SMK 6 Students

Consider this entry a sort of "photo diary" of what the students do at SMK 6 here in Yogyakarta. As I've mentioned before, SMK 6 is a public vocational high school where the students focus on Beauty, Hotel Accomodation, Tourism and Travel, Food Preparation, and Clothing Design. For a cultural comparison, it is like majoring in something at college except these students are already mastering their skills at the high school level. They take their own specialized classes for their program of study along with the basic classes all high school students must take such as math, english, music, and others. The students take an average of 13-14 different subjects every semester, so there is a lot to master. I'm always impressed with how much work they do and how many different courses they manage to digest at once. Admittedly there are some classes where the students seem to be more attentive than in others, but they always manage to have fun and they make my day everyday. Someone will say something unexpected or do something I didn't know they were capable of. When put in challenging situations, namely in English class, they always come up with an answer or manage to speak in English (whether they thought they could or not), even if it takes some prying or help from friends. They truly inspire me to strive and grow throughout my own experiences just as I watch them strive and grow everyday in SMK 6.

Beauty students give facials in a practice lab

The Beauty students focus on hairstyling and also on skin care. They cut, style, and dye hair as well as learn how to perform facials and other skin care remedies.

Food students get hands-on practice

The food students can make anything from Indonesian food to Continental food to delicious pastries. It is a real treat when they walk around selling their finished products and I am easily persuaded into treating myself to at least a few chocolates or cakes.

Hotel accomodation students practice their skills in the school's hotel next door

The school has fully functional hotel located right next door where students practice their hotel accomodation skills. The hotel serves as a place where the students can get real life experience in their job field.

A volleyball game in the courtyard for some physical exercise

Students get their physical exercise in the equivalent of our "gym class" where they do aerobics, cardio workouts and play sports such as soccer and volleyball.

Students study music with Bu Endah

Students play recorders and other instruments in the very talented Bu Endah's music class. They play traditional Indonesian songs as well as classical favorites.



Students play "Fruit Bowl" in Miss Demi's English class

In my English class we focus mainly on activities to get the students speaking. They are quite familiar and even good at writing and reading in English but are very shy when it comes to speaking because they generally have no one to speak with in English. That's what I am for!

More Fruit Bowl fun

Here the students enjoy playing "Fruit Bowl," probably their favorite game so far (thank you Mr. Brett McNeil for the idea). The students put their desks in a circle and become one of three types of fruit. When I yell "BANANA!" all of the bananas must move to another chair. At this point I sneak in and steal a chair. The person who gets left in the middle (as we will then be short one chair) must answer a question in English, give someone a compliment in English, or whatever it is we are working on that particular day. When someone yells "FRUIT BOWL!" then everybody moves, and chaos ensues as the students laugh, scream, slip, collide, and occasionally rip off jilbabs in an effort to not be the one left standing in the middle.

Just hanging out between classes

Some students relax and chat on the stairs in between their classes. The student at the top is my American Slang Prodigy, Fasya. Most students in the halls greet me with "Hello Miss, good morning," but to Fasya I will say "What's up, girl?" and she will respond, "Just chillin' dude, how about you?"



SMK 6 students on a field trip to the museum

Students sometimes take trips to local museums or other areas of interest to learn about local history or to practice and improve their Tourism and Travel knowledge. 


Another fruit bowl victim must stand up and answer questions in English in front of the class. They always make a big deal out of this but you can tell by their smiles they not-so-secretly enjoy it!

Clothing students work on a project

The clothing students can design and make anything from toddlers' clothes to business suits to elegant dresses. They draw, design, cut and sew all of the material themselves and can also make batik.

Merapi Tour

Last weekend a fellow ETA from Central Java came to visit Jogja. Among other excursions, one day we decided to drive the motorbike JT rented up to the village of Kaliurang which lies on the southern base of Mt Merapi. We wanted to see the damage that Merapi had done- the scorched trees, the lahar, the destroyed villages- that we had been seeing on the news. As it turns out, the southern slope of the mountain was largely unaffected in relation to other areas, but we had ourselves a nice hike and saw some amazing views regardless. When driving around we found ourselves asking local strangers how we could get close to the mountain and where "we could see the destruction" in Indonesian, which I imagine sounded pretty funny or at least a bit dramatic coming from two foreigners riding around on a motorbike looking all but lost. Anyway, we stumbled upon a national park and took a hike up the side of Mt Merapi just a little ways (as I mentioned before, the area was mostly unaffected).

The Bat Cave

We saw some spectacular views of the southern slopes of Mt Merapi and spotted areas where some lahar or volcanic mudflow had come through. We also explored some caves, most likely formed via old lava tubes, on our hike. In one cave we stooped down low, turned off our flashlight, and listened to the humming of bats. We took a few pictures and after our cameras flashed they really started bustling.


JT exploring some caves



Lahar or mudflow from the Volcano

After visiting the national park we drove around for a bit, asking where the destruction was, and found a lookout point east of the park. This area was one that was hit not by pyroclastic flow during the eruption but more by lahar afterwards, and probably clouds of hot gas which account for the scorched trees. This is what I could gather anyway from the physical evidence and what I could pick up from locals who explained the area to us in Indonesian. Although some slopes of Merapi are not the apocalyptic scenes one may expect after a major eruption, the lahar is still a very damaging post-eruption feature even if it appears less formidable. Lahars usually take out anything in their path, crushing trees while they drain down the sides of the mountain. They also drain into Yogyakarta's river systems and cause much damage there. The volume of water flowing through Jogja's rivers is constant, so when lahars clog up the arteries of the systems they can take out houses or cause flooding that imposes a lot of danger to the areas and housing bordering the rivers.

Surveying the scorched trees

The village of Kaliurang seems to be going on with usual life after the series of eruptions, but many villages around Merapi are devastated. Even the mild views of destruction JT and I were able to view were very sobering and stand as a solemn reminder of what raw power there is to be revered by our earth's natural processes.