Everyone knows that Malaysia and Indonesia are neighbours and practically share an identical language (no, I am NOT getting into the politics of it). Even so, the differences make living here an incredible adventure... After many blank looks and 'uhhhh...'s I have had to change the way I speak bahasa. I know I'm improving because I don't get so many blank looks now... Also the multi-talented Mr.D is an incredible walking fount of all things Indonesian.
I thought I'd share some common things that tripped me up in my early days here in Jakarta. I get into lots of trouble because I tend to chat to everyone. As Hubs likes to say, I speak more to our staff in 5mins than he does in 2 months... Then again, he doesn't go much beyond, 'buat kopi, ya' (make coffee) and 'pulang rumah' (go home).
One of my hobbies is shopping. Not quite a shopaholic, but I loooovvveeee browsing. Jakarta is great because there is a mall for every walk of life selling anything and everything. My source of all things money related, ie The Man, once told me that he read somewhere that Jakarta has the most number of malls per capita than any other Asian country. There are close to 30mil people in Jakarta. That's more than the WHOLE of Malaysia. That's mind boggling... So, there I was, a newcomer to Jakarta, and I thought I'd pop into this store and get something for kiddo. The lovely shopgirl (they're ALL nice, All beautiful and actually know their job!) asked me if kiddo was a boy or a girl. Except she didn't say, 'laki atau perempuan?' like we do in KL. It was 'cewek atau cowok?' On seeing my blank stare, she then said, 'boy or girl Ibu?' I definitely know I'm not the only one who has had these encounters. Occasionally they will say 'putra' (prince) or 'puteri' (princess). That at least sounds better. Somehow 'cewek' and 'cowok' just sound to me like they're describing bodily functions of some sort. Ok, they've worked out it's for a girl, umur 5 (age 5). Then comes the 'rok' (skirt), 'celana' (trousers), kaos (shirt), 'blos' (blouse), dress (YES!! that's the same! But I think it's for my benefit. Haven't mustered the energy to ask what it is in BI yet) discussion. All I can say is I'm glad I generally shop when the stores first open at 10am as I usually get about 3 or 4 sales people around me and between us I have so far always been able to get what I want.
Oh and shoes are 'sepatu' not 'kasut'; fridges are 'kulkas' not 'peti sejuk'; rabbits are 'kelinci' not 'arnab'; frogs are 'kodok' not 'katak'; glue is 'lem'; carrots are 'wortel'; motocycles are 'motor', cars are 'mobil' not 'kereta', 'kereta' is short for 'kereta api' which is train. I remember Mr.D's predecessor insisting that there were no 'kereta' in our area when we were plainly stuck in the middle of a traffic jam... Which is 'macet' in BI.
The list goes on and on. My staff are great. If I say something weird, they just laugh and tell me the correct word to use. Latest discussion was on sentence fillers... I've worked out 'dong' and 'sih', but 'kok' (!!!!).... Sorry, I just don't think I will ever be able to just drop 'kok' into a sentence with a straight face.
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