Indonesia Culture Smart! – Book Review

Indonesia Culture Smart! – Book Review

Indonesia from Culture smart

Indonesia Culture Smart!
The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

Author – Graham Saunders & Jessica Ginting
Publisher – Kuperard
Pages – 200
Released – 4th March 2021
ISBN-13 – 978-1787028968
Format – ebook, paperback
Rating – 4 Stars
I received a free copy of this book.
This post contains affiliate links.
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Synopsis

Indonesia, stretching across three time zones and situated on one of the world’s great maritime trade routes, has a rich and varied culture.

Culture Smart! Indonesia describes the many different cultural backgrounds that make up this rainbow nation, helping you to better understand the values that underpin its diverse society. It reveals how modern Indonesians view themselves and go about their daily lives, and gives advice on how to navigate unfamiliar situations. Armed with essential cultural information and tips on effective communication, readers are better placed to have a more meaningful and successful experience in this fascinating country.

Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.

Review by Stacey

I’ve never been to Indonesia and this review, I haven’t checked on the internet or with anyone that lives in Indonesia as to whether the information is correct as I think this would hinder my review. I am solely basing my review on the information on Indonesia inside this Culture Smart! book.

This is the fourth Culture Smart! book that I have read and reviewed. I love to discover information about countries and cultures and these books are the perfect way to do that. They are essentially a book for someone either travelling to or even going to live in the country the book is about. They have an extensive range of books that are updated regularly.

I found the book easy to understand and enjoyable to read. It is filled with things that I would need to know had I been travelling to Indonesia for any length of time or to live there. Covered in the book is:

– Land and People
– Values and Attitudes
– Religion and Festivals
– Making Friends
– Indonesians at Home
– Time Out
– Travel, Health, and Safety
– Business Briefing
– Communicating

The book opens with a map of the country and an introduction that teaches us about how Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago (an area that contains a group of islands scattered in lakes, rivers, or the ocean). There are more than 17,000 islands that stretch some 3,200 miles, with roughly 6,000 of them inhabited by around 260 million people.

The country is multi-ethnic with more than 300 different ethnic groups. The book covers the main ethnic groups and explores their heritage and values. It teaches you about what things you shouldn’t do that would cause offence to Indonesians or what your non-verbal motions may mean to them, such as standing with your hands on your hips is classed as being aggressive, never touching their heads as this is sacred and never show the underneath of your feet.

I enjoy these small pocket-sized books that are laid out in easy-to-understand and find chapters. Everything you could want to know from the history to the modern-day is covered in this short book. It would be a valuable asset for anyone who is visiting, living, or even just learning about the country.

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Culture Smart!

Culture Smart! guides are written for people who want more than just the nuts and bolts of where to stay, what to see, and how to travel. Short, sharp and humorous, they deal with the richly rewarding human dimension of foreign travel by telling you about the beliefs and attitudes of the people you will meet and about situations you may encounter. They help you to understand what makes people tick, the values they live by, and the kind of behavior that will be reciprocated with goodwill and hospitality.

Each guide includes concise chapters on the local customs, traditions and values of the country’s inhabitants, and crucially, the key historical and cultural events that have shaped them. There are sections on social and business etiquette, tips on communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and advice on how to be a good guest.

Our aim is to arm readers with a level of cultural fluency, so that whatever your reason for travelling, each situation may be approached with both confidence and sensitivity.

Brief and thorough, our guides are designed so that they can be dipped into for quick reference as and when needed, or comfortably completed in a few sittings, affording you a comprehensive overview of what you’re getting yourself into before you have even taken off!

Written by long-term expats, journalists, professors and diplomats, Culture Smart! guides have been helping travelers be more than just tourists for over 20 years. With over 100 country guides to date, there are new titles and editions published every year.

Marcel Proust once said, The true voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. We hope that Culture Smart! will help you arrive at your destination with your eyes open.


What did you think of ‘Indonesia’? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!


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10 Responses

  1. Tasha says:

    This sounds like an interesting book and could certainly be helpful in order to understand the cultures.

  2. Love that even though we can’t travel now, we can do so with our imagination through a book.

  3. DJ Sakata says:

    I am woefully ignorant about these islands

  4. When I was in grade school, these are the kind of books I would check out of the library. I’ll bet that librarian always wondered about me.

  5. Robin Loves Reading says:

    I would love to read some of these books.

  6. I love these little books and they are definitely helpful in order to understand cultures.

  7. I know, it is a great armchair travel book.

  8. There are so many of them too!

  9. Ah a child who loved to learn. I can understand.

  10. They really are very interesting.