Guest article by Sten:
On August 31, 2015, we set off on our long journey to Bali. With lots of luggage and full of anticipation, the flight from Prague to Bali went without a hitch.
[caption id="attachment_626" align="alignright" width="300"] Ceremony[/caption]
After receiving our luggage, we left the airport and experienced our first culture shock. During the drive to our accommodation, we saw for the first time the chaotic traffic with thousands of scooters and cars, as well as the constant honking of horns. As it was night and therefore dark, we didn't see too much of the surroundings. After the first night, we first explored our neighborhood. We saw the first rice fields and the beach. It reinforced the image of Bali as a dream destination with beautiful sandy beaches, green rice fields wherever you look, numerous temples and happy people. Of course, Bali also has its downsides, such as garbage pollution, stray dogs and cats, poverty, etc.
After a while, the catastrophic traffic also had a system, which at first seemed a bit strange to us Europeans. For the first few weeks, everyone was still a bit scared on their scooters, but over time everyone became safer and there weren't as many accidents. Almost everyone got a few scrapes and scratches from the scooter adventure. We always rode our scooters to university for about half an hour. We also went on most of our excursions by scooter, for example to the UNESCO rice terraces in the middle of the island.
[caption id="attachment_625" align="alignright" width="800"] Excursion to the rubber plantation[/caption]
The course at Udayana University was divided into two six-week lecture blocks with a two-week semester break. At the end of the first lecture block, we had mid-term exams and the final examinations were held in the last week of lectures. We had three days of lectures (Monday to Wednesday) and there was always an excursion on Thursday and Friday. The lectures were in English, although some of the lecturers spoke English that was difficult to understand, which we had to get used to. The lecturers involved the students in the structure of the lectures by holding presentations and discussions. On Wednesdays, there were always speakers from the field who reported on their experiences with their companies in Indonesia. There were also excursions on Thursdays and Fridays, which alternated between companies and cultural sites. For example, we visited a rubber plantation, the Coca Cola production facility and the "Nusa Dua" hotel resort. The integration of the students is very important to Udayana University, which is why the students were divided into groups in which they organized excursions, among other things. During the semester, assignments were made for individual subjects, which were included in the final grade. We also conducted independent interviews with experts. It was useful to learn Indonesian, which we were able to use when negotiating in the markets, during police checks and wherever we couldn't get any further with English. The final examinations took place over two days. We also did final assignments for some courses instead of a final examination. We had a total of five subjects: Cross Cultural Management, Tourism Marketing, Global Management Projects, South East Asia Economies and Bahasa Indonesia.
[caption id="attachment_624" align="aligncenter" width="801"] Scooter trip to rice fields[/caption]
During our stay, we learned a lot about the culture of Indonesia. We visited numerous temples and temple festivals. The Indonesian dances and the special music are impressive, especially with the colorful costumes. The Indonesians attach great importance to their religion and offerings to the gods are made everywhere in the morning. Religious holidays and festivals are also more important than work. For example, if a person dies in a village, the whole village stops work on the day of the funeral, no matter what day of the week it is.
Together with a fellow student, I went on a round trip through Southeast Asia during our two-week semester break to gain even more impressions. We visited Bangkok in Thailand, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Singapore. This round trip gave us a very good cultural insight and increased our desire to travel even more. The people in Southeast Asia are all very friendly and seem very happy, even though they are all developing countries and the people mainly live in very poor conditions.
[caption id="attachment_623" align="alignright" width="225"] Farewell on the last day of the unit[/caption]
Overall, I not only learned a lot during my semester abroad, but also expanded my intercultural skills. Living in an initially completely foreign culture opened my eyes to other ways of living and thinking, which has helped me in my studies and life. People in Southeast Asia live a much calmer life than us Germans, they don't stress themselves out as much, which was particularly stressful for me at the beginning of my stay, as we are not used to long waiting times at the checkout, for example.
I treated the Balinese and all other Southeast Asians with a great deal of respect at all times and got to know interesting people and their stories, which shaped me and increased my cosmopolitanism. I will return to the fascinating world of Southeast Asia and look back on a formative and wonderful time that I look back on fondly.