VISIT TO BOGOR

Thursday 9th April was election day in Indonesia. With 230 million people, the easiest way to keep track of who has voted and who hasn't is to dip the voter's little finger in ink.



Deer wander freely outside the palace.













The principal from SMA Negeri I Pamulang and his family
brought a picnic lunch for us to share.













Below is the Presidential Palace in the Botanical Gardens
(Kebun Raya) in Bogor which is about one hour's drive
south west of Jakarta via the tollway.







The gardens are famous for their beautiful orchids. These can be found in the Orchid House (Rumah Anggrek).

VISIT TO PAMULANG

On Wednesday 8th April Ibu Robyn and Ibu Andy visited SMA Negeri I Pamulang. We were warmly welcomed to this senior secondary college. The two students in the principal's office impressed us with their English and after this we were taken to the music room which was a sound proofed recording studio. The students performed for us using both the traditional angklung instruments as well as modern guitars.

THIRD DAY

Many of the students ride their motor bikes to school.

This is Ibu Nyai's Bahasa Indonesia class. Her students are excited to receive their letters from Weeroona College students. One of the students received an Australian flag in his letter.

SECOND DAY

Ibu Andy and Ibu Robyn were taken to lunch at Gitung. We were amazed at how beautiful and green the gardens were after the dryness of Bendigo. We enjoyed the hospitality of the Principal, Pak Dedi Rafidi, and the staff at Ciputat as well as the delicious food - our favourite was 'Kol and the gang' - Gado Gado - and of course tempe.

SECOND DAY

On the second day, Ms. Jones joined the Music class taught by Mr. Nasution. He teaches the students to play the angklung (a traditional musical instrument from West Java made from bamboo together with modern musical instruments. He has put together a band from a group of 5 students, who have already practised a song. The band used both modern musical instruments and angklungs from the class.
Playing the angklung is not difficult: what we do is just shake the angklung. It has its own tone, so one angklung has only a single tone. Everybody took an angklung including Ms. Jones.

Ms. Jones joined the class to play the angklung.

And Mr. Zulkifli Nasution played the kendang. Kendang is a traditional percussion instrument.

After joining the music class, Ms. Jones came to an Art class by Ms. Anne. She showed Ms. Jones, how to make the handy craft.
No worries to try: she got straight into it.



Finally, the students get a chance to practise their English with a native speaker. Mr. Sukanta introduces his students to the special guest.

FIRST DAY

The students on the balcony show their enthusiasm to see the guests. We planned not to disturb the other classes for the Welcoming Ceremony, but the noise from the sound of the gamelan music could not keep them in their classes. The Guests from Australia, however, are new for us.


Ms. Elmi and Ms. Jones were accompanied by Mr. Affan and the students from OSIS, along the way to the school lobby. I thought that the time for ceremonies was over, because we recently had the same ceremony for Mr. Dedi Rafidi's arrival to this school in December 2008 but once again we have had a Welcoming Ceremony for our special guests.





Right in front of the lobby, they stood for almost half an hour. The saman dancers greeted them with their fantastic motions. Saman is a dance from Aceh, it is also an after school activity for our students, who love this dance. This dance group is becoming more and more popular in our school.

A warm hand shake from Mr. Ullis, who is a social worker. He is a guest teacher for English in our school. He comes from Switzerland and has lived in Ciputat for 5 years, and not too far from the school. He joined us to welcome Ms. Elmi and Ms. Jones. As can be seen in the picture, he likes batik very much, and he is also wearing a peci on his head.
This Picture was taken in the Principal's room. From Left: Mr. Hidayat, Mr. Hamdari, Mr. Ullis (English teachers), Ms. Elmi, the Principal Mr. Dedi Rafidi, Ms. Jones and Mr. Affan.

Ms. Elmi in the class, accompanied by Ms. Dardanela (English teacher) is introducing herself to the students. The students were very curious, but more nervous about speaking in English. Fortunately, Ms. Elmi is a teacher of Bahasa Indonesia, and she is very good in this subject.

Ms. Jones is showing something about design in the magazine to Ms. Dardanela. They were in the same room with the other teachers who were talking about the friendship between Weeroona and SMA Negeri 2 Ciputat.

Shaking hands after the exchange of the MOU and Ms. Elmi giving Mr. Dedi Rafidi a souvenir from Weeroona.

Weeroona Guests Activities

There are many things I want to say, but I cannot write as much as I would like to because of my lack of English vocabulary. I will try to write as much as I can so please write a comment, particularly if I have misspelled a word or anything else.
The guests arrived on schedule and our welcoming party greeted them right at the gate.The banner was hung from the top of our gate to welcome the guests. Their photographs looked older than the original. They laughed when they saw the banner.


A jasmine garland is presented to our special guests. The chief of OSIS (Students' Leadership Organization) Ade Surachman welcomed Ibu Robyn with a garland made from jasmine buds.


The students performed a welcoming dance. The dance is a traditional dance from West Java; we usually present this dance to special guests or perform it for special event. This dance is not in our curriculum, but it is an after school activity (extracurricular). The dancers were wearing traditional costumes, not our school uniform.
Ibu Robyn and Ibu Andi (this is what they would be called in Indonesia) were walking slowly, surrounded by the dancers. On Ibu Robyn's right is Mr. Ibni Affan, our English teacher. He was responsible for organising the program for the guests.

I'm the one who designed the welcoming banner. I thought that I had taken the wrong pictures of them. They are much prettier than the pictures that I downloaded of them before.