By Landon Soukhanouvong, Monroe Community College
When I arrived in Indonesia, I had a clear research project in mind. My project focused on Indonesian folklore and film, especially the story of Roro Jonggrang and Prambanan Temple. Roro Jonggrang is a tragic story about a princess who is forced into a marriage she does not want. She tries to escape by challenging a prince to build 1,000 temples in one night. When he reaches 999 temples, she tricks him into thinking the sun is rising. The prince becomes angry and turns her into the 1,000th temple. To me, the story shows ideas about forced marriage, power, and women’s freedom.
I went to Indonesia expecting to learn about this story and use it as the main focus of my research and filming. However, I quickly learned that some of the most important parts of my research were things I never planned for. In a very literal way, I got lost a lot.
One of my favorite memories happened on a train from Jakarta to Bandung. The train was very crowded, and I became separated from my professor. My friend and I were trying to figure out which stop was ours. We obviously looked lost. The girl sitting next to me, who was around my age and spoke fluent English, noticed and offered to help us. She told us that Bandung was the stop after the next one. After thanking her, we started talking. I told her about my research on Roro Jonggrang, and she told me some things she knew about the story. It was a small interaction, but it helped me become more confident about talking to people I did not know. Throughout the rest of the trip, I became more comfortable asking questions and talking to people, whether it was a becak driver, someone I met on the street, or someone who noticed that I needed help.
One of the biggest skills I gained from this trip was adaptability. We traveled through many different places, including Jakarta, Bandung, Bukittinggi, Padang, and Yogyakarta. Each city had its own culture and way of life. I was surprised by how different each place could feel even though they were all in the same country. There were also times when things did not go according to plan. My classmates and I sometimes struggled with the language barrier when ordering food, finding transportation, or trying to figure out where we needed to go. We had to learn how to work things out ourselves. The days were also very long. Sometimes we were working from early morning until one or two in the morning. The heat and physical exhaustion could be difficult, and I even became sick during the final four days of the trip.
Even though these things were difficult, they helped me become more independent. I learned that not everything will go perfectly, and that is okay. Sometimes you just have to figure things out and keep going. One of my favorite experiences was spending time with a local farming family during the Muslim New Year. They welcomed us onto their farm, showed us around, shared food with us, and let us help prepare a salad and sauce. It was a simple
experience, but it taught me something important about research. You cannot fully understand a culture just by reading about it. You have to spend time with people, listen to them, and experience parts of their everyday lives. This was especially meaningful to me because I am Asian-American. Sometimes I feel disconnected from my cultural background while living in the United States. When I travel to Asian countries, however, I often feel a sense of familiarity. Indonesia gave me that feeling again. At the same time, traveling through different Indonesian cities showed me that there is not just one Indonesian culture. Every place we visited had its own differences, which made me realize how much location and community can shape people’s lives.
Looking back, my research experience helped me academically and personally. I learned how to do research outside of a classroom, communicate with people from different backgrounds, and adapt when things did not go as planned. I also became more confident in leading my own project and making decisions on my own. My project started with Roro Jonggrang, but it became much more than researching one legend. Through filming, observation, and talking with people, I learned more about Indonesian culture, but I also learned more about myself.
I want to continue combining research, travel, and filmmaking in the future. I want to travel to different places, learn from local communities, and use film to share the stories and experiences I encounter. If there is one message I want to take away from Indonesia, it is this: sometimes the most important part of research isn’t what you plan to find, but what happens when you get lost. I got lost more than once in Indonesia, but by being lost, I found experiences, connections, confidence, and perspectives that I would never have found if everything had gone according to plan.
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