Job Wanted
This was a story my friend's spouse experienced first hand during life
in Adelaide. As he had nothing to do at his unit, my friend's husband
tried to find a part-time job. Well, he thought he was very lucky when
he found a "job wanted" sign on the university notice board
and so quickly wrote down the phone number on the piece of paper. He was
very happy because he thought he'd finally get a job. The next day he
made a phone call to the contact person and arranged to meet him at his
unit. A few hours later, a big, tall Russian guy appeared with his painting
tools all ready to see which rooms in his unit needed to be painted. My
friend's spouse said, "I didn't' call you to paint this unit, but
I am waiting for someone who's going to pick me up to go to work".
The painter was quite surprised and answering angrily "Oh no you're
wrong! I came here because you called me and I thought you needed me to
do some painting jobs". (Sam)
Out of the Goodness of his Heart
I took a pair of old, but good quality walking boots, that I had bought
in England and was very fond of, to the shoe shop to be repaired. I carefully
explained how I wanted them to be re-heeled, spent time choosing the kind
of sole and heel and left feeling that surely nothing would go wrong.
When I returned a few days later to collect them, the toothless shoe repairer
very proudly brought the boots out. Not only had he done the heels for
me (very well) but he had painted the boots in thick brown gloss door
paint. He told me he had done this for me 'free'. I was horrified, because
I thought they looked hideous. Nevertheless, I smiled politely, paid and
thanked him profusely and then gave the boots away as soon as I could.
(Jeanette, IALF teacher)
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My first Experience in Australia
This was my experience when I was in Sydney for a short training in the
University of New South Wales. My Australian friend invited me to have
a lunch in a big restaurant near Botany Bay. He asked me to order anything
from the menu that I'd like to eat. At the time, I found it difficult
to choose because all of the names were very strange but I felt reluctant
to ask my friend to choose for me. I eventually ordered a portion of asparagus
and a dish of 'oyster au natural'. Later a nice waitress brought me my
order, a big bowl of green vegetable stalks and a dish full of raw oysters.
It was totally different from what I expected. For a few minutes I just
sat there looking at the food while my friend looked at me inquiringly.
"Please enjoy yourself", he said. I forced myself to take one
of the oysters into my mouth and tried to chew it, Oh my God! It felt
like the oyster was still alive and the smell was disgusting! I started
feeling nauseous but I had to respect my friend's feeling so I quickly
excused myself and ran to the toilet to "refresh myself".. I
realized I should have asked my friend to choose for me remembering those
wise words, "Better to ask the way than go astray". (Taruna)
Getting to Know People
When I first came to Indonesia, one of the things that surprised me was
the way that locals who had just met or who hardly knew each other could
sit and talk for hours. They didn't seem to have any trouble finding topics
of conversation that could keep them talking.
I was surprised because this kind of thing is rather unusual in Sydney
where I grew up. There, people tend to chat briefly with new acquaintances,
and only get involved in longer and more personal conversations as a friendship
develops. I suppose this is due to two main things: firstly that westerners
are just more reserved than Indonesians and usually only talk freely with
people they know well, and secondly that when you meet someone for the
first time you usually talk about superficial and non personal topics
which don't support much lasting conversation. (Vlad, IALF Bali)
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