Greetings from Indonesia,
I hope you guys are doing well!
It's Friday the 13th - Don't panic... What could possibly go wrong?
Shortly I will be moving from here. Which is both exciting and sad.. but the circle of life at AW must continue... stand by for fresh adventures.
The thing about all of Indonesia (in my experience anyway) is the stress-free nature of the people. The calm, gentle, no-drama approach to life and other people. Maybe because of the many diverse peoples on many different islands.. that this relatively new nation (slogan: Strength in diversity) had to learn how to get along. to accept others as they are. I'm going to miss this...
Last week I was telling you about the "No Drama Keep Smile" jolly bodybuilding politician of Bali. And I also explained a bit about the complex process of loading a container in the AW warehouse.. if you missed it you can catch up here.
Our Digital marketing team is the personification of Indonesian friendliness in diversity.. AW-Advantage.com... (BTW these guys can help you grow your online business).
Between the office and warehouse, we have six very different cultural groups.. that all get along without stress and with total (as far as I can see) acceptance.
Behaving badly in Bali.
Let me tell you not every visitor to Indonesia appreciates or responds well to the gentle culture here. There is a certain type of annoying swaggering, excess testosterone, overly privileged, low IQ foreigner who thinks it's ok to behave like a prat. For example to ride around without a helmet, under-dressed, over-tattooed and with zero respect for traffic rules. They can do this (and much worse).. because in this country the locals will just accept them as they are, so there is no check on bad behaviour. There is a social media genre in Indonesia called Bule (which is slang for foreigner) Behaving Badly. The locals don't get upset or angry, they just shake their heads in disbelief and post to TikTok or Facebook. Search: Bule behaving badly in Bali.. in any social media for some light entertainment.
Sadly some of those folk are fellow Brits, but many are run-away Russians as locals are happy to point out.
Fortunately these types mostly frequent only pockets of Bali best avoided (which I do). So anyway that gentle, accepting, trusting nature - the culture of Indonesia.. is what makes it relatively easy to do business. Artisans even often openly share their product costs and ask what is an acceptable price. Is this under threat from over-tourism?.. Yes, I see some locals learning to be mistrustful because of bad experiences. Sad but I hope the good will prevail.
There is a village in south Java (which springs to mind) where we buy traditional woven placemats.. the locals are open and kind and invite you into their homes... It would be awful if this way of life was destroyed. By the way, the natural vetiver placemats and runners they make are very special in that they are naturally scented. An amazing gift for Christmas.
We are actively dreaming up many more benefits/gifts we can bestow on our lovely regular customers - helping you to sell more, boost your profit margin and have more fun.
After all, we are all in the Gift Trade - our business is to help people love other people - no less! Gifts are a profound and deeply meaningful part of human nature. I believe we should be humbled and grateful to be part of this process. So you might be pleasantly surprised to find a gift in your order for your personal use - from AW to you...
Lots of new stock is rolling into our warehouses right now.. Christmas season (gifts for all) is approaching. Now really is the best time to get stocked up.
Wishing you a lovely weekend. I'm sure you will pass Friday the 13th unscathed!
Be kind to someone, and let's get this show on the road!
Take care
David