HYSS-Student Exchange Program
4:51 AMYah, memang, sudah lewat sekitar 3 minggu. tapi gak ada salahnya kan kalau gw masih niat ngepost journal gw sehabis dari singapur kemarin? So, just check it out :)
The Journal of the Journey to Singapore
For the second time, SMA Negeri 1 Bogor (SMANSA) sent its students to join the sister school program with Hua Yi Secondary School (HYSS), Singapore. Twenty students and four teachers were participated in this 6-day trip to Singapore. In this journal, I would like to share what I have learned there in Singapore so others may know and apply the positive things I got after joining the program.
First Day – Monday, Jan 17th, 2011
We gathered at SMANSA’s meeting room to start this students’ exchange program. It was 5 am in the morning when the principal of SMA Negeri 1 Bogor, Mr. Drs. H. Agus Suherman, M.Pd and the representative of the Head of Education Department Office gave some short speech. After we took photo together, we went directly to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by bus and arrived at around 7.20 am.
We landed on Changi International Airport at 11.30 am then had immigration check and baggage claiming. Once we went out of the airport, some students of HYSS waved their hand to us. Mr. Shaheful, Ms. Leyana, and also the students were picking us up to a hostel, River Valley High School Hostel, which was located in the Jurong area. We had lunch in the hostel then we went together to Jurong Point, the nearest shopping center to the hostel. We went shopping around there and found a lot of things to buy. I found my first day in Singapore fabulous.
Second Day – Tuesday, Jan 18th, 2011
It was our first day to go to HYSS. We were quite nervous about that. The bus picked us up at 6.30. It was still dark in the morning, but from the bus we could see a lot of people were walking, had started their day. My first impression of HYSS was that the school was amazing. It has big area and the school building was so big too. The bell rang at 7.30 and all the students including us went to the school hall on the 2nd floor. That is where the morning assembly held every day. In the morning assembly, they sang the national anthem of Singapore and also declared the pledge of Singapore citizens. They also had some announcements to be told to the students. After that, we went to the school’s canteen that had 8 stalls. The stalls were divided into halal and non-halal stalls, because HYSS also had Muslim students who could only buy food from the halal ones.
Then we had our first classroom experience. We went to different classes and I came into class Sec 4E3 where we were studying Physics and Mathematics. We had recess time to buy some snacks at 10 am and during the recess time some of my new friends in class accompanied us to look around the school. After the break, we went to computer room where digital art lesson was conducted. We were learning Adobe Flash Animator and making our own animation.
Right after having lunch, we had a trip to Marina Barrage, Merlion, and China Town accompanied by the students from Student Council and several teachers from HYSS. Marina Barrage is a water reservoir that can help preventing flood and supplying the water needed by the Singaporeans, while the Merlion is famous for the icon of Singapore. In China Town, we could see a great Chinese Temple and a lot of Chinese stuffs. We could find a lot of souvenirs to buy and the price was quite cheap. We spent our money there then went back to our hostel.
Third Day – Wednesday, Jan 19th, 2011
On our third day in Singapore, we had the same daily routines in the morning. But on that day, we were all wearing Batik because we would be performing Indonesian traditional art in front of the Hua Yians (That is how the students of HYSS are usually called). After the morning assembly, we started the performance by Indonesian traditional dances. Those were Jaipong Dance, Gending Sriwijaya Dance, and Cendrawasih Dance performed by Nadia, Febina, and Ni Wayan respectively. We also performed Kecapi-Suling with Sinden and an Indonesian traditional song from North Sumatra, Alusiau. The Hua Yians really appreciated what we showed them.
We also had our classroom experience on the day. Sec 4E3 would have Physical Education when I and some of my friends came to the class. We decided to change our clothes so that we could join the other students. We were all playing Frisbee in the lesson and we did have fun. After the break, we went to Chemistry Laboratory to do the application of polymerization, making a paper weight. We were really interested in decorating the paper weight by ourselves. We finished it before recess time so we went back to our class. Mr. Shaheful was teaching Mathematics when we arrived at the class.
When the school ended, we all changed our clothes into Hua Yi’s T-shirt to go to Singapore Zoo. It was one of the 3 Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) parks. There were a lot of interesting animals in the zoo such as white tigers and baboons but we were really tired of walking around there. I suggest that people take tram to go around the zoo. We went back to the hostel after having fun there.
Fourth Day – Tuesday, Jan 20th, 2011
We started the day by doing our daily routines like having breakfast and attending the morning assembly. When the morning assembly ended, we were told that the Sec-4 students would have weekly examination on the day so that all of us would go to see how the swimming lesson was conducted for the Sec-3 students. The swimming pool was located in the stadium of Gombak United, a football club in Singapore. We came back to school at 10 am then we prepared for our next activity, flying fox. HYSS has the facilities to do flying fox, wall climbing and other challenging outdoor activities at school. We really enjoyed the flying fox, although some of us were just watching while the others doing it.On our fourth day in Singapore, we had a trip to Singapore Science Center. The place was divided into some halls where each hall showed different part of science. It had fire hall, sound hall, laser hall, biology hall, innovation hall, mathematics hall, and many more. This science center was so sophisticated and entertaining. We learned a lot there. However, we were also having fun.
After that, we went to E18hteenchefs restaurant which was located in Fusionopolis to have dinner. In Singapore, 18 could represent gangsters. The founder of the restaurant, Benny Se Teo, named it like that because he was a drug user in the past. He started his new life by opening the restaurant. We learned a lot from him, from life experience to the steps in making a brownie. Then we ate our dinner which was a plate of pasta and had a chat with some students from HYSS. We taught each other about the culture and language of both countries, Indonesia and Singapore. We really enjoyed what we experienced today.
Fifth Day – Friday, Jan 21st, 2011
We were really excited on that day because we would go to Sentosa Island in the afternoon. Our first class in the morning was Design and Technology or usually called as DnT. During the class, we were designing and making our own plastic glasses. It took quite long for us to make ones since we had never tried the equipments before.
The DnT class ended at 11 am then we had lunch and went to Vivo City. Vivo City is the biggest shopping center in Singapore which was built about 5 years ago. The male students and teachers went to a mosque near the shopping center to pray, while the female students and teachers were going shopping around there.
As soon as the boys came, we all together took an MRT to Sentosa, a popular island resort in Singapore. Sentosa Island had Singapore’s most beautiful. Those were Palawan, Siloso, and Tanjong. That was why we directly went to Siloso beach and played there. All the boys got their clothes wet because they pushed each other into the water. It was really fun playing on the beach. I went to the biggest Merlion in Singapore to buy some souvenirs with some other girls.
At 5 am we gathered at the beach to have dinner. But finally we decided that only some of us who bought the food and the rest waited at the beach. When I and some of other students bought the food in KFC, the others went to Universal Studio to take some pictures. We finished eating our dinner at 7.20 because we would watch the Songs of the Sea at 7.40. This show was one of the most famous attractions in Singapore. It was a theatrical show using flame burst, water jets, and colorful lasers. The show took only about 25 minutes but it really amazed us. Soon after the show finished, we went to the bus and got back to the hostel. It was surely one of the best days in my life.
Sixth Day – Saturday, Jan 22th, 2011
It was our last day in Singapore. In the morning we had been ready with our luggage since we would go directly from our last destination to the airport. On the day, HYSS was having Sport Extravaganza, an event to celebrate the school’s 55th anniversary. The event was held in Japanese Garden where all the students had to run along the track there. The alumni and teachers of HYSS also came to this event. All of students from SMANSA also joined this activity.
We felt so sad because we would go back to Indonesia so soon. Only a few students from HYSS accompanied us to Changi International Airport. After we took care of our luggage then we went into the gate. Some of the students from Hua Yi and SMANSA even cried because it was the last time we met. This journey to Singapore was really a great memory to remember for me. We made friends with a lot of people. We did also learn a lot of things from them and from the moments we experienced.
What we have learned in Singapore
As we all know, Singapore is one of the developed countries. It is proven by the advancement of education and technology in this country. Furthermore, Singapore has a very good city arrangement, clean area, and sophisticated buildings. This success does not suddenly come, but with great efforts the Singaporeans have made. One thing that Indonesia has not have is that discipline. We must have heard that Singapore is a fine city. People will get fined if they do not obey the rules. For example, SGD 1000 will be charged to those who do littering or flower-picking. The citizens consider these rules as the parts of their lives.
Discipline is always also implemented at school. There are only a few students who come late and they always try to come on time to class. The other thing that also helps Singapore to develop itself is that the spirit of learning of the youth. From those things I got in Singapore, I determined to apply them in my daily life.
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ayo komen disini :)