Tens Students from 5 Japan Universities Learn Bahasa and Indonesian Culture at BIPA UMM

Indonesia has so many cultures. 35 students from Japan came to Indonesia to learn about Indonesian culture which is an unforgettable experience for them. Kiyokawa Joe , a student from Wako University, admitted that he is happy to be in Indonesia. “The first day I came here, I found that Indonesian people are so friendly”.

Visiting University of Muhammadiyah Maalang (UMM) on Monday (13/8), 35 students from Japan who join Fieldwork of International Cooperation 2018 learn about Indonesian language and culture.

Takashi Yuma who is taking Bahasa Indonesia class for the first time said, “I just attended Bahasa Indonesia reading and speaking class, selamat siang (good day), terima kasih (thank you), nama saya Yuma (my name is Yuma).

The activity was started by holding welcoming ceremonial to those students. Assistant Rector for Affairs, Soeparto conveyed that the visit of Japanese academic community is expected to become the start for UMM to conduct wider cooperation, especially with Japan. Soeparto said, “I expect that there will be more visits, especially cooperation visits”.

The representative of Wako University, Bambang Rudyanto wants the same thing to be happened. He expects that his students get scholarship to learn Indonesian language and culture at UMM like others Japanese students who are currently at UMM. “UMM has students from Japan who are studying Bahasa and Indonesian culture. I hope you can be like them”.

After taking Bahasa class held by Language Technical Unit Bahasa Indonesia for foreigners (BIPA) UMM, the next activity was drawing Batik and traditional dancing class.

One of the students, Iko Takuto said, “I like Batik, because I am not good at dancing. Indonesian dance is very beautiful anyway”.

Then, the next activity was outdoor games. Another Japanese student, Kiyokawa Joe admitted that he is very happy getting many experience at UMM. He hopes that he will come back here again someday and stay here longer. “I am very happy coming here. I will come back again to study here”.

Danang Fitrian Wibisono as the person in charge for the games explained that there are three traditional games played, which are Rangku Alu (stick dance), balap karung (sack racing), hula hoop, and bakia (clogs). These games are played to sow the identity and the personality of the nation. Danang who is a lecturer in BIPA UMM said, “It is expected that they learn a lot about teamwork, politeness, courtesy, friendliness, humbleness, and they bring those values to their homeland”. (lus)