Thoughts: Attitudes toward foreigners

I repeatedly mentioned how well Indonesians spoke English. This impressed us because of how drastically different that is from Japan. All four of us have experienced the same reluctance to speak English from almost all the Japanese we've met. Granted, the Japanese seem shy in general, and are slow to open up to newcomers, even when they're fellow Japanese. (I witnessed this firsthand with the arrival of new teachers in April.) But when it comes to English, very few will ever let on that they understand or speak the language.

This is strange, because English is part of the curriculum beginning in junior high schools. Even though native-speaker teaching programs like JET have only been around since the 80s, I'm almost positive English education has been around much longer than that. So the overwhelming majority of people you pass in the street in Japan know a lot more English than they're letting on.

I don't fault them for being shy. I also don't fault anybody for not speaking English--I don't think everyone should speak my language. I just find it peculiar that a society that features English in its school curriculum isn't more outgoing with it.

In Indonesia, the impression was entirely different. Everyone we met seemed eager to speak English. While several spoke excellently, many of them weren't anywhere near fluent. That didn't stop them, though: almost everyone would strike up conversation with us in English. In fact, I think it's for that very reason--that they practice the language without hesitation--that their accent and speaking ability were so much higher on average than among Japanese. Again, I'm not saying everyone should speak English. I entered Indonesia fully expecting to rely on Mutia for help, and to have to learn as much of their language as I could.

Of course, that openness to English probably has a lot to do with the culture's openness to foreigners in general. Japan was never colonized, and throughout most of its history seems to have remained largely in control of its dealings with outsiders. Indonesia, on the other hand, has a history of contact with foreigners stretching back at least to 200 BC. Beginning with Hinduism, and followed by Buddhism and, later, Islam, Indonesian culture represented a diverse mixture of several outside influences, long before contact with Europe. The forced opening of the country to foreigners by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British isn't worth celebrating, though one of its side effects has been the culture's welcoming attitude toward outsiders.