In Reply to: Idul Futri posted by Sharkyhamo on Monday, 10. July 2006 at 19:24 Bali Time:
Absolutely not a worry, except more traffic. During the fasting month of Ramadam many Chinese Indonesians choose this time to holiday in Bali because since they are not fasting their options are a bit more limited than usual in Jakarta etc. For the few days surrounding Idul Fitri many Islamic Indonesians come to Bali with the whole family to celebrate.
My Indonesian language teacher had told us that it is traditional to apologise for anything you think you should to your friends neighbours and family at this time and lo and behold I saw it in action while staying at a little hotel called Palm Garden in South Sanur. A big extended Indonesian family was staying there with heaps of kids who were busy being kids. On the actual day they were up at 6am with presents and running from room to room and when we went to breakfast I was thinking "Hmmm just like our Christmas day" when one of the "mums" came up to me dressed today in tradition clothes. She must have heard my halting efforts in Bahasa Indonesia with the staff and kids in the pool because she addressed me in Indonesian and said the wanted to beg my forgiveness for the children being so noisy. Well any of you struggling with the langueage will know how good it feels when you actually understand something being said to you and joy oh joy I was able to reply that it it was quite ok as my grandchildren are just the same at Christmas and I understood that it is Idul Fitri after all. Oh ectasy...she understood my reply. Just a little thing but I got a big high out of it (OK it doesn't take much).
Now for that axe I have to grind. There has been a lot said about domestic tourists on this forum from time to time and it's certainly true that often Indonesian customs and good and bad etiquette are not the same those in Western countries. Queing being a good example (at breakfast maybe). My point is that it's their country not ours so we need to be tolerant when things are not as they would be at home. Actually many of the things we consider fine are bad manners in Indonesia and we blithely go on our way all unawares of any offence caused.
OK I'll get of my soapbox again.