Bu Robyn came to pick us up with a smaller car than the previous one. We all hurriedly got into her car and she started driving the car towards the Bendigo City. The city at night was glamorous with lights and many people performing their nightly ritual. The car crossed the city and began passing the scenic hills and creeks. Along the way, we saw a huge tract of farming land, green grass, as well as farms with various vegetables and fruits, cattle, etc. It was a totally different scene to what we face every day in Tangerang, which is crowded, with many people all striving for land. Here, as far as we could see was a huge, vast land.
The car turned left into a country road. The tyres bumped along a rough surfaced road. On our left and right hand sides were big trees and thick shrub, sometimes we passed ‘a small jungle’. The group began wondering: Mau kemana kita ini? Apakah daerah ini aman? Jangan-jangan ada penjahat! (Where are we going ? Is this region safe? Are we sure there are no thugs over here!). They began to worry about their safety and why Bu Robyn took them to such a place!
The car entered a gate but it was still empty land that we saw. After a couple of minutes driving, the car reached a new, glimmering house. A few cars were there but the surrounding area was black and quiet. Our friend, Andy, came out from the house with two dogs following her to greet us. It was a nice house with white pebbles, which was situated in a remote area. The distance to the other houses was far…far away. Who is the owner of this house? She must be very brave lady living in a house far from neighbours? We had so many questions.
We entered a room. It was warmer inside compared to the cold and windy winter weather outside. We saw a lady, who was busy cooking in a neat kitchen. She greeted us with an Australian accent: “Hello, everyone, welcome to my home, my name is Susan, nice to meet you all.” she said to all of us. We shook hands and introduced each other. Susan is the owner of the house and she was willing to host us and provide us with a typical Australian dinner: BBQ. Everyone was happy and Pak Afan chatted with Andy and asked about his family. Pak Dedi was also excited to see Andy. He met her when she went to Ciputat last Easter Holidays with Bu Robyn. “Unbelievable, Andy, I am here and to meet you?” said Pak Afan enthusiastically. A happy reunion of friends!
Bu Susan took us on a tour of her house. In the backyard she pointed to where Kangaroos wander in that area. However, tonight they did not appear. They were shy because of the visitors. Looking to the other side, we saw many horses standing in the dark with cloth on their backs to protect them from wind and rain. Bu Susan pointed and said, “That was my parents’ old house over there and at the back of it is my nearest neighbour to this house. My house now is relatively new. I just recently finished building it”. Then, we went back into the room.
Everyone chatted happily. We began enjoying the cakes on the table. Bu Robyn was busy helping Bu Susan. Bu Robyn bought a bottle of chilli sauce for this occasion because she knows that we love chilli sauce so much. Talking, laughing, chatting were dominating the living room. An aura and spirit of friendship exists here. Bu Susan did the cooking herself and it was almost done. We looked around the room and saw many antique ornaments from a past time in the living room. There were many pictures of horses with Bu Susan riding them. It was a lovely and well facilitated house!
We ate our dinner at a round table. This table had a moving part with food on it. We turned the table and selected any food we wanted. Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, breads, vegetables, etc were served on the table. We tried to communicate as best as we could. Our body, mind, eyes and face expressed our feeling of this friendship visit. Even though our English words are limited, our hearts are vast and huge to deliver our messages to our best Australian friends. We enjoy and love this friendship.
After we finished dinner, the conversation was continued on the sofa. Bu Susan joined us. All of us could not wait to ask her a lot of questions:
“Why are you living here alone? Didn’t you feel afraid?” said a friend.
“Do you protect yourself with a gun? If a bandit comes you can use it!” said another friend.“It is such a big…Wow! To realize only one person lives in this vast land and in such a big house! We were amazed.
We were amazed by the secure condition of this country life. We knew how safe this residence was from Bu Susan’s explanations. Even, Bu Susan doesn’t even lock the front door at night time. The Indonesian friends’ minds were imagining and comparing this situation with their own country’s situation, which was extremely different. Finally, thank you Bu Robyn, Bu Andy, for organizing this dinner. Our special thanks also go to Bu Susan, who prepared her house and served us with such a delicious meal. We tasted a country Australian dinner. We invite you to come to Indonesia to forge our friendship. (HS).
The car turned left into a country road. The tyres bumped along a rough surfaced road. On our left and right hand sides were big trees and thick shrub, sometimes we passed ‘a small jungle’. The group began wondering: Mau kemana kita ini? Apakah daerah ini aman? Jangan-jangan ada penjahat! (Where are we going ? Is this region safe? Are we sure there are no thugs over here!). They began to worry about their safety and why Bu Robyn took them to such a place!
The car entered a gate but it was still empty land that we saw. After a couple of minutes driving, the car reached a new, glimmering house. A few cars were there but the surrounding area was black and quiet. Our friend, Andy, came out from the house with two dogs following her to greet us. It was a nice house with white pebbles, which was situated in a remote area. The distance to the other houses was far…far away. Who is the owner of this house? She must be very brave lady living in a house far from neighbours? We had so many questions.
We entered a room. It was warmer inside compared to the cold and windy winter weather outside. We saw a lady, who was busy cooking in a neat kitchen. She greeted us with an Australian accent: “Hello, everyone, welcome to my home, my name is Susan, nice to meet you all.” she said to all of us. We shook hands and introduced each other. Susan is the owner of the house and she was willing to host us and provide us with a typical Australian dinner: BBQ. Everyone was happy and Pak Afan chatted with Andy and asked about his family. Pak Dedi was also excited to see Andy. He met her when she went to Ciputat last Easter Holidays with Bu Robyn. “Unbelievable, Andy, I am here and to meet you?” said Pak Afan enthusiastically. A happy reunion of friends!
Bu Susan took us on a tour of her house. In the backyard she pointed to where Kangaroos wander in that area. However, tonight they did not appear. They were shy because of the visitors. Looking to the other side, we saw many horses standing in the dark with cloth on their backs to protect them from wind and rain. Bu Susan pointed and said, “That was my parents’ old house over there and at the back of it is my nearest neighbour to this house. My house now is relatively new. I just recently finished building it”. Then, we went back into the room.
Everyone chatted happily. We began enjoying the cakes on the table. Bu Robyn was busy helping Bu Susan. Bu Robyn bought a bottle of chilli sauce for this occasion because she knows that we love chilli sauce so much. Talking, laughing, chatting were dominating the living room. An aura and spirit of friendship exists here. Bu Susan did the cooking herself and it was almost done. We looked around the room and saw many antique ornaments from a past time in the living room. There were many pictures of horses with Bu Susan riding them. It was a lovely and well facilitated house!
We ate our dinner at a round table. This table had a moving part with food on it. We turned the table and selected any food we wanted. Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, breads, vegetables, etc were served on the table. We tried to communicate as best as we could. Our body, mind, eyes and face expressed our feeling of this friendship visit. Even though our English words are limited, our hearts are vast and huge to deliver our messages to our best Australian friends. We enjoy and love this friendship.
After we finished dinner, the conversation was continued on the sofa. Bu Susan joined us. All of us could not wait to ask her a lot of questions:
“Why are you living here alone? Didn’t you feel afraid?” said a friend.
“Do you protect yourself with a gun? If a bandit comes you can use it!” said another friend.“It is such a big…Wow! To realize only one person lives in this vast land and in such a big house! We were amazed.
We were amazed by the secure condition of this country life. We knew how safe this residence was from Bu Susan’s explanations. Even, Bu Susan doesn’t even lock the front door at night time. The Indonesian friends’ minds were imagining and comparing this situation with their own country’s situation, which was extremely different. Finally, thank you Bu Robyn, Bu Andy, for organizing this dinner. Our special thanks also go to Bu Susan, who prepared her house and served us with such a delicious meal. We tasted a country Australian dinner. We invite you to come to Indonesia to forge our friendship. (HS).
Posted by CIPUTAT WEEROONA FRIENDSHIPS at 6:59 PM 2 comments
