Have we been grateful to live and be born in Indonesia

 From childhood to adulthood, frankly, I only lived and lived in Indonesia. I come from Java and currently live in Bali. Java and Bali have similar seasonal and weather characteristics. During the dry season the temperature feels cooler and drier but during the rainy season the humidity is high enough that the temperature feels hotter. Because most of my life has been in Indonesia, we don't really feel how special and comfortable it is to live in a tropical country. Usually we just complain because we feel the heat and humidity of the air. We do various efforts to avoid heat so that our skin does not get darker. If necessary we try to use whitening products so that the skin can look brighter, whiter and radiant.

It turns out that this is very contrary to some of the statements and stories from my passengers. Most of them respond very positively to this temperature that we think is too hot. For example, two of my passengers from Canada, they told me they really like hot temperatures like this in Bali. In fact, he has a goal of making their skin as dark and black as possible before returning to Canada. The two tourists made a backpacker trip for several months in Indonesia. And Bali is the last destination before they head back to the city of Edmonton in Canada.

The same thing was said by my passengers who came from several countries in Europe such as England, the Netherlands, Germany and several Scandinavian countries and of course people from Russia, which is indeed the average temperature in that country is very cold. They happily heat up in the hot afternoon sun that burns their white skin. I often ask, isn't there a summer in a country with temperatures similar to those in the tropics. They replied that summer only lasted a short two or three months. Even during the summer, sometimes the weather can change quickly and can immediately drop into cold temperatures.

After summer there are still 3 more seasons where the temperature is definitely cooler than during summer. The peak of cold temperatures occurs during winter, which is around December or January for the northern hemisphere and June or July for the southern hemisphere. In winter the temperature can be very cold and even minuscule and snowy. It was the most complicated time of having to wear thick clothes, scarves and shoes with the intention of covering the whole body to reduce the cold temperature outside. When riding a car, you also have to be very careful because of the slippery snow. Even car tires must be replaced with special winter tires so that the car remains safe when going through the snow.

Some tourists really like the beaches in Bali. They say that the beaches in Bali are very beautiful with white sand, clear water and blue skies. This is different from the state of the beaches in their country where the scenery is not as clean as the beaches here. I always provide information to my passenger tourists that Bali is only one of the small islands in Indonesia. There are still many islands and beaches that are more beautiful than Bali such as Lombok, Komodo Island, Sabang, Karimunjawa, Bangka Belitung, Derawan Island, Bunaken, Wakatobi, Kei Island, Raja Ampat and many more beautiful islands and beaches. I can't even mention there are so many beautiful beaches in Indonesia. Usually they are amazed and very amazed by Indonesia and all the islands that I mentioned earlier.

I was embarrassed when I took a tourist passenger from Saudi Arabia. It was daytime and the weather was very hot in my opinion. I picked up passengers who were waiting by the side of the road in the hot sun. My passengers are two people, one young person and the other is a man with heavy beards. As soon as I got into the car I started making small talk about the heat today. The young man was talking to his father and after they finished they laughed out loud while looking at me. It turns out that they laugh at what I said earlier. The temperature of 30 ° - 35 ° Celsius for them is the right temperature and they feel very comfortable. They told me that summer in the city of Riyadh where they live can reach 45 ° - 55 ° Celsius. My brain also thinks that it is the so-called lukewarm temperature we usually feel when we take a warm shower. I just smiled while imagining how hot the temperature in their country in summer.

Another time I got a passenger from Perth Australia. He told me that he had often traveled to Bali. Even if I don't miscalculate, this holiday is their 25th visit. For Australian tourists Bali is paradise and is their second home. According to them, Bali's close location coupled with the high Australian dollar exchange rate when converted into rupiah makes them suddenly rich while in Bali. The prices of various goods, food and drinks were very cheap for them. That's why they always say Indonesia is paradise. Bali is our second home.