Week 1: 

On our first day right after arriving at the airport, we were immediately greeted by Bu Wenda and her colleague who were there to fetch us. They took us to have lunch in which I finally get to try local indonesian food. It amazed me as there were so many varieties of sambal and the food was so flavorful due to the different mix of spices. After that they brought us to Pajang Dorm where we will be staying for the rest of our days. We also got to meet Guia, another exchange student from UST which later that night she took us for a stroll around the area and eventually had dinner at Solo square. 

The next day was our orientation. Lorraine cooked some breakfast for us, later on our buddies Lei and Reza came to fetch us and bring us to UNS where we met the deans and heads from the faculty of Education. We proceeded to have lunch at one of the canteens in the campus. That afternoon, Guia invited us to try out some cafes in Solo - Nanairo and Surakartea

On Day 3, we had nothing planned so I went to have lunch with Raymon, Gelo and Lorraine in a nearby local stall. Which after we went around Solo to explore and visit museums.That night we went to Wizzmie to have dinner as it was also a farewell dinner to the UST students as they'll be returning to Philippines in a few days. During the dinner, we also got to meet the other buddies and other inbounds, exchange students from different areas in the Philippines and from Thailand.

On Day 4, we went to the market to buy some Batik and in the afternoon we visited Rumah Budaya Kratonan to learn about the history of Indonesia.

On Day 5, I went out with one of the buddies - mas ilham to explore more around solo, we went to UNS campus and tried super spicy sambal together at his favorite place., he also took me to buy some local snacks such as serabi , ayam geprek.

Day 6 was our first day of going to our appointed schools. My school was SMP 2 Negeri Surakarta. I didn't do much teaching on the first day but I went around to different classrooms and talked with the students to get to know them as also a means of practicing english speaking with them. I also got to meet Bu yuyun and Pak Yoko who were very welcoming, they'd also bring me all kinds of snacks to try every recess. At night, Mas ilham took me for a joy ride around to see the city lights.

Day 7, on this day I got to explore around SMP2 and meet more students from other classes. One of my biggest impressions was how kind and passionate the other teachers were, they would invite me to their class so that their students can also have a chance to converse with an English speaker. I find that really admirable as I can see how dedicated the teachers are and how much they really want the students to learn and improve. I also had a meeting with my cooperating teacher Bu Yuyun in which we started talking about lesson plans and topics that I could teach. Nonetheless it was a tiring but fulfilling day, I got to learn many indonesian words too thanks to my students. P.S I went to at least 5 different classes, but it was fun indeed.

Week 2

On day 8, Nov 13, I had the same routine as the previous days. I went to school with mas Ilham, and we went to 2 classes of pak Yoko's and Bu Yuyun's to get to know more of the local area and bond with the students. I also helped them in their class activities in which I was asked to judge and give scores to the students' presentation. During recess as I usually stay at the school library, some students will visit me there and talk to me. I like that they are eager and enthusiastic to talk to a foreigner using a foreign language. It takes a lot of courage to do that and I really appreciate their effort.

The next day, I don't quite remember what I did but the only activities I remembered was going out with mas Ilham to eat fried chicken, it surprised me how most of the fast food was also spicy in comparison to the KFC in the Philippines. Another activity I remembered was that Bu Yuyun and Pak Yoko took us to try some local delicacies such as soto and some skewers.

On day 10 - November 15, Bu Dewi took me and Lorraine for a stroll then she took us to eat at one of her usual go-to places. I don't quite remember the name, but it was like a buffet where we can just choose from a big variety of dishes, lastly I also got to meet her son and we had a quite a lot in common-we both play badminton and have similar hobbies.

Day 11 was Saturday, so it was holiday. We were going to the beach. We woke up quite early as the beach was quite far. We took a big bus and along the way we sang karaoke. And of course, we got to swim once we arrived at the beach, tried all kinds of food along the way. One of my favourites was the mie ayam bakso and the pukis. We also went to a lot of places in which we tried a haunted house and the other inbounds were all screaming during it. It was a great as we got to bond and get to know everyone better.

Day 12 was rest day, nothing happened specifically. The only memorable thing was that Pak Yoko called me and brought me some food that he cooked. It was chicken with spicy coconut sauce, it was super enak and it reminded me of  dish we have in the Philippines called ginataang manok.

Day 13 and 14 were practically the same, I started teaching in SMP2 and practicing for my final-demo soon. Bu Yuyun also introduced me to some of the teacher sand students that were also catholic and they'd invite me to pray with them and go to visit a nearby church.

Week 3

On November 20, I tried booking my gojek and I wore my barong to school since there was an event. During the event Bu Yuyun asked me to sing a few songs, so i decided to sing "My way" and "Fly me to moon" as the students and staff were more familiar with it. I didn't expect them to give me a big applause since my singing was mediocre but I still had fun. After class we got to meet our new dorm mates from UNP - Kestner and Angel. During the night we went to have farewell dinner the NEUST and Thailand inbounds as they'll be leaving the next day. 

The next 2 days were like back to school routine, as we continue our lessons in class. I also tried some snacks in the school canteen like some intestine rice which was better than what i expected. While on November 22, Kestner and Angel decided to invite the buddies over to pajang for dinner and so lorraine and me helped them out a bit in the kitchen.

Day 18 was holiday, Lorraine didn't join us on our outing so I only went with the UNP peeps to Jogjakarta, we saw some old palaces and museums where we got a close up look at some ancient artifacts. I also got interested with Java Luwak coffee so i decide to buy some as souvenir for my parents.

Day 19 started with Bu Dewi giving me red bean porridge for breakfast. It was sweet and creamy and tasted similar to our own food that we call "Champorado" we went to make our own batik. It was novel to me, but as an artistic person I was quite competitive and wanted to make my batik look the best. It turned out to be much more difficult than I expected, but I was satisfied with the outcome at least I tried my best. For dinner, we went to Solo Square with Bu Dewi and she treated us.

The next 2 days, Day 20 and 21 were quite and I mostly focused on preparing for my lesson plan. So I only have documentations of me in school which i'll show below. One of the days was also teachers, so the students gave me some notes and flowers to show their appreciation. If i remember correctly I also finished my final demo during these 2 days. I was extremely nervous, all my senses were heightened but I believe I did my best and my cooperating teacher complimented my teaching method which made me feel relieved. I really hoped I got a good score.

On November 27, we decided to make dinner as our farewell dinner as me and Lorraine will be leaving in 2 days. It was a day of mixed emotions, sadness, relief, joy and everything. I felt calm though, because I know parting ways doesn't mean farewell forever. People will still have a chance to meet again in the future. 

On my last 2 days in Surakarta, I spend most of my times finishing up requirements I have for my school, packing up and preparing for departure. And before I left for Philippines and decided to visit SMP2 once to bid my goodbye to my teacehers and students.