Yogyakarta
E X P L O R I N G
Selamat Datang Yogyakarta, Indonesia!
10 January. 2019
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I arrived at Yogyakarta airport at exactly 7:55 in the morning, Thursday, January 10, 2019. As the plane touches the ground, I know to myself that my stay in Yogyakarta will be epic. When I walked through the façade of the airport my heart was indeed running before me not knowing what lies ahead. Questions kept on bothering my inner self—will this be worth it? Moments later, I answered myself with a big YES because of their oozing welcome and hospitality by our host university and buddies vividly seen in their actions and extreme care for us even it was just our first time to meet each other.
We had our breakfast at the famous “Soto Batuk” in Yogyakarta. They served us with hot rice soup, Es te or ice tea, tempe and boiled quail eggs. It was lezat!
After, we headed to our accommodation. I must say, it was the best accommodation with complete facilities and approachable staff who’s always willing to help us.
Welcome Ceremonies
11 January, 2019
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As the sunn rises, my eyes start to see the grandeur of the place. I really woke up early to prepare for the welcome ceremonies at Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), our host university. We we’re told by our buddies to wear our best because we, including other delegations from Thailand and Philippines, will be meeting the rector of the university.
During the welcome ceremonies, the rector delivered his short but impactful message telling us the brief history of the university and the goals and objectives of the program—to prepare us to be global citizens and to tolerate and accept each other’s differences. Afterwards, Pak Herman, our coordinator, oriented us about the whereabouts of the program and our rights as a SEA-Teacher. This program is not new to me since this is the 4th time our university sent delegates. My friends from previous batches have shared their wonderful experiences regarding the program. Those testimonies and stories made me even more thrilled to join SEA-teach.
The program ended at around 11:30 AM. With this, we were served with traditional Indonesian lunch and as well as some desserts. After we ate our lunch, our buddies took us to their one-of-a-kind library. Why is it so? It is because at the bottom most part of their library is a temple which was excavated during its construction in 2009. The discovery led to a delay of the construction because the architect needs to redesign the entire building and place the temple at the very center of the building. It is also believed that there might be more underground temples inside the campus of UII. We also had a museum tour in their university to know more about their history and heritage.
Jogja City Tour with the Gang!
12 January, 2019
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“We were buying the things we actually loved, not things to show off”. This line was from the famous movie Crazy Rich Asians which was premiered last August 2018. It may sound arrogant but our city tour turned out to be a shopping spree, not because we are CRAZY RICH ASIANS, but because of Malioboro's cheap and reasonable prices which is student friendly. Before our shopping spree, we visited the sultan’s palace and the water castle which audibly speak about the rich culture and heritage of Yogyakarta. Our day ended with a simple dinner in Sammie SUSU which is meters away from our homestay with our buddies.
BIPA Class
14-15 January, 2019
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We were very lucky because our host university, Universitas Islam Indonesia, organized a 2-day Bahasa Indonesian classes for foreigners. Bu Ami and Bu Ima spearheaded the lecture series. There were 4 separate sessions which were all helpful and pragmatic in our part. We were introduced to Indonesian cuisines, transportation services, their way of living and etiquette, and of course the things we need in order to survive our stay in Jogja. The BIPA classes also featured real-life scenarios which we need to act out using some Indonesian words which we have learned over the 4 sessions. Of course, it won’t be complete without the free lunch and snacks provided by our host university.