years old, and it is good to have creative thought through constructive criticism.and two computers.[/quote]The first computer was invented by an Englishman called Charles Babbage back in the 1830's. The first modern computer was actually invented by an Englishman as well, Sir Harold Thomas Flowers in the 1930's.Some people claim that his computer, COLOSSUS, as "a computer that very likely saved the world". The reason that most people were taught differently was that American Cultural History has been altered by opportunism. The Colossus project was a state secret of the British until very recently. I watch the Playoffs and the World Series on ESPN[/quote]So too sport, I would imagine you watch American Football, the term 'football' derives from old Celtic folk games, there have been many forms of this game through the ages. Arguably soccer was invented in London in 1863 when men sat down to codify the games that they had enjoyed playing at their "public schools". An association called "The Football Association" was formed. The word "soccer" is short for "Association Football", as distinct from "Rugby Football", which was another sport codified by ex public schoolboys in the late 19th century. We watch a 43-inch television[/quote]Now to TV. On December 2, 1922, in Sorbonne, France, Edwin Belin, an Englishman, who held the patent for the transmission of photographs by wire as well as fiber optics and radar, demonstrated a mechanical scanning device that was an early precursor to modern television. Belin's machine took flashes of light and directed them at a selenium element connected to an electronic device that produced sound waves. These sound waves could be received in another location and remodulated into flashes of light on a mirror. Up until this point, the concept behind television was established. However as modern television this goes to Zworykin, who was born in Russian and later become a scientist in America, is usually credited as being the father of modern television. This was because the patent for the heart of the TV, the electron scanning tube, was first applied for by Zworykin in 1923, under the name of an iconoscope. with a satellite feed[/quote]It was the Russians that invented the first satellite (ref:Sputnik).What about the telephone? Ask who really invented the telephone, and you may get the name of a German, Philipp Reis, not Alexander Graham Bell. Reis died two years before Bell received his patent. He was only 40, and he never did get around to seeking a patent for his device.One living room wall is taken up with five bookcases[/quote]So to books well we all know that no one knows one really knows who invented the written text, scribes and religious people throughout the millennia have copied the written text of their previous bretheren. The book though is a mechanicalally copied text, so it was invented by a German called Johannes Gutenberg back in 1450. He had Bibles copied on his machines by 1455. We could go on for ages....the point is that the American Culture you know is not American. There may be more patents in America but this does not constitute the invention of an item that changes culture. We all work together. Look lastly to the stealth bomber/fighter - American? No. German actually taken from plans drawn up during the second world war by Hitlers men. Most of the great advances in American culture including warfare, rockets, space etc. have actually been developed by European scientists, many of them being German.What I have said is just what I have read. For example it could be claimed that the Chinese had already used mechanical means for creating books a long time previous to the German inventor. I am not a expert in any of these matters, so apologise if I am wrong on any of this.So back to the question and my conclusion:So the question then is am I bringing American culture to Sekongkang, or is an Indonesianized version of American culture really taking over here?[/quote]This is the problem with the American people (stricly my opnion, so don't take to heart :) ) - both your choices to answer the question state that it was American Culture either way. [b]What about the rest of us? [/b]So in my humble view, as a Balinese, it is not American culture or an Indonesianised version of American culture, [b]it's just modernisation taken from all cultures[/b]. Including Europeans, Asians etc. and of course this includes Americans in many ways.In Bali we now have KFC, Coca Cola, TV Sports and Soaps, famous Hotels, a drugs problem and Aids.Don't think I am pointing towards the Americans for things like drugs problems as the British took over Hong Kong to control trade and one of the greatest assets they wanted control of was opium.Yours sincerlyNi Luh---Here is a couple of questions for everybody:[b]"What is American Culture :?: "[/b][b]"What does American Culture bring to Indonesia :?: "[/b]This should incite a good debate :lol:
dahlia
I think what Dr Bruce said about bringing American culture ...... was just about things that most american have in common....watching tv, baseball, having pets, internet, computers etc.... They are things that they do everyday and become the culture or habit of their life. Pardon me if I am wrong!But your information is impressive. Happy New Year!
pooochie
[b]Re: RE: daily life in sumbawa[/b]Hi Dahlia,Maybe you are right and I am wrong. However, Dr Bruce is an Anthropologist and I believe his post is therefore from an Anthropologists point of view. I was simply trying to give my point of view on the subject of American Cultural influence on Indonesia with regard to his question.!I think what Dr Bruce said about bringing American culture ...... was just about things that most american have in common....watching tv, baseball, having pets, internet, computers etc.... They are things that they do everyday and become the culture or habit of their life. [/quote]Well it's not just Americans that watch TV, sports (baseball is unique more to them), have pets, use the internet and computers etc. It's the whole world. Yes TV culture is more adopted in the US than Indonesia, but it is just as popular in Europe and many other parts of the world as in America. In South Korea they watch many sports on TV, as opposed to an arena of play, such as a Football ground. So my point is that the question had two choices and they both were American Culture. I am just trying to justify that what Americans call 'American Culture' has already been derived, in part, from other cultures. Therefore the answer cannot be 'American Culture'. Who won the Second World War? The Americans? Or was it the Allies? Unbelievably there are differing opinions on this. Speak to Russians some believe that if not for them the war was lost. Could be true. We are becoming one world - more and more and people need to realise this whether one likes it or not. Who are the big consumers of the next few decades - the Chinese. As they buy electronics such as TV's, fridges, have more sports, use computers and surf the net - does this mean that if not for American Cultural influence they would not be doing it? Any reader try an audit on your modern items, including your car etc. and see where the majority are manufactured, it's an interesting result.I believe the greatest influence on this cultural change is: freedom to use and ability to buy, followed by the mass media advertising of 'you've got to have it'. Only fifty years ago most western homes did not have a TV. Now due very much so to the Asian manufacturing of cheap electronics to the West, from Japan to begin with, the consumers can easily afford to purchase TVs for every room in the house. I would imagine most Indonesians that do not currently own a TV would have one if they could afford it and where will it be manufactured? Globalisation is here to stay and will only grow. The monopolies commissions proved with Microsoft that they are now allowing companies to become giants and therefore influence worldwide politics and henceforth cultures. It's not who invents but who uses and how it is used. The Pizza is Italian but the tomatoes came from the America's. The chilli also, could be wrong here, which is now so well associated with Asian food culture.I must stress again I like Americans so this is not a dig, just a debate. I believe Dr Bruce will intelligently realise that this is a constructive post. I hope the readers will realise my post is talking about the American Cultural influence from an Anthropology perspective, something I know nothing about, apart from personal experience and some desktop study during an afternoon of a snowy cold winter outside. RegardsNi Luh
Ipanema
Ni LuhVery impressive I would have you on my debate team anytime. As a non acedemic and one who is suppose to be working I am enjoying this very much. Please continue. I am learning.Can't wait for Dr Bruce's post.Thank you all.Tina
dahlia
Ni Luh,It's not about who is right or wrong, they are just my preseption from reading his journal. I will leave it to dr Bruce to argue.As I said earlier, pardon me if I was wrong.Thanks
Kadek
This is indeed a very interesting topic, though I don't know much about it. It is a very good learning experience and looking forward to Dr.Bruce's comments on Ni Luh's posts. :P I am just trying to justify that what Americans call 'American Culture' has already been derived, in part, from other cultures. Therefore the answer cannot be 'American Culture'. [/quote]I agree with Ni Luh's statement. Unless one talks about the cultures of the Native American (Indian) then what referred to as "the American Culture" has been derived from cultures of those people who settled in the continent from other countries and whatever modernization that comes since the Technological Revolution and of course there will be a new culture from the assimilation and modernism throughout the years. This is perhaps similar to what Australian called Australian Culture as distinct from the Aboriginal Culture????? :?: I am feeling very lucky indeed that in a way the Balinese culture and tradition are still alive and well and is so starkly different from the modern culture that I can take refuge from all the hectic modern trappings in the Balinese cultural mystics, simplicity and modesty but yet sophisticated philosophy on life and spirituality. :P :D :D I would think that many Australian would go back to their ancestral parents' cultural roots to take refuge from the modern day Australian culture. :?: Would young Americans still have this option if they choose to get away from the modern worlds?? :?: I believe the greatest influence on this cultural change is: freedom to use and ability to buy, followed by the mass media advertising of 'you've got to have it'. [/quote]Yes. On the question of what is American Culture? The things that comes to my mind are pretty negative ones "mass consumerism, coca cola, unhealthy fast food, Hollywood - one person superhero saving the planet type of movies and corporate greed (as in doc. The Corporation). :( Perhaps these are the types of influences that we can now see in many parts of the world. I don't know whether these trends originated from America - but they seem to be very closely akin to America???????????????? :?: I would imagine most Indonesians that do not currently own a TV would have one if they could afford it [/quote]And TV is now more affordable and common then ever and I guess is already as much a part of ordinary households (at least in Bali, I don't know about the rest of Indonesia). I can still remember the first time my Dad bought our first 16 inch B&W TV when I was very little. It was still rare and a novelty at that time and it was perhaps the first in the street and I could still remember how on many nights especially on a Saturday night there would be lots of people gathering at my parent's place to watch Drama (kind of Balinese soaps) or Arja on TV. :shock: The Pizza is Italian but the tomatoes came from the America's. The chilli also, could be wrong here, which is now so well associated with Asian food culture. [/quote]Absolutely fascinating to think that what we consider as a core part of our culinary culture has been introduced from other parts of the world and in a sense we now never consider it as introduced or as foreign influenced. I read that potato, which is so much part of Western diet now also originated from Tropical America. :shock: Best Regards,Kadek
drbruce
Good morning everyone. Wow, Ni Luh, what a post! And certainly one that deserves a thoughtful answer. Unfortunately right now, I'm rushing around trying to get things together so that I can take the family back to Bali for my son's sunat. I'll piece something together in a few days. I'm hoping that I can find some temporary way to connect to the internet from my house in Singaraja while I'm there, and I'll post a reply then.Certainly no offense taken on my part by your comments or questions. Just something to get started with - and I apologize if this is misreading of your comments; I'm just checking mail at school and getting some appointments in Bali set while I have email so I kind of multi-tasking here and answering family emails and stuff from my website and trying to find the social studies curriculum that I've just spent six months writing. And, I wanted to write something because you have raised many very interesting issues.(A slight aside in regards to Kadek's comment about tv being common in Bali and not knowing about the rest of Indonesia.) Here's an abbreviated view of the technological situation in our area of Sumbawa- the majority of villagers here did not have electricity [well legal electricity anyway] until just six months ago. We still have no telephones in the village, no dentists, and a very new puskesmas. The closest hospital is five hours away. The junior high is just now opening up their first computer lab; the elementary school has two - one somewhat quaint antique and a new one that was donated by a foreign computer teacher. The village went without running water for five weeks just a few months ago and people ended up doing all of their laundry, bathing, washing dishes, etc, in the river. Bali is like another planet technologically compared with Sekongkang - probably why I'm so fond of this place (my old hippie "get back to the land" thing from the 60s). I still have some luddite impulses in spite of being something of a technophile.I've got a few more hours before I have to get back to The Farm. So just a few more quick thoughts. It seems that you may have misinterpreted my statement about American culture and Indonesian culture. I actually wasn't making an academic statement about either, or I certainly would have been a bit more structured in my comments. They were meant to be observations not a detailed analysis. So no harm, no foul. (I think that's an "American" saying.)The second thing would be that I was looking at what specific influence I might be having (this is an anthropologist's general concern [or it should be anyway] when working in another culture) in this small village. Something like Star Trek's Prime Directive. Back to the "American" comment. I'm known here as the American (and the only foreigner in the village) and with that go a pack of cultural traits that people here attach to me as part of their perception of Americans and their culture. Is there an American culture? Yes I believe so (although many of my younger colleagues would probably argue that point with me), but there are also regional varients, and the culture sure does change. Please remember, that I've lived over here for the past 16 years, the culture is changing as all cultures do. Case in point, I was watching some mindless American show the other day while working on lesson plans and one woman (a white one) called the other woman (also a white one) a "ho". Now, why does mainstream America pick up this linguistic nugget from African-American culture and not something else?So, to carry this illustration on just further. I mention this because the last time I was in the US (three days for my eldest son's wedding), I felt so displaced that I spent most of my time thinking about how long before I could get back to Asia.As you say, it's not who invented it but who uses it. Cultures change through a variety of mechanisms, and the difussion of cultural traits is just one way, but, I feel, an important one. So to deny that a culture is American, or Balinese, or Pakistani, because the infrastructure or superstructure is built on elements derived from other cultures seems to me to being denying the way that people organize their views of the world. Something similar to when someone says to me, "oh she's mixed blood." What does that mean? We're all "mixed blood" on a genetic basis. If it's using blood as a metaphor for culture, sure I completely agree.America, for better or worse (unfortunately these days more for the latter than the former), still carries a big stick. The whole issue of cultural hegemony and America's role is one that I would like to discuss more, if Bert doesn't think this is way off topic.I hope that this addresses some of the points that you raised. I'll try to write something more thoughtful over the next few days.And thanks Tina, Dahlia, and Kadek for your contributions as well.Regards.
pooochie
Dear Dr BruceThank you for your quick reply. I shall look forward to reading to your further posts on this matter and if permitted with my lack of merits debating with you.It seems that you may have misinterpreted my statement about American culture and Indonesian culture. I actually wasn't making an academic statement about either, or I certainly would have been a bit more structured in my comments. They were meant to be observations not a detailed analysis. [/quote]My apology if I misinterpreted your post. To tell you the truth I have wanted to debate with you for sometime and perhaps pick your brains. So no harm, no foul. (I think that's an "American" saying.)[/quote]Indeed. "Nothing ventured nothing gained". America is sitting on a pedestal and her every action is being scrutinised by the world. Our discussion certainly has no harm and foul motives behind it, but it is a "storm in a tea cup" as most people, in my opinion, have interesting and sometimes very strong opinions about the USA.Bali is like another planet technologically compared with Sekongkang ............. [/quote]Interesting illustration concerning Sekongkang. I have never been there myself, but I am certainly interested in exploring many parts of Indonesia. It would be interesting to see whether I could survive without the comforts of modern technology that I am accustomed with. This reminds me of when I was visiting relatives in Java, I went to the lavatory room and found gold fishes in the water basin (ref: mandi). I was not sure whether to use the water or not, but since there was no other water resources I presumed that was the case. It was a deep "bak" so I made sure I did not harm them and left some water for the fishes. The second thing would be that I was looking at what specific influence I might be having (this is an anthropologist's general concern [or it should be anyway] when working in another culture) in this small village. Something like Star Trek's Prime Directive.[/quote]Would you also be so kind as to perhaps include Sekongkang as one of the case studies on your further answers? The idea of "Star Trek's Prime Directive" is indeed intriguing : "No expedition may interfere with the natural development of other civilizations", so the only answer if you do not wish to break the 'Prime Directive' is a clocking device. But don't take your helmet off like Data (ref: Insurrection) :lol:but there are also regional varients, and the culture sure does change[/quote]I am in agreement with you. The USA is so vast and to me quite fascinating. Having lived in several places in the States I do appreciate the differing roots and cultures across the country. Now, why does mainstream America pick up this linguistic nugget from African-American culture and not something else?[/quote]I certainly picked up a few different types of "nugget"(s). I lived in Texas for a short period of time. I remembered my sponsored mother told me that when I left Texas I would love country music. First time I did not believe her, but she was right. I love country music and everything about the wild west. I went to the loc high school and everyone was wearing cowboy boots, so I ended up purchasing a pair and loved them to bits. When I got home from school the country music channels were on in the background with line dancing.Back to matter in hand, 'American Culture'. I think it is only fair if I share briefly my opinion of what I think of "Made in America": the positive ones straight out of my head based on my first impression when I set foot in the States: 1.Freedom of speech. I was personally impressed seeing students asking thought provoking questions and yet the teachers patiently explaining and debating the subject matter. Having most my pre-university education in Indonesia I can see the comparison, inter alia, whatever the teacher (Indonesian) said is gospel. I just thought the idea of "Freedom of speech" is important as entices one's mind to be creative hence new ideas/inventions/discoveries are formed.2.All men are created equal (I am sure the founding fathers have women too in mind).This is an interesting one as we know at the beginning in practice not all men in the US have equal rights (ref: skin colours). Interestingly in Britain they don't have this Maxim. The Queen/King in theory are not equal to but higher than any men and women. As most American founding fathers are British descendents instead using old English Maxim "long live the King/Queen" they created a new unique one.3.Separation between state and church. If my memory serves me correctly. This was a heated debate in my American Government class (high school) as my teacher tried to explain that the relation between one and the creator is a personal affair, hence it is not for the state to interfere. Coming from Indonesia whereby "Pancasila" first commandment is "every Indonesian must believe in God", inter alia at least belong to one of the officially known religions or beliefs, certainly raised my attention. Many thanks.Yours sincerelyNi Luh
pooochie
Typo: clocking device. [/quote]cloaking device not clocking device.
Jimbo
A fact that is well known through the entire developed as well as the developing world is that the Engish invented anything and everything that is worthwhile.......unless of course the Scots did it and even then we stole the idea.The Americans proceeded to make a bigger version and the Japanese a better one. English is of course the foremost language for communication and to prove how good we are my wife married one. What else is there to say on this subject.PS. I have to go to the dentist right now to remove my tongue from my cheek.
drbruce
A fact that is well known through the entire developed as well as the developing world is that the Engish invented anything and everything that is worthwhile.......unless of course the Scots did it and even then we stole the idea.The Americans proceeded to make a bigger version and the Japanese a better one. English is of course the foremost language for communication and to prove how good we are my wife married one. What else is there to say on this subject.PS. I have to go to the dentist right now to remove my tongue from my cheek.[/quote]Dear Ni Luh,Check out this website, [url="http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html"]http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html[/url], for some interesting reading about national characteristics, not just Americans, but many others as well. No one has written about Indonesia. Maybe you would like to do it. If you check the site out, you'll find that it is a mixture of seriousness and humor.I pretty much said everything that I wanted to say the first time, other than that when you wrote "the point is that the American Culture you know is not American," you missed the point about what America is - at least on ideological and technological levels. One of the key concepts behind the "melting pot" is that America takes what comes in and through a dialectic adapts it as its own. A personal illustration would be my late father whose ancestors came from Germany. He used to say (too often for my siblings and I), "if it wasn't for the Germans, America wouldn't be America." My mother, in an excellent comeback, found a newspaper advertisement that read, "If it's not German, how good could it be?" By the way, you should really have included the influence of foreign intellectuals: Rousseau, Foucauld, Sartre, Fanon, Einstein, Marx, Freud, the Frankfurt School, Levi-Strauss, Plato, Aristotle, Arthur Koestler, and many more, of course.Thanks Jimbo, funny as always. I was actually coming up with a response in a similar vein. Something like:Well, shur them folks was furin, but they all wants to be Amuricans. And if they don't, they're commies and we gots every right in the world to take their stuff. And Sekongkang. Well more on that another time. I have to get off to Bali in the morning and need to pack.Regards and happy new year.
