ID :
17423
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 09:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/17423
The shortlink copeid
Feature: INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD - FROM INDONESIA TO AMERICA
By Chaerini
Jakarta, Aug 29 (ANTARA) - Back in 2007, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta offered us a chance to manage a grant from the American government for an activity called 'English Instructional Program by TV/Radio'.
We perceived the offer as an opportunity, an opportunity to do something good not only for Indonesians but also for the mutual relationship between the two countries.
The theme used for the grant inspired us to make an English program which will not only increase people's ability in English, but also inspire people's awareness of the importance of English in general.
English is the language we need to learn and master. Why? Because we are now entering the era of globalization, the era where we have to interact directly with other people all over the world, to cooperate, to make use of opportunities, to overcome problems, and even to win the competition.
And one of the best devices to make these things happen is English, because English is the most d international language all over the world.
In order to realize this concept, we made an English program for TV which is not only educational but also entertaining for viewers.
We produced a program called INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD which is aimed for Public Senior High School Students in Indonesia who are SMART, CONFIDENT, and FUNtastic in English.
On November 2007, the first audition in Jakarta was held and joined by almost 200 students from all over Jakarta. The audition consisted of three selection stages : a written test, an oral test, and a camera test.
After passing the very tight selection process, we got the best 16 participants who were eligible to join the competition for the Jakarta region. From this competition we then got the best 4 from Jakarta who would compete at national level.
The audition and the competition process were run according to the same pattern in the next three regions, which was on February 2008 in Denpasar, with the number of audition participants close to 200 students.
In Makassar on March 2008 with the largest number of audition participants which was close to five hundred. In Banda Aceh on April 2008, with the number of audition participants close to two hundred students.
All in all, the number of audition participant from the four regions was more than one thousand students.
On January 3, 2008, the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Cameron R. Hume officially launched the program to be broadcasted nationally on TVRI, and the program is regularly aired on Sunday from 8 to 9 pm, started on Sunday, January 6, 2008.
At the launching event, Mr. Cameron R. Hume said that 'English is the language of opportunity'. This idea is in line with the reason why this program was produced in the first place, and it was proven right.
After passing the audition and competition in 4 regions in Indonesia, the national level competition in Jakarta was held in May 2008.
The best 16 participants from 4 regions gathered in Jakarta, struggled to pass the semi final and final to win the Grand Prize which was a trip to the United States of America.
And those who won the Grand Prize were Nadira Titalia from Jakarta, I Made Adhi Pratama from Denpasar, Fadhillah Trya Wulandari from Makassar, and Devi Fitri Yani from Banda Aceh.
As stated earlier, the Grand Prize for the INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD was a trip to the United States of America, and soon after we knew the winners, the trip to the United States of America began.
The trip was begun on June 28, 2008. Departing from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, the winners left Indonesia for the United States of America.
The flight took around 15 hours, transit at Hong Kong International Airport, we finally landed on San Francisco International Airport.
San Francisco, California was the first city to visit. Three days in San Francisco were filled with visiting ExplOratorium Museum, a Science, Art and Human Perception museum.
The next place was Pier 39, a place where we could see wild sea lions swimming and sun bathing. Boudin Bakery happened to be the other place to visit.
It was a bread factory which produces bread with its typical taste which makes this factory famous for its name Boudin San Francisco Sourdough. Cable Car? San Francisco Municipal Railway was unique mode of transportation that we were happily tried to ride.
The other place that the winners visited in San Francisco was Muir National Monument. This place is a conservation forest which is very much preserved. There we could find the oldest, tallest and biggest redwood trees.
The second city visited was Denver, Colorado. There, the winners had a very great happiness playing in Elitch Gardens Amusement Park. We were also fortunate to visit Obama Denver Campaign Headquarters and met the volunteers there who worked to support the campaign activity.
Still in Colorado, the next city we visited was Georgetown. On the way to Georgetown, we had a chance to go to Mount Evans, the highest mountain in Rocky Mountains where we snow never melt even in summer.
In Georgetown, the winners met their new friends - the shadow teens, who accompanied the winners while they were in Georgetown. Here we rode Georgetown Loop Railroad, the very old train used to be operated around Rocky Mountains to reach mines on the mountains.
That was also why on that trip we managed to see one of the old silver mines that is now used as a tourism site.
In Georgetown, the winners were also fortunate to enjoy the celebration on America's Independence Day on the 4th of July.
From Georgetown, Colorado, the trip continued to Texas. The first city visited in Texas was Bandera.
Rancho Cortez was the place in Bandera where the winners learned to ride horses, thrown laso, and wore cowboy hat. From Bandera, we went to Austin, the capital city of Texas to enjoy Bat Boat Tour.
Still in Austin, the winners also visited Aspyr Media, a place where various of video games produced. From Austin, and still in Texas, the trip was continued to Brenham, where we visited Blue Bell Creamery, a very famous ice cream factory.
We also went to Texas A&M University to see how the higher education was held there and also to meet Indonesian students who were studying there.
Washington, DC, the capital city of America was the next destination. We went around the city with DC Tour, the Amphibian Vehicle. We also went to the zoo, where we saw Indonesian animals there like orang utan and komodo.
Right on Friday, we visited Washington Islamic Center. Next after that, we went to Newseum, a museum that was opened on last April.
It is a news museum which exposes much information about news. Front page of various newspaper all over the world could be also found there, including one the Indonesian newspaper.
In the capital city of America, we also went to Indonesian Embassy. We didn't miss Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
From Washington, DC, we went to New York which happened to be the last place we visited during our trip to the United States of America.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were the places that we didn't want to miss, besides the Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square. And from the Top of the Rock Observatory, where we could see a very beautiful view of New York City, we ended up our program.
The trip to the United States of America which was ended on July 15, 2008 and took 18 days was really an educational and fun trip. So many lessons that we can learn that inspire us to develop our country as we aim to.
The whole happiness, excitement and benefits we got during the trip will be more precious when we can share with the viewers.
And for that, we'd like to invite everybody to watch special episodes of INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD - U.S. Trip that will be broadcasted nationwide on Sunday, August 31 and September 7, 2008 at 8:00 to 9:00 pm on TVRI
Jakarta, Aug 29 (ANTARA) - Back in 2007, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta offered us a chance to manage a grant from the American government for an activity called 'English Instructional Program by TV/Radio'.
We perceived the offer as an opportunity, an opportunity to do something good not only for Indonesians but also for the mutual relationship between the two countries.
The theme used for the grant inspired us to make an English program which will not only increase people's ability in English, but also inspire people's awareness of the importance of English in general.
English is the language we need to learn and master. Why? Because we are now entering the era of globalization, the era where we have to interact directly with other people all over the world, to cooperate, to make use of opportunities, to overcome problems, and even to win the competition.
And one of the best devices to make these things happen is English, because English is the most d international language all over the world.
In order to realize this concept, we made an English program for TV which is not only educational but also entertaining for viewers.
We produced a program called INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD which is aimed for Public Senior High School Students in Indonesia who are SMART, CONFIDENT, and FUNtastic in English.
On November 2007, the first audition in Jakarta was held and joined by almost 200 students from all over Jakarta. The audition consisted of three selection stages : a written test, an oral test, and a camera test.
After passing the very tight selection process, we got the best 16 participants who were eligible to join the competition for the Jakarta region. From this competition we then got the best 4 from Jakarta who would compete at national level.
The audition and the competition process were run according to the same pattern in the next three regions, which was on February 2008 in Denpasar, with the number of audition participants close to 200 students.
In Makassar on March 2008 with the largest number of audition participants which was close to five hundred. In Banda Aceh on April 2008, with the number of audition participants close to two hundred students.
All in all, the number of audition participant from the four regions was more than one thousand students.
On January 3, 2008, the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Cameron R. Hume officially launched the program to be broadcasted nationally on TVRI, and the program is regularly aired on Sunday from 8 to 9 pm, started on Sunday, January 6, 2008.
At the launching event, Mr. Cameron R. Hume said that 'English is the language of opportunity'. This idea is in line with the reason why this program was produced in the first place, and it was proven right.
After passing the audition and competition in 4 regions in Indonesia, the national level competition in Jakarta was held in May 2008.
The best 16 participants from 4 regions gathered in Jakarta, struggled to pass the semi final and final to win the Grand Prize which was a trip to the United States of America.
And those who won the Grand Prize were Nadira Titalia from Jakarta, I Made Adhi Pratama from Denpasar, Fadhillah Trya Wulandari from Makassar, and Devi Fitri Yani from Banda Aceh.
As stated earlier, the Grand Prize for the INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD was a trip to the United States of America, and soon after we knew the winners, the trip to the United States of America began.
The trip was begun on June 28, 2008. Departing from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, the winners left Indonesia for the United States of America.
The flight took around 15 hours, transit at Hong Kong International Airport, we finally landed on San Francisco International Airport.
San Francisco, California was the first city to visit. Three days in San Francisco were filled with visiting ExplOratorium Museum, a Science, Art and Human Perception museum.
The next place was Pier 39, a place where we could see wild sea lions swimming and sun bathing. Boudin Bakery happened to be the other place to visit.
It was a bread factory which produces bread with its typical taste which makes this factory famous for its name Boudin San Francisco Sourdough. Cable Car? San Francisco Municipal Railway was unique mode of transportation that we were happily tried to ride.
The other place that the winners visited in San Francisco was Muir National Monument. This place is a conservation forest which is very much preserved. There we could find the oldest, tallest and biggest redwood trees.
The second city visited was Denver, Colorado. There, the winners had a very great happiness playing in Elitch Gardens Amusement Park. We were also fortunate to visit Obama Denver Campaign Headquarters and met the volunteers there who worked to support the campaign activity.
Still in Colorado, the next city we visited was Georgetown. On the way to Georgetown, we had a chance to go to Mount Evans, the highest mountain in Rocky Mountains where we snow never melt even in summer.
In Georgetown, the winners met their new friends - the shadow teens, who accompanied the winners while they were in Georgetown. Here we rode Georgetown Loop Railroad, the very old train used to be operated around Rocky Mountains to reach mines on the mountains.
That was also why on that trip we managed to see one of the old silver mines that is now used as a tourism site.
In Georgetown, the winners were also fortunate to enjoy the celebration on America's Independence Day on the 4th of July.
From Georgetown, Colorado, the trip continued to Texas. The first city visited in Texas was Bandera.
Rancho Cortez was the place in Bandera where the winners learned to ride horses, thrown laso, and wore cowboy hat. From Bandera, we went to Austin, the capital city of Texas to enjoy Bat Boat Tour.
Still in Austin, the winners also visited Aspyr Media, a place where various of video games produced. From Austin, and still in Texas, the trip was continued to Brenham, where we visited Blue Bell Creamery, a very famous ice cream factory.
We also went to Texas A&M University to see how the higher education was held there and also to meet Indonesian students who were studying there.
Washington, DC, the capital city of America was the next destination. We went around the city with DC Tour, the Amphibian Vehicle. We also went to the zoo, where we saw Indonesian animals there like orang utan and komodo.
Right on Friday, we visited Washington Islamic Center. Next after that, we went to Newseum, a museum that was opened on last April.
It is a news museum which exposes much information about news. Front page of various newspaper all over the world could be also found there, including one the Indonesian newspaper.
In the capital city of America, we also went to Indonesian Embassy. We didn't miss Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
From Washington, DC, we went to New York which happened to be the last place we visited during our trip to the United States of America.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were the places that we didn't want to miss, besides the Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square. And from the Top of the Rock Observatory, where we could see a very beautiful view of New York City, we ended up our program.
The trip to the United States of America which was ended on July 15, 2008 and took 18 days was really an educational and fun trip. So many lessons that we can learn that inspire us to develop our country as we aim to.
The whole happiness, excitement and benefits we got during the trip will be more precious when we can share with the viewers.
And for that, we'd like to invite everybody to watch special episodes of INDONESIAN FUNtastic SQUAD - U.S. Trip that will be broadcasted nationwide on Sunday, August 31 and September 7, 2008 at 8:00 to 9:00 pm on TVRI
