After reading Choon Yen’s post on her experiences, I think mine just pales in comparison. I shall try to attempt to make this post a little more interesting by adding photos along the way :) But still, after teasing her for almost the entire trip, her post on the ‘memeluk’ incident still brings a smile to my face :)

The 3 weeks in Indonesia made me appreciate Singapore more. Safety, comfort, internet connectivity and even hot water for bathing that we take for granted in Singapore were missing for most of the time in Yogyakarta. However, the absence of all these things could not compare to what I received throughout the trip. It was not just a 3 week stay in Indonesia to learn Bahasa Indonesia, but 21 days of experiencing their culture, interacting with Indonesians and also learning their way of life.

I had a chance to stay with an Indonesian family and it was a pleasure to stay with them! Every morning I had sandwiches or fried rice together with an egg (either hard-boiled or fried) and a cup of fruit juice for breakfast. In addition, my homestay mother gave me bread to eat during breaks so that I will not get hungry.

The room which I stayed in for 3 weeks! 

Lunch was usually settled at one of the warungs (stalls) near school and they usually cost only about $1.50 for a meal. 

Soto, one of the favourite dishes of the group! 

Dinner was always delicious, with a variety of authentic Indonesian dishes, often flavoured with different spices. 

Satay, tempe and rice for dinner!

Of course, there were many interesting things that happened during the 3 weeks in Yogyakarta. Being taught in NUS that kemarin means yesterday and besok means tomorrow, we did not find out the other meanings of these 2 words until we interacted with the teachers in Sanata Dharma. For example, they asked us things like ‘Bagaimana gamelan kemarin?’, and in our minds, we were thinking ‘Did we had gamelan yesterday?’ or ‘I thought we didn’t have any cultural classes yesterday’ and I even tried to tell them ‘Bukan. Kami tidak ada gamelan kemarin.’, when all they wanted to ask was how was the activity the other day.

Another interesting thing was that we saw the words ‘nasi kucing’ on the menu of one of the warungs near school and we thought that just like how chicken rice is nasi ayam, ‘nasi kucing’ would then mean ‘cat rice’. We were kind of disgusted but also interested to find out how ‘cat rice’ would be like. However, a check with the teachers easily solved the question we had. ‘Nasi kucing’, unlike nasi ayam, is actually rice that is served in very small portions together with some side dishes.  

The closing ceremony for our programme was yet another highlight. The teachers showed us their talents in singing, playing the guitar and also dancing while we performed a simple song presentation >_< But the fun only started after the closing ceremony, when the teachers started their own ‘karaoke session’! One teacher was playing the guitar, while the others were singing and dancing to the songs. While they were all having fun, dancing and singing enthusiastically, we were sitting at one side, amazed at them but yet too embarrassed to join them. 

Teachers dancing and singing to the guitar's melody

They seemed to be so carefree, simply enjoying the act of dancing and singing, something that I guess, many Singaporeans aren’t capable of.

Photo with the teachers (sadly, Stacy went back to Singapore earlier  for her internship:( ) 

 It was a truly wonderful experience learning Bahasa Indonesia at Universitas Sanata Dharma with the fun-loving teachers and also with my homestay family!


zhixin