My student Aldo (not his real name), who plans to study at the University of Duisburg Essen (UDE) in September 2012, is a polite Batak young man.
In our tradition as Batak or Tapanuli people it is common that we check the genealogical tree if we meet someone for the first time. In our language (Batak Toba language) we call it "martarombo".
As Aldo knew that I am Sihombing, he immediately told me that his grandmother (the mother of his mother) is also Sihombing. It is nice. :-) Further, he asked me what he should call me. There are some possibilities. However he told me also that he can call me "nantulang" (a kind of auntie, there are many kinds of auntie in Batak language, which we just can translate as "auntie" in English or "Tante" in German).
I appreciate Aldo for his politeness. But I think we don't need to apply our tradition. As we concentrate on German, then we do like the Germans: no "tarombo" / no genealogical tree.
A German names Diedrich who lives in Hamburg won't be sure whether he and Mr Diedrich who lives in Stuttgart are relatives. But I (Jakarta resident) and Aldo (who comes from Palembang, South Sumatera, and now lives in Jakarta), we can say that we are relatives.
However Aldo thought it not good if he just calls me without any kind of salutation. Then he calls me "inang" (ibu in Indonesian, madame in English, no term in German, since you cannot call a woman in German only "Frau!". It must be complete with her family name: "Frau Diedrich!").
It is nice. :-)
You have read text 14.
Please read text 15: Oh, No, I Have Bought A Useless Dictionary
Back to text 13: Translation into Indonesian
Back to text 13: Translation into Indonesian
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