I thought that my journey in the SEAMEO SEA Teacher Project would start when I fly to Indonesia but I was wrong. While we were waiting for the approval from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Indonesian students who were also participating in the Program started to arrive. During the last week of August, we were introduced to students from UNSYIAH and UPGRIS as their buddies during their first week in our University.
It is very eye opening when you meet people who are raised in a different culture. It is good to know that even if we are from different countries and we have different religion we were able to get along. Meeting new people and gaining friends is something that we should all look forward to.
Filipinos are known to be very hospitable, so to showcase this value, we had a welcome program for the visiting pre-service teachers. I will be the first one to tell you that any artistic ability I may have, I have not discovered yet, but I was commissioned to help in the decorating the venue for the welcome program. So, I said to myself I'll just help out anyway I could. Our efforts paid off, even I was proud of myself.
To help them get acclimated, some of my colleagues brought them to a store that sold HALAL food. They rode the jeepney, it was funny, because they had a pre-conceived notion that jeepney drivers drove like they were in a Fast and Furious movie. I re-assured them that we will all be safe, hopefully, that got a laugh from them.
As the days passed by, everyone got to know each other a little better. Hopefully, even if the program is over we can all remain friends.
