G6 2025 Daily Summaries

Day 5- Coming Home!!

The groups are all en route home to you. See you soon!

Day 4: April 24th- Last Night!

It is just past 8 p.m. in Yogyakarta, and the students are in their rooms, having finished their final full day of activities on the G6 ESP trip. This evening’s report will focus on the activities at and around the Borobudur temple and the visit to the Dalem Ngabean.

Two of the bandana groups spent the day near the famous Borobudur temple. At the temple, the students were first given their official complimentary sandals and then walked towards the majestic temple, where they were met by one of the official guides, who led them up and around the steep steps to the higher levels of the temple. It was pleasing to observe the interest shown by the students and the quality of the questions they asked.

After a delicious lunch at the Borobodur Silver Resto, the students travelled to Punthuk Sentumbu, where they explored the Geraja Ayam (translated Chicken Church) and trekked up to a viewing platform where, on a clear day, you get a wonderful birds-eye view of the temple. The church contains a plethora of interesting - and in many cases, quite unique - pieces of art. The students completed a scavenger hunt at the church, where they were challenged to locate images that contained certain features. They then climbed a hill towards the platform. It was pleasing to hear that all students completed the trek. The afternoon group did a particularly good job, as they had to walk in the rain on a very slippery surface.

In the evening, half the group engaged in evening choice activities, with the other half visiting the Dalem Ngabean where they ate dinner and watched a performance. During the dinner, the students go to watch an abridged version of the Ramayana play and have their pictures taken with the performers.

The students are now in their rooms, where they are currently packing their bags in preparation for the trip home tomorrow. Travel Group A has an early start - again! The good news is it is not quite as early as on Monday. Travel Group B will engage in the activity they did not complete on Monday and head for the airport at about 10:30.

It has been a fun-filled and busy day. The students should sleep well … we hope!

White- Ayu Group

White- Johnson Group

White- Berry Group

Brown- Spicer Group

Brown- Jacobsen Group

Red- Van Lierde Group

Red- Schneer Group

Red- Nadya Group

Yellow- Fox Group

Yellow- Setiawan Group

Green- Bobisse Group

Green- Moon Group

Green- Ariane Group

Black- Davis Group

Black- Barrette Group

Black- Beder Group

VID-20250423-WA0199.mp4

Day 3: April 23rd

Our 6th-grade students have just spent some time enjoying their free-choice activities—swimming, drawing, board games, reading, and table tennis—as well as watching the last half of The Lego Movie and some Mr Bean. They are now settling down to go to sleep—hopefully, fatigue is setting in now, and they will fall asleep quickly! The rest of this evening’s report will focus on the City Center day.

Two of our bandana groups visited the Winotosastro Batik Factory in the center of Yogyakarta and also spent half the day at a resort of sorts that contains a human-made lake. We used this space for the Rafting Challenge. The students began the day at the hotel learning about the Javanese Alphabet and creating a design for use at the batik factory later that day. They then left for the Rafting Challenge or the batik factory. At the batik factory, the students learned about the design and production of batik. During the workshop, the students were guided through the process of creating their own batik - from sketching designs, choosing patterns, utilizing stamping and painting techniques, and learning about the process of making dyes. Some of our grade 6 students showed amazing talent. Your children will have some fabulous samples of their work to bring home to you on Friday!

The visitors to the workshop spent the other half of the day at a local resort that houses a small lake. At the lake, small groups were presented with a variety of materials and challenged to design and build their own raft. The small groups then raced their rafts around the lake. It was pleasing to hear that all of the groups managed to construct a raft that floated and got the groups around the lake, although some went a little faster than others! The groups were very successful raft designers and constructors, and had a great time.

In tomorrow's report, I will write more extensively about the activities at and around the Borobudur temple and the performance the students watched at the nDalem Ngabean.

Green- Ariane Group

Green- Bobisse Group

Green- Moon Group

Brown- Jacobsen Group

Black- Beder Group

Red- Van Lierde Group

Red- Schneer Group

Red- Nadya Group

White- Berry Group

White- Johnson Group

White- Ayu Group

Yellow- Fox Group

Yellow- Setiawan Group

Black- Barrette Group

Yellow- Davis Group

Brown- Spicer Group

Day 2: April 22nd

After such a long day on Monday, most of the students slept well last night. After a substantial breakfast, the bandana groups set off to different locations. Our students participated in activities as varied as exploring temples, experiencing Javanese culture, visiting rice and permaculture farms, hiking near the Borobudur temple, and designing and building a raft that was then sailed around a lake. Today, we will focus on the activities at the two farms. We will write more lengthily about the other activities in the next two reports.

Six chaperone groups visited the two farms today. One of the farms we visited has hosted JIS students regularly and successfully in the past - this was the rice plantation. At this farm, the students were shown the process of rice farming. They completed four specific tasks that included ploughing the field using a water buffalo and wading into the muddy rice paddy to plant rice. It was pleasing to see that all students were willing to get into the mud and experience the life of a rice farmer - if just for one day. A highlight for many students was actually getting cleaned up. The owners of the farm have dug a well from which they were able to pump water at such a rate that it could be used to put out a fire. This was used to blast the mud off the students. Who knew getting washed up could be so much fun?

The second farm visited by the students was a permaculture farm called the Bumi Langit Institute. It is a working farm that also serves to educate students and the local community about the relationship between humans and their environment, and how farming can be achieved in a manner that is sustainable. The students were again divided into small groups and took a tour of the farm, seeing multiple types of berries, vegetables, ducks, geese and a cute baby goat. They were then put to work making compost and helping prepare the land for future tree planting.

On their return to the hotel, half of the students were able to participate in a range of free-choice activities after dinner. These ranged from more active activities like swimming, football, and table tennis to more relaxing pursuits like the movie room, drawing, reading, and board games. The remaining half of the grade level dined off-site and watched a cultural performance. I will share more about this next time. As I write this, the students are settling down for the night in their rooms. Tomorrow, I will report in more detail about the work the students completed at and around the Borobudur temple.

Black Bandana Groups

Green Bandana Groups

Yellow Bandana Groups

White Bandana Groups

Red Bandana Groups

Brown Bandana Groups

Day1: April 21st

The students have just completed a long and busy day - with a very early start for the first travel group. Well done to the students (and parents) who were able to get to the departure zones on time. We know it was not easy! Our chaperones - and Odyssey International facilitators - have been delighted with the enthusiastic way our 6th graders participated in the opening activities at the hotel. Some of these activities were designed for fun and to burn off some of that energy. This included a drumming workshop that was super engaging - and extremely loud! Another activity was designed to help the students set some goals for the week - the product was a flag created by each chaperone group that will brought back to school. A final activity focused on team building and problem-solving, and involved students from Travel Group A being challenged to work in teams to create a catapult. Some of the teams were very successful and were able to shoot their projectile clear across a car park. The students from Travel Group B will complete that activity on Friday.

Of course, the one question we were asked the most when students arrived at the hotel was not really about activities. Rather, it was something along the lines of - “What room am I in?” or “When will we find out our roommates?” At the end of the day, room assignments were revealed, and the students are now enjoying their rooms and washing up for the day. By the evening, the students were understandably showing signs of fatigue, so we hope they will quickly fall asleep! Tomorrow, the students will be taking part in day-long activities at either the farms, the city center, where they will do rafting and take part in a Batik workshop, or they will be travelling to the Borobudur temple, where they will explore the temple and a nearby church and complete a short hike. We will send more information about those visits tomorrow evening.