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| Culture Class: Holidays in Indonesia, Lesson 1 - New Year's Day. |
| Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class- Holidays in Indonesia Series at IndonesianPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring the traditions behind Indonesian holidays and observances. I’m Eric, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 1, New Year's Day. In Indonesian, it’s called Hari Tahun Baru. |
| New Year’s Day, which falls on January 1, is the day that marks the turning of the solar year in Indonesia. Like in other countries, New Year’s Day is celebrated in various ways in Indonesia. |
| In this lesson, we’ll learn about the different ways in which people celebrate New Year's in Indonesia. |
| Now, before we go into more detail, do you know the answer to this question- |
| Do you know how many times in one night the Indonesian people count down to the New Year? |
| If you don't already know, you’ll find out a bit later. So, keep listening. |
| On New Year’s Eve, most Indonesian people love to be outside of the house, in Indonesian rumah, gathering together in centers of activity. There are also many who like to drive, which means that road congestion is often inevitable. In Jakarta, vehicles have great difficulty passing through roads near the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout as it’s always a hotspot for people to gather. Ancol Beach is also a favorite place to wait for the last seconds of the turning of the year, or tahun. In Yogyakarta, Malioboro is a very popular spot to hang out while eating gudeg, a sweet-savory dish consisting of rice, vegetables, and poultry all cooked in coconut milk. Trumpets, or terompet, sell well on New Year’s Eve, and when the year changes, the trumpets blare. |
| More traditional communities celebrate the new year with spiritual activities, gathering at home with family to pray. Christians begin the new year by worshiping at their church, or gereja. The turning of the solar year is especially important for Christians, who begin the new year with a special mass or church service. |
| Various year-end event packages are also offered by hotels and tourist spots at extravagant prices. More economical enjoyments may take place in an empty field with an offering of dangdut music, a genre of music originating from the Arabic gambus, and which is played with a single organ and a female singer. With this single organ, the public dances dangdut into the early morning while enjoying a type of savory fried food, instant coffee, and Indonesian ginger tea provided by street vendors, in Indonesian called pedagang kaki lima. |
| Now it's time to answer our quiz question- |
| Do you know how many times in one night the Indonesian people count down to the New Year? |
| The answer is three times. Indonesia has three different time zones. Jakarta, the capital of the country, is located in the last time zone to enter the new year. |
| So listeners, how did you like this lesson? Did you learn anything interesting? |
| What about the turn of the year in your country? Are there similarities to celebrations in Indonesia? |
| Leave us a comment telling us at IndonesianPod101.com! |
| And I’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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