Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever, But it Sure Can Come Close

Indonesians abbreviate everything. This makes it very hard for a guy who is trying to learn the language. They abbreviate in writing, and they abbreviate when speaking.

They will write, for instance ng when they mean nggak (no). They will write nunggu when they mean menunggu (wait). I have often seen them use the abbreviation gw. I still do not know what this means, though I am pretty sure it is not a reference to G.W. Bush.

Given this rampant habit of abbreviation, it seems strange to me that the same propensity does not translate to the matters of everyday living. Something as simple as saying goodbye, for example, would seem a perfect opportunity for employment of abbreviation. Sampai jumpa. Bye. See ya round.

But no, it soon becomes quite clear to anyone who has spent time with these people, that goodbye is a process that can last anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. The native English speaker, therefore, learns to ignore all words in bahasa that translate to the notion of goodbye, as we understand it. The words are meaningless. They do not indicate any part of what is meant or what is done.

When first uttering any word or set of words which in bahasa Indonesia indicate that a parting is about to take place, the Indonesian person has no actual intention of going anywhere. He or she has merely instituted the first phase of a process. One will note that on the first instant of declaring an intent to depart, the Indonesian will move away from the door rather than toward it.

Lets say that my wife is at a church function or at a party of some sort, and there happens to be one person in the room whom she has not yet introduced herself to. It is the surest wager in the world that, having expressed her intention to depart, she will straightaway cross back to the far end of the room in order to initiate a conversation with that person. What did she mean when she said goodbye? Nothing whatsoever, you see?

Why they do not use the same word for goodbye and hello, as the Hawaiians do, I cannot say. Perhaps it is just a thing that is presumed.

One cannot fully learn the language without adding on the culture. So it is that when my wife says goodbye, and my son heads for the door, I catch his arm, shake my head, and tell him to go back and play with his friends.

Because the fact is, we are not going anywhere, any time soon.