Day 8: "Desa".

Today was a very, cultural experience I must say. Reporting to office in the morning and driving out 1hr+ away I found myself in a rural area with the team tasked with setting up a new Micromart toko in the area.

We fixed up the shelves, watched the glass panels get fixed, the whole Ikea experience. We then set up the stock and cleaned up the store. In a single day we turned an empty room into a convenience store literally ready for business. Like usual Micromart operation - I saw how they had pride in their work. The heat was insane and the room was small, however they were still meticulous with their work and ensured that the display was done up very professionally. Occassionally they would even suggest where some items could be better placed to our supervisor - which was the first time I noticed suggestions made. This must be Cik Farid's company motto of "open communication". There was no following orders for the sake of it, they also thought about the work they would do. By the end of the day there was a little group of children just sitting outside the store and curiously peering in. There was a look of wonder in their eyes, Micromart being set up right where they live must have excited them quite a bit. It was the same wonder I got when a McDonalds was going to open up. I couldn't wait for the time when the cardboard panels would be removed and I could feast on some deep fried goodness.

When I first stepped in I wondered why Micromart chose this place out of the many places in Indonesia they could choose from as competing with the already present kedai runcits would certainly be difficult. However, I realized that it doesn't really matter. It showed that Cik Farid meant it when he says he wants to open Micromarts all over Indonesia - for the people.

I imagine it must have been an interesting experience for my teammates as well, who told me more about Indonesia and how this job also allows them to see parts of Indonesia they may see otherwise. Learning really can come from anywhere. Did you know that despite the language being "Bahasa Indonesia", there are actually differences in the dialects that are used across the states. It may not seem very surprising, as Singapore has similar dialects in society - however it goes to show how Semarang was really a very small part of the diversity to be found in Indonesia.