Follow the jump links to learn more about Indonesia:
Lifestyle and Family Living
Teen Life
Dress and Appearance
Diet and Meals
Educational System
Geography and Climate
Population
Language
Government
Religion
Spending Money
Safety and Support
Fun Facts Lifestyle and Family Living
Indonesia contains a spectrum of all Asian cultures, races and religions. There are more than 300 ethnic groups who speak an estimated 583 languages. Appropriately, the country’s motto is “Unity in diversity.”
Traces of Chinese, Indochinese, Arab, European, Polynesian and other Southeast Asian peoples can be found. Because of the vast area that is covered by Indonesia and the fact that most islands and highlands have been isolated for such a long time, you can find an astonishing and unparalleled diversity of customs, textiles, languages and architecture. Some homes in villages have no electricity or running water, and one washes oneself in a stone basin called bak mandi.
Some well known distinct peoples include the Batak, the Acehnese, the Minangkabau and the Kubu from Sumatra, the Malays who can be found almost anywhere in Indonesia, the Dayak of Kalimantan, the Toraja of Sulawesi and the Papua of Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya).
But modernity has led the way to a social revolution of sorts. The effects of mass education, mass media and a policy of government-orchestrated nationalism have created an Indonesian national culture.
For the most part, the Indonesian family is usually an extended family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and first and second cousins. Indonesians are also members of the greater community; in addition to family obligations, they feel indebted to their village, their mosque or their professional organization.
Indonesians are generally indirect in their approach, people tend not to talk or request something directly. They avoid embarrassing the other party by saying “no” at the beginning, and also avoid embarrassing themselves by getting their request turned down by the other party. Usually people will make a request if they know that they have a fairly good chance of getting a “yes” answer. This indirectness, however, cannot be generalized. Usually the closer the relationship is, the more straightforward one can be.
It is important to remember that common body language in American culture can be very inappropriate, even degrading, in Indonesia. The following are some common gestures that are considered rude in Indonesia: crossing your legs and raising your feet high when you sit down, summoning a person with an index finger, touching another person’s head, using a foot to point out something, talking and standing with hands on the waist (this can be interpreted as arrogance) and using the left hand to pass anything or to eat. Also, it is customary to take shoes off before entering a house.
Indonesian host families, like all AFS host families worldwide, are volunteers and are not paid. They open their homes to students in order to share their community and culture as well as to enrich their own family lives.Teen Life
Teens in Indonesia share many of the same interests as teens around the world. They enjoy surfing the Internet, going to cafes, movies and shopping malls, reading and spending time with friends. Dress and Appearance
People who live in cities generally adopt Western dress. Regionally, there are many styles of traditional dress, but most women wear a sarong (wraparound skirt or dress) and a kebaya, a fitted blouse. When participating in ceremonies, men often wear a batik shirt and a sarong skirt, along with a songkok, a black Muslim cap. Women are expected to keep their knees, midriffs and upper arms covered.
Indonesian teenagers tend to dress casually. In addition to bringing jeans, T-shirts and sweatshirts, participants should bring one or two nice outfits (dress shirts and ties for boys, skirts and blouses or dresses for girls) for special occasions. Diet and Meals
Indonesia is well known for its cuisine which combines indigenous techniques and ingredients with influences from India (curries), the Middle East (kabobs known as sates), China (stir-frying) and Europe, including products brought by Spanish and Portuguese traders before the Dutch colonized the islands.
Cooking varies by region. The Minangkabau region in West Sumatra, for instance, is represented by Padang-style food, which is particularly spicy. (Padang is the capital city of West Sumatra.) However, most Indonesian food shares the culinary trinity of fish, coconut and chilies served most often with rice.
The main meal in Indonesia is usually served at midday. Food that was cooked in the morning is set out all at once. Family members help themselves, serving with a spoon and always eating or passing dishes with their right hands. There is less family gathering or ceremony of communal eating than in other cultures, but there is communal cooking and a strict hierarchy that determines one’s role and conduct at the table.
Most meals are built around a cone-shaped pile of the long-grain, highly polished rice that Indonesians prefer. A meal may include a soup, salad and another main dish. Whatever the meal, it is accompanied by at least one and often several sambals—spice relishes that are mixed with the food.
A light meal might consist of rice, some dried fish and a chili sambal. Popular dishes include nasi goreng (fried rice) and gado-gado (steamed vegetables served cold with peanut sauce). Educational System
Indonesia is a diverse country, including the socioeconomic levels of its communities. Wearing a school uniform is a way to eliminate economic disparities among students in schools, and therefore students will need uniforms, which will be provided by host families.
School days are Monday through Saturday. Classes run until 1.30 p.m. On Friday, the schedule is from 7.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m. because of Friday Prayer at noon for Muslims.
All instruction, with the exception of foreign languages, is likely to be done in Bahasa Indonesia, (but that may depend on the local language and convention since there are so many languages within Indonesia regionally). In the beginning, you may find it hard to follow, but as you learn more of the language, school will become less challenging, so be patient, work hard, and keep at it!
While it may be possible to obtain academic credit for the coursework you successfully complete abroad, AFS cannot guarantee this. Please discuss your plans with your school before you go abroad.
Geography and Climate
Indonesia’s 1,919,413 sq. km. includes more than 17,000 islands that straddle the equator.
Islands to the east shelter Australian marsupials, while mammals on the western islands are more typically Asian.
Indonesians inhabit approximately 6,000 of the islands, including New Guinea and Borneo, the second- and third-largest islands in the world (after Greenland).
Because Indonesia lies between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, it is shaken often by earthquakes and has many active volcanoes. Monsoons arrive mostly from November to April, while hot, dry air from Australia lessens the humidity somewhat on the eastern islands from May to October.
Except at high elevations, Indonesia is typically hot and muggy year-round, which helps support luxuriant rain forests on the wettest islands. Mountain peaks, that are often extinct volcanoes, sometimes have alpine meadows and ice fields.
Population
With 240 million people, Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world after China, India and the United States. More than two-thirds of the population resides in Java, the center of the country’s economic and political power. The majority of Indonesians are of Malay extraction. The remainder of the “pribumi” (natives) are predominately Melanesian (in Papua-Irian Jaya and the eastern islands). There are ethnic Chinese, Indians and Arabs concentrated mostly in urban areas throughout the archipelago. Major Ethnic groups: Javanese – 45%, Sundanese – 14%, Madurese – 7.5%, Coastal Malays – 7.5%, and others – 26%.
Language
About 300 languages and dialects are spoken in Indonesia, but Bahasa Indonesia is the official and most widely spoken tongue. It is based on Malay, long the market language of coastal towns, and it contains elements of Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Dutch and English. Other languages are also common, and many Indonesians speak two or more languages, most often Javanese, with more than 80 million speakers, and Sundanese, spoken by residents of the western end of Java. Acehnese, Batak, Minangkabau, and Malay are spread throughout Sumatra.
Government
Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution established six branches of government. At the top is the People’s Collective Assembly, made up of elected members of the House of Representatives, as well as representatives of the military and of various political and professional organizations.
The Assembly elects the President and Vice-President, who serve five-year terms.
The remaining four branches include the House of Representatives; the Supreme Advisory Council, which advises the President; the State Audit Board; and the Supreme Court.
Religion
About 86% of the population is Muslim, making Indonesia the world’s largest Muslim nation. Roughly 10% is Christian (Protestant and Roman Catholic) and the rest are Hindu, Buddhist and KongHuChu. All six of these religions are formally recognized in Indonesia and have official national holidays commemorating events of importance to their followers. While the society is predominantly Muslim, the government is secular and therefore is not based on a single religion.
Spending Money
The Indonesian Rupiah is the official currency.
Your program and country information packet (provided in the months prior to your departure) will give you an idea of how much spending money is appropriate and whether you should arrive with any amount of the local currency in hand.
Host families pay only for ordinary family events in which you are expected to participate. When you do such things as shopping for yourself or going out with friends, the expenses are your responsibility. Depending on the cost of living in your host country, we recommend you budget about $100-$300 per month.
Remember: never travel with large amounts of cash. Instead, bring travelers checks or follow the advice in the country and program information packet. Another option for obtaining money while overseas is to use a debit card linked to a checking account back home (but try not to use a debit card for daily purchases since there are ATM and currency exchange fees). Or, you can transfer money using wiring services such as Western Union.
You and your parents should determine a budget and preferred money transfer plan before you depart so that you are not caught without spending money while abroad.
Be conscientious of your spending since conspicuous consumption may not be viewed favorably and spending more than your peers and family may create a distance between you and them.
Safety and Support
AFS has the utmost concern for the welfare, safety, and security of our participants. We’ve been exchanging participants throughout the world for 60 years—that’s six decades of history and experience in international education with an exemplary record of safety, security, and service.
AFS maintains a network of experienced staff and trained volunteers who provide support in each country. In the event of an emergency, 24-hour assistance is available to students, their parents, and the host families. Furthermore, your AFS tuition includes comprehensive medical insurance coverage to ensure that medical care is available to our participants anywhere in the world and at all times.
While we have the above support structures in place, we also encourage you to take responsibility for your own safety and we give you the guidance to do so. Many of the AFS orientation activities, both at home and abroad, are intended to give you the tools to stay safe. We also provide country-specific safety tips to each participant prior to departure.
Learn more about the >AFS safety and support network.
Fun Facts
- Indonesia is home to 35cm miniature deer, fish that climb trees to catch insects and spiders that catch and devour small birds in giant webs.
- Indonesia sprawls through a part of the western pacific known as the “Ring of Fire.” With many active volcanoes, Indonesia records more than three earthquakes per day.
- Indonesia is home to the Komodo dragon, the word’s largest living lizard. It grows to more than 10 feet (3 meters) long and can weigh as much as 365 pounds (165 kilograms).
- Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago.
- Indonesia has the largest Buddhist temple in the world called “Borobudur Temple”.
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