ACICIS was very excited to welcome three students and two accompanying teachers from Wedderburn College (Victoria) to Yogyakarta on 27 September 2015. Their nine-day adventure in Indonesia was jam-packed with various fun and engaging activities to learn through immersion in Indonesian everyday life, starting with intensive Indonesian language classes at the Sanata Dharma University. These classes are conducted for ten hours in the mornings and afternoons, along with three hours of one-on-one tutorials per week, and are taught by experienced Bahasa Indonesia teachers at Sanata Dharma University.
However, learning Indonesia is not enough without discovering what is to offer outside the class. Wedderburn College students and teachers did not only get a chance to see Yogyakarta’s popular attractions such as Malioboro, Borobudur temple, and Prambanan temple, but they also got to explore outside Yogyakarta as well. On day six, they took a train down to Solo to visit Surakarta Sultan Palace and the Danar Hadi Batik Museum, and on day seven, they had their four-wheel-drive excitement on riding Jeeps and observing the villages that experienced damages from the infamous Merapi eruption.
Along the way, they were introduced to some of the Indonesian treasures in Yogyakarta. They had their hands on trying the Javanese traditional music instrument gamelan, making Indonesian traditional herbal beverage jamu, cooking up some traditional dishes, and watching the Ramayana Ballet at Oyot Godhog. More importantly, they were also introduced to one of the best Indonesian treasures: its people. Through visiting one of the local schools (BOPKRI 2 Junior High School), playing games with children at the Atap Langit Orphanage, and practicing how to bargain in Indonesian at the local markets, the students had the chance to interact with and get to know the local people in Bahasa Indonesia.
Thank you to all our Wedderburn College participants – looking forward to seeing you all back in Yogyakarta again!
To find out more about our ACICIS Indonesian School Tour Program, please click here.
