Sigit Setyawan
(dan Diedit oleh Bu Ida Harsojo)
The MLTA (Modern Language Teachers' Association) of NSW (New South Wales) bertajuk ‘Intercultural Immersion’ Conference yang diadakan di Ubud, Bali pada tanggal 11- 17 Juli 2008 berlangsung dengan sukses sekali. Konferensi ini dihadiri oleh 20 orang delegasi yang terbang dari Darwin, Canberra, Jakarta, Sydney dan Brisbane. Panitia konferensi adalah Ibu Lee Gilliland dari Macksville HS dan Ibu Melissa Gould Drakeley dari Macarthur Anglican School dan sebagai Presiden dari MLTA NSW.
The conference was officially opened by Mr Anwar Raudin, the Minister of Counsellor and Information from The Embassy of RI, Canberra. He really supported this event and stated that the Embassy of RI will give the on-going support for the Indonesian teachers in Australia.
Acara kemudian dilanjutkan dengan sesi pertama ‘Intercultural Language Learning’, oleh Ibu Melissa Gould-Drakeley. Bu Melissa menjelaskan bahwa untuk dapat menjadi intercultural, seseorang harus melakukan intracultural terlebih dahulu. Intracultural yaitu memahami budayanya sendiri. Begitu menariknya sesi tersebut, Pak Anwar memutuskan untuk mengikuti konferensi sepanjang hari itu dan keesokan harinya.
Cultural Baggage in a word is very interesting to discuss. Ibu Ida Harsojo needed quite a long time in her session “Belajar Budaya Lewat Kata” only to talk about one word arisan. This word is so dense in Indonesian cultural aspect that it does not exist in English. Arisan can be categorised as event, verb, noun, or even an adjective.
Sesi menarik lainnya dipresentasikan oleh Ibu Nicola Barkley dari Canberra tentang ‘Berjalan dengan ringan di SD St Francis os Assisi’. Bu Nicola bercerita bagaimana siswa belajar bahasa dan menjaga lingkungan secara bersamaan dan menggunakan Bahasa Indonesia seperti ‘Jagalah Kebersihan’ di sekolahnya. Sementara itu, Bu Ayu dari IALF, Denpasar mempresentasikan program club Bahasa Inggris dan program radio ‘Kang Guru’ (Brother Teacher). Menurut Bu Ayu, club di sekolah-sekolah berusaha untuk menghubungkan antara siswa di Indonesia dan Australia melalui surat. Jadi, siswa di Australia bisa mengirimkan surat langsung ke siswa di Indonesia dan bertanya tentang budaya dan topik menarik antara Indonesia dan Australia.
In the Conference, delegates also did some fantastic workshops. Workshop Cartooning with Pak Bundhowi was brilliant. He taught the delegates how to draw cartoon. To start with, some delegates were very reluctant and they did not feel confident at all. They thought they could not draw. But with his magical techniques, Pak Bundhowi made them practise and draw cartoons very easily while counting one, two, one two, three four... Abrakadabra, the cartoon pictures appeared beautifully on their paper. It was very useful to teach Indonesian in the classroom.
Seperti tema ‘Intercultural Immersion’, workshop lain yang menarik adalah Tari Kecak, kite making, memasak (membuat kue kelepon dan sate Bali yang enak), membuat sesaji, dan ketupat. Mungkin tidak banyak yang tahu kalau setelah menonton Tari Kecak di Puri Ubud, Pak Jes dari sekolah IPEKA Jakarta menari kecak versi Pak Jes di depan penari kecak yang disambut tepuk tangan dan tawa para penari. Sehari sebelumnya Pak Jes ikut latihan Tari Kecak di Tampaksiring.
Not only talking about culture, Bu Lee from Macksville HS shared her experiences and ideas in ‘Fun ways to motivate students in the calssroom’ on how to make teaching and learning Indonesian attractive in class. Moreover, while visiting IALF Denpasar, the delegates got a lot of ideas to teach Indonesian through games and other fun ways.
Apart from excellent program, the delegates immersed in rich cultural experiences, such as watching Ladies’ Kecak Dance, Barong Dance and Wayang Kulit Performance. We were so lucky that we had the golden opportunity to attend the biggest event in Bali since 1979, Pelebon ( Upacara Ngaben) or royal cremation ceremony of the King of Ubud (Tjokorda Gede Agung Suyasa) and Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa. Both were public figure. According to www.kompas.co.id, this Upacara Ngaben was hosted by 68 banjar and attended by more than 300.000 people. On that occasion, some delegates looked beautiful like the princesses of Bali. Bu Tini helped sewing tailor made Kebayas for most of us.
In welcome dinner on Friday night, the delegates were just introducing themselves, however, in farewell dinner the delegates were reluctant to depart. Apart from gaining knowledge and skills, delegates brought home beautiful memories of Pulau Dewata and new friends and colleagues from Indonesia and Australia.
