Land of Cheese

Indonesians sometimes say white people smell like cheese.

I’ve asked around.

It’s true that I find Indonesians rarely have any detectable body odor. Every once in a while, I’ve observed, an unfortunate individual smells really, really bad. A good portion of that population have been in uniforms, and I think it might have to do with wearing the thick polyester sometimes used for official Busway costumes or similar positions. Leather jackets sometimes produce the same effect.

In any case, I can’t say I find foreigners smell particularly worse than Indonesians. I’ve had plenty of time standing elbow to elbow on crowded buses to collect data.

So I wonder of there’s something genetic at work here, or perhaps there’s a key dietary difference. Indonesians don’t eat much cheese. In fact, it’s pretty hard to get here. Maybe there are smell-producing hormones in the vegan-bane agent called renit?

Maybe we sweat more before we’ve acclimated to the heat?

I’ve had one Indonesia friend suggest that the PH level in our skin is more acidic.

Maybe they’re just being mean.

I’ve also heard that Japanese people say white people smell like rotting meat. At least here we smell like something palatable. I've dispatched a correspondent, Nick B., to investigate these claims. He'll be spending a month teaching English and polling Tokyo about his olfactory effect.

I’m wide open to suggestions and amateur research projects on this.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the trip home. It’ll be nice to be in the land where everyone smells like cheese.