KangGURU
Travels to
Jakarta in March 2005 by Rachel
In March 2005, KGRE went to Jakarta to present
a one day KGRE Teacher Workshop at the IALF. The
workshop was organized by Irene Pingkan Umboh, the Manager of the
Australian Education Centre Jakarta. While in Jakarta
Rachel met and interviewed Miss Sarah
Davies and Miss Krishna. Sarah is the current Miss World Australia
and Krisna was Miss Indonesia in 2003.
Last week I went to Jakarta for the first time. I left
Bali on the afternoon of Monday 7th March and arrived in Jakarta
in the early evening. It took more than an hour to get from the airport
to my hotel!! Jakarta traffic is really crazy. I settled in to my hotel
and ate some "Jakarta Gado Gado". It was really good, but I
don't know why it was called "Jakarta" Gado Gado. It seems just
as good as gado gado anywhere in Indonesia!
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On
Tuesday morning I went to the IALF Jakarta office to do a Kang
Guru In The Classroom teacher workshop. This workshop was organized
by the Australian Education Center. They had invited around 75 teachers
from the Jakarta area. This was my first workshop for Kang Guru.
If you have been reading about Kang Guru Travels regularly, you
will have seen that Kevin and I went to Lamongan
in East Java in February. However, I didn't do that workshop,
I just went along to watch Kevin. |
The teachers were really great; they were enthusiastic
and really got involved in doing the activities. We talked a lot about
motivating students, about the new curriculum, and about how to make activities
work for different levels. At the end I gave them a big test about Australia.
No, I am joking, it was more of a quiz. The winners got some great Kang
Guru "goodies"- T Shirts, key-rings, stickers, notebooks. lot's
of great stuff.
Later that evening I went out for dinner with the CEO
of IALF, Pak Geoff Crewes. We ate some Thai food in a really beautiful
restaurant in the city center.
The next day I went to a press conference at
the Australian Education Center. I was excited about this because I was
going there to interview Miss World Australia 2004, Miss. Sarah Davies.
I was early so I was very happy to get a seat right in the front row.
Soon the Australian ambassador, Mr. Ritchie, Miss Australia and Ms. Dian
Krishna arrived. You may remember Miss Krishna, she was Miss Putri Indonesia
in 2003. Now she is a reporter on Metro TV.
First, Mr. Ritchie made a short speech. He spoke about the good relationship
between Indonesia and Australia. He spoke a little about life and studying
in Australia. Then Miss Australia spoke about her time as a student and
how it has helped her in her career. Miss Krishna was also a student in
Melbourne a few years ago and she spoke very fondly of here time there.
After the speeches some journalists asked the three VIP's some questions.
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After the press conference I interviewed Miss Sarah Davies and Miss
Krishna for Kang Guru Radio. You can read my interview in the August
magazine and you will be able to listen to some of my interview
on the radio later this year. Both of these beautiful ladies were
so friendly, so articulate and had a lot of interesting things to
say.
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The
next morning, Thursday, I went back to the
Australian Education Center to interview some of the Indonesian
staff there. I spoke with the Center Manager, Ms. Irene Pingkan
Umboh, and one of the Senior Information Officers, Ms. Lydia Kurniawan.
They both studied and lived in Australia and we chatted about their
experiences there. They had many interesting stories to share with
the Kang Guru readers and listeners. They both speak English exceptionally
well and were happy to share their learning experiences and some
tips. |
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| My flight back to Bali wasn’t until Saturday morning so I had some free time on Thursday afternoon and on Friday. I really had a great time exploring Jakarta. I went to some nice shopping malls and a great bookshop where I bought nine books! I went to the cinema and to some fantastic restaurants. But my favourite time was the afternoon I spend wandering around in the old Dutch area near Kota. The old buildings were quite beautiful. Unfortunately the museums were all closed because of the Nepi holiday, maybe I’ll be able to visit them next time. I also went out to the port to see the famous Makassar schooners. There were many ships in the port and lots of people busy loading and unloading interesting cargo. It was mostly teak wood, I think. Unfortunately I am sorry to say that none of the ships had their beautiful sails up and open. |
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Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia
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