Friday 15 January 2016

Perceptions

Recently I asked my students to list what they felt they found 'odd' about foreigners to help them explore differences between people and cultures and also what they felt foreigners would find 'odd' about them.

Here are some of the findings.

Indonesians find 'odd' about foreigners.

  1. Tall
  2. Pointy noses
  3. Different colour eyes
  4. Different colour hair
  5. Show skin
  6. Wear Bikinis
  7. Free sex
  8. Openly show affection in public
  9. Drunk
  10. Smoke weed
  11. Drink from the tap
  12. Use toilet tissue not a small hose in the toilet
  13. Don't shower at least 2x a day
  14. Always have a backpack
  15. Look great in simple clothes
  16. Not polite to older people
  17. Call everyone by first names
  18. Call people by rude names
  19. Are carefree
  20. Like to walk everywhere
  21. Walk fast
  22. Not religious
  23. Wear shoes in the house
  24. Sweaty
  25. Get sunburn
  26. Like dark skin
  27. Obsessed with cheese
http://indonesia.travel/news
Tourist (Bule) clearly happy today

What Foreigners find 'odd' about Indonesians.
  1. Selfies
  2. Selfies with foreigners or strangers
  3. Find Selfie Sticks important
  4. Going to school at 7am
  5. Eating rice 3x a day
  6. Eat random things
  7. Eat everything with Chili Sauce
  8. Eat everything with their hands (not soup)
  9. Durian
  10. Eat the whole fish
  11. Always Eating
  12. Obsess over coffee
  13. Complain about the heat
  14. Complain about the AC being too cold
  15. Very polite
  16. Very noisy
  17. Respect older people
  18. Bathrooms are always wet
  19. Walk slowly
  20. Religious
  21. Have lots of children / brothers or sisters
  22. Spend all their time with family
  23. Go with tour groups for holidays
  24. Won't queue
  25. Dress properly at Airports
  26. Always using their phones 
  27. Always shopping
  28. Complain about dark skin
  29. Wear jackets and jumpers in the sun 
  30. Have no concept of personal space
http://indonesia.travel/news
That Damn Selfie Stick..... 
What makes these lists more interesting is the fact that I asked over 400 different students and the results came back pretty much the same. So there must be some truth in this.



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