Student of English Literature Took Part in UNY – AUE Culture Exchange

FBS, Karangmalang. UNY has held a virtual Culture Exchange with the Aichi University of Education on March 18-19, 2021. It was attended by 20 students of the faculty of language and arts (FBS) UNY representatives and 12 students of AUE along with lecturers and deans. In general, the purpose of this event is to improve cooperation and interaction between students and more than that is to introduce each other's culture from each country and campus life.  Furthermore, it also aims to achieve UNY's vision in 2025 of becoming a "World-class University".

This event was conducted online because of the Covid-19 pandemic which does not allow accepting foreign students to UNY. Although conducted online, this event ran smoothly and received good feedback from both universities and students. The culture exchange between UNY and AUE was held in two days with the first day of the event aimed at introducing each other's campus environment and lifestyle. It began with a speech from the dean of FBS and was followed by a profile video from each university. The agenda was continued with discussions between students in the breakout room which was divided into three rooms. Each room has 4 AUE students and 6 to 7 UNY students.

The discussion room was started with presentations from UNY students, namely Sonia Mega (English literature student), Fannisya Aulya (English language education student), and Annisa Febriana (English language education student) who discussed how the atmosphere of life in Yogyakarta as a tourist attraction and student city. They also explained how Yogyakarta students spend their daily living, organizations in UNY, and other student activities. The presentation went smoothly and was delivered well by presenters who have an English background.  Having encountered obstacles in communication, three moderators from the English literature department of UNY, namely Daniel Bagas, Nurul Aulia Devi, and Larasati Bunga managed to arrange the discussion to be engaging and flowing. Furthermore, the presentation was then continued by AUE students with the same topic. While students do presentations with PowerPoint, some students from AUE do presentations with campus tours. They invite UNY students by showing directly the campus and its facilities. This is very interesting for UNY students and can give a real picture of how the AUE campus and the surrounding environment look like. The event on the first day went well and got enthusiasm from both sides.

 The agenda then continued on March 19, 2021. Day two focuses more on the introduction of culture between countries, especially in terms of religion, religious festivals, and diversity. The general introduction of the religion of each State is carried out by the respective representations of AUE and UNY. The representation of UNY is Nurul Aulia Devi from the Department of English Literature delivering a presentation with a good explanation and a clear intonation so that it is easy to understand for the participants. After the presentations from both universities, the activity continued with workshops from UNY and AUE. For AUE, they give a demonstration about calligraphy (kanji), String arts, and Origami. Meanwhile, UNY gave a demonstration about Javanese calligraphy, Jathilan (traditional dance), and Batik. Students actively participate in every activity and try new things from this cultural exchange. Students from each campus are very enthusiastic and try to practice a new culture of each Country. One of the activities that are in the spotlight is Jathilan (traditional dance). This traditional dance was performed by Geri Dwi Wahyu and Wibi Supri from FBS UNY students. They show every move in Jathilan in detail and captivating. Both students also performed at the end of the event as a closing ceremony. The event closed with a speech from UNY and AUE student representatives to give their impressions during the event.  In addition, the closing speech was also delivered by Prof. Kozuka and Vice Dean I. UNY – AUE Culture Exchange went very well. The students from AUE seemed very interested in Indonesian culture and especially on the UNY campus as well as enjoying the event. Both universities are expected to visit each other's campus and conduct such this event more in the future.

 

“I felt that many students in UNY are able to speak English. Also, they are very active to interact and communicate with us. Frankly speaking, I really enjoyed and all AUE students (and also professors) had great time in this event. I found that it's difficult to introduce our cultures through this event. In addition, I could know about your some of your cultures, Calligraphy, Jathilan, and Batik. I feel that I want to interact and talk with UNY students again even if it's online.” Masumi, AUE student . (Devi)