The Case for an Indonesian Downhill Ski Team

I’m going to start working on a proposal to develop a national Indonesian downhill ski team, for several great reasons. First of all, balance - they’ve got it, as a result of riding motorbikes - from birth as passengers & then as soon as they’re big enough to reach the controls on their own (the licensing age is 14, but rules aren’t always followed). Many women ride pillion sidesaddle, which demands its own delicate balance & women drivers in (very) high heels are everywhere. Families of four or five will fit with relative comfort onto a bike. And I’ve seen everything from dozens of eggs to 10 foot ladders and full size bookcases loaded onto tiny scooters. Got to get from A to B somehow, right?

An "intersection" - guy with his arm out & a whistle guiding van into the stream of traffic across about 5 and a half lanes of oncoming vehicles.

Second reason - control. Driving on a bike in Indonesian traffic is exactly like negotiating the closest bunny hill to Toronto the day after Christmas on downhill skis. First rule - don’t worry about what’s behind you - you have no control over the guy coming up on your right or the minibus trying to pass you on your left, you need to keep your eyes on the next pothole in front of you & your rearview mirrors really only give you a glimpse of half of your own arm & a somewhat terrifying snapshot of the masses of scooters in the rear. So the strategy to safely & calmly driving around Makassar is just what you’d do on a black diamond slope with occasional moguls - weave around those slower than you, leave room for unexpected co-recreationalists popping out from the trees or side trails, and be ready to stop when the newbie in front crosses his tips - at the same time scanning the surface for holes, bumps and slippery patches. After you’ve got all that down, it’s quite fun. But it does demand a lot of focus, & you need regular breaks to slow your heart down.

And the third reason that I can see gold for downhill skiing in Indonesia’s future - optimism. It may be because I’m still working on the language but I haven’t met a cynical Indonesian (yet). In fact, the country faces many of the same difficulties we do in North America - although currently they have better economic growth, unemployment and underemployment is high, there are very limited opportunities for young people & even those with university degrees earn very low wages. But the Indonesians I know look forward with a (somewhat confusing to me) belief that their lives are getting better. They commonly express ambitious goals & sincerely believe that these are within reach.

To some extent, I think that this cheerful attitude towards life can be explained by the bahasa Indonesia word ‘belum’. Essentially, it means ‘not yet’. If someone asks you ‘have you had lunch?’ the answer wouldn’t be ‘no’, it would be ‘belum’. This could be interpreted as: not yet, I’d love to, the possibility is still out there, what have you got? You get the same answer if you ask someone on this island whether they’ve been to Bali. Belum - but the universe may get me there sooner or later. Most Indonesians can’t afford the plane ticket to travel off their own island, and hotels are completely out of reach. But, whether the question is ‘have you finished your homework’ or ‘are you married’ or ‘have you taken that commercial flight to the moon’, you’d hear ‘belum’. But ‘belum’ says it all. The possibility is always out there. That one word might just reflect a uniquely Indonesian deep-seated optimism. I can learn from that. 

I haven’t started my ski team proposal, belum.