10 Tahun Jogja~Gyeongsangbukdo

Pictures I took during the cultural gala show...

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of Sister Province between...

...of Jogjakarta Special Province and Gyeongsangbukdo.

Venue: PKKH UGM..cultural center, Gadjah Mada University 

 A one night to remember...

Selesai Kelas dan Menjamu tamu

Alhamdulilah...kelar jg kls 2 bln. Dari kiri..pak.lee. me. P.kim. pak ryu. bu lee dan bu Seo.

potlucks di kelas pas kls terakhir.

ada jaws. Kue pisang...resoles...dll.

then.....I also got to attend....a diner to welcome a delegation from Indonesia.

ada mkn mlm...yg dimulai jam 5 ㅋㅋ utk menyambut tamu dari Univ. Cokroaminoto Palopo di Sulawesi.

although it's blurred. ...at least it showed how warm the atmosphere was..during our dinner at a restaurant near HUFS. 

..as for me...

a hectic day.

Meeting A Friend from A far^-^

 A far? well not so far. I haven't seen Viska for ages...well in person. Of course Facebook, Wattsup, Kakaotalk have been the tools we've been using to exchange information across the ocean. Viska's been helping me and my department with everything related to Korea, for she was working at KCC (Korea Cultural Center) in Jakarta. 

So, upon hearing the news that she's coming to Korea this week, I got to make sure that she got a note and we met. So, we did.

At a newly-opened cafe in our campus, we met and had tons of gossips spilled over. Hahaha.

Well, of course.

The thing was that she came to Korea, apart for her usual business trip, it had something to do with her ambition of bringing more students to Korea via her 'role' now. 

Instead of lunch, we had a brunch: small pizza, and pastries and of course what went well with those.

See you again, Vis.

Thank for helping me and our students for the past decade.

Nice meeting you in Seoul.

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.

Another visit from students...

Wita and Winda and Melliza. The first two are exchange students at Gangneung-Wonju National University. The last one is an exchange student at Kyunghee University. All of them has been in Korea for almost a year for 2-semester program as exchange students. Prior to going back to Indonesia, they had a chance to visit me and we had lunch together. 

As usual, it's been a great pleasure to have many more students visiting Korea to have first-hand experience in getting to know more about Korea.

(Hope to see you again back in Korea or in Indonesia).

Thanks for visiting and meeting me and my family. 

Attending PAS Meeting @ Cheonan

I visited Cheonan which just located around 85 km south of Seoul. And the picture above is KTX speed train station. Nope, I was taking taking the train to KTX. I was picking up one of our colleagues who were supposed to be in Cheonan, too. But, instead of going with us by car, she took the train. So, we got to pick her up at the station.

I was in Cheonan to attend the PAS (Pacific Asia Sociey) meeting. PAS was about to dispatch its student members to Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, and other Asian countries for a 3-week long program of voluntary work and cultural exchanges.

 After the meeting, held on May 26, we took a picture in front of the Youth Center where the orientation program was held.
Mr. Lee Chung Pyo, me, and Mr. Lee, Heung Hee. Both of them are two dignitaries who are in charge of PAS team activities in Indonesia for the past 6 years. This year, Mr. Lee Heung Hee will be the supervisor of the PAS team in UGM in July, 2012.

 Another picture , but this time, Mindae sonsaengnim from Mongolia--the one we met at the station--was with us to take a pic.
 * This year, PAS team will be in UGM from June 29 until July 19, 2012.

* This meeting was held to prepare the Korean students to meet the new frontier and experiences of meeting with new culture and friends in their respective countries where they are assigned to.

Seoul Nuclear Security Summit in Korea 2012

Nuclear Security is a series of preemptive measures introduced to prevent internal and/or external threats directly or indirectly related to nuclear materials, radioactive substances, relevant facilities or other associated activities. In the case of imminent threat, it consists of countermeasures to detect, delay and prevent illegal acts, as well as administrative and technical measures to minimize the damage caused by accidents. (www.the nuclearsecuritysummit.org) 

So,  the 2012 서울 핵안보정상회의 or this Summit is an important action or summit for the world.

I learn that as many as 58 leaders of states attend the summit held in Seoul.

*From the official website of the summit, I also learned that 58 head delegates (54 from participating countries and 4 from international organizations) attend the summit from March 26-27, 2012.

The summit will bring together forty five leaders, including those of the Republic of Korea, the host of the Summit, the US, China, Japan, Russia, India, Indonesia, France, the UN and the EU with 13 countries to be represented by their Deputy Prime Ministers of Foreign Ministers on behalf of their leaders.

*This is the largest ever number of leaders will visit the ROK for the Seoul Summit. The head delegates from 20 countries including the leaders of 12 countries, such as the Netherlands, Spain, Chile and Thailand, will make their first-ever visit to the country. Meanwhile, the leaders of Lithuania, Italy and three other countries will be visiting the ROK for the first time since taking office.

*Seventeen of the participating leaders will be accompanied by their spouses for whom events separate from the Summit have been arranged. Upon the completion of the formal meeting on March 27, the leaders and their spouses from 39 countries will enjoy the special dinner with cultural performances to be hosted by President and Mrs. Lee Myung-bak.

Now, it comes as a surprise to myself..as to why President Yudhoyono comes here. It is a good and great thing of course..considering the important role of Indonesia nowadays. In term of the bilateral ties between Indonesia and Korea, I could proudly say that this is the lucrative and harmonious moment of the two countries which have become closer thanks to their cultural and economic cooperation. 

*Still...Indonesia's visit and attendance to the Summit does indicate that Indonesia could have/must have something to do with this nuclear-stuffs. Be it...Indonesia's decision to build nuclear energy plants.....which I think....Korea would be more than willing to take part or be a part of it...because it will be (once again) a tremendous economic partnership. ^^ Isn't so?

As long as it would be for the best and the good purpose,....why not. I am all for it.

an Ad about the summit on subway

I took this picture on March 24, 2012 while riding a subway back home. 

Korean people should be reminded or at least be well informed about this huge-scale Summit in Korea this year. 

Nice job!

  

Dinner with PAS dignitaries

PAS (Pacific Asia Society) or 태평양아시아협회 has been regularly visiting Indonesia since 2008, notably to University of Indonesia in Jakarta and to my university back home, Gadjah Mada University.
Now that I am living and studying in Korea, it has been a great moment to meet my friends I met through PAS programs as well as the dignitaries of PAS who have regularly visited Indonesia.

I have been closely got acquainted with some dignitaries of PAS so it was my honor to fulfill their invitation for a dinner together last week in Gangnam.
I brought along all of my family to line 9 Sinnohyeong station where I had to meet them.
It was a good time that we could meet again.
They have been doing their great and best works and tasks in bridging the cultural and social ties between Indonesia and Korea.