I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but from my observations, Indonesians seem to be some of the friendliest people on Earth. At least, the most smiling. Now how did I even start to speculate on this particular topic? Well, it started four years ago…

It was the end of the school year, and everyone was signing each other’s yearbooks at school. When I got home, I read all the things my friends wrote on my yearbook, and a lot of them mentioned my smile, whether it’s ‘bright’ or ‘sweet’. Come to think of it, I always have the loudest laugh out of all my friends. (This is coming from a shy and quiet introvert)

Then, quite a while after that, my parents were talking about their friends. My dad mentioned that one of his colleagues said that my dad seemed to be a ‘happy person’ because he always smiles. My mom agreed, saying that once, one of her friends said that my mom ‘always smiles’.

I wondered if that just runs in the family or if that’s an Indonesian thing. I observed my mom’s Indonesian friends. Yes, they smile, all right. Quite a lot, compared to other people who I see everyday, and that’s a lot of different people from different countries.

So to expand my so-called ‘research’, I try to look for smiles whenever I go back to Indonesia during a holiday. I probably see it millions of times a day. But I exaggerate. I’m still pretty sure that everyone I meet in Indonesia greets me with a smile, though. And I always return the favor out of habit!

So is it just me, or are Indonesians naturally smiley?

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