My artifact this month was a video about the largest shopping malls in Indonesia. The video showcased various malls in different parts of Indonesia, through most of them were in the larger cities. All of the malls were grand and unlike the malls I am used to in the US. They all had multiple floors and basements and many big stores that are unique to Indonesia (or Asia in general). While malls mainly reflect the lives in big Indonesian cities, I do believe they are a large part of life there, which is interesting because that might not be the image that someone who is not familiar with Indonesia might think of.
When I visit Indonesia, I always go to Jakarta because that is where most of my family live. In Jakarta, I think it is safe to say that shopping malls are the one of the centers of life. They make up a large part of city life and it is impossible not to pass one when in the city. My language partner, Farida (who is from Surabaya), and I often joke about malls being the only place to go when visiting Jakarta. When I go to Jakarta, we would go to the mall almost everyday to eat, shop, or just walk around. The malls I have been to that were included in the video are: AEON Mall, Grand Indonesia, and Gandaria City. Similar to many malls in Asia (though unlike in the US), these malls usually include larger department stores or even grocery stores that make up a large portion of the space. Back then, my favorite thing to do in the mall was browse the food court. The food courts are so much larger than I am used to and included so many options I was not familiar with. My favorite places were the ones that sold boba and cute desserts. Especially during my first trip there, I was not used to seeing so many types of cuisine in a single food court. Back then, where I lived in the US, most food courts had American food and typical chain restaurants, so there was never a large selection of Asian food. As a result, every time we went to the food courts or a restaurant in the mall in Indonesia, I always wanted to try somewhere different.
On the other hand, I think it is important to also realize the inequalities present in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. Because despite the abundance of these grand shopping malls, there is a very prominent socioeconomic gap in Indonesia. It is very common to pass by people living in undesirable conditions on the street and in impoverished neighborhoods even in Jakarta. The extravagant lifestyles reflected by these shopping malls are in no way reflective of the actual living conditions and lifestyles in Indonesia. Indonesia is a large country made up of thousands of islands, so the lavish picture portrayed by Jakarta does not apply to the majority of Indonesian life and culture.
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