In Reply to: Hugging? How to deal with it? posted by Jane B on Thursday, 13. July 2006 at 00:58 Bali Time:
Post further down. I was giving the word merangkul, corrected to dirangkul, most common meaning being hug, because that is the word my driver gave me. I asked him how to explain in Indonesian to the young guys who gather around you when you are bartering sometimes, watching interested etc, who occasionally casually draped an arm across my husband's shoulders or rested a hand on his shoulder, that hubby was not used to other guys being so 'friendly'. I guess there are also differences in just how much space is 'personal space'. Such a situation was not a common occurance; I only sought the right words so that hubby wouldn't go all macho-defensive and snap at some poor bloke that meant no harm at all. The Balinese culture means they are not generally affectionate physically in public (unlike some of us), especially to the opposite sex or to tourists, but you will see them linking arms etc, but only girls with their friends who are girls, or guys with their friends who are guys (and just as friends, not in a 'partner' way). I hope I have repaired a misunderstanding.