Intercultural Communication Assignment

Suatu hari saudara saya dari Bandung datang berkunjung ke Surabaya untuk beberapa hari. Waktu itu, saudara saya baru menduduki kelas 4 SD. Jadi, ia tidak terlalu banyak mengetahui bahasa Surabaya, lebih tepatnya bahasa Jawa yang sangat dominan di Surabaya. Saya masih ingat waktu itu saya pergi berenang dengan saudara saya karena ia hobi berenang. Kemudian setelah berenang sekalian lama, ibu dari saudara saya atau tante saya berteriak sambil mengatakan “Ayo sudah, nyebrang!”. Saya yang masih di dalam kolam berenang berpikir sejenak dan terdiam. Apa maksud dari tante saya menyuruh saya menyeberang? Padahal saya berada di dalam kolam berenang, bukan di jalan raya. Sambil saya berpikir, saudara saya segera menepi ke pinggir kolam renang dan keluar dari kolam renang. Kemudian sambil bertanya-tanya, saya juga mengikuti saudara saya keluar dari kolam renang. Setelah itu, saya bertanya kepada tante saya, mengapa ia menyuruh saya untuk “nyebrang”. Kemudian ia dan saudara saya tertawa terbahak-bahak. Lalu ia menjelaskan pada saya bahwa “nyebrang” itu adalah bahasa Bandung yang artinya “mentas” dalam bahasa Jawa. Setelah saya mendengar itu, saya juga langsung tertawa terbahak-bahak karena saya merasa terlihat bodoh tadi. Sebelumnya saya tidak tahu kalau “nyebrang” dalam bahasa Bandung berarti “mentas” dalam Jawa. Saya merasa malu ketika tante saya mengatakan “nyebrang” pada saya, saya sempat berpikir kalau tante saya benar-benar menyuruh saya untuk “menyeberang”. Bahkan waktu itu, saya benar-benar berpikir sejenak, untuk apa saya menyeberang dalam kolam renang? Untung saja saudara saya segera keluar dari kolam renang, sehingga saya mengikutinya. Kalau tidak, tante saya bisa meneriaki saya lagi, dan bisa-bisa orang mengira saya tuli :) Juga ada beberapa kata dalam bahasa Bandung yang memiliki arti yang berbeda dengan bahasa Surabaya. Seperti kata “pisan” dalam bahasa Bandung yang memiliki arti “banyak”, sedangkan “pisan” dalam bahasa Surabaya berarti “juga”. Masih banyak kata lain yang membuat kami bingung satu sama lain. Jad selama saudara saya di Surabaya, kami saling bertukar kata-kata, agar kami tidak saling salah mengerti satu sama lain. Akhirnya, sekarang saya jadi mengetahui beberapa kata-kata Bandung yang berbeda arti dengan bahasa Surabaya.

The different culture between Taiwan and Indonesia has shocked me out. I went vacation to Taiwan with my parent in May last year. We went to Taiwan because my father wants to see his best friends when he was a college student there. First, it seems their cultures are similar with our cultures, yet we have a different culture with them. One day, my father and his friends made an appointment to meet each other. Then, we meet in a restaurant as we have our dinner. But, when we met each other for the first time, we have a short silent time. Apparently, we were waiting each other to extend each other’s hands first. My father had extended his hand to his woman friend, but she did not respond it immediately. After they were shaking hand, my mother waited the other friend of my father-which was a man-to extend his hand first. But, he did not extend his hand until my mother took the initiative to extend her hand first. Finally, they were shaking hands. After that, we still confused why we were waiting each other to extend his or her hand first? Yet, after a short explanation from both my father and his friends, we understood why that happening could happen.

It is indeed so that we have similar cultures between Taiwan and Indonesia, but still we have a difference also. Like I said before, we were waiting each other to extend each other’s hands first. Actually, there is an explanation about that incident. First, in Indonesia, women usually wait for a man to extend his hand. A man should extend his hand first to a woman, to show his gentleness. In Indonesia, the men are the people who take the first initiative compare to the women. In contrast, in Taiwan, men should wait for a woman to extend her hand first. If they want to shake hand, a woman must extend her hand first then the man will respond it. It is not about the right one and the wrong one. It is not also about which one is more good or bad. It is about the cultures. Every country, even every area has its own cultures, which can be differentiated with one another. By learning this intercultural understanding, I learned many things about their cultures, customs, and rules. By the next time I meet them again, I would never get misunderstand.