Anyway, a bule-mania is the name for an Indonesian girl who likes bules very much. Usually a bule-mania will always want a bule boyfriend or to be near bules and sometimes people think she is a bad girl. I am not a bad girl, I think.
There are many reasons why someone might like a bule. Some people, but not me, think they are very handsome; some think they have a sophistication or ‘coolness’ about them; others think they must have a lot of money if they come from somewhere like America or Europe; while others think if they marry a bule their kids will be adorably cute!
Me? I like them because I think they are different, special, and mysterious. I think they are well mannered and well educated and know how to treat people nicely. That’s all.
Maybe I should tell you about myself. My name is Sari. Actually, Sari is my nickname. My real name is Ratnasari Dwi Pramiati, but everybody calls me Sari or just Ri. I prefer to be called Sari. In my country everybody has a nickname and everybody’s name means something. My name means the girl full of love and wisdom. I don’t think I am wise, but I know now I can be full of love in the right condition.
Actually, she said I fall in love too easily.
She was my best friend in the office and her name was Selvey. She was older than me and married with a baby boy. His name is Eric and he is very funny. She had a picture of him on her desk. Selvey was very nice to me but she didn’t like it if I always talked about bules. I don’t know why, but I don’t think Selvey liked bules very much and she didn’t agree that they are handsome at all. Selvey sometimes used to call me a ‘mummy’s girl’ because I didn’t have a boyfriend for so long, but I know she always cared for me and she just wanted me to be happy.
Selvey said that I liked bules too much because I was always talking about them or else reading about them in magazines and books. I said that I was just interested in different people from different cultures but not crazy about them. I think she believed me sometimes and was just kidding with me, but other times I think she was serious.
Sometimes it was hard to understand Selvey, because often she was quiet and fierce looking. She didn’t talk much to me sometimes, and that made me feel like I had done something wrong and so I felt sad or worried, but then she would change suddenly and be very friendly again and spend ages just chatting away to me. Selvey never wanted to talk to me in English, though. She said we are Indonesian and so we should speak to each other in Indonesian. I know she can speak English very well, better than me for sure, because I often heard her talking with our clients on the phone, but she always refused to talk to me in English. I don’t know why.
I guess sometimes older people can be hard to understand, right? Not that Selvey is that old, really. I think she is maybe 35 or something like that.
We worked together for more than three years after I joined the company straight from university, and in that time you’d think I would understand more about her, wouldn’t you? Well, as my story unfolds you’ll learn that she is full of surprises.
Well, my story really begins a while back. I worked in an office in Jakarta for a finance company. It was easy work but sometimes a bit boring. I had lots of free time and so usually spent it reading on the internet or talking with my friends. I had many friends in the office, but most of them were a bit older than me and they were married or had serious boyfriends. At that time I didn’t have a boyfriend yet, but I used to think I would like one soon.
Whenever I was not busy in my office, I had plenty of time to browse the internet. I liked to read the news and see what was happening here in Jakarta and Indonesia, and also in other places in the world. I always tried to read everything in English because I have always wanted to learn more. I think if a person just reads things in their own language then they don’t learn so much.
Whenever there was nothing very interesting to read on the internet, I would have a look on some of the expat chat sites. There were two sites I particularly liked to look at. They were called Jakchat and Expat. They were websites set up for expatriates, bules, living here. They gave much advice to the bules about how to live here, find a job, make friends, etc., and they also had forums where people could write with questions and sometimes opinions about life here.
I liked to read the forums because I think it helped me to understand more about the bules and their lives. I sometimes used to try to read what they said to Selvey but not usually, because I knew she didn’t like bules. Sometimes the forums could be very busy with many people posting news and questions and stories, and sometimes they were very quiet.
Actually, anybody could join the forums. You didn’t have to be a bule; you just chose a nickname and became a member. I became a member, but Selvey didn’t. My nickname on both websites was SariGal80. I
