In Reply to: you missed my point posted by Freogirl on Saturday, 17. February 2007 at 15:16 Bali Time:
I don't think I missed the point, but never mind.
It is not just Indonesian culture that has a distorted view of the west, it is probably true of most parts of the Third World.
Maybe the teacher's stay was a kind of gift, but whose choice was it? In my experience it is nearly always the dominant westerners who get to choose the terms of their engagement with the underdeveloped, hardly ever the reverse. I've seen too many westerners, particularly New Agers, inflict themselves on underprivileged communities not to conclude that much of the one-sided relationship is a bit of western self-indulgence done in the name of altruism.
Those kids might remember that bule, but I bet your books and pencils were a damn sight more useful.
But hey, neither you nor I are going to shift the power balance, so lets each of us keep trying to make a difference in our own ways. :)