Cross Culture question : How has your hometown changed in your lifetime? How has it changed since your parents were young?: Fourth Generation Neighborhood

It has been five and a half years since I have been gone from the neighborhood. The business around the area isn't as vibrant as it used to be, nor the people. At night, this place is as dark as a sketchy downtown, and you would not want to get stuck here. But, this is probably one of the safest neighborhoods with a lower crime rate.

I choose to talk about this particular neighborhood because this is the place where I specifically notice a lot of things that changed in this place. The dynamic in this neighborhood sort of reflect the changes of this little town.

_{Courtesy Ray}

The area is located just 3 minutes from a central market that existed even before 1910. As told by my mother, when she was a child, the neighborhood was lively. She lived in front of a train station that connects the district nearby. Today, the train station is now filled with small houses whose land belong to the railway company.

My great-grandparents and before them were landowners and had a business in the construction sectors. In the days before the Indonesian's independence, they were already among the successful people and made a fortune from farming and construction business. As a consequence of that, the family was respected and well-traveled. Moreover, many people in this neighborhood used to work for the family in the flooring factory. My mom and her siblings were the ones who lived during the family glory days.

As told by my mom, when she was a child, money was never an issue. She and the siblings lived quite decently, have their cars, and buy the latest fashion trends. Almost every week, the family traveled to another city. Even to Bali, nearly a couple of times a year. Everything was easy for them.

Her generation was expected to continue the torch of the family business. The family expectation caused her to land herself in business management though she wanted to pursue law. Her siblings were the same; both of them chose business management. As they graduated, they had the chance to taste the corporate world for more than eight years.

When my grandfather passed away, many of his loyal workers left the job. They were starting their journey, and some of them successfully open their place. The event happened when I was already adopted into the family. I was around six years when I got told that the grandfather passed away. At around that time, my mom and my dad still had their shop. It was easy for them to build a business as they had the capital. After that, whenever they needed a considerable sum of money, they sold the lands. Eventually, they sold 99% of their shop and land to business owners for storage purposes. With little passion for the business, my mom's generation failed to carry the family's expectations.

That picture is taken from our balcony. In front of it there's an old factory owned by our grandfather. It is now function as our garage. And adjacent to it, there's an empty lot. When we were kids we called it the "ghost" house. We were extremely terrified of it.

_{Courtesy Ray}

Now, many of the land in the neighborhood is owned by different people. A lot of the houses are empty and abandoned. It's like entering one of those urban exploration houses filled with memories. I happen to be in the 4th generation of this place. I saw what used to be nice in the house and the neighborhood. When the paint was still fresh, the flowers were blooming, and the walls weren't home for spiders. The area was filled with children playing muds, climbing trees, running around inventing games. These days, a lot of its people move elsewhere, leaving the house. People of my age are also working elsewhere, and many of them are working in the capital.

I come back to this place to stay for a couple of years before I might get ready for another life adventure. However, nothing is set in stone. I might be settling down somewhere because I find this place to be extremely hot during the summer. But I am willing to invest in fixing one or a few situations in the house. Eventually, this is a place where I don't have to pay rent, which is one of my top stressors in life lately. Fortunately, I have a supportive mom and family who are pleasant. Everyone in this house is borderline introverted, with a low time preference for socializing.

Anyhow, I am probably late to this challenge, but I feel like it's something I am compelled to write about and share. Many left unsaid in this post about this neighborhood, but I am quite satisfied with what I shared today.

Mac