Warragul & Drouin gazette, October 13, 2015

In the final two days of term three and during the first week of the holidays, 12 Warragul Regional College Indonesian students and the two Indonesian teachers took part in a cultural tour of the Indonesian island of Bali.

The students were encouraged to speak Indonesian as much as possible and their confidence in communicating with Indonesian people grew over the time we were there.

As well as developing their language skills, students’ understanding and appreciation of the Balinese culture also increased.

This was partly because they joined in activities such as playing gamelan (traditional Indonesian orchestra), making batik (textiles decorated with wax and dye), a walk through the rice fields, cooking (and eating) an Indonesian meal, and learning the very elegant ‘Welcome Dance’.

However, students also developed their intercultural knowledge and understanding by bargaining at the markets, meeting school children at a village school and chatting with the locals.

All the students conducted themselves in an excellent manner for the entire trip. Both the teachers (as well as our tour guide and hotel staff) were constantly impressed by their polite behaviour.