Sekitar bulan Agustus – September 2023 lalu, SMP unggulan ‘Aisyiyah Bantul berkesempatan menjadi lokasi mengajar dua mahasiswa Filipina yang mengikuti Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia (Sea Teacher) di bawah naungan Southeast Asian Ministers of Educational Organization (Seameo). Dua mahasiswa tersebut berasal dari dua universitas di Filipina yaitu Chlyredth BC dari Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology (ISUFST) dan Edward PC dari University of Saint Anthony Usant Filipina. Program ini bekerjasama dengan FKIP Universitas Ahmad Dahlan Yogyakarta.

Selama mengajar di SMP Unggulan ‘Aisyiyah Bantul, kedua mahasiswa tersebut menggunakan bahasa inggris sebagai pengantarnya. Seluruh civitas akademik di SMP Unggulan ‘Aisyiyah Bantul sangat antusias menyambut kedatangan dua mahasiswa tersebut, terlebih santriwan-santriwati yang penasaran dengan latar budaya keduanya. Kami pun tidak menyianyiakan kesempatan untuk bertanya lebih jauh dan mengajak keduanya ngobrol bareng dalam Podcast UA #4. Berikut rangkumannya.

How are you?

I’m very fine. I’m very nervous for the firsttime in this Podcast.

How long you have been in Yogyakarta?

Chlyredth : So we came here last September 2023 and I’m today it’s been almost two weeks already.

Edward : Yeah, it’s almost two weeks and the experience is better, its good.

How can you be in Yogyakarta?

Chlyredth : Its been so nice and the people here is welcomed us with great smiles and the people here very welcoming and we almost it feels like home, so it’s almost the same in the Philippines.

Edawrd : Yeah, so it’s really nice to be here. Yogyakarta has been a beautifull city. It’s a beutifull place. There are so many things you can do in Yogya and I’m so unexpectedly I’ve been coming here. I’m so unexpected.  I didn’t expect this. The welcome, the place, the food especially the food, I love it and I love Indonesia.

Chlyredth : We try to adopt especially with the spices because in the Philippines we’re not used to very spicy foods but later we adopted and the tastier and delicacies it’s spectacular of course. It’s really nice thats why these are all good especially the price.

Edard : The foods is very cheap to be we brought so many food. We have tried so many better pieces like for me. I like “Sate”. “Sate” is just very good. Especially with peanut sauce, Oh my God!. I’m not watering right now. Haha

Chlyredth : For me, I like the “Olive Chicken”. “Ayam”. It’s really nice because it has a smiliar taste wtih Jollibee Chicken from the Philippines.

Edward : Yeah, Olive chicken helped us survived in Yogyakarta. Hahaha

What do you teach Mom Chly and Sir Edward?

Clyredth : So, for me I teach English.

Edward : I’m handling IPS subject or Social Studies Subject

What the difference between teaching in the Phillipine and Indonesia?

Clyredth : Actually coming here we saw a lot of differences as well as similiarities, but if it come to teaching or an education there’s similarities mostly, i’m compared the Philippines to be honest Philippines and some areas of the Pillippines we have over education especially in rural areas, but with that compared to compared here in Indonesia, the school here is very organized and I can see that the school gives every opportunity to the students of the country and with a lot of resource with the facilities itself, it’s really nice. Because you can see that the students are you know there will be the beneficial of this. I think education is really good here.

Edward : From the Philippines experienced student or teacher, my mom is a teacher. So I experience or I witness his struggles as a teacher because in the Philippines the environment is way different compared Indonesia. In Philippines poor children struggles a lot every day. They don’t have access to resources compared here the goverment is trying hard to alleviate the struggles of the student and I think it hinders in achieving their dreams. Many students in the Philippines doesn’t finish school because the struggles experience.

Clyredth : But the goverment still would effort to everything that everyone, every child in the country will be given a chance to study and as well as to pursue their dreams.

What do you like about and what is your first impression about is there any culture shock that you have found?

Clyredth : Actually the most and my favorite part here is the people itself. Especially I will mentioned, Nani!. She’s the one who’s been handling us ever since our first here. She is very hands on even with the food we eat, the things that we need in the homestay. I mean she is very very handy and we’re very thankfull because you know its our first time to be away from our country  and also from our families but it doesn’t fell that way because people here in Yogya make us made us feel that we’re all welcomed and it feels like home. Its like I’ve said earlier and also what culture shocked me is the religion.

Edward : Yeah the religion, we are staying here every morning we can hear about the people are praying and its basically made us “uhh”, yeah..haha

Clyredth : But after they says it, we adopted to. Its like more about things already and of course in some the Phillipines island has the most pop, has the most population of Muslims.

Edward : For me the people is very good, although there are some language barriers. But they’re very easy to contact. They’re very easy to talk to and they are welcoming people especially Nani.

Clyredth : We also see that everyone that we encountered and they really try their effort to give us what we do, what we want and what is our needs so we’re vey thankfull for that.

Edward : And last one, the place. The Phillipine and Yogya especially in our place, most place in the phillipines are just the same but the culture is different. I’ve tried so many visited, so many temples and and activities, we visited Borobudur. Borobudur is a, I guess it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that you visited here, its a once in a lifetime opportunity  for us being Indonesia, so we’re very grateful for the school and also special mention to our President UAD. Without them, we are not here today. And thanks a lot for our Buddies, for Kheysa.

Clyredth  : she’s really nice, we didn’t have any problem at all because she’s really hands on on us all times. And I’ll see you guys. Yeah..

Edward : You’re very smart.

What food you have eat in Yogya and what is your favorite one?

Clyredth : Here is the “ayam”, Olive chicken. Hahaha. I ike it and also the “sate”, yeah. Its like barbeque right?

Edward : And for me, my favorite is “sate” with peanut sauce and tempe. Its very delicious.

Clyredth : And also my favorite is fried tofu, yeah.

Edward : and especially “nasi goreng”

Have you know any Javanese language?

Clyredth : “Selamat Pagi” ?

No, no. Its Indonesians language.

Edward : I don’t know Javanese language. But Indonesian language is far more difficult to pronounce, but Indonesian language an the language that most people speak we know a little bit words as “selamat pagi”, “selamat siang”.

Ara : Selamat pagi in Javanese is Sugeng Enjang. J

Clyredth : It’s hard to pronounce, yeah. Javanese pronunciation is difficult.

Are you ever visit the tourist place in Yogya?

Clyredth : Yes, .(…)

Edward : the place are so beautifull. Yeah. We wanted to go back here again. For me basically I want to visit te Merapi Mountain, we’re looking forward to visiting because in the Phililipines you also have my own volcano. Its an active volcano in the Phillipines and Merapi mountain is an active volcano, so they share the same form, the same acticity and I like to visit it and also coming here.

Clyredht : In Indonesia, before we landed on, in an airplane we saw a lot of active volcanos in the sky, so it really amaze us because the volcano seems smoking, you know? Haha. It really looks nice seeing it up close.

Did you buy something that are like souvenir or handcraft?

Edward :Yeah, actually we bought some traditional clothes especially for mother. Malioboro is very beautifull street especially at night time.

Clyredht : In that place, is the first time we’ve been there’s a festival, we watched the different dance, traditional dances.

Edward : If you were the festival show and it only happens once. Were so lucky there’s a lot of experience that in Malioboro we bought things like t-shirt and probaly before we go back to Phillipines we’ll go back to Malioboro again to some Philippines that were our loved ones.

What is your message for person in Unggulan Aisyiyah Junior High School?

Clyredht : First of all, we would like to thank you to our Headmaster for accepting us here, and we are gratefull everything that yuo’ve been offered to us and second is to our teacher, to my teacher Mrs zulfa. She’s been good to me ever since my first day here and she’s very hands-on and I did not find difficult to adopt with the environment and with my teaching practice here. And alo to my students in Maryam Class although there’s language barrier but I can see in their case that they’re very eager to learn from me and that one is my inspiration also, so I strive to make my goals achieved for them, so I’m really happy to be in here and its excites me because first time coming here is nerve-warcking as time goes by its really nice and all of you guys you’re very welcoming to us and you with everything that we ask for, you participated and we’re really lucky.

Edward : I’m very happy so for me first I would like to thank the school itself. And because of the opportunity. Thank  yu for giving us the opportunity to rich. In this school is very very memorable experience. I will never forget this. The students, the teachers are very cooperative. They were very kind to us. Mom Delia, my critic Teacher always helps me in painting the materials learning and I could never thank her. Even more so I appreciate Mom Delia as well as Mom Zulfa because also a great help to me. And for my students Halimah, zaenab and Hajar. And then my message for you is that you just have to keep studying hard. I Know you are smart. On the first day we met you already impressed me because at first I thought my students would not understand me when I’m talking English but to my surprise me fluid in English especially desgnd and plants with Ara they were so good, they were very smart. For my students in Halimah and Hajar, I hope you study very hard. You will gain so much experience in yur lifetime and I hope you reach your dreams.

Nikmati keseruan ngobrol dengan mereka berdua selengkapnya disini !