Year 10 Indonesia

Below is an report written by one of out students after 2013’s trip.

10 students (Brett Allison, Lachlan Bond, Renee Cox-Stolk, Meg Johnston Lani Jones, Tahlia MacFie, Andrew Parish, Jodie Parish, Kylee Pedersen and Brodie Redman) along with Bu Tyson-Whittaker and Bu Sugiyanto headed to Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia on June 18th. It was the trip of a lifetime and we had the most amazing time.

The food and culture were so different but also spectacular. It was surprising to us that most meals came with rice. It was about 30+ degrees everyday, which was a bit hard to get used to, but the hotel we stayed at had an awesome pool which made it up for the heat!

We set up ‘camp’ at Hotel Winotosastro for the duration of the trip, which was convenient because we could just leave all of our stuff at the hotel. We had our own bus and tour guide and went out each day. We visited places like Candi Borobudur which is the largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia and also Candi Prambanan which is still being rebuilt today after it was abandoned in the 10th Century. We also went to the local kebun binatang Gembira Loka, which is a zoo, but we didin’t really see much because after the elephant ride , we spent most of our time with our feet in the doctor fish tank getting the dead skin eaten off our feet, which was really quite an experience.

A big part of our trip was bargaining on Malioboro Street which got us to talk to the locals and bargain for goods we wanted to buy. We became shoppers extraordinaire, and were quick to master the art of bargaining for everything from wallets to watches, silver jewellery to bags.

We also did lots of other things like visiting an orphanage, visiting the water palace, and going to the Ramayana Ballet. We learnt traditional dance, batik and pencak silat (Indonesian martial arts). We also had lunch at the Sultan’s Palace, although we didn’t meet the Sultan as he was away. We rode traditional transport, with becak races home becoming our favourite form of travel. And who could forget riding the flashing light pedal cars around the alun-alun (town square)?
.
We practiced speaking every day. And there is nothing easier than learning to speak a language when you can practice in real situations.

Indonesia is sensational, and we loved the people and the culture. We recommend this trip to anyone, as it really is an experience of a lifetime.

Terima kasih Bu Sugi, T-Dubb
(Written by Andrew Parish)