Hope noone else saw that

The other day I thoroughly embarrassed myself when I slipped and fell as I was getting off a Kopaja, one of Jakarta’s broken down looking public buses.  As normal, the bus itself never fully ground to a stop, so when I leapt off it I was already a little unstable.  The mud, black with traffic pollution my tumbled landing and when I stood up, hoping vainly that the people waiting at that bus stop hadn’t noticed by embarrassment, both of my knees were stained black.  Frustrated but stubbornly determined, I continued to transfer and get on another Kopaja that would take me to the coffee shop Anomali for my planned afternoon of writing grad school application essays.

Later that night though, when I met a friend from my office, Arini, for some street food and to see a batik exhibition, I relayed my embarrassing story.  Her laughter, not restrained in the slightest, indicated my “specialness” in this incident.  It’s true I have never seen anyone so much wobble no matter what speed the bus was going when they alighted.  And being the only foreigner I have seen to ride these buses, I must have played my part well as the foolish white person seemingly lost in Jakarta.  Arini finally informed that the trick is to lead with your left foot, since even though it is not intuitive to do that, it is more stable.  I have promised that next time I will try the left foot, and try not to make a fool of myself on busy intersections.