Learning a language makes us humble. We can have a great conversation with one person in Bahasa and completely fail to explain something to someone else. There are lots of ups and downs in the language learning process. There are also a lot of laughs.
Recently we were learning in class about funeral and burial customs here in Indonesia. We were very interested as we have seen cemeteries here in town and also the common custom of family graves near your house if you live outside the city.
As we were walking to school one day we saw one of these:
These are called “Papan Bunga” which is literally translated to “Flower Board.” These line streets for special occasions. They could be for a wedding, a new business, graduation or a funeral. These are given by family members, employers, friends, etc. for whatever the special occasion may be.
These papan bunga were lining the street our school is on. As we walked, we tried to translate the words from the words we already knew and the context. We are trying harder and harder to not just pull out our phones and use Google Translate.
One of the signs had the saying “Selamat Jalan!” which means have a nice trip. This one says “ Turut Berdukacita.” I couldn’t remember what this said but I thought “berdukacita” meant joy. So Matt and I guessed maybe someone was retiring and moving away from the city.
The street our language school is on covered by papan bunga
After class as we walked home past these signs again, I decided to look up the term “turut berdukacita” on Google Translate because I wasn’t familiar with the first word. Well it turns out I was wrong, the saying has nothing to do with joy. (Joy is: sukacita in Bahasa). It means, “Please have my condolences.” It is for when someone dies. These boards were for an upcoming funeral and “Selamat Jalan” is said to/about Christians when they die.
Matt and I chuckled over the confusion as we walked home. Once we arrived home, I told the story to our Indonesian helper about my mistaken translation. She laughed with me at our misunderstanding. I hope we will always be able to chuckle at our misunderstandings instead of get frustrated.
A close up of the papan bunga. They are made by stapling plastic flowers onto black boards.