Story of Bali, Indonesia

Emotion is conveyed primarily by the eyes and to a lesser extent by other facial expressions, as is evident by the Balinese habit of sustaining eye contact and looking directly at a person. A look is generally more powerful than words and eye expression is striking in dance and also evident in wood-carving, though not in painting (except of dancers). Parents seldom make a positive verbal response to a child for good work and they do not physically touch or give hugs to older children, choosing to express approval in other non-verbal ways. They are good at eye contact. 'They teach their children to look the other person in the eyes and the face and to listen when initiating a good relationship and they emphasize the importance of learning to read facial expressions. 'Me foreigner is often unable to appreciate the meaning of Balinese emotional expression because of sharply different expectations, based on their own customs.

Observable behaviour does not always reveal internal feelings. For example, the Balinese may appear outwardly happy at a funeral but still harbour feelings of sadness within. Such inner feelings are generally not obvious to casual observers, especially Westerners.

The Balinese have words to acknowledge a gift, e.g., they say titiang nunas (meaning 'I take it', 'I accept it') when addressing a person of higher caste or status, and tiang ngidih when talking to one of similar caste or status. However, the feeling that goes with 'thank you' is expressed 'in the heart. In recent years they have introduced words equivalent to the Western 'thank you': titiang matur suksma, and terima kasih. in Balinese and Indonesian, respectively.

Colour is used for non-verbal emotional expression, as it is in many cultures, but the Balinese have their own characteristic way of using it. The Balinese liking for bright colours and contrasts in colour is evident in their food offerings, such as coloured rice concoctions and many kinds of tropical fruit, their dress, and their ceremonial decorations. The otherwise bland coloured temple structure is turned into a riot of coloured cloth, banners, umbrellas, and other decorations for ceremonies. Multiple colours are less obvious in Bayung Gede where the villagers tend to use single colours contrasted with black.

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