Sore WisJer! : Stereotip vs Realita

Sore WisJer! : Stereotip vs Realita

This time Sore WisJer! brought a bit of nostalgia with our former intern Leon Yastawa from Germany as our guest. During the six months he spend in the City of Heroes – Surabaya – he made a lot of new and interesting experiences, one of them was a culture shock.

Leon who currently studies politics and economics says he is interested in exploring new places and the beauty of Indonesia was one of the reason why he chose to do an internship with Wisma Jerman. Even though Leon has been to Indonesia several times before his internship, some things turned out not to be as expected after his arrival in Surabaya. For example the hot weather in Surabaya on the one side and on the other the extreme cold inside the office or enclosed public spaces like malls was something he needed to get used to first.

Another aspect he mentioned is punctuality. Turns out the definition of being on time is very different between Germany and Indonesia. For Indonesians being only 5 or 10 minutes late is still on time while in Germany this would be already considered too late. Surprisingly Leon then pointed out during Sore WisJer! that trains in Indonesia are more on time than in Germany! When it comes to friendliness Indonesia still leaves the same impression that many tourists remember after a visit, with Leon being no exception. According to him Indonesians are very friendly compared to the average German. Based on his own experience, Indonesians are going out their own way to help a total stranger in need even if they are not able to communicate in English.

When it comes to music Leon surprisingly said he is a fan of an Indonesian singer with Dutch roots – Mawar de Jongh. When a friend showed him one of her songs he immediately liked it. But Leon does not only like Indonesian music, he also is a fan of the Indonesian kitchen and in particular of Nasi Goreng. When asked about the strangest food in Indonesia, Leon stated that he cannot stop thinking about some in his eyes weird food combinations Indonesians enjoy,     e. g. mixing chocolate with cheese which in Germany would be considered very uncommon and unfitting.