americanized

Yes, that was me who in the picture, ladies and gentlemen.

Yes, it’s Nisa Felicia Faridz, a truly Indonesian woman. A youngest daughter of The Faridz, who was born in Jakarta, was raised around Jakarta, and her parents were a hundred percent Indonesian as well. So, I am purely “made in Indonesia”.

The furthest place I’ve been visited was Shanghai, China, for only less than a week. And now I am staying around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Asia. Never been to Europe, or America. Never been to Western countries. In fact, never been to any other continent but Asia. Yet, look at me in the picture, ladies and gentlemen.

I was wearing jeans. A skirt that I got when Levi’s was on sale in KL, lucky me. And I love it.

I also was wearing leather boots. Yeah, I know somehow it’s American culture (I mean, cowboys) that originated the style of Boots. And I have to say that I am crazy about boots.

Last but the significant part was, I was holding a jazz magazine. Jazz, the formerly known as Black Music, the kind of Afro-American music that was firstly developed in New Orleans around 1920s. And yes, I love jazz too.

And to add the information, even though you couldn’t see it, the t-shirt I was wearing there was my favorite black t-shirt, “Super Girl”, an American super heroine (Ough, somebody should make a cool design of “Srikandi” tshirt, please! Or maybe Cut Nyak Dhien… oh no, she was real, it’s not fun. So, we’re lack of female super hero in Indonesia? Hmm…)

So, after I saw this picture in my computer, I started to remember what my best friend Yanwar once told me, “Nisa, you’re so much influenced by American culture.”

And at that time I denied that because he whom never met me in person couldn’t be so judgmental.  And in fact, I told him just because I loved Toni Morrison’s books, jazz, and softball; it didn’t make me “Americanized”.  Then he said another reasons such as my way of thinking and making decision. Not so interesting to talk about, though. Hehehe.

But now, just now, I realized… maybe he was right. I am Americanized, as more specified rather than just ‘westernized’. And it made me a little uncomfortable, actually. Not because I against Bush (I mean all The Bushes family… hehe…”bushes”??) or I consider Western as materialistic people and I am not. It was simply because I don’t want to be like American. I am Indonesian. I don’t want to look like American (and by the “look like American”, I mean mentally not physically. I am sure that no one will consider me as Western regarding my under-tall-heights and over-burnt-skin). I don’t feel proud at all when Yanwar said that, or when I realized about jeans, boots, jazz, and apple pie of McDonald that I love.

American people are not better than my people. I could say that for I couldn’t understand why George W. Bush was re-elected again. American people are not smarter that Indonesian, and the other way around. There were no research evident showed that Caucasian are smarter that indonesian (What is our race anyway? Melanesian? I don’t think so. Indo-something? Hehe, citation needed).

Another story, I had to buy this book last semester as I took ‘educational psychology’ class. That was the latest edition of the book, published in 2007. The former edition was published in 2005. I tried to criticize what was the difference between those two, because if it was only about the pictures and insignificant, then I would like to e-mail the publisher and did the complain. But then I found out. Before, in 2005 edition, they didn’t put the topic about “Gay/ Lesbian parents” and the “Parents with addictive problems” while they did in the latest edition. I knew about the rule of textbook, that they wouldn’t put minor issue as sub-chapters (only for examples). So if it had become sub-chapters, then the issues were significant in the respected country, United States; or maybe in the West. Did the issues correspond the situation in Indonesia? I should say “no” about this, for there wasn’t any evidence that the similar cases has occurred and rose time to time; and significantly affected the learning process in major schools over the country.

Why would I be like, or even proud to look like American, then? Nada!

Then what makes some people (in Indonesia) feel proud when they act as if they are American, speaking like hip-hopers, hang the stars-and-stripes-flag on the wall in their bedroom, and wear oversized pants and t-shirt with bling-bling necklace? And when they meet their friends, they say: “what’s up, Nigga?!” Geez, man, you are not even African American! And the worst part was when I heard there was this celebrity who said that speaking Malay language was only made her look silly. Meanwhile for me, saying so would make her look so silly. But I mixed up between Indonesian and Malaysian here. Pardon me. Oh well, let me just finish my gibberish talk by saying that Americanized yourself wouldn’t make you look good; instead it would only make you look lost and stupid.

Ough… but then, who am I to judge when I am writing this (using my Mac) with Charlie Haden music in my earphone? The food that I have just about taken was salmon sandwich, not so Indonesian either. But hey, Thank God my coffee is Java blend, however )

*Salam Indonesiaku!

*Salut to my Indonesia!

Ps.

I learned how good “Krakatau Band”(Indonesian contemporary band which blend traditional instrument with ‘band’) after I learned Afro-Cuban Jazz. So, after I was “Americanized” I believe that I would be brought to my roots again. So I’ll show you my pictures in Kebaya and Sarong Batik )

And I have to mention that the reason why I wrote in English was so that my Western friends (as well as ‘westernized’ ones) could understand how “Indonesian” I am ^^.

~ by nisa felicia faridz on February 11, 2008.