lil' story of Malang (PART 1)

Back in 2001,, August..

It was the second time I came to Malang,, the first was.. long time ago when I was 3rd grade of junior high school.

Anyway...

I never imagined that I would stay in Malang..

I spent 6 years in Solo, which was so great..
Malang was never been my choice at all.. I always wanted to continue my study in Jogja,, which is not far from Solo..
so .. the people are.. more or less.. have similarities in many ways..

But then.. my dad made me to stay in Malang.. which was really stressful at the beginning.

the culture was so much different from Solo.. or from my home town Magetan (which is the border of East Java and Central Java)

there were many things that got me a lil' culture shock..
language, people, weather, food and many more..

I'm Javanese, a real one although I cannot speak Javanese as well as others (especially Kromo Inggil).. because I used to speak Indonesia.. (I spent 6 years in a boarding school where we always spoke English, Indonesia.. not Javanese or Sundanese.. or so forth)

what I didn't realise at that time was... Malang people tend to be rude and speak Javanese loudly.. and add the 'A' alphabet in the end of the words

for example: in my home town when we say "iyo ye?" (red:is it true?)
in Malang it will be "iyo a" they both have the same meaning.

I was a bit confused, that's why I never spoke Javanese except with my friends who came from the same area..

it sounds ridiculous.. but that's the truth..

another word that made me dizzy (at that time) was.. when someone said "temenan ta?" I answered "no" because what I knew, "temenan" in Indonesia meant "be friends" .. then I found out that the meaning of that word was "really?"

I thought.. it was so silly...

but after years.. staying in Malang.. I fall in love with it.. the people.. the town..

Malang people are direct.. sometimes it just hurts me.. because they seem to be so rude.. Malang people don't really care about what they do.. I mean.. whether they are polite or not.. not all of them.. but most of them.. ^^

9 years staying in Malang.. made me think in a different way...
I've been learning how to be direct people in certain occasions..
I've been learning not to be too sensitive on certain cases..

it creates a new culture inside my self..

and I like it...

now I really love Malang more than any other towns...
I love my home town.. but it's too difficult to find my favorite books there.. it's a real small town.. haha...

so..

have you ever been to Malang?
please...share your stories here! ;-)


(Addition: it feels great staying here.. although.. recently.. black out is everywhere.. haha..)