Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
‘Thousands trapped’ under rubble:Padang Earthquake!
The Jakarta Post , Padang/Medan/Pekanbaru | Thu, 10/01/2009 9:38 AM | Headlines
JP/Irma
A powerful earthquake rattled the city of Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday, leaving at least 75 dead and trapping thousands under flattened buildings, officials said.
The death toll was likely to increase as many buildings, including houses, hotels, schools and shops, collapsed, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a news conference in Jakarta after chairing an emergency meeting on the disaster response and coordination.
As communication lines were cut, the number of victims in the Pariaman regency, which is nearest to the epicenter in the Indian Ocean, are still unknown. A Pariaman native, the politician Indra Piliang, said as quoted by detik.com, “almost all houses are flattened.”
Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry's disaster center in Jakarta, said thousands of people were still trapped in the rubble of buildings.
The 7.6-magnitude quake sparked fires and there were power outages across the entire city. The roof of Padang's Minangkabau Airport reportedly collapsed, forcing a temporary closure, and roads and bridges were destroyed.
Tremors were felt in Medan, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Bengkulu and other areas across Sumatra Island, as well as in Singapore and Malaysia, meteorologists and witnesses said, causing widespread panic in all affected towns.
A tsunami warning for countries around the Indian Ocean was issued after the earthquake struck Wednesday evening, but was lifted an hour and a half later.
Heavy rainfall later in the evening worsened the situation in Padang, as most victims lacked emergency tents for shelter.
Witnesses told local television and radio hundreds of houses had collapsed and a road to the coastal town of Padang was cut off, while flights were canceled to the city, airlines officials said.
TV footage showed devastation, with piles of rubble and collapsed houses in Padang.
“Hundreds of houses have been damaged, there are fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here. Ruptured water pipes have triggered flooding,” said a Reuters witness in the city, before his cell phone was cut off.
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.9, and struck 50 kilometers off the coast of Sumatra.
However, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Medan put the quake’s magnitude at 7.6.
Its epicenter was 71 kilometers under the sea off Pariaman, 70 kilometers from Padang. The quake hit at around 5:16 p.m. for about four minutes along the same fault line that spawned the massive Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
The Health Ministry has dispatched medical teams carrying medicine and food supplies for the quake victims. Rustam Pakaya said teams from health agencies in Medan and Palembang were on their way to West Sumatra towns.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] morning about 40 doctors, including specialists, will fly to Padang on a humanitarian mission,” Rustam said.
Another medical team will depart from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta at about 6 a.m., he added.
Medan's BMG spokesman Rifwar Kamin said the areas in North Sumatra hardest hit by the quake included Nias Island.
Although the strong temblor was felt in Medan, no casualties were reported from North Sumatra.
Widespread panic hit Pekanbaru, forcing residents, including Riau deputy governor Mambang Mit, to flee buildings to seek safety in open fields, as traffic came to a standstill at roads across the province's capital city.
Tremors were felt in Pasir Pangarayan, the capital of Rokan Hulu regency, some 240 km from the epicenter in Pariaman. Yuslena, a schoolteacher in Rokan Hulu, said several buses had to stop because their drivers could not control them.
“The drivers were worried they would hit other vehicles so the passengers got off to seek safety,”
she said.
Residents in Padang were recently still recovering from the latest major quake in 2007.
They had also felt tremors in the 2005 quake which hit Nias, and the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and Nias (Source: JakartaPost)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Kunjungan Prof Peter Waterworth ke Diknas Tangsel
Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth merupakan mantan dosen Universitas Deakin, Melbourne, Australia. Sejak ia pensiun aktif memberikan kuliah paruh waktu di beberapa universitas: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapura, Indonesia, dan memberikan seminar di 
berbagai Negara Amerika dan Europa. Masyarakat pendidikan khususnya Kabupaten dan Kota Serang, serta umumnya Banten sangat akrab dengan beliau karena sering memberikan seminar, workshop, conference, supervisi tentang pembaharuan pendidikan sejak tahun 1998. Ia juga merupakan mediator kerjasama antar sekolah (sister school) untuk sekolah yang berada di Australia dengan sekolah yang berada di Indonesia.
Pada hari Senin, 12 Oktober 2009, Ia mau mengunjungi Dinas Pendidikan Kota Tangsel (jam 9.00 – 10.00) dan SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel ( 11.00 – 14.00). Di sekolah ini,ia mau bertemu dengan Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel dan bertemu dengan dewan guru ( jam 11.00 – 12.00), dan beliau mau mengadakan workshop dengan para kepala sekolah se- Kota Tangsel yang sekolahnya sudah menyandang kualifikasi SBI/RSBI/SSN yang berada di Kota Tangsel (jam 13.00 – 14.00) bertempat di SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
Selain itu, maksud kedatangan beliau juga adalah untuk memotivasi jalinan hubungan sister school yang sudah ada, misalnya: SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel berpasangan dengan Castlemaine Secondary College, Castlemaine. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel bermitra dengan Weeroona Secondary College, Bendigo. Hal ini sebagai tindak lanjut kunjungan Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Kadis Diknas Kota Tangsel dan rombongan ke Melbourne, Australia pada bulan Agustus lalu. Termasuk dalam kegiatan tersebut adalah mempromosikan sekolah-sekolah di Tangsel, yang salah satunya adalah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
Hubungan sister school antara sekolah di Kota Tangsel difasilitasi juga oleh Drs. H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. Ia merupakan mediator sekolah Indonesia yang mau menjalin kerjasama pendidikan dengan sekolah Australia. Ia bertempat tinggal di Kota
Melbourne, Australia, karena saat ini, Ia sedang belajar di Program Doktor Universitas Deakin, Melbourne, Australia. Ia merupakan dosen Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Kampus Serang, Banten. Ia aktif mendampingi Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth dalam setiap kegiatan pendidikan yang diselengarakan di Banten dan di seluruh kota Indonesia. Kerjasama pendidikan SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel dengan sekolah Australia sudah terjalin dalam bentuk saling berkirim surat dan membuat web blog bersama.
Kunjungan Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth sudah dikomunikasikan oleh Drs. H Herli Salim, M.Ed. kepada Bapak Drs. Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi, Kasi Dikmenti, dan Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Marilah kita gunakan kesempatan ini bagi para siswa SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel untuk lebih mengeratkan tali batin dengan sekolah yang berada di Australia. Untuk itu, silakan siswa dan siswi menulis surat dan titipkanlah surat tersebut ke Pak Peter untuk disampaikan ke para siswa di Australia. Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut, silakan hubungi Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Koordinator Program, di SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Mari sukseskan kunjungan Prof Dr Peter Waterworth ke Kota Tangerang Selatan ! (HS, 2009).
*************************************************************************************
English Version
Professor Peter Waterworth visits the Tangsel Educational Region
Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth is an ex-lecturer from the Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Since his retirement, he is still actively giving part-time lectures in several universities in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He also gives seminars in different parts of America and Europe. The educational personnel, especially in the Banten region and the city of Serang, knows him very well because of his seminars, workshops, conferences and his supervision of the education renewal since 1998. He also is a mediator for all the sister schools in Australia with schools in Indonesia.
On Monday, 12 October 2009, he visited the Regional Office in the city of Tangsel, SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel. At this school he met with the principal and the leading teachers. He also held a workshop for all of the principals in the Tangsel area who were leading schools who had already qualified for international standing.
Apart from that, his visit was also to motivate other schools to develop sister school relationships. For example, SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel has formed a partnership with Castlemaine Secondary College. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel has established a partnership with Weeroona College Bendigo. This is because of the visit to Melbourne, Australia made by Dr Dadang Sofyan, the head of Tangsel Region last August. This included the promotion of all of the schools in the Tangsel region, one of them is SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
The sister school relationship between schools in Tangsel is being facilitated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M. Ed. He is the mediator for Indonesian schools who would like to form educational partnerships with Australian schools. He lives in Melbourne because at the moment he is undertaking a PhD at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a lecturer at the Indonesian Education University, Serang Campus, Banten. He actively accompanies Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth in all educational activities that were being held in Banten and throughout Indonesia. Co-operative Education between SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel and SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel with the Australian schools has already been formed through correspondence and developing a blog site together.
The visit of Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth has already been communicated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. to Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi and Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Principal of SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Let’s use this opportunity for all the students in the abovementioned Indonesian schools to form stronger spiritual ties with schools in Australia. For this purpose please encourage the students to write letters and give it to Pak Peter for him to take to the students in Australia. For more information, please contact Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Program co-ordinator at SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Let us help him make the program successful.
Written by Pak Herli Salim
Translated by Sandra Penna and Robyn Elmi
berbagai Negara Amerika dan Europa. Masyarakat pendidikan khususnya Kabupaten dan Kota Serang, serta umumnya Banten sangat akrab dengan beliau karena sering memberikan seminar, workshop, conference, supervisi tentang pembaharuan pendidikan sejak tahun 1998. Ia juga merupakan mediator kerjasama antar sekolah (sister school) untuk sekolah yang berada di Australia dengan sekolah yang berada di Indonesia. Pada hari Senin, 12 Oktober 2009, Ia mau mengunjungi Dinas Pendidikan Kota Tangsel (jam 9.00 – 10.00) dan SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel ( 11.00 – 14.00). Di sekolah ini,ia mau bertemu dengan Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel dan bertemu dengan dewan guru ( jam 11.00 – 12.00), dan beliau mau mengadakan workshop dengan para kepala sekolah se- Kota Tangsel yang sekolahnya sudah menyandang kualifikasi SBI/RSBI/SSN yang berada di Kota Tangsel (jam 13.00 – 14.00) bertempat di SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
Selain itu, maksud kedatangan beliau juga adalah untuk memotivasi jalinan hubungan sister school yang sudah ada, misalnya: SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel berpasangan dengan Castlemaine Secondary College, Castlemaine. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel bermitra dengan Weeroona Secondary College, Bendigo. Hal ini sebagai tindak lanjut kunjungan Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Kadis Diknas Kota Tangsel dan rombongan ke Melbourne, Australia pada bulan Agustus lalu. Termasuk dalam kegiatan tersebut adalah mempromosikan sekolah-sekolah di Tangsel, yang salah satunya adalah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
Hubungan sister school antara sekolah di Kota Tangsel difasilitasi juga oleh Drs. H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. Ia merupakan mediator sekolah Indonesia yang mau menjalin kerjasama pendidikan dengan sekolah Australia. Ia bertempat tinggal di Kota
Melbourne, Australia, karena saat ini, Ia sedang belajar di Program Doktor Universitas Deakin, Melbourne, Australia. Ia merupakan dosen Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Kampus Serang, Banten. Ia aktif mendampingi Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth dalam setiap kegiatan pendidikan yang diselengarakan di Banten dan di seluruh kota Indonesia. Kerjasama pendidikan SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel dengan sekolah Australia sudah terjalin dalam bentuk saling berkirim surat dan membuat web blog bersama. Kunjungan Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth sudah dikomunikasikan oleh Drs. H Herli Salim, M.Ed. kepada Bapak Drs. Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi, Kasi Dikmenti, dan Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Marilah kita gunakan kesempatan ini bagi para siswa SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel dan SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel untuk lebih mengeratkan tali batin dengan sekolah yang berada di Australia. Untuk itu, silakan siswa dan siswi menulis surat dan titipkanlah surat tersebut ke Pak Peter untuk disampaikan ke para siswa di Australia. Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut, silakan hubungi Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Koordinator Program, di SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Mari sukseskan kunjungan Prof Dr Peter Waterworth ke Kota Tangerang Selatan ! (HS, 2009).
*************************************************************************************
English Version
Professor Peter Waterworth visits the Tangsel Educational Region
Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth is an ex-lecturer from the Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Since his retirement, he is still actively giving part-time lectures in several universities in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He also gives seminars in different parts of America and Europe. The educational personnel, especially in the Banten region and the city of Serang, knows him very well because of his seminars, workshops, conferences and his supervision of the education renewal since 1998. He also is a mediator for all the sister schools in Australia with schools in Indonesia.
On Monday, 12 October 2009, he visited the Regional Office in the city of Tangsel, SMA Negeri 2 Kota Tangsel. At this school he met with the principal and the leading teachers. He also held a workshop for all of the principals in the Tangsel area who were leading schools who had already qualified for international standing.
Apart from that, his visit was also to motivate other schools to develop sister school relationships. For example, SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel has formed a partnership with Castlemaine Secondary College. SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel has established a partnership with Weeroona College Bendigo. This is because of the visit to Melbourne, Australia made by Dr Dadang Sofyan, the head of Tangsel Region last August. This included the promotion of all of the schools in the Tangsel region, one of them is SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel.
The sister school relationship between schools in Tangsel is being facilitated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M. Ed. He is the mediator for Indonesian schools who would like to form educational partnerships with Australian schools. He lives in Melbourne because at the moment he is undertaking a PhD at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a lecturer at the Indonesian Education University, Serang Campus, Banten. He actively accompanies Prof Dr. Peter Waterworth in all educational activities that were being held in Banten and throughout Indonesia. Co-operative Education between SMA Negeri 3 Tangsel and SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel with the Australian schools has already been formed through correspondence and developing a blog site together.
The visit of Prof. Dr. Peter Waterworth has already been communicated by Drs H. Herli Salim, M.Ed. to Bapak Drs Dadang Sofyan, Bapak Drs. Dedi Rafidi and Bapak Drs. P.A. Sopandy, Principal of SMA Negeri 2 Tangsel. Let’s use this opportunity for all the students in the abovementioned Indonesian schools to form stronger spiritual ties with schools in Australia. For this purpose please encourage the students to write letters and give it to Pak Peter for him to take to the students in Australia. For more information, please contact Bapak Drs. Ibni Afan, Program co-ordinator at SMA Negeri 4 Tangsel. Let us help him make the program successful.
Written by Pak Herli Salim
Translated by Sandra Penna and Robyn Elmi
Friday, September 4, 2009
10 killed, 41 missing in Cianjur after Java powerful quake
The Jakarta Post , Cianjur, West Java | Thu, 09/03/2009 10:08 AM | National
Ten people were killed and 41 others are still missing in a small village in Cianjur regency after a 7.3-magnitude quake shook the southern part of West Java on Wednesday afternoon.
Apudin, 61, a resident of Cikangkareng village, said he had been walking along the kampung alley when he had witnessed the earthquake cause a hill facing one of the village's neighborhoods slide in less than three minutes.
"It happened very fast. We were all too panicked to save our lives," he told The Jakarta Post Thursday.
More than a dozen houses and a mosque are currently buried under rocks and soil from the landslide.
Agus Ibro, 34, a resident who manages the evacuation of the earthquake victims, said it was quite hard for the residents to locate more bodies on Wednesday since they had run the evacuation manually.
"Two excavators are reportedly heading to this place, we hope we can find more bodies today," he said.
Among the victims, according to Agus, was head of the community unit in the neighborhood.
"We only found his left leg, but his family has confirmed that it was his leg," he said
This morning, the residents, helped by officers from the army and local red-cross, will continue the evacuation. (hwa)
Gempa Bumi di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat
TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta - Gempa 7,3 Skala Richter dipastikan oleh Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika tidak menimbulkan gelombang tsunami. Namun, gempa pukul 14.55 WIB yang berpusat di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat, itu merontokkan beberapa atap bangunan. Beberapa menit setelah gempa, badan ini sempat memberi peringatan berpotensi tsunami.
Guncangan gempa dirasakan hampir seluruh wilayah Jawa. Sejumlah kota di Jawa Barat dan Jawa Tengah, warganya merasakan adanya getaran gempa selama beberpa detik. di Kota Bandung, sebuah kantor bank rusak.
Begitu pula di Jakarta, gempa ini menimbulkan kepanikan penduduk dan mengakibatkan kerusakan beberapa fasilitas. Pegawai di perkantoran Jalan Suidrman berhamburan keluar. Mereka memadati ruas jalur lambat, lantaran takut gedung jangkung tempatnya bekerja, bakal terjadi apa-apa.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
An Ozzy Dinner
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
Reached Bendigo
Tangerang Selatan Education Delegation has just visited Weeroona Secondary College in Bendigo last August 2009. This visit was a return visit to a visit made by two WSC teachers to SMA Negeri 2 Ciputat / SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan during the last Easter Holidays. The delegation comprised of Pak Dadang Sofyan, Director of Education Tangsel City, Pak Dedi Rafidi, School Principal of SMA Negeri 2 Ciputat, and also head of Senior School Department of Education at Tangsel Education City, and Pak Ibni Afan, the Program Coordinator at SMA Negeri 2 Ciputat, and Pak Herli Salim, the Indonesian Sister Schools Mediator. The delegation was picked up by Bu Robyn and her daughter Neima, from Melbourne Airport.
The first amazing thing about Australia was expressed by the group when they saw Bu Robyn driving a bus. Wow! That was something that we do not often see in Indonesia: A lady driving a big bus! We were all excited to talk during the trip from Melbourne to Bendigo. During the trip all of the people ate Nasi (Rice) which was prepared by Bu Ita- Pak Herli's wife. On the way, Bu Robyn explained the places we passed. The trip to Bendigo took us approximately 1.5 hour and Bu Robyn was very skilful at driving the big bus to reach Bendigo.
We stayed at a motel in Bendigo. This motel has a nice view of Lake Weeroona. It is a lake surrounded by green trees and decorated with flowers at its edge. There were many people jogging around it at that time. The area was very quiet and we breathed fresh air. Many birds were flying around and singing. The sun shone and we tried to warm up our freezing bodies. It was far, far away from the busy metropolitan city of Jakarta. We were happy when we saw the lake, and a photo session started. Everyone showed their own style and unique performances. All of us were very excited to take photos at the lake in the freezing Bendigo weather. We were very impressed by the management of the environment. Wow! What a nice city with a good lake management!
Lake Weeroona is situated in Napier Street. It is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, with hundreds of people enjoying the fantastic amenities and natural surrounds every weekend. The picturesque ornamental lake is situated on an 18 hectare reserve with picnic areas and parkland featuring a fun and fitness track, BBQ's, undercover picnic facilities and a playground, and it is one of the city's most visited recreation facilities. From a simple picnic on the lush lawns on the lake foreshore, to a romantic sunset meal overlooking the water at the Boardwalk Cafe, Lake Weeroona is a great place to spend a glorious summer day.
Then, Bu Robyn escorted us to visit Bendigo Tourist Centre to find out information about Bendigo. We found a lot of information about old mining times when Bendigo was in its golden era. Many people came here to search for gold. We walked to a backyard and went to a tower in a nice and beautiful garden surrounding it. We stepped up to the first level of the tower to see Bendigo City. Pak Dadang was very enthusiastic: he walked to the top. How did you feel Pak Dadang? Wow! Di atas lebih dingin dan banyak angin! (It was colder and windy at the top!). After that, we went to downtown Bendigo to see the city in a glance. Pak Dedi bought an electrical adapter for charging his 'beloved' mobile phone. The others walked along the road and absorbed the Bendigo City activities.
We went back to the motel to take a rest because this was what we expected at this moment. Our stomachs were still full but our eyes asked for some sleep. We noticed a bunch of yellow flowers which was put on our table – native wattle. Thank you for the flowers, Bu Robyn. It was really like our hearts were blossoming in happiness and overwhelmed with enthusiasm of our growing friendship. "Ok, have a nice rest Bapak-bapak, I will pick you up at 5 pm. We will have an Ozzie barbeque tonight," said Bu Robyn when she left us.
(to be continued)
The first amazing thing about Australia was expressed by the group when they saw Bu Robyn driving a bus. Wow! That was something that we do not often see in Indonesia: A lady driving a big bus! We were all excited to talk during the trip from Melbourne to Bendigo. During the trip all of the people ate Nasi (Rice) which was prepared by Bu Ita- Pak Herli's wife. On the way, Bu Robyn explained the places we passed. The trip to Bendigo took us approximately 1.5 hour and Bu Robyn was very skilful at driving the big bus to reach Bendigo.
We stayed at a motel in Bendigo. This motel has a nice view of Lake Weeroona. It is a lake surrounded by green trees and decorated with flowers at its edge. There were many people jogging around it at that time. The area was very quiet and we breathed fresh air. Many birds were flying around and singing. The sun shone and we tried to warm up our freezing bodies. It was far, far away from the busy metropolitan city of Jakarta. We were happy when we saw the lake, and a photo session started. Everyone showed their own style and unique performances. All of us were very excited to take photos at the lake in the freezing Bendigo weather. We were very impressed by the management of the environment. Wow! What a nice city with a good lake management!
Lake Weeroona is situated in Napier Street. It is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, with hundreds of people enjoying the fantastic amenities and natural surrounds every weekend. The picturesque ornamental lake is situated on an 18 hectare reserve with picnic areas and parkland featuring a fun and fitness track, BBQ's, undercover picnic facilities and a playground, and it is one of the city's most visited recreation facilities. From a simple picnic on the lush lawns on the lake foreshore, to a romantic sunset meal overlooking the water at the Boardwalk Cafe, Lake Weeroona is a great place to spend a glorious summer day.
Then, Bu Robyn escorted us to visit Bendigo Tourist Centre to find out information about Bendigo. We found a lot of information about old mining times when Bendigo was in its golden era. Many people came here to search for gold. We walked to a backyard and went to a tower in a nice and beautiful garden surrounding it. We stepped up to the first level of the tower to see Bendigo City. Pak Dadang was very enthusiastic: he walked to the top. How did you feel Pak Dadang? Wow! Di atas lebih dingin dan banyak angin! (It was colder and windy at the top!). After that, we went to downtown Bendigo to see the city in a glance. Pak Dedi bought an electrical adapter for charging his 'beloved' mobile phone. The others walked along the road and absorbed the Bendigo City activities.
We went back to the motel to take a rest because this was what we expected at this moment. Our stomachs were still full but our eyes asked for some sleep. We noticed a bunch of yellow flowers which was put on our table – native wattle. Thank you for the flowers, Bu Robyn. It was really like our hearts were blossoming in happiness and overwhelmed with enthusiasm of our growing friendship. "Ok, have a nice rest Bapak-bapak, I will pick you up at 5 pm. We will have an Ozzie barbeque tonight," said Bu Robyn when she left us.
(to be continued)
Posted by CIPUTAT WEEROONA FRIENDSHIPS at 1:04 PM 0 comments
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