Mbah & Atok go to… Malang, Indonesia - Sabbatical etc etc 4.4.2024

Mbah & Atok go to… Malang, Indonesia

Thursday 4 April 2024

This is Mbah’s and Atok’s temporary hijrah to Malang, Indonesia for one year, for Mbah to pursue her research at Universitas Brawijaya (UB). The original posting was published in Mbah’s Facebook on 4 April 2024 (with some editing and formatting modifications made to suit this blog’s style and format).


Sabbatical etc etc
4.4.2024 Thu

Decided to be early at the office. Arrived there by 7 00 (8 00 Msia) so I could then go back early. FYI, my working hours is flexible for the days and time. Since I am more of a morning person, might as well be early to work and then home.

As Internet coverage at home sucks, I have to download much needed materials from UB. As I was doing that, two colleagues, Bu Dian and Bu Wienda said that they wanted to go to school to supervise their undergraduates. The students are to enter a national level microteaching competition. What they have to do is to send in a video of the microteaching. A 10 mins video. I asked if I could tag along. Learning opportunities should not be wasted. They are so kind as to agree to that.

The school was a 30 mins drive. Mind you it is not far but the norms of driving in town is around 30 km/h. I am still getting used to the driving culture here. Basically, it is not for the faint hearted.

We reached the school and I followed Bu Dian who is supervising her group. Went into their class with 30 students. Spent about 30 mins or so in the class watching the undergraduates filming the session. I got involved with one group of students writing a lion and wolf story. As we were doing the activity, I asked them their names, of which I can only remember Putra. I introduced myself and they got excited upon knowing that I am from UiTM, Malaysia. Immediately the word “Upin Ipin” came out. They asked me “What is nasi lemak?”. I said “rice cooked with coconut milk” and they said “nasi gurih”. Just before leaving the group, I gave one of the girls my name card.



Upon waiting for the other groups to finish filming, Bu Dian and me sat at the gazebo. The school is a national level eco green school. It has a kind of water filtering system (7 stages of filter) that after the 7 stage, the water could be used for the toilet. The school is surrounded by trees - huge old trees. The cooling effect is tremendous that there are no fans in the class, yet it was not hot. Warm yes but not hot at all.



As we were leaving, the headmistress came out to greet us. I was introduced as a dosyen from Malaysia. Mind you that this is an adhoc visit but the headmistress was very accomodative. I was asked to sign a “guest book”. It was actually a banner with a table on it labelled with date, institution and signature. Felt like a celebrity for a while. Then a photo session with the school’s name as the background.

This was my first ever Indonesia school visit. There might be more after this. Who knows. But all in all, one learning curve is achieved.

There is still more to learn and share.

Night2 kids.
Night2 all.

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