On Friday, 9th March 2018, Class
8A and 8B of SMPK 1 BPK Penabur’s DCP Programme went on an immersion trip to
Australia. We stayed with host families in Tasmania for the first ten nights
and rented an apartment in Melbourne for the other two. We went there to
experience the culture of the people and learn to be independent.
Friday, 9th March 2018
Firstly, we rode a bus heading to
Jakarta’s airport. It took us almost 6 hours to reach there as we were stuck in
traffic at the highway. As soon as we reached the airport, we got out of the
bus and took our luggages with us. I was astonished at how big the new terminal
was since it was newly built and its been a while since I last went on a trip
overseas which flight departed from Jakarta. There was still 5 hours to spare
before the plane departs at 9pm. We were given freedom to go anywhere within
the airport and reconvene at our gate 30 minutes before the departure time. The
43 students were split into groups and dispersed to different areas of the
airport. My group, consisting of me, Nathan and Olsen went to Marugame Udon
restaurant to stuff our empty stomaches and played some card games to keep us
from getting bored. It didn’t last long before we finally left the restaurant
and met up with another group to take a walk around the airport. We walked,
jogged and ran laps around the airport and sweated a lot too. Finally, it was
8.00 a.m. and all of us were already at the departure gate. Right before we
boarded on the bus, one of my friend spotted a famous Indonesian actor, whom I
did not know of and then all of us took a picture with them. The actor’s name
was Gading Marten and apparently he was traveling together with his family
incuding his wife, Gisella Anastasia and daughter, Gempi, who were also famous
actors. We were very lucky to be boarding on the same plane with them towards
the same destination, Melbourne.
Soon after our arrival at
Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, we got a general briefing. It was conducted by the
manager of the tour and he had helped us get through the immigration. Once we
passed the immigration area, we noticed that we were running a little late and
that the plane that we booked and was supposed to board to go to Hobart
Airport, Tasmania, had already departed. So, we had no choice but to book
another plane. The planes scheduled were already full so we had to be divided
into three groups and board three different planes with three different
departing time. I was very unlucky to be chosen for the last plane which boarded
at 7pm, which was like 12 hours from then. At least there were others who had
the same luck as me. We had McDonald’s for lunch and spent the remaining time
playing with our gadgets. I felt a hint of jealousy everytime I open my phone,
as my friends who had arrived at Tasmania were sending pictures of them already
having fun in the group chat while we were trapped in this airport for literally
half a day. There were 3 hours to go and we took advantage of the massive
airport to play hide and seek. It was finally 7pm and we were on the plane
heading towards Hobart. We were picked up by the organizer who drove us to
Southern Christian College, where our hosts were waiting for us. My host were
the Park family. The father’s name was Gareth Park and the mother’s name was
Christine Park. They had 3 boys, Joseph, a sixth grader, Willem, a ninth grader
and Asher, an eleventh grader who was not home at that moment. Living together
with me would be my friend, Olsen, who was also my roommate. We were staying at
one of the three brothers’ room and I got the bottom bed, which was the only
choice I had had left as Olsen already decided on his. Strangely, it was really
comforable, perhaps because it was like a ‘futon’, a japanese bed. Olsen was
all ready when I arrived the hosts’ house and I immediately took out all of my
stuff, took a quick shower after not having one for the whole day and went to
bed.
Sunday, 11th March 2018
The first day in Tasmania, and I
was already late. Olsen and I hurriedly got ready to leave and Mr. Park drove
us back to Southern Christian College. I learned that it was mandatory to
always wear your seatbelts in the car, even when you were sitting at the
backseat in Tasmania. We got off the car and arrived at St. Clements Anglican
Church and had our Sunday mass. After the mass, we went to Long Beach and had
our BBQ Lunch. On menu were hot dog in toasts. We played soccer, cricket and
lots of other stuffs. After our stomachs were filled, we hopped on the bus and
headed up Mt. Wellington. We had a short stop at Mt. Nelson Signal Station and
took pictures. The scenery was beautiful, but nothing compared to Mt.
Wellington’s view. We reached the peak of Mt. Wellington and the moment the bus
door opened, a breezy wind of chilly air filled the room. The wind was so
strong that my tiny asian eyes had to get even smaller. Sitting inside the
observatory that was located at the edge of the mountain, you could see all of
Tasmania, gazing out against the breathtaking view. We were like kids when we
overstepped the boundaries to take cool pictures, as it might have been my first
and last time to experience such an amazing experience. Some of our hosts also
came with us to take pictures too, including mine. The sky was getting darker
and the atmosphere was also getting colder and colder. We got back to the bus
and it took us to Kingston Beach. There were stacks of pizza boxes of variety
of different flavours waiting for us sitting on the bench there. The stack
instantly depleted as each of us took one. There, we get to relax and take a
breather after the long, exciting journey we had been through. We munched on
the pizzas and played around at the mini playground they had, and of course, we
took pictures too. As I walked along th shore, I met someone unfamiliar hanging
out with Joseph and Willem, who were with us as well. He called himself Asher,
the eldest of the three host brothers. After Olsen and I introduced ourselves,
we parted ways with our classmates and returned to our host’s house. We went to
bed early this time to make sure we did not repeat what happened that morning
again.
Monday, 12th March 2018
Next day, we woke up early and
still had not gone to school even though it was a Monday as that day was
Tasmania’s Public Holiday. Only Joseph joined us on our trip on the bus this
time. We visited the Salmond Ponds and fed fishes. There was not much to do
there so we headed straight to a sheep farm next. The shepherd demonstrated how
to shear a sheep in front of us using a razor. Most of the girls were
squealing, pitying the poor sheep which looked as if it was in pain, but the shepherd
explained that it felt just like us having our haircut. He also showed us how
they took care of the sheeps there, they had a dog which helped control the
flock of sheep. The dog was jumping all over the place, hopping from one sheep’s
back to another. It was really amusing. We said our goodbyes to the shepherd
and off we went on the bus. The next destination was the dairy farm. It was
more like a factory with all the milking machines which could be seen
everywhere. You could see the stonishing landscape in the background. The
mountains could be clearly seen, uncovered from the flat plains. The farmer
demonstrated how they milk the cows, just as the shepherd did. He also had a
daughter helping him. She was into making caramels out of the cow’s milk and
gave us taste tests. It tasted just perfect, not to sweet, not too hard, and
chewy. We bought some to bring home and we sure did bought a lot in total.
Finally, we headed to Mt. Field National Park to have our lunches our host moms
generously packed for us. We consumed them at a playground across the main
exhibit. Joseph could easily blend in together with our class mates and have
conversations with them. Then, it was time for us to go hiking through the
forest and headed to Russell Falls. There was a porch hanging ut in front f the
waterfall which allowed us to spectate the majestic waterfall. The waterfall
was like nothing I have ever seen before. After taking pictures, we headed back
to the main entrance and got back to the bus and went home.
Tuesday, 13th March 2018
It was our first day of school
and again, the students were divided into 3 groups. My group would have classes
for the whole day to interact and communicate with the students of Southern Christian
College. I was surprised to know that they had Indonesian classes there, but
sadly, there was none of that subject schedled for that day for us to show off
our skills. The day went well and I hope I somehow made some friends and bonds
with the sudents there, knowing that I have a shy personality. We went home and
spent the rest of the day playing cards with the 3 host brothers. It was a
surprise to know that people there were unfamiliar with the card game ‘cus’ and
I realized that when Olsen and I played together with Joseph. It did not take
much effort for us to teach him as he could easily catch up to the strategies
and basics of the game. Since ‘cus’ was a hard word for them to pronounce, we
decided to name the game ‘pass’ as it had the same meaning. Other than playing
cards, Joseph and his brother, Willem also invited Olsen and I to play Street
Fighter V. It was a playstation game and I was so confused as to what to do
because it was my first time playing with a playstation. Just as we taught
Joseph how o play ‘pass’, he also taught me how to use he playstation. Olsen
already knew his way around the game as he often played console games back at
his home in Indonesia and he already got to try out their game when he reached
Tasmania first, waiting for me who was still stuck at the Tullamarine airport,
waiting for the last flight. After a long and weary afternoon, the sun had set
and we all went to sleep.
Wednesday, 14th March 2018
Like every other morning, Olsen
and I had breakfast. I specifically had NutriGrain for cereal, it is a must try
for ever cereal lovers. Olsen was the one who first recommended it to me. Olsen
had his gluten-free cereal as he had his allergies, coincidentally, Mr. Park
also had them. After breakfast, we headed out to SCC and that time, all of us
sat at the auditorium. We were preparing a special performance, which consists
of Indonestia’s cultural songs and dances. The performance was so disastrous
and my cheeks couldn’t stop blushing from embarassment, but at least, no one
seemed to not have fun. After the performance, we were given souvenir by the
school there and we were grateful. Later on that day, my group was assigned a challenge
and headed downtown to the shopping street. We were given a list of missions
that we had to accomplish and whoever finished it first, would win a prize.
Olsen and I were to desperate on winning the prize that we hurriedly finished
the mission but we still got third place. It was fun and all, but one thing I
regretted was that I could’ve used the remaining time to shop and stuff, just
like what the other groups who finished later than us did. After that the bus
came to pick us up and we returned to the school, bringing nothing. We went
back home and Joseph seemed to be very fond of the ‘pass’ game and invited us
to play again. He went to sleep the earliest among everyone at the house,
followed by Willem, Mrs. Park, Asher, Mr.Park, then us.
Thursday, 15th March 2018
The next day, our group was given
free time at school. We were granted permission to do anything, but inside the
school premises. The boys went to play basketball at the court up the hill. We
discovered something unusual about the basketball ring, it had two nets! The
teacher who were in charge of us told us that the other ring was used for
netball, which is similar to basketball, but for girls. They also used smaller
balls. It was also my chance to practice playing basketball as I had not played
it since 2-3 years ago. But, afraid that I would sweat alot inside the thick jacket
I was wearing at that time and get sick, I stopped to rest at the cafeteria
down the hill, along with the others. The time continued ticking until it was
dismissal time. The other two groups came back from their activities and
gathered around the cafeteria. We had a short briefing about the day after and
went back to each of our houses. Olsen and I asked Mrs. Park if she could drive
us to the nearest supermarket and pharmacy to complete the grocery list our
parents back at Bandung made. She was kind enough to agree and let us take a
ride to Woolworths Supermarket. It was a huge building which provided
everything we needed. I bought tons of different kinds of chocolates and also
TimTam which Willem recommended to us. We returned home bringing a large
shoping ba with us and dumped our stuffs at our suitcases. Then, Mr. Park, who
was an art teacher at our school, had just returned from work and showed us
some amazing artworks he did at the past. They were all cartoon but looked so
realistic. His colourings also looked as if it was printed. Then, we had a
short game of cards and went to bed.
Friday, 16th March 2018
Today, we would be going on another trekking adventure accmpanied by the Launceston Crescent Primary School students. For that day, they were going to be our tour guide and guide us for the whole day at Mt. Stuart. We studied the geological history of the rocks and nature there. At the end of the trek, we ran down the steep slope of a sidewalk to head to Landsdowne Crescent Primary School. There, we taught the elementary students Indonesian language and played angklung for them. After that, we joined them for lunch at the cafeteria. The school had a humongous field where we could play soccer and almost every sports. We had heaps of fun playing soccer with them. It was a match between students of SMPK 1 BPK Penabur and students of Launceston Crescent Primary School. Sadly, there was not much time for us to play together and we had to part ways. We hopped on the bus which took us back to SCC. We went back home and had dinner, then went to sleep.
Saturday, 17th March 2018
The day after, we explored the
University of Tasmania (UTAS). The university was really massive, it was as if
it was a city of its own. We went to the car engineering department, library
and science department. We had a lot of fun learning about 3D printing and
tried them out too. There was a large Periodic Table out at the front entrance
which contains shelves containing different chemicals. I thought to myself that
it was mindblowing, to be able to keep all the types of chemicals on Earth in
one place. The library was massive too, it had 5 floors, the first 3 floors
contained nothing but computers and study corners while the last 2 floors
contained rows and columns of book-filled shelves, like a labyrinth. After
that, we headed back home had kangaroo burger for dinner and rested for the
night. We went to Salamanca market the next day. There was not much but we did
discover something interesting, the SUPREME Court of Tasmania. We went to the
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery next, and could you imagine that we only had
an hour to look around this ginormous museum?! An hour had passed and we left
to visit the zoo. It was the moment I have been waiting for, I got to see
Koalas, Emus, Tasmanian Devil, Echidna,a porcupine like animal, Kangaroos and fed
them too. I took lots of pictures as they were animals which could only be found
in Australia, and make sure I won’t forget that experience. We ended the day by
visiting Wicked Cheese for lunch and went back home.
It was our second Sunday in
Tasmania and we went to the church for another mass. This time, we had to
prepare Indonesian games for the children there to play. It didn’t turn out as
successful as I expected but it was decent. After mass, we went to the
supermarket to buy ingredients for lunch and dinner, then went back home very
early. I got bored thinking of staying at home for the whole day so I suggested
for Olsen, I and Mr. Park to go somewhere fun. Mr. Park had an idea and took us
on a ride to Coningham Beach and also Legacy Beach. The view was breathtaking. We
saw heaven’s rays shining down from above the clouds on one spot beyond the
horizon. The water was crystal clear and the sand was sparkling like diamonds
too. We left a mark there by piling giant stones at somwhere in the coastline.
Olsen went home with wet shoes and pants as he accidentally fell into the water
wearing long jeans and running shoes. Mr. Park helped him dry them when we got
home. It was getting dark and Willem, Joseph, Olsen and I got ready to leave
and went to the Williams’ house. They were having a farewell party there and we
tried to make it as lively and memorable as possible. I got to be friends with
the Williams and some other friends they invited. It was already dark and
everyone went home. Olsen and I finally gave the souvenirs we brought from
Indonesia to Mr. And Mrs. Park and we were enlightened to know that they liked
it. We went to sleep after packing our stuffs.
It was time for us to leave
Tasmania, just before we left the house, I remembered that we hadn’t took a
group picture of the whole family yet. All of us gathered at the living room and
took a quick wefie. We had our farewell hugs with everybody and left on the
bus. We waved back at everyone who had taken care of us for the past week
goodbye. It was a sad moment indeed, together with the bad weather. But as soon
as the rain wore out, a beautiful rain appeared out of nowhere. It was a sign
that after a sad moment, comes a happy ending. We finally arrived at Hobart
airport and departed on the plane to Melbourne, together this time. There were
2 tour guides waiting for us at the airport main entrance as soon as we
arrived. They drove us to a Fashion Outlet and gave us free time to shop. I
bought myself a waterbottle and one for my sister. After shopping, we headed to
Carlston View Apartment to rest.
Tuesday, 20th March 2018
The next day, we were given time
to go anywhere around Melbourne until 11 a.m. I joined Dylan to go
shoe-hunting, just for fun. After hours of searching and asking, he finally
found the shoes he wanted but they had no size for him. He immediately became
depressed. At 11 a.m. we gathered back at the apartment and walked a few blocks
away from there and arrived at a vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was
super cramped so we had to take turns taking a seat. After having lunch, we
went to Victoria’s Market Place and looked around. The stalls were neatly
stationed filling every corner of the place. Then we went to Trinity College
and explored the place. It was just as big as UTAS, or probably bigger, and its
antiqueness gave it a Harry Potter Hogwarts feeling. It was sensational. After
the tiring journey, we went back to the apartment. Some of us followed the tour
guide and went to a famous alleyway full of murals and there also was a store
which sold all the hypebeast stuff. After that we separated ways to find a
toilet and got lost. We didn’t panic though and used Google Maps to track
ourselves back home. Another day completed in Melbourne.
Wednesday, 21st March 2018
I was woken up by the sound of
bashful knocking on the door, it was still 4.30 in the morning. I opened the
door to see my friend screaming that we were late. My roommates and I panicked
and hurriedly packed our stuffs. We pressed the lift buttons repeatedly,
knowing that it wouldn’t bring us down any faster. The principal had a frown on
her face when we passed her by at the main entrance. We jumped on the airport
bus and it took us to the Tullamarine Airport. We left Australia and went to
Bali to interchange planes. Then e safely got home.
