The Balinese

Sitting around with my two new Balinese friends, Ketuk and Made, I learned a lot of interesting things about their culture.

First, Bali is a Hindu island, while the rest of Indonesia is Muslim. When the ancestors of the Balinese where living in Java, they were forced to convert to Islam or flee the island. They chose the latter and took only a select few people. This mostly included royalty, artists and people with certain invaluable skills. So, when a Balinese person tells you they are descendents of royalty, they probably are.

Second, over 90 percent of the Balinese smoke. Made (Ma Day) told me he had tried to quit several times, but had failed because everyone around him smoked, causing him to crave the nicotine even more. Phillip-Morris is doing a good job over here. Everyone smokes Marlboros.

A pack of cigarettes only cost 10,000 rupiah, which to the Indonesians is a lot, but is only a tad over one US dollar.

Third, from my own observation, the Balinese are a culture of sweepers. Wherever I go, people are sweeping. All day long …sweep, sweep, sweep. Even when something is clean, they go over it again just to be sure. They love to keep busy doing little things like cleaning. It’s very unusual to see.

Finally, the three countries that visit Bali the most are 1) Australia, 2) Japan, and 3) Holland. On the final leg of my journey, the plane was full of Japanese tourist groups. I guess that makes sense now. You will also see a lot of restaurants and activities geared towards the Japanese culture. I guess they know whose spending the money here.

Some other things I’ve noticed: They are always calling you ‘Hey Boss’ or ‘Mr. Rob,’ everybody rides a motorbike, they honk the horn constantly, they are always calling out “you need transport,” they smile a lot and are very friendly people, they ask many questions, dogs are everywhere and are considered sacred (good luck), they wear flip-flop sandals so they can easily take them off before they enter a room, they put out incense type baskets to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits, and finally, everyone is talking on a cell phone.

I’m sure there are many more things I’m missing, but that is a brief overview of my conversation with Ketuk and Made, and also some of my own observations.