Kang GURU
Travels to Surabaya, Pamekasan and Sidorajo, February 2008
In mid-February Kevin went to Surabaya, Pamekasan in Madura and finally to Sidorajo. He attended an Aussie Alumni event in Surabaya, had lunch at the Rocks Resto run by Aussie alumni Eric Go, presented two teacher workshops and participated in a Kang Guru Get Together involving 8 language clubs in the Pamekasan area. Kevin also met with students in Sidorajo before flying back to Bali. Pak Fathur Rohim and Djodi Etman from P4TK also joined in with the second workshop in SMP Al Falah in Sidoarjo and it was great to have them there.
On Friday afternoon I flew to Surabaya from Denpasar but only after a two hour delay at Ngurah Rai airport. Severe floods in Jakarta has caused a lot of serious delays with flights all over Java. I was late quite late getting to Surabaya and I immediately caught a taxi to the Dharmo area to attend a function at the Australian-themed Rocks Resto. The function was organized by the Australian Education Center, IKAMA Surya and The English Studies Circle based at Airlangga University. Many thanks to Lucia an dher team for their hard work. It was an Aussie Alumni function for alumni in the Surabaya area. It was crowded and fun with lots of prizes, games and delicious food cooked by Eric Go and his staff. Eric was featured in the December 2007 Kang Guru food magazine. Eric studied in Australia and now has two Rocks restaurants in Sby, the other being in Galaxy Mall 2 - 3rd floor - great food!The night drew to a close around 9.30pm and then I headed into central Surabaya and finally checked into the hotel around 10.30pm.
Eric is very proud that late last
year, the Australian Ambassador to
Indonesia, Mr. Bill Farmer dropped
by his restaurant for lunch.
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Eric's Galaxy Mall restaurant - real Aussie
food
too with lots of BBQ
meat, seafood
and best of all, delicious
sauces to go
with t he food. Eric's desserts
are pretty good too. I had lunch at
The Rocks
with Lucia from AEC Surabaya.
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On Saturday and Sunday I basically hung around the hotel and did some work in preparation for the upcoming Australian Alumni Awards 2008 to be held in Jkt on February 16 th. I also started work on new website pages and wrote several articles for the new Kang Guru March magazine. Surabaya is a huge city and just prior to Chinese New Year the malls and shops were full of things Chinese – lots of red and gold.
The view from my hotel window was pretty spectacular too with rain and lightning most of the time. Big cities always look good at night with bright lights everywhere, aeroplanes flying overhead and in the case of this view - lightning and thunder too! |
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I also met with Rachman Ida, an Aussie alumni who studied in Perth during the late 1990s and from 2002 to 2006. In fact, I was Ida's teacher in Bali at the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation (IALF) in 1998 when she was studying pre-departure English for her Australian Development Scholarship. What a surprise to meet up with her again at he dinner on the Friday night! I also met her daughter Zara.
Another successful young alumni, Kenny Haway, called by the hotel and I interviewed him to hear about his experiences as an Aussie alumni. He studied business and manufacturing in Australia. |
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Pamekasan
On Monday morning it was time to head for Madura and a teacher workshop plus Kang Guru Connection Get Together all basically under the supervision of Kang Guru Champion, Suryadi. The organizing committee led by Pak Muchtar did most of the work that led to a terrific workshop and club day. Congratulations to the committee – all 20 of them. Well done!
Many thanks ot Ibu Tatik too from the university English language department for her help AND for the delicious nasi rawon and opor ayam she made especially for me for lunch. Fantastic food. Thanks Tati, you obviously read about my favorite food in the December 2007 Kang Guru magazine. |
On Tuesday approx 125 teachers and student-teachers arrived at Universitas Madura, the venue for the Kang Guru workshop. It was great fun and participants were keen and interested in not only what I had to say but especially with the Kang Guru materials. It was a long workshop but the air-conditioning did help with the heat - too many participants probably in the room. Nevertheless it was certainly fun for all.
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On Wednesday I returned to the venue and prepared for the Pamekasan area Get Together for not only Kang Guru clubs in the area but also for a few other language clubs. There were probably 150 students there and they were ready for a big day. The clubs had prepared not only a performance each but they set up Wall Magazines for me to judge. There was live music, the best spanduk/banner I have ever seen AND all participants were itching to get started at 8.00am. I did several activities with them and they presented their performances for the other club members to enjoy. During the day I also interviewed Iby Ifa from Guluk Guluk and the Eidelweiss Club. Ifa has had a long relationship with Kang Guru through the presence of Margaret and John Rollings being based at her pesantren during 2005-6. Now Ifa works with the LAPIS-ELTIS project from AusAID and managed by IALF Bali.
Westlife of the future - great songs fellas |
Avoroes club members also performed
a rousing performance with drums
and singing - fantastic!
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Before leaving the Get Together I also interviewed two young students who had recently won a local Speech Competition in Madura. Their names were Kolif Widariyanto and Adan Malik. They were wonderful to chat with and I wish them all the luck in the future with their English and their studies.
On Wednesday afternoon around 4pm it was time to head back to Surabaya. Suryadi and Muchtar accompanied me. It was a quick trip and before we knew it we were on the ferry crossing the water between Kamal and Tanjung Perak. I was safely in the hotel by 7pm.
It was also great to see
Alvian Ghafur Ercham
from the Get Me English Community (# 071) Jember
at the Get Together activity. He also joined me on the trip back to Surabaya as he was returning to Jember that night.
That was along way to come for just one day BUT he says he enjoyed it (see his email dated February 8th) -
Hello Captain,
How are you doing? I hope Madura gave you something nice to remember, such as food, people, culture, etc. Although it’s very hard two days activities in Madura, but I think it would bring new atmosphere for teachers, students and for their English activities and clubs as well. They were all enthusiastic and happy. For me, it was a very good fortune to meet Captain and Champion at the same time. Well Done Captain! By the way, I’m interested in 5 CD’s and small book of Idiom on English. I think it’s very good for my club. Well, I would be very grateful if you could send me with your book and your CD’s.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
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On Thursday, a public holiday for Chinese New Year, I slept in. Very nice! During the day I went out to the LAPIS-ELTIS office in IAIN Sunan Ampel to meet with Pak Sholikin for another interview for the Australian Alumni Awards CD from Kang Guru. Ibu Rachman Ida dropped by the hotel for the interview as the other day when I met her for lunch, the background noise at that location made it just impossible. Over coffee we chatted about her time in Australia and also chatted with her 11 year old daughter, another Aussie Alumni.
On Friday I joined with Pak Fathur Rohim and Pak Djodi Etman from P4TK in Jakarta to attend a Kang Guru workshop at SMP Al Falah in Sidoarjo. The school was a very beautifully kept place with lovely gardens and clean walkways and rooms. The whole atmosphere was very nice including the workshop room. Teachers were eager to get started so at 8.00am on the dot, the workshop was opened.
Ibu Ichwati Yuliana, with the
support of her committee
and DIKNAS
Sidorajo, did a terrific job
organizing
such a well-run and organized
wotrkshop for Kang Guru.
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Over 100 teachers were in attendance and the day went fairly quickly with activities well-followed and well-executed. The workshop finished at 3.00pm and we went straight into the student meeting.
About 40 students, all SMP students attended and their English was quite amazing. They asked many questions including this one that I have never been asked before – ‘If the magazine is given away free then where does Kang Guru get the money from to run properly? |
The Committee plus special guests, Pak Fathur Rohim and Pak Djodi Etman from P4TK Bahasa in Jakarta.
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Welcome Pak Fathur and Pak Djodi from P4TK Bahasa Jakarta
After the student meeting, Pak Fathur and Pak Djodi from P4TK Bahasa in Jakarta (third and fourth from the left) headed back to their Surabaya hotel while I went directly to Juanda for my flight home to Bali. After a week away it was great to be going home. |
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