Visiting Pusat Studi Korea, INCULS, and Korean Dept.

Pusat Studi Korea or Center for Korean Studies, yup..that's where I was working before coming to Korea.

It's been such a great time to be able to be there again although for just a short visit. It looks like home, indeed...that's why it's homey. 

Mbak Santi, one of our staffs at the office. She's been very kindly attentive to the development of our office. 

One of the sections..a small portion of the office. Look at the old TV. what a huge ONE. ㅋㅋㅋ 

Then...my visit would not have been complete had I not visited INCULS (Indonesian culture and language service) where foreign students can learn Bahasa Indonesia. Ok...I went there to meet Dr. Supriyadi, the director of INCULS. He's been very kind and attentive as well to the development and the well-being of our Center. I brought him some oleh-oleh, gifts from Korea..as a token of my gratitude....

Good to know that he's healthy.  

Now..back to the Center. I met with Loeloe, my fellow researcher at the Center since 1996 when we're still undergraduate students.!!! 

We're wearing the KENDURI t-shirts. I brought it along from Korea. KENDURI t-shirt was the official t-shirt of ICC's anniversary. * ICC: Indonesian Community in Corea. 

More picture. 

and..dada...back to INCULS, I bumped into my junior back then at English Dept. She's Nana..who's now a teacher  of bahasa Indonesia at INCULS.

* okay..see you in Korea this Autumn/ around October. Right, Nana? 

okay...one ...last but not least..is my visit to Dept. of Korean Language, Faculty of Humanities, Gadjah Mada University. 

I met with Tri Mastoyo 교수님 and Rio 선생님. and oh..Prof. Yang Seung Yoon, one of the visiting professors at the department.  

okay..all in all....my short-visit to Jogja was full of meetings with lots of people....

to talk about stuffs and stuffs..and stuffs...that has been stuffing my head prior coming to Jogja.

what are those? of course, they're secrets^^

.......

One Full Night & Day Activities in Jogjakarta

A very late post about what I did in November 2014 when I had a chance to visit Jogjakarta.

First, we had a welcoming dinner for the delegation from Korea, all seminar presenters and delegation from Gyeongsangbuk Province. 

It was indeed a great dinner...for me, too, for sure. 

The Balairung is the venue where we had our dinner. 

Indeed, it was a great sight to behold. 

Then, we had a seminar on Korean culture. At the same time, there were parallel seminars being held at other parts of the Main Building. As for the cultural sessions, like any sections, there were panelists from Korea and Indonesia, of course. 

Me, Dr. Kim Young-Soo, Ms. Rura, Dr. Eva, Ms. Min, Ms. Hwang, and Mr. Tri Mastoyo... 

Long story shORT....we had a farewell dinner...at Bale Raos...a restaurant within the complex of Jogjakarta Sultanate. 

The outdoor facade of the restaurant. 

I wished we'd had our dinner at the outdoor section, but it's fully booked.

Instead..we got no other choices but having to go inside....oh, well..I'd rather not post the pictures.^^

Accompanying UGM Delegation to Gyeongsangbuk-Do (part 5)

After the luncheon finished, we had (again) another exchanges of token of friendship. 

Governor Kim Kwan Yong and other delegates were about to leave the room where we just had our luncheon.

Oh, I still remember that UGM Hymn was deliriously played back as the background of our lunch...which was indeed a surprising thing for us. They did prepare for this occasion well. 

I did not have the full picture of the whole delegation. Just a picture I took by myself. 

It's still early to pick up a few sentences as to what came out of the luncheon meeting except the fact that...gee..more tasks and assignments.

.......^^

Accompanying UGM Delegation to Gyeongsangbuk-Do (part 2)

The next agenda: visiting Yeungnam University.

Having a lecture or listening to the lecture. 

Having a chance to meet and greet Indonesian students @ School of Park Chung Hee Public Policy and Saemaul Undong. Yes..I just knew about it. 

It turned out that there are at least 15 Indonesian students currently pursuing their Master's here. 

And..of course, some other students who just happened to be studying there, including some alumni from UGM. 

a group photo session..to seize the moment.

Meeting One of My Former Academic Advisors Back in College

Whenever I had a chance of coming back home to Jogja, one of the must-do things is meeting my friends, colleagues, and of course my lecturers back in those days when I was still at Gadjah Mada University.

This time, I met one of my favorite teachers, Ms. Ni Gusti Ayu Roselani. Yep, judging from her name, she is a Balinese. She never fails to amaze and surprise me in so many ways. Okay, not boast, but...ms. Roselani happens to be a vivid lover of Korean dramas:-) hahaha...how cool is that, eh?

and even the Muslim wear that she's wearing (in the picture) is her own rendition of Hanbok-inspired Muslim wear. (too bad the picture does not capture the whole lower part of what hanbok may have looked liked, otherwise...one would easily say that it IS hanbok:)

Ms. Roselani, till we meet again....in Seoul, perhaps? Insyaallah.

...yes..and that's the plan.

End of Semester Dinner w/ Prof. Yang

What could be more enticing and palatable-friendly atmosphere than having a dinner together to celebrate the end-of-semester? 

Prof. Yang invited all of us, my family, Wawan's family, and (UGM) Gadjah Mada Univ's students who are currently undertaking student exchange program in Korea? 

Geum Gang San--the name of the restaurant--is our favorite place near HUFS. Well, it suits us right. I mean...I could eat lots of vegetables while others could dig into the irresistible bulgogi.  

As the final signature of our being there...once again..we flashed out our 'banner' to show other friends of us back home what we've been doing: even having a dinner like this. 

Well, of course not all of these are students, there is Seonhee, for instance, the 2nd girl from the left: she's the graduate from UGM. She speaks fluent Indonesian language that one could mistake her for a native Indonesian speaker--unless they'd known her previously. 

Another long shot of our group. 

Prof. Yang is an distinguished expert on Indonesian affairs. He puts lot of interests in securing and maintaining up the ties between Indonesia and Korea.

And even though, the students are taking their program at Kyunghee Univ (not HUFS), it does not hinder him from always making contact with our students. 

What a great and fulfilling 'night' it was, indeed.

May all the good things be with us. Amen. 

An Interview with Prof. Pratikno

It would be unwise of me not to post this entry:) I mean...we prepared all the troubles of going downtown just to be in the forum, more than that...we squeezed our time just to meet Prof. Pratikno (rector of my almamater, Gadjah Mada University) who happened to be one of the presenters at ASEAN Forum held by KISEAS (Korean Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) 

Actually it was supposed to be the task of Mr. Manna who usually do the interviewing with the notable figures who come to Korea for any specific purposes be it on academic, social, economic, political, or any agenda in mind.^^

So, being in his shoes was like having to cramp my mind as what to do and think of as I got to come up with questions after questions so as not to look 'dumb' vis a vis a prominent figure like Prof. Praktikno.

Oh, one more thing, it turned out that Seoul (Korea) is not an unfamiliar city (country) after all. It's his fifth visit!!!

Welcome back, Prof. Pratikno.

What? I CANNOT use my Facebook UNLESS.....^^

During my stopover at Changi Airport, I felt the urge to keep myself updated or at least tell my wife how the trip was. It was such a relief to find so many available free internet PC almost everywhere within the airport. This is something that I need to salute the Changi management for doing so. ^^

BUt...But ..But...a very very funny thing occurred.. 

I was just about to open my Facebook account when FB kind of questioned or wondered or suspected or put a suspicion on me. I mean...I used to open my FB account in Korea and when I was about to open it via some computers in Changi...the fb account asked me this 'silly' yet 'rather-hard' quizzzzzzzz..... 

I got to be able to match and identify the pictures of my friends randomly selected by Facebook. I forgot how many..but I guess...I got to make 6 correct guesses out of 10 being bombarded onto the screen.

Some of the pictures that showed up: Of course, I know who she is: She's been one of my confidantes back then in Jogja..."Giartina" or Nana, how I affectionately call her.

Thanks, Nana..for showing up on the screen. 

Then....a good-to-be-true quiz...well..well..well..of course I know who she is, well, the funny part was that...the FB Account showed me with lots of faces on one picture so I got to make sure that the names listed below the pictures DO match or correspond to any FACE available.

That's the challenge.

Surely..I know...who she is... 

Min Seonhee...my neighbor and my teammate in HUFS. There is Eunbee, too. But, since Eunbee's name was not on the list, I assumed that it must be Seonhee that Facebook wanted me to acknowledge.

and I did. 

Then...mr. Fahmi Arif Tsani...my colleague back home at Gadjah Mada University. Of course I know who he is...after all he is also in Korea, studying. 

So, well done Facebook...for giving me such an interesting quiz just to make sure that it WAS 'I" who was about to open and use MY OWN account in Singapore from some nowhere computer at Changi Airport.

Back home (part 1)

Just got two hours in between my chores back home..to visit my alma mater. I guess it was on Tuesday (March 26) when I visited Korean Dept. I met my colleagues: Sani, Hesty, Fitri, Lee Jin Hwa, me, and Wahid. 

What could be more exciting than meeting my fellow colleagues back home? 

The office looks different from the last time I left Jogja about one and a half year ago. 

With mas Zam-Zam and mas Nardi. They are the dean's secretary. Well, some say that Zamcha and I are twins--simply seen from our clean-shaven heads 

Back to the office with Lee Jin Hwa ssnm. Just never thought that she ended up staying and teaching in Jogjakarta more than two years. 

What a dedication she has.