In our first session with Julie we began to discuss the history of Indonesia, beginning from ancient times with the original migration of peoples and trade from India through southeast Asia and the resultant influences on Indonesian mythology and religion. Our homework for this week is to research and summarize in one page the history of Indonesia from 1900 - 1950. I expected it to be difficult to fit all that I considered important during this time, and that it was! However, it gave me a good theoretical background to continue researching Indonesia's rich and complicated history, and it was even more of a challenge to, for the next class, compile a one-page history of Indonesia from 1950 to 1998, the year of the fall of Suharto's military dictatorship. Julie shared insights about her experiences during this time, including leaving to study in the United States. We began to discuss the October 1965 revolt and the subsequent mass killings of suspected communist party members, and Julie recommended some good resources for further research on the subject.
With Thalia we began our study of slang terms, and she presented us with a great resource on "bahasa gaul" (language for socialization". A lot of these terms are region-specific and are influenced by the local language, so I look forward to getting both Julie and Thalia's input on common bahasa gaul phrases. We utilized these terms in conversation and pre-constructed dialogue, and for homework Thalia had us check out a facebook page devoted to Indonesian slang terms, originally made by an Australian college student, that has grown increasingly popular with Indonesians and students of Indonesian language and culture to facilitate learning this element of language that, while receiving little attention in formal academia, represents a crucial aspect of cross-cultural communication.
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