A sunny day in the morning on February 23, 2019, all exchange students participating in the 2019 Student Exchange Cultural Trip enthusiastically gathered in the parking lot of MBA ITB. The Student Exchange Cultural Trip is an annual activity organized and prepared by the International Relations Office of SBM-ITB to provide an experience of learning and socializing with Indonesian people, as well as introducing the culture and daily lives of Indonesian people.
Students are expected to get positive experiences from this activity and share experiences with other students. A series of activities prepared by the International Relations Office SBM-ITB made them excited. It took around two hours to get to the location. Our first destination was an elementary school, Sekolah Dasar Negeri Sukalaksana II, which has 280 students with 14 teachers. We were greeted warmly by the elementary school students and teachers who attended the day. The Principal Mr. Asep Supriadi opened the event by giving a welcome speech to 24 students from 14 countries in the school. Playing, light morning exercises, dancing, and art performance by the students made the event very impressive. The program at the school was closed with a photo session with all students and teachers, and the students continued the journey for the next activity.
The next activity was visiting a local village called Ciburial Tourism Village. This village was established for tourism. The village provides sightseeing facilities with a With a rural atmosphere atmosphere. It is necessary to know this Ciburial tourist village called Sukalaksana Village located in Samarang sub-district, Garut Regency, West Java, Indonesia.
Explore the Village
Friendly locals showed the culture of the village, which is part of the custom of Garut people, such as:
1. Cultivating rice in the fields of local residents, which became an invaluable experience for students
2. Visiting local entrepreneurs who produce folding bags, Batik, and Blacksmiths known as Gosali
3. A welcoming culture where tourists are welcomed by children carrying angklung, a type of musical instrument from bamboo, that will take students to the main saung to meet the village chief or village leaders and learn to play music using angklung together.
4. Learning to know Pencak Silat martial arts, namely the original martial arts characteristic of West Java.
5. Adu arrowroot dexterity, namely arrowroot art, and culture that demonstrates the pride and uniqueness of the original Garut sheeps which are decorated with various rituals, typical Garut music, and customary culture.
6. Lunch with local residents with Traditional Garut food such as liwet rice, fried chicken with serundeng, fried foods, kerupuk and lalapan, and also typical Garut chili sauce.
All of the activities were completed in a day. After the students completed the activity agenda, we returned to Bandung in the afternoon. Around 6:00 p.m., the students were already in the MBA parking lot with millions of interesting experiences they obtained during their study in West Java, Indonesia.
Author: Eka Yuliana