My main site for Indonesia and Asia wide related posts is at Ngapuhi In Asia - this page here was only active in the lead-up and a little into the trip itself.
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I'm just back from Indonesia and what a trip it was - so much to show and tell! Here's the first of what will be several Vlog posts. See the Youtube playlist here: The other day I was working on a medley of songs that will reflect a mix of NZ, Maori and Indonesian cultures, languages and values. These songs not only mix the 3 languages but also values; belief in god, unity and admiration of tupuna (ancestors) and the natural world (in this case the river in 'Bengawan Solo'). Today Sean O'Connor and Ella, a fellow teacher came up to school and we met to discuss the trip and get an idea of the plan and pre/post stuff - a general overview. Was great to put faces to names and emails!
Having fun with and learning, some Indonesian music and language! The local newspaper came and interviewed me last week about the October trip. It made the front page!
Today I did a 10 minute presentation about past and future travel in Asia to the seniors at our school (Year 11-13) I'm a bit of a language nut - that's not to say I'm very good at learning or speaking them, but I am very interested in all languages and love learning new words, phrases and expressions. My first language is English and my second is Maori and one I've noticed from the small amount of Bahasa Indonesia I've learned and heard, it's actually a lot more 'Polynesian' sounding than say Mandarin or Vietnamese, or even Thai. I'm guessing that it's geographical location puts it in closer cultural and linguistic proximity with Polynesia. The general sounds, consonants and vowels all seem quite familiar to me at this stage - not that it makes it easy but at least phonetically it's not as daunting and it's a huge help that they write with the same alphabet as us! I've been selected as part of the Asia NZ group of teachers to visit Indonesia in October to learn about the country, schools and to create relationships between teachers and students! I'm stoked to get the opportunity for further travelling sharing and learning in South-East Asia and being so soon after my recent travels in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, I'm able to continue the momentum that's already there.
I've setup this blog page specifically for the trip, including pre, during and post activities. Watch this space! |
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