Basically, my friend, Zir was asked to do a presentation on our University on Brunei but she declined cause she is a shy person. Still shy. So, she suggested this presentation to Ir and I. We agreed to do so. But what we never knew was that the presentation is 45 minutes per person. OMG. I know... but not really. Because the 45 minutes isn't actually enough.
I was supped to show 4 videos but only managed to show 3 of them. I thought I will be the one who'll press the button for the next slides but someone did it. Dammit. And the person kept pressing next even before I told him to do so. Pfft! I kinda rushed in giving my presentation cause that person kept pressing 'next' so quickly. And if I kept asking him to go back to the previous slide, it'll make him look bad.
The freshies are actually younger as they do not have 'A' levels like Bruneians (before entering University). My buddy is in her 2nd year but is 19 years old only. The freshies wore formally. When I say formal, it meant white shirt, black long skirt/ trousers, black shoes, and white tudong for girls. When I give my presentation, I thought that I will be nervous. But I wasn't at all. Calm like the river with crocodiles. WHAT.
I've underestimated myself.
I didn't expect myself to be able to blah for 45 minutes. In that 45 minutes, it includes Q & A session. Some of the questions were... I'll tell later.
Besides, I've met an awesome Ukrainian who gave a presentation on her University. Her name is Olga, was a medical student and would only be in Surabaya for 10 days.
I made some jokes as I went along. In my slide, I put
'Bruneians love food'
'Bruneians are shy, friendly and relaxed'.
The students laughed when I said that Bruneians love food very much, and also "I'm actually amazed that you all asked a lot of questions (previously from Olga who gave her presentation first), because we Bruneian will keep very quiet and sit at the very far end, pretending that we never existed". I talked about Brunei's traditional kuih and our famous Nasi Katok.
Then, I showed them the different lecture halls in UBD. They were all amazed cause I don't think there are lecture hall in this Uni. If there were, I guess it was just the classrooms. I compared the people in the pictures, the one in Chancellor Hall and the one in the CLT rooms. "Do you see any difference in the people in these two pictures? Look at their faces. The people in this picture looked stressed out because they are actually having exams and this room is the Chancellor Hall".
Then, I showed them pictures of the Language Centre's lecture halls and a picture of my friends and I using our hoodies to cover up our face. Only eyes were visible. "This is a picture of my friend an I in the Language Centre lecture hall. It was very cold that we became ninjas".
After that, I showed them pictures which I took from FASS website on Festival Sastera the Sixth. The very first picture was a male and a female in Malay wedding costumes. "Don't worry, you come to UBD to study and not to get marry. This is just an act from I guess a fairy tale?"
I also showed them the type of clubs in UBD and of course, I showed them PAC's AMOROSA pictures. Then, I showed the pictures of ADYA with the Choirs. "So, anyone familiar? This is actually me". THEN THE BUTTHOLE PRESSED NEXT as I was about to point out myself in the picture.
I showed pictures that I've taking during my Biology practicals and trips, and specimens. Some pictures of Drama & Theatre, and lastly my Dark Photography pictures that I've taken. I heard a girls said, "that's so scary". Well, I can't un-goth myself.
Finally, I showed a video on the activities that international students' did in UBD but I stopped the BUTTHOLE half way of the video cause I saw the guy at the back putting up a '10 minutes' sign. I was like, 'woaaaaahhhh, my my, I've underestimated myself'. Well, of course silently.
And now it's time for Q & A. Within a second, there were a lot of raised hands. I was like 'woaaaaaahh', silently, still. LOL.
Some of the questions I can remember are -
- Student: Hello, so I have heard that Brunei is one of the wealthiest country. Is that true?
Me: Yes.
Student: And since Brunei is one of the wealthiest country, can you share the tips to us Indonesian on how our country can be as of Brunei.
The first thing in my head was... WHAT. THE .F. This is hard and how am I gonna answer this.
Me: Alright, so Brunei is wealthy because of it's Oil and Gas export to mainly, Japan. So, and Brunei is a really small country and is almost never existed. If you asked some people, 'do you know Brunei?', they don't. (Then, I slowly forgotten the student's question and went off topic) Bruneians worked really hard to be known to the other countries. Brunei is actually quite famous in the UK because students tend to get their scholarship to the UK. They worked hard for it. And I hope that answered your question? (cause I know I didn't. But my point was Bruneians worked hard. Uhh...)
- Student: Hi, why do you choose to come to Surabaya, more specifically this University.
Me: Actually, I wasn't supposed to come to this University. I chose Malaysia (K.K.) but I was offered to this University and I grabbed this opportunity. I have been to Malaysia (not K.K. actually but shuh) and so I thought 'why not?' and I could get to know the people and the culture. It would be a challenge to me.
(And I saw most of the students nodded in agreement. Haha!)
- Student: Hello, I would like to know what is your most memorable experience in Surabaya.
Me: Oh, I am here for about 10 days and actually I haven't really have one. There will be soon as I have one semester.
- Student: Hello, what do you like about the people of Indonesia?
Me: I like the people of Indonesia. They are very friendly and brave, like you guys. Being able to raised up your hands and ask a lot of questions are brave. Oh, and there was once that my friends and I were carry heavy stuff and one of the people actually offered to help. In Indonesia, the food is cheap as well.
(And everyone laughed. I was like 'oh ya, from the previous slides where I said that Bruneians love food')
- Student: Hi, since you talked about to get to know about Indonesia culture, can you tell us more on Brunei culture?
(And this my friend, was the hardest questions of all time. I actually asked Zir to help me out. I wanna say that I don't know much about Brunei's culture but I don't wanna sound like who I am. Haha! I mean, I don't care about cultures actually. That's bad).
Me: So yeah, we preserved our cultures and traditions very well. From the pictures I showed all of you, you can see quite a few pictures where Bruneians wear traditional clothing. Other than that, I actually need help from my friend. Zir, can you help me out (Fakkkkk.. awkward. All of them turned to look at Zir. She is a shy person and I don't think she was pleased. She whispered to me about Shariah Law). So, have you heard of the Shariah Law?
All students (maybe): Yes.
Me: So basically, that's it. (I kraii...)
- Student: Hello, you are a Biology major student right?
Me: Yes.
Student: So, can you give us some tips on how to be a good student in Biology?
Me: (Flashbacks of me sleeping in lectures, talking and texting in classes, playing during practicals, and never really focused at all) Alrights, so you must always listen to your Professors. They always give important information to the students. Some of those information are not found in textbooks or from the Internet because they are Professors and they do their own research as well. And always read ahead of the topics that you will learn. So that it will be easy for you during lectures and you will be able to answer your Professors' questions easily. ( I mean c'mon, these are from my experiences okey. I am not a rebellious or a bad student. But there are times when you can't focus in lectures or slack.)
- Student: Hi, since you said that Brunei doesn't have an artist, do you know any artist perhaps from Indonesia, Hollywood or Korea?
Me; Brunei is actually slowly developing in the art field, but very slowly. We have one artist named Liyana Yus, but she isn't really there yet. And yes, I only know one Indonesia artist, Agnes Monica. (They went owhhhhh!), Hollywood artist is Avril Lavigne and I know that she is famous in Indonesia, yes? and Korea, Song Jung Ki! (All the girls screamed. Haha! Ah mai gerd).
There were actually more questions but I couldn't recall.
And a girl raised her hand too before the last question that I answered but I stopped the Q & A session cause '10 minutes' might be over. I was then asked to give a short inspirational speech.
"So, my last inspirational words will be very short which is: Don't work hard, but work smart! I wish you all the best and I hope to see some of your faces in Brunei. Thank you".
Olga and I received a box of bread and a lovely cactus each (which I always wanted so bad but is expensive in Brunei). I have some pictures but just too lazy to upload.
Bye!
