It's Time to Say Goodbye: Farewell Ceremony in UNMUL

I wore my Barong once again to attend our Farewell ceremony before going back to the Philippines. The event held at the top for for FKIP building, where we saw the outbound students (Alya, Dian and Naomi), as well as our buddies, are waiting in the room. When I entered, I saw two screens one in the front while the other one on the side. The front screen shows the presentation while the other is the zoom participants.

After a couple of minutes, the ceremony began with the introduction, prayer and singing the national anthem of Indonesia. The event went out smoothly with Dian and Alya as the host of the ceremony. There are different individuals that go in front to say their speeches regarding today's event and the SEA teacher's program, while I'm at my sit preparing for my farewell speech. Once I got called, I went to the podium with a tablet that is projecting my face on the zoom meeting. I started my speech similar to what I told in SMAN-10, "I'm sorry if the ceiling started to leak again." I don't really remember what I said and share during those time as my mind is going haywire and starting to malfunction, but from what I remembered, I told everyone on how grateful I am to be able to participate in the program and meet new and friendly people. I can't believe that this is probably the best thing that happened in my life, and I wish other PST's student to have this opportunity to widen their perspective in culture and teaching. I ended my speech by saying that I might drank some water from the Mahakam river as I wanted to return to this city again in the future. Enthel also have an opportunity to share her experiences and how grateful she is with Bu Ping and Bu Nurul for keeping good care for us while staying here in UNMUL. The ceremony ended with us watching the video they prepared just for us, taking a photo and saying our goodbye to everyone. We also received a farewell gift that contains different food and snacks from Indonesia, and I was extremely happy that they gave us some instant coffee to bring home!

Group photo at the ceremony

However, the day is not yet over as Bu Ping invited us to attend a podcast session in the afternoon, so Enthel and I decided to go back to the dorm to change our clothes before going back to FKIP to meet with Bu Ping. Once I return to the faculty, I bring my "Mini pedicab" figurine and give it both to Pa Atin and Bu Ping as my thank you gift.

When Enthel arrived in the faculty, we ride Bu Ping's car to go to another campus near the Samarinda, and this is when we know a little bit of a background regarding UNMUL. There are a total of 4 campuses in Samarinda and we are currently staying in the main campus called, "Gunung Kelua campus" where the arc is located. She added that the main campus focuses more on natural science, that is why all branches of science is located there. On the other hand, the place where the podcast is being held the "Pahlawan campus" that is located in the Pahlawan road is focuses more on languages and arts. That is why sometimes when teaching, Bu Ping travels always travels from the main campus to the Pahlawan campus since that is where she usually teach.

When we arrived the campus, we went straight to a room which contains a buffet of Indonesian food. Bu Ping told that it is a way to celebrate the accreditation of the university (I forgot which specifically) so it is a free food for all. The buffet have all of my current favorite Indonesian food such as Rendang and my number one Ayam Geprek. After having our lunch, we stay in one of the main faculty of the campus and wait while setting up our podcast room. There we met one of the main coordinator of the language department (please correct me if I'm wrong), he shared his experience when he was part of the SEA teacher's program before. Hearing him telling his experience is really fascinating and interesting. He told us that he went to different places in Asia while riding on a cruise ship, and that everything is free! We were blown when he told us that, he then added that he visited some parts of Indonesia, Japan and even the Philippines. Enthel and I are interested in joining this program, but he said that it was closed since a few years ago.

Podcast session

Once the room is set, we went inside filled with green screen, two microphone and a camera. I thought to myself, "We are in an actual studio!!" and got very excited. The podcast is divided into two parts that is dedicated for me and Enthel. I was told to relax as the podcast revolved around answering some questions regarding to our experience in learning English. It is probably one of the best experience I had while staying in Indonesia, because it is my dream to do a podcast session. Bu Ping asked me several questions about how I learned speaking and suggestion in improving one's English speaking skills. After the recording, we were told that we will be able to watch it in their official YouTube channel in the future. In fact, as I'm currently polishing my blog, you can view the full podcast session here:

• Rene: https://youtu.be/3LuSraogT0A

• Enthel: https://youtu.be/peJzX4IM8dI

However, the activities never end as we need to attend a "Dance lesson" as requested by Pa Kemi back in the main campus. The location is at the top floor of the FKIP building, the same room where our farewell ceremony held place. The emcee introduced two new individuals from the BIPA program that is from Palestine and Thailand. However, their duration is a bit shorter compare to Kai and Sowa who will be staying for 10 months! After their short welcoming ceremony, the program proceeds in knowing the culture and tradition of different tribes in Samarinda. There we learn the clothing and weapon that the a common man used before. For a man, he wears white clothes and pants while wearing a sword that is inserted on a traditional belt. He clarifies that the weapon is not used as a weapon but rather an ornament, and that only man can carried it. For woman, she wears a traditional dress with a long sleeved shirt, similar to a "Malong" in the Philippines, and the dress have colorful designs and pattern. Other than their dresses, we were also taught different traditional instruments that were used during the dance segment in the opening ceremony and the dance itself. According to host, this dance is originally made and composed for UNMUL itself, with some of the outfit signifies the university's color.