Brain Dump | Morning Musings

Some humbling experiences....

While I’ve had difficulties in life, sometimes I feel like I have this side of me that is a lot more privileged and my experiences can feel a little out of touch than most Indonesians. Well, first mainly because I am a bit closed off and seek my own path, I don’t really follow most of the norms and would rather be myself than anything. I also grew up in an environment where I was a lot more privileged so, sometimes I don’t really get it when people do certain things or choose a certain lifestyle. But overtime, I’ve learned to be more connected with my surroundings and just like the other day, I was once again, finding myself having a little bit of an adventure.

Welcome to my brain dump, it’s morning and when I am able to sit down, sipping a cup of coffee while contemplating about life and emptying it out a little.

I honestly would never seek discomfort in my own country but I’d happily bought the lowest train ticket in another country. It’s the irony of my life but I find it pretty interesting.

So, the other day, my friend was asking me to visit another nearby city. The city is reachable by local train and it’s as low as $0.62 for one way trip. While there are other long distance trains that pass through the area, for the fun of it, I did the inter-local train that are only available in economy.

The thing is, I hate economy class trains. It is where you get seated next to two other people and there’s three more facing us. It’s basically a 3-3 seater facing each other.

When I first boarded, I was boarding with a group of kindergarteners on a field trip with their teacher and their parents. It was too noisy for my liking. Typically if you board business & executive train, everyone is sort of minding their own business and being very quiet. They got caught up on their phone and are making as little noise as possible.

However in the economy, people are louder and they are a lot more chattier. It’s where we can get the sense of typical Indonesian living where its people can’t seem to mind someone else’s business. They want to know your life and its details & how it relates to them. In East Java, it’s a lot more interesting because people can sound very rude and loud in terms of their voice. Having lived in Central Java & Yogyakarta for a while, I wasn’t accustomed to this culture again. People talk to your face, loud and sometimes sounding a little mean.

Inside the train, I heard things like “ This is my first time boarding the train”, “ This train makes me dizzy, I don’t like this seat” and to a passenger who was eyeing down every passengers that went through the seats.

The teachers' kindergarten group was walking through the aisle passing down snacks to their group. It was kind of annoying because it blocked the way to the exit but somehow, I managed to get through the place.

Another thing that I notice is interesting is how they are not on their phone. These people in economy spend their time talking to each other, conversing whatever random topic they can find. The last time I was boarding economy was more than 12 years ago and that was quite an adventure on its own.

When I got back home on the train I was boarding, I was meeting with a grandma & her family who travel with this economy interlocal train. She brought so much food and shared it with her family on the train. Seeing it was so heartwarming and there’s more like friendliness inside the train. It was a lot more lively than a typical business train class where often it’s just cold and so unlively. I doubt I would want to do it again but maybe I would because there are so many beautiful places in East Java that I have yet to unlock.

The grandma wrapped the snacks in plastic that I find so interesting & really cute. I remembered how my mom used to do that because she thought it’d be a waste buying food from the train. However, overtime when I was with her and paying for her stuff, she stopped bringing food and just bought it inside the train.

Somehow, I wanted to travel with my family by train again. The last time we did it together was when I was a kid when my grandfather chartered a whole train for the family and his friends. Once my dad is well, I want to travel together with him and my mom too using a train.

I told my friends that the train experience made me feel grateful for life even more and it was some type of cultural enrichment where I could learn a little more about people in east java. Strangely though, while I spent around 17 years growing up in this place, I always felt like I wasn’t present and was mostly disconnected with the culture. Now, it’s giving me another chance to learn about how interesting this place can be.

When I said I am really moving, it also means moving to another culture with different sets of language and ways of living & the other day, I was also checking out this city where the coffee culture was a little different from what I got used to and it was interesting to see, that’d be in another story but today, that’s all for my morning musings. See you tomorrow, I might need another coffee !