GUEST LECTURE

On March 29, 2012, I had the opportunity to attend a guest lecture that was organized by the faculty of teacher training and education (FKIP) at Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga. Speaker in this guest lecture is Anna Dall from the University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Anna Dall convey the topic that I think is very interesting . She talked about the national final exams that can make students feel depressed and scared. National exam also makes students only pursue an outcome that was assessed by using a number.

Additionally, Anna Dall also said the education system in Finland, a country that has a very good education system. Finland is a country that applies the principles of trust so that this country do not implement the national exam. This is because all teacher must have a master's degree before starting to teach. In addition, the country is able to prove that to achieve maximum results should not be using a large budget. For the example, the schools are free. students also got some facilities such as meals, transportation, health, etc.

Overall, I agree with Anna. I think the national examination that occured in Indonesia is a test that makes the students very depressed. this is evident from the presence of news media that convey information about the student who committed suicide for fear of the exam. but, of course exam is still important to encourage students and to identify students learning outcomes. it is wrong if it does not pass the test then do not pass the school. test should not be played as a determinant of students' graduation.

SCHOLARSHIP & EDUCATION FAIR

On March 26-27, 2012 scholarship and education fair held in Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga. The activity is about the scholarships, faculty presentations until cultural sharing. In this activity, participants were given the opportunity to ask questions about what was presented.

There are many interesting things in this activity. For example, on March 26, 2012 there is a cultural sharing from 3 Koreans. They convey briefly about their culture such as traditional clothes, food, and their music & dance. They present their material using Indonesian. Although they can not using Indonesian perfectly, they are able to present the material very interesting.

There are also interesting things on March 27, 2012. The interesting thing is sharing of experience as a lecturer. Sharing is done by three people, namely Toar Sumakul who had studied in Liverpool, UK; Anne Timothy who had studied in Australia; and Adita who had studied in Japan. They spoke about their preparation, their activities, and experiences. Even Toar also tell the details things like the most frequently spoken in the shops in that place.

Next, there is also a very interesting presentation of FIK. They present a simulation of emergency response for disaster victims. One thing that comes to my mind is most of them have the talent to play theater. They look really prepare for their presentation so that it becomes very interesting.

Another interesting case is when the cultural sharing with 2 Japanese. On this activity, they demonstrate how they cook ikayaki, dishes from their countries. They also explain about what they cook. Actually, this activity is not a new thing for me because I ever practice to cook okonomiyaki when I was learning Japanese in senior high school. But of course this is interesting because it was done by Japanese. It is more interesting when the participants were allowed to taste it.

This is an exciting experience and can give new knowledges.

Hal berpuasa

"Dan apabila kamu berpuasa, janganlah muram mukamu seperti orang munafik. Mereka mengubah air mukanya, supaya orang melihat bahwa mereka sedang berpuasa. Aku berkata kepadamu: Sesungguhnya mereka sudah mendapat upahnya. Tetapi apabila engkau berpuasa, minyakilah kepalamu dan cucilah mukamu, supaya jangan dilihat oleh orang bahwa engkau sedang berpuasa, melainkan hanya oleh Bapamu yang ada di tempat tersembunyi. Maka Bapamu yang melihat yang tersembunyi akan membalasnya kepadamu." (Matius 6: 16-18)

Sekedar mengingatkan kembali teman ^^

(mumpung masa prapaskah :p)

cross cultural experience

My experience when I follow my cross cultural class is meet native speakers from Australia. But, it was divided into 2 groups and it makes me just can meet Lachlan and Simon. My friends and I share our culture with them. It is fun to share about our culture because from this activity we can know and learn about different culture.

In this experience, I ask Lachlan about how did he make a preparation before come to this place. This is because in my experience, I always have shock when come in a new place. I want to know his secret. But, he said that he used to come a new place, so he did not make a special preparation.

From this activity, I know many things from them. They said that we have a different habit. For the example, we can eat soto for breakfast, but for them, it will make them have a stomachache. This is because something that we eat for breakfast is something that they eat for dinner.

Another things that I know from this experience is about family, religion, etc. In their culture, they will live separate with their parents if they have 17 (maybe, because I forget it is for 17, 18 or another age, :p). They also shocked about adzan in the morning. This is because they never hear loud voice in the morning in their place. But, they said that it's OK.

Next, when my friend ask how about education. Lachlan said that it's depend on the teacher. So, I think generally we don't have a different thing about education because it is depend on the teacher.

In the end of this experience, we just take pictures with them. But, before we take pictures, Lachlan said to me that my English is good. I don't know it's true or not because I think my English is bad. I can't use Grammar well and my words also limited. But he said that it's OK because his grammar also not good. He also said that it's not important thing. We just need to talk and practice. it's nice to meet them. :)