OWLIL'S JOURNEY✧⏦

Hi everyone! On this page you will follow my exciting journey, full of knowledge and surprises which will start from the beginning of my departure from Indonesia to the Philippines✈︎

Here I will briefly explain what activities I did there, you must be curious, right? Don't go anywhere, just stay here!!

Departure time ✈️

    So, from the photo above, you already know that these are all the moments I captured when my friend and I left to the Philippines. Our flight does not have a stopover, it takes around 5 hours to arrive in Manila, PH. This is my first time go to the Philippines, you can see how happy I am to get this opportunity and fly to a country I have never been to.

On my way ☁️💺

    Traveling for approximately 5 hours on the plane was actually not too tiring, especially since the flight was very smooth and the weather was favorable, making my trip extraordinary. Accompanied by the beautiful view of the sky, my eyes didn't want to sleep. At that time, I sat next to an Indonesian who was going to America to return home because he worked there. His name is Reza, he is very kind and communicative and we chatted a lot, making my trip feel fast. Also i ate the food provided on the plane, I ordered pasta and beef. What I remember was that it didn't taste that good, but since I was hungry why not just eat it?! hahahahaha~

Arrival 🛫

   When we arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila PH, we were greeted by lecturers from NEUST who had already arrived and traveled 4 hours from Cabanatuan City. They were very kind and friendly, they made sure we were fine and not tired, then we went straight to Cabanatuan City to rest. But before we got there, halfway through the trip we stopped for dinner together at McD, after that we continued our journey.

Opening ceremony 🎊🎉

     The next day I attended the opening event which was specially made for me and my friend who would be staying there for 28 days. The event was held directly at NEUST Gabaldon Campus. The journey from Cabanatuan city to Gabaldon takes around 1 to 1.5 hours. When I got there I was introduced to my beloved mentor Ma'am Maya and my student buddy Precious who you can see from the photo above. At this event I was also given the opportunity to give a speech in front of the campus director, lecturers, mentors and students of English Language Education department.

Historical Trip 🏞️🌿

    This is the moment when I visited a historical place in Cabanatuan City. A historical park that is a witness to the world war that occurred in the Philippines. In its time, this place was a witness to the history that took place there. I went there with 7 fellow students from Indonesia who were studying at Muhammadiyah University of Kendari, they were taking part in ICT program and would stay in the Philippines for 6 months. Not only my friends from UMK, but I was also accompanied by Dean Angie and Ma'am Anna, representatives of lecturers from NEUST.

FOODIES 🥪🥗🥘🍗🫕🧃

   Umm Yummy!! This is some of the foods I ate there, it was delicious. There are several differences that I observed in terms of the taste of food in the Philippines and in Indonesia. In the Philippines the taste of food tends to be sweet and sour, different from in Indonesia the food tends to be spicy and a little sweet. Even so, I still enjoyed the food I ate while I was there. Can you guess what foods are in the picture above?

Sport Competitions Event 🤾🏽‍♂️🤸🏻‍♂️🏊🏼‍♂️

     Wow!! Seeing this photo I really miss my friends there. This photo is a collection of moments when I attended a sports competition event held by NEUST Gabaldon Campus which was intended for all pupils and students. The event was very exciting and lasted for several days. The sports that are competed in also vary, from swimming competitions, table tennis competitions, basketball competitions, to dance competitions, and of course there were still many more.

Rancho Trip 🐄☘️🐣🌺🥥

    This is my trip to ✨Rancho✨, a type of farm maintained by the NEUST Gabaldon Campus for lecture needs and just to cultivate plants and animals there. This trip is very exciting, fun and enjoyable. We boarded a special vehicle on the farm, a type of car, but I don't know what it's called. Accompanied by my beloved mentor Sir Jaypee, and Ate Marlene, one of the staff on campus. There were also Kuya Aris, Kuya Alex, and Kuya Ed as our guides while we were at the rancho. We saw cows, horses, took chicken eggs, picked guava directly from the tree, and also drank coconut directly that Kuya Alex picked especially for us. What a pleasant experience.

Raising Flag Ceremony 🇵🇭

     This is my first time attending a flag raising event in the Philippines. I noticed a difference, that there were no Paskibraka or flag-waving troops. The flag will be hoisted by only 1 person and followed by the national anthem. The ceremony took place solemnly and smoothly. At that time, I was also asked to give a short speech in front of all the students and teachers of NEUST Gabaldon Campus. It was quite tense and nervous but I was able to get through it smoothly.

Canteen 🍢🥤

   These are some of the moments I took when we were observing around campus, the canteen was the part I visited most often. Apart from the delicious food and snacks, the seller is also friendly, her name is Ate Emy. She is very kind and friendly, there is no need to doubt Ate Emy's cooking because that is her specialty.

First day of observation 👋🏼

     Finally, that was the moment on the first day I made observations in class 7 which would later become the class where I did my final teaching demonstration. Accompanied by Ma'am Maya as the mentor and Ma'am Rosemary as the teacher responsible for teaching English in that class, I felt happy and excited at the same time. I introduced myself in front of the class and was seen by the 7th grade students, they looked confused and happy. They also asked me many things, one of which was asking what I was wearing on my head at that time, they asked what it was and why I was covering my hair with the hijab. They also asked about me more after that.

Dupinga River Trip 🦦🪷🫧💧

     OMG! The Dupinga River is the most beautiful river I have ever seen in my life, it is so beautiful that I don't want to leave there. Want to spend more time there, accompanied by Sir Jaypee, and some of my friends to make this trip complete and exciting!! Dupingan River is one of the tourist attractions that is very well maintained, in fact there is almost no rubbish that I saw there, everything is very clean as you can see in the photo. We didn't just swim there, we also brought some snacks and drinks to complete our trip on the Dupinga River.

Dingalan Trip 🌊🐚🪸🍃🫧

      This is one trip that I will never forget. Do you still remember Sir Jaypee? one of my mentors who always accompanies me wherever I go. This time he invited me to go a little further and this time he also invited his family to go together and enjoy the beauty of Dingalan. I felt welcomed warmly by his family, Ma'am Joana is the wife of Sir Jaypee, there is also Alexa, his first child, Pong his second child and Tching his last child. Traveling for around 30 to 40 minutes was really fun because during the trip we talked about many things. As you can see, the views are also extraordinary, pleasing my eyes, which rarely see green views.

NEUST Gabaldon Campus Pasalubong Store 🛒☕️

     This is one of the store owned by the NEUST Gabaldon campus. What they sell are processed coconut products that they grow themselves, not only processed coconut into several menus such as coconut pie, coconut macarons, but also coffee. There are many choices of various types of things that we can bought here, and I bought their signature coconut macaron, it tastes very delicious, perfect to accompany you while drinking coffee.

My very first Demo Teaching🧑🏻‍🏫📚

     My first teaching demo! I almost can't believe I'm teaching abroad. Did you know that I prepared materials and powerpoints along with the learning steps in a very short time, only one night. But I can get through it. The students were very communicative and actively participated in learning activities, this made me no longer nervous but instead enjoyed presenting the material. We talked a lot and told stories while studying, we also discussed a lot about the material at that time.

Municipal Mayor 👨🏻🏛️

     That day we met the mayor, we really didn't think it would be that easy to meet a mayor not in our own country. He was very friendly and kind, he gave me advice and knowledge as well as a welcome for coming and staying there for the next few days. Not only that, I also received permission to stay in the campus area during the program, and he warmly welcomed me. Accompanied by Sir Jaypee and Ma'am Rosalie, we finally took a photo together.

Afternoon stroll 🌥️🍛

     That afternoon, Ojan, Sir Jaypee, Ma'am Maya, and I went around the campus area on foot. We went to one of the new restaurants around there and tried tasting some of the food, that afternoon I was very happy because I could share stories with my surrogate parents while I was there. Ma'am Maya and Sir Jaypee were very kind and helped me a lot, that afternoon was very enjoyable.

Another Demo Teaching 📝🧑🏻‍🏫

      In this Demo Teaching, I felt more flexible and relaxed presenting the material. Maybe because I had previously done teaching demonstrations in the same class many times, teaching 7th grade students became something I started to get used to while I was in the Philippines, it was fun and every day there were exciting questions and events that I experienced.

Gabaldon Central School 👧🏻👦🏻🍬📕

    Well, this time there is something different from before. This time I had the opportunity to teach at one of the Primary Schools, namely Gabaldon Central School and at that time I had the opportunity to teach 3rd grade elementary school students, wow!! This is my first time teaching elementary school and it is quite an impressive experience. In contrast to middle school, elementary school children are more active, they are cute and we should have special tricks to be able to convey the material well by providing lots of games and fun questions. Our attitude as elementary school teachers also has to be more cheerful, and it turns out that this is quite difficult, but again this is an experience that I cannot forget.

One of the best Restaurant👀🥗🍨🥘

    Yeay!! Again and again I go on culinary tours, this time in different places. This culinary tour was accompanied by Ma'am Maya, Sir Jaypee, Juls, Cath, Ojan, as well as Ma'am Maya's son and here they sell the best Halo Halo of all time. Do you know Halo Halo? So Halo Halo is a very refreshing typical Filipino dessert. There are many things in it, such as sweet potato ice cream, bananas, nata de coco, and many other ingredients that are put together to make a delicious food.

Our last Raising Flag Ceremony 🇵🇭

    It's so sad to remember that again, this photo is a photo of my last raising flag ceremony in the Philippines. The ceremony took place the same, solemn and calm. And I still want to take part in the Ceremony every Monday in the coming weeks. After the ceremony was finished, I took the time to take a photo with Ojan and Sir Jaypee as a memory. I know I will really miss moments like that again.

Final Demonstration Teaching Preparation 🤯📚📌

    The day that I have been waiting for has almost there!! Finally, I prepared the material, lesson plan, and many other preparations to present in my final teaching demo. Wow!! I had mixed feelings, I couldn't believe it had come this far, there was also a feeling of sadness because it turned out the date was already approaching the date I'd go home, but there was also a feeling of happiness because I was able to get through all the series of activities smoothly. The photo above is a summary of the activities that I captured during preparation for my final teaching demo.

FINAL DEMONSTRATION TEACHING 👀📌

      Yeay!! Finally, after making lots of observations, understanding how lessons are in the Philippines, and learning how to prepare everything, the time finally arrived. My final demo teaching took place from 10.30 am to 11.30 am, everything went smoothly without any obstacles. I really want to say a big thank you to my mentors Ma'am Maya and Sir Jaypee because they ensured that I remained calm in carrying out learning activities.

     There were 3 panels of people who assessed me at that time, Sir Louie, Ma'am Rosalie, and Ma'am Arsy, the students at that time also really helped me in carrying out the final demo teaching because they were all active in participating in learning activities. After my final demo teaching was finished, I was immediately taken to the principal's office to carry out an evaluation and be given comments while I was teaching. As far as I remember, all the comments given were constructive positive comments. They said I was successful in conveying the material and all the learning objectives were delivered well. They also appreciated the way I interacted with students at that time, they said I was suitable to be a Filipino teacher. There are lots of comments and suggestions that I can take for future study. Once again I'm very happy.

Closing Program Ceremony🥹🎊🎉

     I don't know what to say at that moment. The moment where I had to say goodbye and say many thanks to the people who contributed to this activity especially while I was there. To everyone involved, thank you very much. The closing ceremony was held very warmly and lively, they invited all students from grades 7, 8 and 9 of junior high school. Those students were also the ones I taught while I was there. They gave an impressive performance especially for me and Ojan, not only that, they also gave me lots of gifts as a token of thanks and as a keepsake. I didn't expect to get so many gifts that day.

     I couldn't control my tears when I listened to the messages delivered by my mentors, just like when I read the messages and my impressions while I was there. I cried because time felt so fast, I still wanted to be there and live my usual days as a pre-service student teacher. The welcome given by Sir Jaypee and Ma'am Maya really touched my heart, they were good parents, they treated me as a child with great affection, they taught me many things. To the other teachers, thank you very much, to my students, also thank you very much for the opportunity you gave me to make me a substitute teacher for a while.

 Teachers Day Ceremony🎉👨🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫

     After the closing ceremony was over, I attended the Teacher's Day event which was celebrated by all teachers in the city of Gabaldon, around 700 teachers attended the event. I am happy because I had this extraordinary experience, I also participated in the event there. I was singing at that time, and do you know, I sing in Tagalog and it only took me all night to memorize the lyrics. I was accompanied by Kuya Hans who is also one of the teachers at NEUST Gabaldon Campus, he accompanied me with his guitar and also sang with me. It's an experience I can't forget.

COOKING TIME 🥘🍽️✨

     There are still a few days before my return to Indonesia. We can use the time we have to spend together while cooking a typical Filipino dish, namely Chicken Adobo. Sir Jaypee and his family prepared the cooking ingredients, I only helped a little because I can't cook. But that day felt so fun and warm, the feeling of family was really felt and I really enjoyed that day. After the cooking was finished we also ate the food together, it turned out that Chicken Adobo was very delicious, and I also started to learn how to make it.

Time to return to Indonesia ☹️✈️🇮🇩

    It turns out my time in the Philippines is over, it's time to return to Indonesia and continue my education. I was very sad at that time, I couldn't believe that 28 days was so short. My return to Indonesia was accompanied by Sir Jaypee and Ma'am Rosalie, they took me to the airport. Parting is indeed the most painful thing, but what can we do? in addition to maintaining good communication with them.