What I love about Indonesian people is their strong connection with nature! All over the world, each culture has developed its customs and traditions observing the rhythms of nature, but somehow today I feel that in Western cultures the commercial spirit takes the lead. Like for example Easter: there is now the commercial Easter bunny story and of course the spiritual/religious part of the resurrection of Jesus and we somehow forget that each year the date of this celebration is selected according to the moon phases. This year, on the 8th of September, I had the great opportunity to celebrate the Full Moon (in Pisces according to European astrology) together with Indonesian people with Chinese background! It was a long and beautiful ceremony, full of magic and symbols, overseen by the Moon above… Also, it was my first time ever in a Chinese temple.

Indonesia is simply surprising! It’s a total different world, and yet so familiar. People are people and in the end we share the same fears and desires, but we do manifest differently. Just one week of Indonesia was enough for me to feel their collective view about life: there is no privacy, it is important to stay together, a daily dairy is a way of communicating issues within a family. There is no confrontation, but compromise. There is no conflict but only misunderstanding. One says sorry after a presentation or a lecture: management of shame and humility. Overall I meet very nice and kind people, very humble and tender, looking after their family which has an vital part in their lives. Also, on a more concrete level, a 2 hour traffic jam instead of a 15 minute ride in Jakarta makes you understand a lot about people’s understanding of time: … Continue reading→