Lost in translation? Lost in culture

How can you be an alien in your own hometown? Easy. Stop talking like everybody else. And it's not even the usage of a "foreign"language that will DEFINITELY make you look like a pompous little shit, but just use the "official" unifying language. In my case, it's Bahasa Indonesia.

Of course, being Indonesia, the archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, we are blessed (or cursed) with so many different languages, dialects, cultures and habits. It all depends on where you live. I live in the capital of West Java province, which is mainly influenced by Sundanese culture (NOT Sudanese). Anyways, other than using Bahasa Indonesia, we use Sundanese for daily conversation. It's a beautiful language, with its own craziness. 

I speak a bit of Sundanese, and not even the formal one. So this language has different degrees. The highest and most polite one, the daily relaxed one and the last one which you only use when you're talking to people younger than you. I speak the most crude one because I'm a "Sunda murtad"---as that's how they would label me. I use it with my friends when no politeness is required and conversations/discussions feel funnier when Sundanese is fully applied.

But, as I have been saying lately in my blog or somewhere else, I don't really go out and meet people these days. It means that the time I'm spending socialising and applying languages with other human beings is pretty limited. I am now working on a translation, from English to Bahasa Indonesia, and the Bahasa Indonesia that I'm using is of course the "proper" one; the one that will pass my editor's standard. So, whether I want it or not, the way I speak is heavily influenced by the way I write.

And of course the inevitable happened. When I finally went out of my room-cave last night to the real wild world and met other human beings with their own crazy mind, I sounded like an alien. I realised I sounded weird...probably I  was too self conscious. But anyway, I tried to switch to Sundanese for a bit. And it went okay...for a bit. Because my brain kept on switching back to Indonesian. And I couldn't stop my mouth sprouting words that sounded like they were coming out of a bloody dictionary or a "Belajar Bahasa Indonesia untuk Pemula" book.

And OF COURSE, the guys were starting to tease me. I became even more self conscious, a bit embarrassed too. It felt like I failed in integrating myself to the "local" culture or whatever. But, on the more positive side, because of my weirdness, I got to talk to people about different stuff related to Sundanese culture and history, and getting lots of different information because everyone was trying to impress everybody else by showing off their abilities and knowledge to this little alien, sitting in front of them with a wide silly grin. 

Get yourself a monkey translator

source: the-legion-of-decency.blogspot.com

So, I just turned down a job because the client was an ass. Well, that sounds a bit pompous. Basically, what happened was an acquaintance of mine needed a translation done. So, he asked me a quote for the job. This was very normal and standard. I sent him my quote with a long explanation about how complicated the job was and the possibility of me actually incapable of getting the job done (hence, he needed to find another translator). I felt I was being fair my giving a reasonable explanation and reasonable price. And you know what? He said it was a ripoff. 

I was quite offended by it. I have never received this kind of treatment from any other clients. Normally, if a client thinks that my rate is too expensive, he/she will just politely say that it's too expensive for him/her and that he/she will try to do the translation by themselves or find cheaper translators. Fine by me. I have stopped taking peanuts as a payment since a couple of years ago, when I think my skill and experience should be rewarded professionally. 

The things that irked me were 1) this client is a foreigner, so that made me feel like he was comparing me with other people who like to rip off foreigners; 2) is it so hard to just tell me the price is too expensive and maybe I can make it cheaper somehow?; 3) the fact that he still asked about my translation rate after he said I tried to rip him off.

Often I ask myself, what is too expensive and what is too less? It's not easy to put a price on your skill, unless you're working in an area where there are certain pricing standards. But, as far as I know, most freelancers set their own standards. I sometimes will deliberately lower my rate when a friend asks for my help. Sometimes I even do it for free if I see a good reason for it. Sometimes I would double my rate if I think the job is impossible, and so on and so forth. And I have never once being told I tried to rip someone off. Until today.

I guess it comes down to know yourself and your abilities. Figuring out how to respect yourself so other people will do the same. If I don't stand up for myself, then this person will think he can get away with his attitude. People who give peanuts, should just get monkeys to work for them.