Hunkering Down: Learning the Indonesian Language Week 1

So after this realization, I decided to dedicate 1 month to each goal.

This doesn’t mean that everything must be wrapped up and neatly tied with a bow by the end of the month. This is just to make sure I give each about 20+ weekdays of undiluted attention during which I put all my other goals on hold.

If a goal resonates, and I decide I want to spend more time with it, I will for as long as I need to. If a goal doesn’t resonate, then I will feel no guilt putting it away by month’s end knowing that I gave it a fair shot.

Let’s do this! 💪

I decided to dedicate July to goal #1, learn the Indonesian language. Here’s an overview of how the 1st week went:

Day 1

After weeks of neglect, I resumed with lesson 46. Focusing is difficult because I have ideas about my other goals and I have to exert willpower to bring my mind back to the day’s lesson.

Day 2

Moved on to lesson 47. Started to ask myself how else I could reinforce my learning. Dusted off an old edition elementary school workbook that I found on bargain a long, long time ago and proceeded to werk.

After 2 pages, looked for and found a podcast about language learning on which I heard Benny Lewis say that he didn’t need to speak the new language perfectly, he just needed to be able to communicate in it (or something like that).

Perfect! That’s what I want too.

What is coach surfing? 🤔

Enrolled in Benny Lewis’ 1 week email course : “Speak in a Week”.

Day 3

Woke up at 6AM with the intention to do some reading in my target language while everyone else was still asleep.

I worked on my new diamond painting project instead, and I wasn’t even aware that I made the switch! 😫

Plodded through lesson 48, midway, I was typing in my credit card details with 4 items for check-out in my online shopping cart. 😫😫

Day 4

I decided that if something was driving me to shop online when I had no need to, then I needed to take a step back from this and re-group.

Found a local TV program about arts & crafts, enjoyed it so much, and wrote down some new vocabulary.  Finally. Score! 😃

Day 5

I sat down for the day’s lesson but found myself watching a YouTube video about the 10 people who hate Megan Markle instead  😲😲

Good Lord, I have never sunk so low!

Decided to redeem my dignity by watching the local arts & crafts program again with notebook and pen in hand. Hmmm … decoupage looks like something I could get into. 🤩Noted!

😵😵😵

Week 1 Conclusion:

I’m really struggling with this. Maybe the language classes I bought is no longer engaging because at this level, I’m bombarded with words that are not common to everyday conversation. Then there’s grammar … 🤢

The local TV program helped because it was interesting and it’s training my ears to how Indonesian is actually spoken. I am happy when I am able to make out words, even those that I don’t know the meaning of 😀 I then write these down and note their meanings.

The old schoolbook also helps. Somewhat.

Here’s hoping week 2 will go much better.

Being Smiled At Is So Refreshing

Coming home from a business meeting (husband’s) in the beautiful Malaysian city of Malacca, a dear friend from home texts me impatiently: “Pls send me pictures of Melaka as soon as you can!”

I send her this:

Her crestfallen reply: “Oh, a mall …”

So I sheepishly added this (a very grainy test-photo of a statue that was in the hotel lobby):

Feeling defensive I finally confessed: “You know what, I found it so nice to be able to communicate to the people there that I found it much more important to stock up on such necessities as body scrubs, deep conditioning treatments and wet tissues than to explore.”

Her response:  “LOL!” supported with an image of a cartoon character, its mouth wide open in amusement, a finger mockingly pointed at me.

Well, honestly, that’s the truth of it.  Like a moth to a flame I was lured to the malls by the international brand names and flashy bright lights, and I stayed within it’s temperature regulated confines because … people there saw me and most actually smiled at me.

And it was so refreshing!

In my part of Indonesia, if and when people look at you they quickly turn away.  I think it’s because they do not want to have to talk to a foreigner, likely in a language they do not speak.  Then in Singapore, people are just too busy to notice you.  But in Melaka … oh my, I was confessing all the sins of my dry and limp hair to the very beautiful Body Shop sales lady and she responded in equal solemnity with her deliciously accented English.

Here’s my point – I had not imagined how much I missed being able to communicate.  And to be seen, to be acknowledged, with a smile.  Well, not all of them smiled and they did not have to. Just the open expressions on their faces was enough to make me feel good.

So that’s all I have for you right now – being smiled at is refreshing. And being able to communicate is bliss.

And I enjoyed that so much that for now that’s all I truly wanted to experience on this short, unplanned trip 🙂