Children Urged To Get Active

Remember in the last magazine KGRE gave some information about obesity in Australia. Obesity (kegemukan) is a real issue for young Australians. In February 2006, the Australian Government began a series of television commercials promoting physical activity, especially in children. The advertisements encourage children to be physically active for at least an hour a day. The basic theme of the promotion 'Get Off the Couch and Do Something Physical' (bangunlah dari sofa dan lakukan kegiatan fisik). The $6 million advertising campaign also urges parents to be better role models for their children. Activity fights obesity.

Hello guys. It's lovely to be here again reading all your fantastic letters. We received so many incredible letters from young people here in Indonesia about their lives and youth culture. I'm really sorry we haven't got enough room to include all of them here. But remember we do read them all, okay? The next fantastic KGRE magazine will be in June and the topic will be Science and Technology, so start writing now. Send your essays and letters before 15th April 2006.

Wendy.

ADVENTURES

Hello KGRE. My name is Mamik Dwi Utami - a student of Senior High School 1 Magetan. My hobby is adventuring and I join with ANDALAS (Anak Indonesia Lintas Semesta), a nature lover's club in my town. My activities include climbing, running and other adventures. Moreover, the thing that makes me happy is that I can make many friends from many cities in Java. I have a dream to be a presenter as Riyani Djangkaru in Jejak Petualang - TV 7. I also dream to be a tourism representative. That's why I want to study English.
Mamik Dwi Utami
Magetan - EAST JAVA

Well, well Utami that was a fantastic letter. It sounds like your hobby is really valuable for the community and also a lot of fun. We are delighted to learn about your dreams and aspirations and I am absolutely sure you can achieve them. Your English is already really excellent and you are obviously determined.
Readers, why not start an adventuring club like the one Utami describes? But why not make it an English Adventuring Club! So when you go climbing and walking you have to speak only in English - good practice! Don't forget to join the Kang Guru Connection network too!

TRAVELLING & PHOTOGRAPHY

I very much like photography. If I go anywhere I will bring the camera. I will take a picture about every place I visit. I send the photographs to the editor of magazine or newspaper. If they publish them I will be happy. I went to Hong Kong. It's one of the main shopping centres in Asia. There are many tourist attractions there too. One of them is Snoopy's World playground. Here's my photograph.
Tjen Sui Fung
Jakarta - DKI JAYA

WALTZING MATILDA SONG

My name is Ari Parwati. I wrote a letter about me a few months ago and I received your magazine twice, thank you. In this letter I would like to give you my ideas.
1. I heard that 'Waltzing Matilda' is one of the most popular songs in Australia. How about if you play this song on the radio so everybody in Indonesia knows it as well?
2. I have read many writings about Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Queensland in Australia, but I seldom hear about Adelaide.
Ari Parwati
Kuta - BALI

Hi Ari, thanks for your fantastic letter. 'Waltzing Matilda' certainly is a very well known song in Australia. KGRE has played it on the radio program many times in the past. Ari. Listen carefully to the KGRE program in April and May this year and you'll hear it. Listen out for some information about Adelaide too!! Did you know that 'Waltzing Matilda' is in the new KGRE SMP Classroom Teacher Package?

PAPUA CALLING

I heard about KGRE and then I tried to find information about it. Then finally I got it by my friend Pak Sangaji. Now I listen to KGRE on Radio Republik Indonesia in Sorong. I am very interested in the show on radio. Actually I could not speak English well so I try to learn English by everything - radio, cassette, movies and sometimes I try to speak to foreigners in Sorong. Thank God that there is KGRE in Sorong so I can learn English as often as possible. KGRE has been good and has helped me learn how to speak English free as we wanted to speak. Thanks to KGRE and God Bless.
Ajib Nariman
Sorong - PAPUA

Thanks for your great letter Ajib. We are absolutely delighted that you discovered KGRE and that it helps you practice your English. KGRE will be in Sorong in early May to conduct a Teacher Workshop, and a Listeners' Meeting at RRI Sorong.

STUDYING AND SPEAKING

I'm Lucky Maya Christina. I live in Bojonegoro. I'm a student of SMP N 1and I like reading KGRE magazine. It is very interesting and helps me add to my knowledge. I have an English teacher. Every time I meet my English teacher my heart always palpitates because I can't speak English fluently. I want to know how to study English easily. I want KGRE to give advice the way to study successfully.
Lucky Maya Christina
Bojonegoro - EAST JAVA

Well my dear Lucky, that was a really wonderful letter. I can't believe you are still an SMP student. Don't you realise that your English is already excellent! Just be more confident about your ability. When your teacher speaks to you in English just take a deep breath and do your best - don't worry about making mistakes. Don't forget that we often have tips and advice for students here in the magazine, on the radio program and on the website. But here's one tip for all our readers - learn five new words every day. Then be sure to use them immediately so you don't forget them.

KGRE Note: How about starting off today dear readers with that great word Christina used, 'palpitate'.

JUST ASK FOR IT!

First of all I want to introduce myself. My name is Ryan. I am from Padang. I am a senior high school student at SMU 6 majoring in social class. I heard about the Kang Guru magazine from my English teacher. She told me Kang Guru magazines are very good. We can learn everything from it and reading it will broaden our knowledge as a student. I am very interested to get Kang Guru magazines regularly.
Ryan Alvin
Padang - WEST SUMATERA

Hi Ryan, it's very nice to hear from you. We are happy to put your name on our KGRE magazine reader's database. Don't forget to tell all your friends and classmates to write and ask for the magazine too. All they have to do is write and tell KGRE a little bit about themselves, and ask for the magazine. This year there are four free magazines with many thanks to AusAID!

To go on a date means to go to dinner or to meet someone you like and maybe it will develop into a romantic relationship.
"What're you doing tonight Carol? Would you like to come over to my house?"
"I can't. I've got a date! I'm going out to dinner with a guy from work."

To date someone or to see someone means to have a relationship like a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
"Are you dating anyone at the moment?"
"Yes, I've been seeing a guy from work for a couple of months now."

To be crazy about someone means to have strong feelings for someone/think that another person is wonderful.
"John is crazy about that girl in his science class."
"Yeah I know. He talks about her all the time."

To ask someone out means to ask someone to go on a date with you.
"John is crazy about that girl in his science class."
"Yeah, I know. He talks about her all the time, but he's too shy to ask her out."

To break someone's heart means to cause someone emotional pain.
"Did you hear that Whiz and Wanda broke up?"
"Yeah. She's really heart-broken."

Kerry Bailey is 19 and lives in Perth. Kerry has completed one year at university and is now taking a year or so off from her studies. Why has Kerry 'put her studies on hold'? "I had to save money to pay off my car and I can't work enough when I'm studying as well, and also I wanted to save for my trip to Bali. It was difficult to study without the car, to get to university and to get home and to work so I needed to pay off my car. I think I'll go back more motivated and more wanting to study after twelve years at school."

Kerry, like many Aussie teenagers, borrowed money from her parents to buy her first car. First cars are very important to Aussie teenagers, just like motorbikes are here in Indonesia. She has to pay her parents back though. She works in a hotel. Just like Ngaire (see back page), Kerry has also been a volunteer too. She was a volunteer announcer at a community radio station called 'Groove - 101.7'. The station, and its 14 - 24 year old group of announcers, aimed many of its programs at the youth of Perth. The experience actually taught Kerry that radio announcing was NOT for her. Volunteering is quite popular in Australia - lifesaving, radio announcing, the Red Cross and second hand clothing shops are just a few of the popular places to 'work voluntarily'. Kerry also commented that the Asian tsunami in late 2004 made many Aussie teenagers become involved in these volunteer activities. "Yeah, it's very popular and especially now with all the unrest in other countries it makes us realise that Australia's very lucky and lots of people want to do stuff to help."

Kang Guru first met Evan Parker in Darwin at a reception at the Indonesian Consulate on August 17th, 2004. Evan finished Year 12, his final high school year, at Darwin High School last December. He is now 18. He then came to Bali for a holiday and spoke with Kevin about life in Darwin for teenagers. Darwin is a remote city in Australia. It has a population of 160,000 people. The area around Darwin provides a very interesting place to live and play. "Darwin's quite remote compared to the rest of Australia. The youth in Darwin would be probably be a bit more adventurous than the kids down south. We tend to go camping, hunting out in the bush. We can hunt pigs, buffaloes, geese, they're a big favourite. We'd usually drive preferably with the four wheeldrive because it's more accessible to remote areas" Evan does admit though that many of the girls of his age would prefer to go shopping.
Football, rugby league, cricket, volley ball and beach volley ball are popular sports. Sports are even 'studied' in school. However, there are also more unusual physical activities such as rock climbing and sailing in the Outdoor Education classes. Students are marked on their competency to perform these tasks, or sports. Surfing or ocean activities are not popular in Darwin because of crocodiles and box-jelly fish. As for daily life in Darwin for teenagers, Evan and Ricky regularly enjoy barbecues and parties with their friends

Ricky is Evan's mate and attended Casuarina Senior College in Darwin. Whereas Evan is going directly from his high school studies to his tertiary studies, Ricky is taking a year off this year. He wants to have a break before he resumes his tertiary studies. Ricky plans to eventually study a double degree in economics and finance. Ricky explained that many Aussie students take a year off either do nothing or maybe get a small job. Many of Ricky's friends work in large shops and supermarkets. On the other hand Evan is ready to continue with his studies. He has been accepted into the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. He will be doing a Bachelor of Science and studying to be soldier at the same time. According to Evan and Ricky, young Aussies are generally outgoing and fairly adventurous. The idea of failing is something that they do not worry about. As Evan says, "Oh that's not really a problem, I mean if you give it a shot and you've given it your best you don't have to be ashamed of anything you know, as long as you given it a shot. ...we'll probably laugh at you more if you don't give it a go, you know, tease you a bit, call you wimp ..."

Diana Gullifer is 14 years old and lives in Noosaville, Queensland. In December 2006, Diana told KGRE that she is like many other Aussie teenagers, she wears braces. Braces are used by dentists to straighten teeth. They are made up of wires and small pieces of metal and are attached to the teeth. Diana has chosen pink colours for her braces but she can have this changed if she wants. They are checked every month by the dentist and adjusted if necessary. After wearing braces for possibly several years, Diana's teeth will be straight and look fantastic. "Braces are metal that dentists put on your teeth over a period of time to make your teeth straighter. I go to once a month or (every)six weeks to see the dentist so he can check my braces. Mostly everyone has braces these days".

Diana told KGRE that many of her friends in Australia wear braces - both boys and girls.

Twenty two year old Nicholas Alfendro is a Drug Program Co-ordinator for the Matahati Foundation. Nicholas explained to KGRE about the work of Matahati and how BRF funding has helped. “The Matahati Foundation is a HIV/AIDS NGO in Bali. Matahati trains HIV/AIDS counsellors, who assist, advise and comfort patients. Many of these counsellors are young people. Some of them are in their teens. Matahati also has a vocational program for training HIV positive young people and former IDUs (injecting drug users). On this training program young people learn skills such as computer skills, security and massage. The average age of participants is 25 years of age. BRF provided three grants to a total of AUD $81,740 or approximately Rp 603 million. These grants built, equipped and trained 11 staff for the Matahati Centre and paid for establishment of a computer-training centre and training modules that has trained 14 young people so far.”

My full name is I Dewa Putu Adika Happy Putra. My friends call me Happy. I'm 13 years old. In my free time I play basketball. At the weekend I watch some TV and play computer games. I like surfing and chatting on the Net too. During school holidays I sometimes go and hang out at the mall with my friends or go to their houses. Before I go to sleep every night I like to listen to a little pop music. I also have some activities with my environment club in my school. That's about two times a month. But I spend most of my free time at Tunas Hijau. I go there at least two or three times a week. And when I am at home I often work on Tunas Hijau projects. Last July my Tunas Hijau friends and I went to Japan. We went for the 2005 Children's World Summit for the Environment (see picture right). There were 65 countries there and more than 600 children. At the summit we were put into groups of ten people from different countries. Each day we discussed different topics about the day's theme. For example, the theme of the first day was 'air', so all that day we talked about air problem and how to find solutions for air pollution. The second theme was 'water', after that it was 'the forests' and then 'recycling' and finally 'energy'. At the end of five days all the groups came together and we made a petition and commitment to what we would do when we returned to our countries:

• First, saving energy and using renewable energy resources.
• Second, planting ten native trees every month and boycotting all endangered products
• Third, learning and sharing innovative ways to collect, conserve and use water wisely.
• Finally, using environmentally friendly bags and separating all kinds of waste for recycling and processing to ensure minimisation of all land fill waste.

Hi, my name's Andi Kusmianto. I'm 20 and I'm from Surabaya. I study at the Graphic Design Institute in Surabaya.

In my free time I like learning about computers, playing computer games, reading, listening to music and hanging out with my friends.

I'm also an active member of Tunas Hijau. I designed their characters and I've painted lots of murals about the environment.

I want to paint more murals around the city to make people aware of the importance of the environment.

Hi. My name's Marisa. I'm the Princess for the Environment for 2005. Last June we went to Perth in Australia to visit Millennium Kids. That's a big youth environment project - a non-profit and non-government organisation. It was set up and is run by Aussie kids who want to have a say about their environment and their world. We went there to share ideas and get experience so we can use that experience back here in Indonesia. That's me on the right. I'm drinking water from a tap on the street in Australia.

Katerine Reitzenstein or Kate, as she is called, is from Perth. Kate's association with Indonesia is strong and goes back a long way. Kate came to Indonesia in 1992. She has been coming back ever since and has maintained strong contacts with her AIYEP alumni from over 14 years ago. During January 2006, Kate returned to Indonesia and this time as an exchange teacher from WILTA - Westralian Indonesian Teacher Assocaiation. The teacher exchange program is in cooperation with IALF Bali and has been running for five years. Kate was an AIYEP participant in 1992/1993, living first in Surabaya then in a remote village called Parang, in the district of Magetan for one month and then a further month in the city of Madiun. As an Aussie participant in 1992 (see right), Kate had an Indonesian counterpart. Her name was Oka, and Kate remembers Oka as being the most important memory of her time in East Java. They have kept in contact and visit each other regularly.

Communities in Southeast Sulawesi have been buzzing lately with the arrival of Australian and Indonesian students on exchange with AIYEP. The Aussies have flown in from Australia to join their AIYEP counterparts. These counterparts are from all over Indonesia so Southeast Sulawesi was a new experience for them too. A total of 25 AIYEP students have been working together helping local communities in Pasarwajo and in the city of Kendari. They have been renovating houses, carrying out environmental projects along with sporting and English language activities. By working together the students have developed strong bonds with each other and with their 'home communities'. After their first month in Pasarwajo, the students moved onto Kendari where KGRE caught up with them for interviews. AIYEP is funded by the Australia Indonesia Institute (AII).

Juniardi Saktiawan, known as Iwan is an AIYEP alumni. He was a part of the Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program in 1998. He went to Australia and lived there for two months with Australian host families. His first host family location was Darwin and then the second location was Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. Iwan had a wonderful time and he learnt a lot about Australia, and Australians. He has fond memories of his time in Oz. He especially remembers quite a deal about his mates in Australia. Iwan now lives in Pontianak with his wife and young son. He works in the travel industry and often uses his English language skills, all with an Aussie flavor of course.

In January 2006, five Australians visited Indonesia. They were participants in the Muslim Exchange Program from the Australian Indonesia Institute (AII). This program has been running for many years and has proved very successful. It basically allows Muslims in Indonesia and Australia to visit each other's country. Participants have the wonderful opportunity to experience the Muslim way of life in a new country. The differences and the similarities are important to understand and appreciate.
This year's participants were:

Caroline and Denise from IALF Bali went to Kupang in January 2006. While in Kupang for IELTS testing, they met with the members of the Kang Guru Fans English Club - KGCC #012 (see right). They spoke with Gusti, Pauline, Jackson, Melanie and Theresia about the club. The club has 15 active members. Check out their Club Profile on the KGRE website.

Here's Gusti - "It has been running for five years and I have been joining this for almost three years now, every Saturday at 9 o'clock. We have also some irregular meeting when we have some western people come, we contact all the members to come. We have, you know, some discussion, some talking yeah. You know the idea of this club is come from that magazine and well, that's how this club start. It helps us improve for English, for me actually the speaking. I also help some outside Kupang activity for example in Rote, the last two years in Soe."

Uning Musthofiyah was very brave when she entered the KGRE 2005 Writing Competition. She, like so many other previous winners, never thought she would win BUT she did. Together with her sister, she visited Bali in November 2005 as a part of her prize. Here are just two excerpts from her Travel Report. The whole story can be read on the KGRE website's Story Page. KGRE wishes Uning all the best in the future and thanks once again for being brave enough to try!

"On second day Mbak Tjok and Mas Alwi (bottom right) picked us up from hotel. We had plan a tour around Bali. First place we visited was Kintamani. We saw mountain and lake. Those were beautiful scenery. The temperature was so unique. We could feel cool and dry air all at once. On third day at 2.30pm we were picked up by Pak Danu to IALF. Before I got interview we had a tour around IALF's new building. After getting interview with Mr Kevin we went to Matahari Mall. We were accompanied by Mbak Ogi. The Matahari Mall here was different to Matahari Surabaya. It is bigger and very nice for sightseeing and shopping. Then we got an early dinner."

Things changed when she joined an action research group working with a facilitator (Rochstantiningsih, 2004). She started exploring new teaching approaches. First, she talked to her students about the problems. She asked for ideas about teaching and learning in her class. Next, she distributed questionnaires asking about activities. The students wanted her to vary the teaching materials more often, the way they were presented, and where the class was held. They agreed to use different locations and keep to class rules about being on time and not disturbing others. The teachers would continue to choose materials but involve the students more. Ms Yasmin noticed an immediate change - students voiced opinions and looked excited - "the good atmosphere in my class was inspiring."

In the next lesson they worked in groups under the trees, discussing vocabulary and answering questions. Still, some students were restless. She reminded them about the rules for the next lesson in the library. There, she taught the students a song. They kept the rules and were very involved. Even five students who were often absent came to class. The atmosphere and dynamics were becoming more positive and cooperative.

Ms. Yasmin's story illustrates how action research can change teaching and improve an unsatisfactory situation. A teacher can pose and solve classroom problems, using a reflective research cycle of planning, action, observation and reflection:

1. Plan - identify a teaching area that presents a 'puzzle' problem or question (Ms Yasmin was unhappy with students' class participation).
2. Act - decide what to do about this situation (she asked students for their ideas).
3. Observe - collect information about what happens when the plan is put into action (she gave students a questionnaire about what activities they wanted).
4. Reflect - analyse what the information says about your teaching (she realised she needed to vary her approach and tried different activities).
5. Plan new action - act again as necessary (based on what happened in the lesson under the trees, she planned new activities for the library lesson).

Ms. Yasmin learned that negotiating the lessons with the students means involving them as members of a team. And this means giving them trust and responsibility as well.

Kevin met Nicholas in a bookstore in Kemang, Jakarta. He is very interested in books. Checking out books, especially about architecture, is one of his favourite pastimes. Nicholas Saputra is well-known and is one of the most talented young actors in Indonesia. He has made several movies including 'Gie' for which he won the prestigious Piala Citra Award in 2005 for Best Actor. Nicholas's portrayal of the 1960s activist has been hailed by critics and also by the people who actually knew Gie himself. Nicholas certainly has a wonderful career ahead of him. But Nicholas is also a fulltime student. He had a dream to be a doctor but changed his mind and decided to study architecture. "I'm studying architecture in University of Indonesia. This is my third year. I just finished my third year and one more year to go. In architecture you can still mix it with another things like playing in a movie, stuff like that. And so I think architecture will be fit to my other world."

KGRE asked Nicholas how he manages to fit the two ‘careers’ together. He was quite clear about this situation. His studies are the most important at the moment and his film career must fit in with his studies. "I'm trying to not to put it together. I only wanna do shooting film when it's on holiday. So the preparation I can do after studying time and yeah when filming it's on holiday fully."

Learning to act takes time. Nicholas has never followed an acting course but he has learnt a lot from storylines, fellow actors and directors. "When I'm doing 'Gie', it was so like out of my world. I learn about all things from Gie's character like what books he read. I mean like the books that I haven't read before about politics, about social, and about everything, social situations back in 1960s and even before to understand that." Making movies is not always easy. For instance, Nicholas had to lose 12 kilograms to play the part of 'Gie'.

Nicholas found English language studies interesting at school but he also told KGRE that watching movies has taught him a lot. His parents speak English so naturally that has had a huge influence. English is very important for his acting career. Recent trips to Sydney and Vancouver meant that he had to use English to talk about his films and for general communication. "I felt how English is important when I went to festivals so I can communicate with people like when I went to Vancouver, Korea, Sydney and another countries, it really helps. I mean like I can't imagine that I can't speak English or I cannot communicate with them I mean like sharing your things."

The future for Nicholas Saputra? Will it be acting or architecture? "I still have one more year to think about that. To think about what I'm gonna do after this. Because you know the priority is like sometimes film's bigger than architecture but the next time maybe architecture's bigger than movies."

Yuliana attends Santo Petrus Pontianak. She is 17 years old and is finishing high school this year. For Yuliana and her friends shopping is a favorite activity in shopping malls. Yuliana loves buying mini books. She is also very keen on the arts - dance and art competitions and exhibitions. She loves music, especially dangdut, pop and rock. Faris is 16 and attends SMA 3 Pontianak. Along with 75 other students, he attended a KGRE Listener’s Meeting at RRI Pontianak last January. Faris loves music and in Pontianak music festivals are very popular. According to Faris, talent contests are very popular for discovering new talent. Talent quests for individuals and competitions for bands are frequent events in the West Kalimantan capital.

The singing careers of Delon, Mike and Lucky really 'took off' when they appeared on a talent quest -'Indonesian Idol'. This talent quest has helped many artists to get their lucky break into show business. Kevin spoke with Mike, Delon and Lucky in late 2005 about their blossoming careers. You can hear them on KGRE radio in the first half of 2006. Piyu from PADI is also be on the radio program talking about his new career - as a music producer. Of course Piyu is still a a member of PADI but he knows, just like the Indonesian Idol artists, that hard work is essential if they are to continue in that hectic industry. Listen to Piyu talk about his ever-changing career - it is really very interesting. He certainly likes to try new things - guitarist, songwriter and producer.

On Sunday the 15th of January, the Jakarta Post featured a full page interview with Agnes Monika. Agnes is a little like Nicholas Saputra. She is studying at university while at the same time developing her career in the entertainment business. As far as studying goes, Agnes says that she loves it and that if her performing career wasn’t growing so fast she would love to study all the time. Agnes also strives to be totally professional in her music career. And guess what Agnes loves to do in her free time? She loves to hang out with friends and perhaps go to the movies – just like Nicholas and YOU!

When Metro TV reporter Dian Khrisna went to study in Australia she was surprised to find out that students go to pubs and that's not considered improper. In fact she said, "I like to go to pubs. Here in Indonesia, people associate pubs with, you always have to drink and get drunk. No, pub is actually where I talk to my fellow students about, 'Oh what thesis are you doing?' you know or sometimes I catch my Professor there having a drink also and I say, 'Hey I didn't see you at class today', 'Oh yeah, I was also I was grading this, these papers'. So we actually ended up talking in a pub you know, of all places you know so yeah. It's a place where you could actually could do good things not just getting drunk and you know pick up women, you know, no, no."

Renata Sajan was the group leader for the AIYEP program (see page 11 for more information about AIYEP). She lived in Brisbane and Roma in Queensland for two months late last year. This is what she noticed about young people in Australia, “It was really interesting to see that the youth in Australia, they have part time jobs and they’re really independent and doing things on their own, and it was really interesting to talk to them and getting to know them at the schools because we went also to schools and explain to them also what Indonesia is like, but they’re really independent. They learn their responsibilities from a younger age. Different from in Indonesia even though we’ve grown up we’re still sponsored by our parents financially and we still live with them. But in Australia the young kids have their own part time jobs, they live on their own, not all but some of them we met. At least they learn their responsibilities from a very young age”.

Lydia Kurniawan from Jakarta was a student in Australia and like so many Australian students she had a part time job, "I worked at McDonalds for several months and I worked at a Chinese, two Chinese restaurants, yeah ... The money was not that small - I got around 11 dollars at McDonalds. But I can say it was hard work because more of the physical work, with the McDonalds I did the clean up and then the cashier as well. But it was an interesting experience ... You know my vocabulary was very limited when I first arrived there. I didn't understand the meaning of beetroot, like a sort of vegetable. So one morning when I was working, this customer, an Australian guy, came to me and said, "I want that burger, I want that burger but I don't want any beetroot". I asked him several times, "What? I'm sorry, I beg your pardon", until I actually called an Australian who were working with me and asked her to serve him because I didn't understand what he was saying. Yeah, and that was an experience for me, like he kind of lost his patience on me."

Hendi (AIYEP) is from Semarang. In Roma he was involved with the leisure activities of his 'mates'. He spent some of his free time 'hanging out' with his host family’s sons, "So things that they did when they’ve got leisure time is like going to the mall, going to KFC or something like restaurants and movies, a cinema, then I join them and going to the gym. Yes, they think it’s important because some of the youth I met there they’re really afraid of obesity so they really like sport to reduce their risk of obesity.”

Volunteer Lifesaver

Ngaire Paszek is 17 years old and lives in the coastal town of Noosa, south-east Queensland. Ngaire has just finished her first year at university. KGRE spoke to her in late December 2005 as she was enjoying a two-and-a-half month holiday break from her studies. She is a volunteer lifesaver and gives up her time on the weekends and public holidays to patrol the surf beaches. She helps to make sure that swimmers who may get into trouble in the water are helped or even rescued. Ngaire is on patrol at the beach perhaps twice a month. Why does Ngaire do this? What's in it for her? "I love the beach. I love being a member of the surf club. It's just great to come down here and spend some time and it's great when people on the beach come up to you and actually thank you for what you're doing." As a part of her training Ngaire has learnt basic First Aid such as giving oxygen, CPR, treating injuries and actually rescuing people from the surf. The Surf Club not only provides training and a rescue service but it provides social activities for its members. Ngaire told KGRE that members of her club range from young children, called Nippers right up to people in their 50s or even 60s.

Nippers

Faris Mustapa, Marinko Joldzic and Armin Bacevac all come from different countries but, like most teenage boys, they all love the beach. They are among 120 young people who have been learning lifesaving under a joint program between the Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club in Victoria, and the Victorian State Government. The scheme encourages people to learn beach safety. Faris, 16, who came to Australia from Singapore as a baby, says he is excited at the thought of saving lives. "We're going to primary schools and talking to them about lifesaving ... so they will be more familiar with the beach and the hazards." Fourteen-year-old Marinko, from Serbia, enjoyed the training so much that he encouraged his Bosnian friend Armin, 13, to join the program. The co-ordinator of the program is Bruce Ward, their teacher at North Geelong Secondary College and Surf Life Saving Australia's Volunteer of the Year. Sandridge Life Saving Club has used a $5000 grant to attract 24 people from Kuwait, Lebanon, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sudan to do lifesaver training.

Sailing

Ruth Rhynehart lives in Darwin and is a keen sailor. Ruth owns a 11 meter yacht. She has sailed between Australia and Indonesia many times. Nothing gives Ruth more satisfaction than sailing the high seas and visiting places such as Ambon, Flores and Bali. Ruth told KGRE that sailing for so many young Australians is also a passion. With annual events such as the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race as motivation, many young Aussies are setting their sights on the glorious world of sailing.