Whether westerners and expats in Indonesia are viewed as miserable and unfriendly people.

American teacher of English in Yogyakarta, Michelle Ahmad, tells that her Indonesian friends regard as her as being atypical for a foreigner in Indonesia – whereas most expats look grumpy and unfriendly much of the time, Michelle smiles a lot, her friends say.

On reflection however Michelle believes she isn’t much different from other expats, especially when on the street:

when I am alone and walking around town, I look at the ground, avoid eye contact, and rarely smile. I ignore hellos in English altogether or respond in Indonesian, seeing even simple greetings as subtle harassment because I am foreign, I am a bule.

Michelle avoids eye contact and speaking to strangers partly because she doesn’t want to invite amorous male attention, particularly when out alone at night.

However lately she has resolved to be less fretful about safety and more open to people, she says. michelleahmad.blogspot.com

Another blogger and foreign resident in Indonesia, this time male, Brandon, says he was accosted at the gym recently by an Indonesian woman who complained:

Why don’t you ever talk to anyone at the gym? You always wear headphones, so no one can talk to you. And when you workout you don’t smile.

Brandon says he is not very sociable at the gym because

• he is there to work out not socialise
• he doesn’t want to be seen as “hitting on” women

But to an Indonesian:

…we may come across as being unfriendly or perhaps even a bit stuck-up

He recommends that Indonesians just ignore the apparent unfriendliness of bules, and just approach them if they feel like it. javajive.com