The Journey is On Board

The students exchange program between 2ndHarapan Junior High School and Brunsbüttel is giant opportunity for all of us from 2nd Harapan to join in this amazing program about Ecology and Culture in each country. To get involved in this program isn’t easy thing. We need to pass 3 different tests and must got good result in each tests about personality, Culture and Ecology. The first test was about personality, we must fill almost 25 questions about our personality and motivation join this program. The second test is presentation about Ecology infront of 3 judges that professional in their each sector. The third test was presentation about Culture in front of the same judges that judge us in before test. After,the result is declared by Mrs.Elly Kharisma and Mrs.Elis Parilasanti, we prepare for activities program in Bali like learn Germany language and knowledge about place those we’ll visited. A month before the day program in Bali all of Indonesia students prepare the whole program for 12 days from opening to closing program. During the preparation of program time we made many of meeting and discuss, also our teachers met many person or company that involved in this program their place in this program. All of the program during in Bali are 100% supported by Prof. Nowak Stiftung Foundation, Harapan Foundation and parent by each Indonesia students in finance and spiritual. Each program that we planned were using time as effective as we can use for visited every place those related to Ecology and Culture in Bali.

The first day of the program we came to school earlier than another day. The first day as the opening day and the first time for all of us that involved in this program met face to face. We planned the opening as best as we can serve to all Germany students and teachers with Indonesia and Balinese vibe. The opening start with flag ceremony with Indonesia Vibe, that ceremony we configured with Balinese vibe as well as. The ceremony can’t held without help by OSIS Organization, teachers, and all of students in 2ndHarapan Junior High School. During the flag ceremony we showed choir, Balinese dance and souvenir from 2ndHarapan Junior High School. Continued to meeting in 2ndHarapan hall with all of the participant that involved in this program. During the meeting, we had time to know each other more. The meeting start with opening speech by Mrs. RaiErmani as Head Master of 2ndHarapan Junior High School translated by Mrs. EllyKharisma and also gave souvenir by teachers of Germany students to 2ndHarapan Junior High School. After, that we continued to school orientation and in each class that had been decorated by different themsabout Indonesia region in each class. In orientation class some class gave traditional food and some souvenir. After, that we went to class for continued the material in each class of Indonesia students and also introduce about Indonesia Education System.

The second day is the sport day. All of us went to school yard and play traditional games with students in 7 Grade. We played bakiak, Enggrang, and Galo – Galo as few of traditional games in Indonesia those under extinction because, less kids played these games. The reason why we chose played traditional games because, wanted to gave new experience about Indonesia culture and also showed Indonesia Culture. We had lunch with Indonesia lunch style. We ate nasipadangthat from West Sumatra as one of the famous traditional food in Indonesia. After that, we continued again with followed the material in class by each Indonesia Students.

The third day, our plans were about ecology and we were back to nature. We started our activities by gathering at school in the morning, around 07.30 AM. When we thought we are ready, we directly went to Bedugul Botanical Garden together by minibus. The Balinese participants brought Indonesian foods and fresh drink also. All students, Balinese and German talked while we were on the way. We all want to know each other. We arrived at Bedugul Botanical Garden after 1 hour. When we arrived, we directly chose the place where we’ll gather, break together, and lunch together. And the point of our activities on this third day was The Treetop Adventure Park.

Treetop was very interested activity that we had to did, because we can did more interaction with the tree, and also to practice our bravery. It was an outdoor fun activities in the forest (Bedugul Botanical Garden) with 9 circuits in the trees of various dificulties though ziplines, bridges, and nets. First time, we had to use our safety equipment to keep us safe while we played the Tree Top. After we prepared, the guide of the Treetop told us to try the trial circuits before we played the real circuits. All students (Germany and Balinese), and also the German teachers were enjoyed the circuits. We spent our time by played the Treetop until we felt little bit tired, thirsty, and hungry. It was about 2 hour. When we finished, we took off our safety equipment and drank mineral water. Because we were hungry, we went to the gather point that we had choosed. We met our Balinese teacher. They did not join the Tree Top, but they prepared our lunch on that moment.

We had Indonesian food for our lunch. Which are Tempe, Corn Flakes, and also typical food of Bali, we called it AyamBetutu. For the vegetables, we had what we called SayurPecel. SayurPecel is a mix vegetables with peanut sauce. We were the Balinese students were happy because the German participant wanted to try our Indonesian foods. Fresh juices made us feel better after we played the Treetop. While we enjoyed our satiety, we did not have more time. We immediately packed our stuffs and be ready to go to the next activities. As a good visitor of Botanical Garden, we must keep the place neat and tidy. So, before we leaved that place where we gather and had some break, we cleaned, tidied up, and threw all the garbage. Then, all of us are ready went back to the minibus, and the next plan wasIbu Birgit’s House. Then, we stopped because we saw an amazing tree. There was very tall tree with a very big steam. We were really amazed. All participants wanted to see that tree more close, so we got out and walked to see the tree. We took a lot of photos. We continue to visitedIbu Brigit’s House. Ibu Birgit’s house located at Punggul, Abiansemal, Badung-Bali. She had very large house. It looked wonderful. There was Balinese family and some children at Ibu Birgit’s house. The Balinese and German participants looked around. Then, we found the swimming pool. Actually, we did plan to swim and practice snorkeling because we would go to Pemuteran and did snorkeling on the next days. We all the Germany and Balinese students were enjoyed it.

Again, we did not have more time. I thought it was about 05.00 PM. Our teachers told us, we will visit a waterfall that located near Ibu Birgit’s house. So, we immediately prepared and changed our clothes. When we were ready, we went to the waterfall together by foot. We met the local people and some children when we were on the way. There were dogs also and they were barking when we pass in front of them. We looked around and we passed beside rice fields. We saw a really natural view.  After a few minutes, finally we arrived at waterfall. Before we entered the waterfall area, we must wore “selendang”. It is Hindus equipment when they pray to the God. We also had to wear a polite clothes. For anyone who wear a short, he had to wear sarung to keep them polite. We looked around and also took more photos. There were big stones and trees. This waterfall looked beautiful with Hindus culture.  The sun sets and we could see the moon. We went back to Ibu Birgit’s house. The Balinese family who lives at Ibu Birgit’s house prepared the dinner for us. They cooked fried rice, fried Tempe, fried egg, and crackers also. We directly took a plate, spoon, and fork, and of course the meal. We really enjoyed it. It tasted good.  Our dinner was very very memorable. We all felt full. And the last but not least of our activities on this third day is learn about Balinese Family. We were gather and Ibu Birgit explained about Balinese Family after the dinner. The Balinese family joined too. Ibu Birgit told us more information with a real impression.  For all of our activities today, we felt tired and sleepy. It was about 07.00 PM. After we gathered and listened to Ibu Birgit’s explaination, we prepared to go home. Some students slept while we were on the way.

The fourth day was Thursday. On this fourth day we had to go to school and joined all of the schedule of the students. It was a special day. Because, we had to wear Balinese traditional clothes at school, and the German participants also tried to wear the Balinese clothes. The German participants arrived at school in the morning around 07.30 AM. We joined the learning and teaching process with the other students of grade 8th. All participants, Balinese and German students studied in the classroom. But, there were some German students did not wear Balinese traditional clothes because they had sport class following their partner’s schedule.

The students who had a sport class, they went to Balinese students’ home to change their clothes and maybe to take a shower. It was about 08.30 AM. They prepared to go back to school. When they were ready, the Balinese students’ parents took them back to school. We need a moment to refresh ourselves after we studied. So, at 09.30 AM we went back to our base camp and we had a short break. We spent our break by enjoyed the snacks and fresh drink. Beside that, we also chatted to be more close each other. To complete the moment, we took photos together with Balinese traditional clothes.  The next plan was practice for handy craft. We had prepare an idea about what we’ll made. We gathered at Science Laboratory and sat in a circle. Then, some Balinese students explained how to make it. We tried to make a craft from plastic package. We made it together. Evidently, we still had more time after we practice to make it. So, we continued with chatting and laugh together.  It’s time for lunch. We were back to our base camp and had lunch together until we were full. After the lunch, we practiced Balinese instrument, especially for the German students. We practiced about 1 hour until 01.30 PM. Then, the German student went back to Delima Guest House. For the Balinese students, we went back to our classroom and studied until 02.10 PM.

On the fifth day, we started to learn more about the sea ecological system. Especially, we wanted to know about coral reefs. We went to Pemuteran by our minibus and we prepared our stuff. Before we arrived at Pemuteran, we went to one of the well-known areas in Bali called Bedugul. We took a lot of photos like the crazy one and from there we knew each other more. Ulun Danu Temple was our first visited place. We knew a lot of history about Bali’s War in the form of pictures. After that, we wanted to do more funny activities so we decided to surround the lake by speedboat. We heard from the German’s Student, they didn’t have kind of speedboat. We really enjoyed there and after 15 minutes we went back to our road. We felt sleepy and hungry when we were in a road so we looked exhausted. Beside the road,  For the lunch we ate fried rice and another Indonesian Foods . The funny thing was the rain fell when we enjoyed our food. It took 3 hours for arrived at Pemuteran. When we arrived, we tidied up our stuff. We had a little bad news when we selected our room. We couldn’t gathered in one bungalow, some of us moved to other bungalows. We went to best places for studied about sea ecological system called Reef Seen. The Reef Seen is owned by a great man named Mr. Nyoman Christ Brown. He was inspired us about struggling to be a useful person for people around. When we arrived at Reef Seen, we saw a lot of baby turtles bred and there was a turtle who are preserved. We knew about how the turtles gave birth to their babies. We also saw some children danced “Turtle Dance”. Mr. Nyoman Christ Brown’s daughter showed us a video about how to keep turtles safe through the song media. We learned a lot of gorgeous knowledge about daily activities, struggled with new environment, and sea ecological system from Mr. Nyoman Christ Brown. At the evening, we went to have a dinner. After we went back, we played a German’s game called Kokotaki. We also talked about German’s history and some horror stories.

The sixth day, we had to start our activities really early. We went to forest with the beauty of its kind named Mangrove Forest. Mangrove Forest is forest that grow in brackish water, and are affected by tides. We could see Java Island especially Banyuwangi. We saw sea animals such as sea stars and sea urchins, we also sawrare bluish bird. The sunrises in the mangrove forest adorned the beauty of that morning. We got so much experience there and how mangrove’s interacted with their environment. The leader said at low tide, there are some forest animals that appear. It took 2 hours to surround the mangrove forest. We felt a little bit tired so we decided to go back to the bungalows. At the afternoon, we snorkeled at Reef Seen beach. We were briefed that we should not step on coral reefs or take away things from the ecosystem. We swiftly took plastic trash caught in the reef while enjoying the scenery below. Sometimes, we saw a lot of damaged coral reefs because of human. The funny things again was one of us seems troubled to swim in a deeper area but fortunately nothing happens and then we laughed together. We saw a lot of rocks and small shells on the edge of the beach that had many shapes and types. The evening comes, we had a dinner without our teacher. This time was so interested because we could share our personalities each other. We must went back earlier to tidied up our stuff because tomorrow we will check out from there.

On the seventh day, we decided to snorkeled again before we checked out from the bungalows. We said a very warm goodbye to Mr. Nyoman Christ Brown and he was hugged us. It was so hard to left Pemuteran too fast because we did a very good experiences together there. We were back to the road. After 3 hours sitted in mini bus, we arrived at buffet restaurant. We ate too much and the boys finally ate more than 100 satays, it was so funny. We continued our road until we arrived at SMPK 2 Harapan.. When we arrived, the Indonesian student’s parents were waited us to picked up us and our partner to go to our home.

Eight day, the activities began with breakfast at each family, and prepare went to Perancak beach to conduct beach clean activities for Students Exchange Programs. And we cooperated with 4ocean and OSIS Organization were also involved. Plastic waste had beenthe main problems of the sea and the coast. The aim of this activity was to save the marine and coastal ecosystems.After that we were gave sacks and gloves to collected the garbage we got. After that we took a broke and took a photo together. And after that we went to each othersfamily to changed clothes, and we gathered again at school for lunch together and we went to Erlangga souvenir shop Denpasar to bought a typical Balinese Souvenir. We continue went to‘Tanah Lot Temple” and before we entered,we bought the ticket first. There some of us parted ways, some were shopping for accessories, some were photographed, some were ate right away and so on. Which makes this place even more beautiful, of course, with the temple building located on a steep shore, called Tanah Lot Temple. When the tide was high, the temple lot will look like a land floating in the middle of the beach. And there we saw snakes holy.

On the ninth day,we went to UmahDesa by mini bus about 50 minutes. When we arrived at UmahDesa we were invited to see the traditional house structure with the traditional tradition called “meboreh”. That is traditional medicine made from herbs and spices it able to cure diseases, some students wanted to try “meboreh”because they wanted to know the sensation of “meboreh. They also gave us drinks that made from rosella the name was rosella tea. After that we are invited to see how to open old coconut with traditional way and we also tried to open coconut with traditional way too. In the afternoon, we had a lunch and we invited to looked cacao and they gave us drink it made from cacao like hot chocolate or ice chocolate. And then we went to the rice fields to plowing rice fields with cow and we also learned how to plant rice with the farmer and how to climb coconut tree all of students wanted to climb coconut tree too. After that we have yoga class and then we have a dinner. After full we back to our each room and we stay at UmahDesa.

On the 2nd day in UmahDesawe wake up in the morning and we had cooking class and made 2 groups. After we made group we went to the traditional market to buy the ingredients, like chilli,onion,andany more, we made food from the ingredients that we got from the traditional market. After we bought the ingredients from the market we went to UmahDesa. On the way to UmahDesa we made a stop at a place where there is a cinnamon tree, the tree wasmore than 100 years old and we took alot of photos after we finished our photo session, we went back to UmahDesa. When we arrived at UmahDesa, we started our cooking class and we cooked satay and sambelmatah from the ingredients that we bought from traditional market and we helped by some people from UmahDesa to make the food. We had lunch and we ate our food together. After we finished our lunch, the owner of UmahDesa gave us souvenir like a traditional necklace that in surface there was our name written by UmahDesa owner. After that we packing our stuffs and prepare to go home and we were doing our activities in each other’s house.

The Last day as the closing day we made Farewell Party as the last day all of us met in Bali Island. We were invite all of the people those involved in this program like from each parent of Indonesia students, representative from Harapan Foundation, representative from Badung Government, Founder of Prof.NowakStiftung Foundation, 8 Grade Students of 2ndHarapan Junior High School and also representative from GKPB (Christ Chruch In Bali). The Farewell party showed gamelan by 2ndHarapan students and Balinese dance also from 2ndHarapan Students as the Balinese vibe. Gamelan was played for the opening and continued to speech by each representative from all of people those involved in this giant program. The Farewell party was more amazing with showed from Ms.Susi (Germany teacher) who sang with 2ndHarapan Choir and played gamelan by Germany Students. The end of Farewell party was showed Balinese dance by 2nd Harapan students with Germany Students. After that, we had buffet dinner with all people that involved in this program. We continued to last photo session for the memories in this program. With the finished of The Farewell party that mean all of the program in Bali is end and continue with program in Germany.

We’re really thank you to 2nd Harapan Junior High School and Brunsbüttel Gymnasium as the school of this program. Our Finance source, Prof.Claus and Prof.Christa as the founder of Prof.NowakStiftung Foundation and also as the founder of this wonderful program, Harapan Foundation, GKPB and all parents from each Indonesia Students. All of us tried the best to make all of the program in Bali ran smooth and gave knowledge about Ecology and Culture as the purpose of Prof.NowakStiftung Foundation to all participant in this program. For us it was big opportunity that not all students in Indonesia can got it specially students in Junior High School. In our deep heart, we would say apologize for every mistake or problem that we made during this program, we’ll use what we got in this program to improve our selves and more care specially about ecology and also sustainable nature. We hoped our relationship not end after the whole program were end, We want and hope our relationship between Germany and Indonesia students, Prof.NowakStiftung foundation, Brunsbüttel Gymnasium and 2ndHarapan Junior High School can continue and sustainable antil the future. We also hope the program we’ll continue in the next year, 2 years and go on. For the end of this report we want to say thank you very much that we can’t replace what you gave to us. Thank you so much toProf.Claus and Prof.Christa as the founder and Mrs.EllyKharisma as the representative for foundation in Indonesia also our teacher and Mrs.ElisParilasanti as our teacher. See you in the future.