My connection to Java

Java: Connecting Me to My Family’s Story

When people ask me why I’m so passionate about learning about different cultures, the answer is that I’m multicultural and my connection to Java is strong.

Although I grew up in Suriname, my grandparents from mom’s side were born in Java, Indonesia. Like thousands of other Javanese people, they came to Suriname as indentured laborers in the early 1900s to work on plantations after slavery was abolished. It was a hard life, but they started a family and built a new life there, without ever returning “home.”

Because of that, I never had the opportunity to know the family they left behind. It would be an interesting to find them, but I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. Even so, pieces of Java found their way into my childhood.

Javanese language

I grew up hearing the Javanese language spoken by family members, young and old, and even learned some words and sentences. It was the only way to communicate with my grandmother, who didn’t speak a word of Dutch or Sranan Tongo (local creole dialect). If I wanted to ask her for a drink or food, I’d better learn how to ask when my mom wasn’t around to translate!

Celebrations

Family celebrations introduced me to traditions that had probably been passed down for generations and from distant memories. Weddings were filled with meaningful rituals, including “cleansing” the skin with a turmeric paste, feeding each other by hand and the bride washing her groom’s feet. The heavy fragrance of jasmine flowers, used as a garland for hair decoration, hung in the air while the ceremony went on.

I remember attending Mitoni, a celebration for the seventh month of a first pregnancy—a beautiful custom for blessings and protection of both the mother and child before birth. The expectant mother was bathed with water containing seven types of flowers, a symbol of physical and spiritual cleansing. After the bath, the mother would change into seven different batik sarongs, with the last one selected by guests as the prettiest.  The future dad cut a fresh coconut in half with a machete, to “predict” the gender of the baby. Straight in the middle or off to the side, determined boy or girl, I just can’t remember which.

Feasts and Food

The type of feast depended on the family and the celebration. I remember attending some with traditional gamelan music and wajang kullit puppet shows (I didn’t understand a lick), others had live music or a DJ for dancing on popular Indonesian music or world music.

Of course, some of my favorite memories revolve around food. Javanese cuisine is known for its delicious flavors and fragrant spices. Dishes such as gado-gado, sate ayam, nasi kuning, soto ayam, and freshly made tempeh remind me that food has a wonderful way of preserving culture across generations. Some of the dishes required a lot of time and ingredients to prepare, and unfortunately many are disappearing or were altered for the sake of time. I feel so blessed that I got to experience some of these cultural and food traditions while growing up!

Fascinating facts about Java

• Java is home to more than 150 million people, making it one of the most densely populated islands in the world.
• Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta, is located on the island of Java.
• The island is known for its spectacular volcanoes, ancient temples like Borobudur and Prambanan, and rich artistic traditions.
• Many traditional crafts, dances, batik textiles, and musical styles that people associate with Indonesia have deep roots in Javanese culture.

Today, I still feel connected to Java, even though I’ve never been there or met the relatives my grandparents left behind. Every time I learn something new about its history, traditions, or people, I feel like I’m discovering another piece of myself.

That is one of the reasons I created the MulticultiChica Mail Club. Every month is an invitation to discover a new culture with curiosity, respect, and wonder. And for me, there couldn’t be a more meaningful place to begin than Java—the island where part of my family’s story first began.

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