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Today we are playing gamelan for the teachers who are engaged in Asian Studies and all of
this food is for the lunch.
Food is very important in Indonesian culture because the notion of festivity is, more or
less, around the meal.
The fact that Australia has cultural centres, or pendopo, it's just so ...
The people who live in Australia, they will still have some connection with their
cultural identity.
I think that's great.
I was born in a small town called Wonosari, Yogyakarta Special Province.
It is in Java Island.
When I was younger, there are three things I was so obsessed.
The first one is associate, communicate with the intellectuals.
The second to continue my education and the third, I would like to go overseas.
At that time I didn't have any possibility to migrate at all.
One day, I was teaching Anton Javanese.
He asked me, why didn't you teach in Australia?
Just apply for a job in a university, in Adelaide.
I will make reference for you and since then, we are good friends.
When I came to Adelaide for the first time, it took me probably six months to understand
the context in which language is spoken.
For example, I was waiting for a friend of mine and there was a sign, 'No Standing',
therefore, I walked back and forth along the pavement and my friend of mine just burst
into laughter.
So, that's how I picked up the language.
Currently I am teaching in two places.
I am teaching Indonesian One in WA - adult learning - and the other one is in Rostrevor
College.
The approach I always maintain is that, fair to the students and engage with the students
is also important.
The difference between teaching in Indonesia and Australia is that some of the students
just take education for granted.
While back in my home town, every kid struggled to get into the education system.
That's what made me sometimes feel uneasy.
But, the people in Adelaide are so laidback.
They greet more warmly than people from different cities in Australia.
The town itself, it is not too crowded, there are heaps of wineries and vineyards and
that's beautiful: look at the landscape especially when it is Spring!
Yep, I love Adelaide.
My daughters graduated from universities in Adelaide and now they are working interstate.
It is not easy for me to pinpoint their Indonesian-ness or their Australian-ness.
So I would call them kind of hybrids, that's the joke.
Gamelan is a traditional Javanese music.
How well we play is dependent on our listening skills.
When you play gamelan, you have to go beyond that music in front of you.
I feel at home in Australia, in the sense that we come from a different cultural
background and yet, what we bring with us is shared and actually appreciated and given a
chance.
If there is anything I miss when I'm living in Australia it is a kind of relationship
between siblings and relatives.
But, I've tried to, kind of, avoid regret.
It won't make you happy because we'll be haunted by your past.
So, happy is a kind of balance, how you look at things.
My philosophy is when you sleep on the floor, you'll never fall down.
And, my goal is to take every day as it comes.