On September 16th, I was in Bandung. While I was there I took the opportunity to meet Solehudin, the newly announced winner of the Kang Guru yang Baru Competition. Solehudin and his teacher came to my hotel to see me. We talked about his school, his life in Cicalengka and of course, about his success in the competition.

We made arrangements for the trip to Jakarta. That was a part of his prize for winning.  We decided that early November was the best time for both Solehudin and for me.

On November 2nd I went Bandung and to SMU Bina Muda, Solehudin's school in Cicalengka. I met many of his teachers and about 150 of his fellow students. They are all very keen on English and we had a lot of fun together. Solehudin gave a wonderful introductory speech mentioning Kang Guru and work of AusAID that he had learnt about from KGRE..

I was very happy to talk with  his fellow English language  students about English and my work with Kang Guru. We had some competitions and quizzes and everyone (hopefully) enjoyed themselves. I spent about three hours at SMU Bina Muda, Cicalengka.

After leaving the school we called in to see Solehudin's mother at their house.

The following day we met at the Bandung railway station for the journey to Jakarta. He brought his friend, Asep, along as well and we had a very pleasant trip to Jakarta on the train.

Upon arrival in Jakarta we finally found a taxi to take us to The ALILA Hotel which is situated just behind the Presidential Palace. After checking into our rooms we all spent time buzzing through the 46 channels available on the television system and watching movies.

Solehudin's other activities in Jakarta included - 

Enjoying the luxury of the Alila Hotel - the restaurants, the pool and the gymnasium.

The boys had a workout with Mario and MyBodyGym Manager, Tony Metcalf. Both Asep and Solehudin were exhausted after that. Thanks to their Personal Trainer for the day, Mario, and Tony for a great time there. The boys had a very 'tough' workout with Mario, and gymnasium Manager, Tony Metcalf.

Visiting the Australian Embassy and talking with the Ambassador, Mr. Richard Smith for 45 minutes.

We called in to see David Spiller, Team Leader for the ADS program in Indonesia. Solehudin had a lot of questions for David as Solehudin has a dream to study in Australia in a few years time.

We visited Ancol and Sea World in Jakarta - great fun for all of us!

We met with Mr. Geoff Crewes, CEO of the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation in Jakarta. Solehudin and Asep also set up their own e-mail addresses at IALF.

Indonesia and Australia are two countries that are located in Pacific region. Each country is special in culture, customs and so on but one thing that can make them  be good neighbors is the awareness they are members of big family of countries in the world. That philosophy means they can't live without cooperation. Thereby, Indonesia and Australia build cooperation about territory, politics, economy and many other benefits and cooperation.

As neighbors  the cooperation can create good stability in the area. And it has been proven by the two countries in history  except in the Timor case. Some people said it was a strategic island for Australian politics that connects to British and USA and another said the Timor  needed  assistance for a neutral referendum but I just have good suspicion about that.

So we must keep on trying to understand each other's characteristics in politics, economics, culture, etc. I believe the neighborhood never will be broken if the two countries comprehend the differences between them.