Chinese New Year Celebration 2015

                Hello, readers! We wish you a Happy Chinese New Year! It must've been a happy reunion with your family members. This year as well, we, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya has a custom in celebrating Chinese New Year by holding perfomances, which involves every member of the school. This was what we did this year.

             
                In the 17^th of February, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya celebrated Chinese New Year which starts from 8 A.M., to 2 P.M. in the afternoon. Girls are required to wear Cheong Sam (traditional Chinese attire for women and girls) while the boys are required to wear Chinese clothes. But overall, everyone wore red clothes, except for the eighth grade who wore green clothes.

                In the morning, around 8 A.M., the school invited a group of performers named “Red Lion”, who performed the ‘Lion Dance’. Every member of the school, especially the toddlers and the kindergarten, were very excited to see the group of performers, which some of them might not have seen before. They watched the show first, followed by the elementary and junior high. With lively music and attractive moves, many of the students felt entertained and admired the dance, which took place in the auditorium. The venue was supposed to be at the court but, due to weather condition, it was moved to the auditorium.

                Around 1 P.M., there were performances ranging from Grades 1 to 8, with different aspects of talents that entertained the spectators which was mostly made up of parents. Some of the grades sang songs, danced, some did fashion shows, played a song with their recorders, and even rapped. Various talents were displayed in each and every performance. The auditorium, corridors, and class windows were decorated with Chinese words, and decorations, such as Chinese lanterns, words, pictures to create a traditional Chinese atmosphere.

                As for us, the Grade 8, we did a performance, a combination of dancing, singing, and rapping. The song we used belongs to Jay Chou, by the title of “Listen to Mother’s Words”. In the morning, Grade 7 and us (Grade 8), held a last-minute and final rehearsal to practice our choreography and rap for our performances. We took turns in rehearsing with the Grade 7, since they also need time to rehearse their own performance.

                The Chinese New Year event this year was a success. Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya’s principal, Mr. Hari Wibowo, hopes that next year’s Chinese New Year event will be better and more interesting.

( By: Kyuubi - Grace and Banshee - Elvira )

Insights on Holes

The Holes tells about a boy named Stanley Yelnats that was sent to Camp Green Lake to dig holes each day. The Holes is an easy reading novel. The story is unexpected. I recommended students to read this novel.

-         Kyuubi - Grace

  

The Holes’ vocabularies are easy to understand, and each chapter has a few pages. The plot of the novel is simple, but also has complicated matters inside. This is an interesting novel to read, it creates a mental image easily.

 -        Banshee – Elvira

Fun reading, I don’t think it’s really hard to understand. Like stated above, the plot is simple, but can be unexpected at times. You might enjoy this, maybe not, but it’s worth your time. I don’t see many social issues, or maybe it’s just me? Find out for yourself.

-        Rambo - Robin

The Holes is a very interesting novel to read. The stories are easy to understand and everybody can read this book in a short amount of time. I haven’t finished this novel but so far, the book is very good and interesting to read.

-        T-rex - Vianca

The Necklace ( Twist Version )

In a small town in Indonesia lived a poor couple named Mr. and Mrs. Loisel.  They lived in a small dilapidated house, with old curtains hanging on the windows, thatch roof that is almost blown away and they had no precious belongings inside. However, Mrs. Mathilde always wanted a luxurious life even though her husband is only an employee. She would go to the mall and spend her money and time pretending to be one of the women in the middle class.

One day, Mr. Loisel got invited to his boss’ wedding at Mercure Hotel. Many higher officers are also invited. When he breaks the news to his beloved wife, she felt upset.

“What should I wear to attend the wedding? I don’t even have a pair of shoes nor a nice dress to wear!” Mrs. Mathilde said.

“Well dear, how much does a pair of shoe and a dress cost?” Mr. Loisel asked.

“Ummm, approximately Rp 1.000.000.” Mrs. Mathilde said.

Mr. Loisel grew pale. Since three months ago, he had been saving his money to buy a new handphone,because he has been eyeing since new year. Thinking that his wife is more important than himself, he agreed to give her the money.

“Ok dear, here is the money to buy your dress and shoes” Mr. Loisel said.

Mrs. Mathilde then bought a dress and a pair of shoes. But, she wasn’t satisfied yet. She was still upset because she doesn’t have any jewelry to wear for the wedding.

”How do you be simple but still beautiful?” she was thinking of borrowing her friend, Mrs. Forestier’s jewelry.

A day exactly before the wedding party, Mrs. Mathilde went to her friend, Mrs. Forestier’s house to borrow her jewelry. She saw a necklace that looks simple but elegant. She had her eyes set on that jewelry.

“Mrs. Forestier, can I borrow this necklace? I think this will suit me in the wedding party.” Mrs. Mathilde pleaded.

“Sure dear, but always wear it with you because it’s not an imitation.” Mrs. Forestier warned her.

Mrs. Mathilde hugged her friend. She went home happily, and told her husband that she had found a jewelry that suited her.

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel went to the wedding party at Mercure Hotel. They were so poor that they have no vehicle to get there so, they had to take a rickshaw. They asked the rickshaw driver to drop them 10 meters away from the hotel so that no one can see them.

At the wedding party, Mrs. Mathilde was the prettiest woman present. Men wanted to get acquainted to her. Women were jealous of her beauty even the bride herself. Mrs. Mathilde was so contented of herself that night.

The party ended at 10.00 P.M. but, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel went home earlier so that no one would see them taking the rickshaw home. But, unfortunately for them, there was no rickshaw available at that time because it’s already late in the night so, they walked their way home.

On their way home, they passed a small alley. There was a robber there. The robber stole the necklace and ran away. Mr. Loisel tried to catch the robber but his effort is futile. Now, the trouble hits them. They were panicking. The necklace that Mrs. Forestier lend to them was stolen.

At their home, Mrs. Mathilde cried. She was afraid that Mrs. Forestier will be furious. Suddenly, an idea popped inside Mr. Loisel’s head. He told his wife about his idea of giving Mrs. Forestier an imitation of her real necklace.

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel looked around the town to find the same necklace as Mrs. Forestier’s. They found a cheap imitation that looks exactly alike to the real one. They bought it, and gave it to Mrs. Forestier. At first, Mrs. Forestier didn’t realize that it was an imitation.

One week later, Mrs. Forestier found out that the necklace was an imitation because after she had observed closely, she found the word “MADE IN CHINA”. She was furious and took the poor couple to the court for losing her necklace and replaced it with an imitation. In the end, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel were imprisoned for 10 years of their treason.

THE END

( Made by :  Kyuubi - Grace , Banshee - Elvira , Rambo - Robin and T-Rex - Vianca )

  

Haiku

These are haikus that we wrote in our EFL class. We would like to share these to you. Enjoy !

Graceful waterfall

    Tall and majestic you stand

          Surrounding it cools

( By: Banshee - Elvira )

Green trees, blue sky
            And the sound of the waterfall
     Makes me feel peaceful

( By: T-rex - Vianca)

A fearless tiger

         In a wide, hot savanna

   Sleeping soundlessly

( By: Kyubi - Grace )

Orange and black stripes
      On an exotic feline
              Yet almost extinct

( By: Rambo - Robin )

"Merah Putih" Independence Day

       On 18th of August 2014, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya celebrated Indonesia's independence day which is supposed to be on 17th of August 2014. The teachers and the students had a flag ceremony in the morning from 8.00 A.M until 9.00 A.M. The officers of the ceremony were the students from grade 7-8.

        After the ceremony, the officers of elementary and junior high that was elected swore to do their job faithfully and heartfully. Other than that, there was a performance from Grade 6 Wishnu and Antasena. They performed the song "Burung Kakak Tua" by using angklung. After the angklung performance, the grade 1-6 performed their yells.

        After all the performance and everything, the elementary students played a few games. However, the junior high students didn't participate in the competitions like last year, instead, they were told beforehand to do murals in groups of odd and even, according to their grade levels.

        To put it of, the students had a great time. The students of Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya hope that the independence day celebration next year can be more exciting.

Welcome to School Year 2014 - 2015

                For new and old students, welcome to our new school year! Welcome also to the new Grade 7 students for entering junior high. From here on, don’t expect the lessons to be as easy as it was in elementary. Since there will be no more assistant teachers, you have to do everything by yourself unlike during elementary. So, prepare to be independent, don’t rely too much on the teachers. You also have to learn time management.

                Junior school is much different than elementary. Your class last year might be different than yours this year, so be prepared for anything! We can only show the gate. What inside is a mystery. The  We’ll also have a student council for junior high, and we’ll have our activities separated from the elementary unlike what happened last year. Other than activities, we’ll also have competitions to participate in such as sports competition and also competition in academics.  But be focused in your study, since you will also be relying on your academic grades to pass in grade 9, other than your UN grades.

                The lesson will also be different. Language arts is divided into 2, ESL and EFL. EFL is more advanced, and is really hard. In science, there is now physic and biology, and it can be really hard, so be prepared!

               

                Other than that, the teachers will be teaching you in a different way when you were in elementary. They will be more strict in some ways. But still, enjoy your junior high life as much as possible, since this kind of experience will only come once in a lifetime. You can’t go back anymore once you have passed junior high. This memory will be engraved in your brain until you probably become an adult, and reminiscing it will bring back the good memories you made in junior high. So, have fun!

               

               

Community Study Week in Bali

The Grade 7 CSW started at 21 April 2014 to Bali. CSW stands for Community Study Week, in which we will leave our homes and our parents for a week and go with our friends and teachers out of city.  We went to the airport at 4.30 a.m., we were very sleepy. When we wanted to check in, we can’t check in yet because we had to wait for Visyka. It sucks a lot to wait just for one single person. Finally, at around 5.30 she came and we were made because we were so late, but she didn't even felt that she is late and act like she’s not late. As Ms. Vilma’s group we have to behave or else we will be scold. I am the leader so, I had the responsibility to count my entire member and it’s confusing.

As soon as we arrived at Bali, we didn't go directly to our hotel; instead we went to Tanah Lot. Tanah Lot is a famous temple in the middle of the sea. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to climb the temple because of the tide. After we were finished, we went to get lunch in a restaurant called “Renon Restaurant.” For me they got the best food in our whole trip. At around 2.00 p.m., we went to our hotel at Sanur Paradise Hotel. I’m in the same room with Angelica, in room number 270, we got the pool view. We rested at our hotel until around 5.30 p.m. and we went to Kemangi Restaurant. It was where we have our dinner. Along the way our tour guide, Pak Dwi, who is a very nice, kind guy, told us stories about the dance. In Kemangi, they showcased 5 Balinese dance. One of them required our volunteer. It's interesting to see how the dance is very easy, although it look hard. After we finished eating and watching we went back to the hotel and took a rest.

We was awake early in the morning to go to Ubud, in one of the river. We wanted to do water rafting. The company that held the water rafting activity is called "Sobek". The track was 12 km long and around 2 hours. Before the raft we have to climb down 500 stairs and our foot was trembling. In the middle of the raft we stopped and took a break to drink because the raft was very tiring. The finishing point was at a restaurant, which we had our lunch. After we ate, not very delicious food, we then had to climb up around 200 stairs. We were dirty that time because of the water we raft in, so we took a bath, change our clothes and left.Our next destination was Laka Leke, there we paint eggs and kite. Aside from that we also had our dinner and perform Kecak dance with the real dancers. We then went back to the hotel and rest.

The third day we went to Sawah Indah, where we learned how to plant, plot and process rice, we also plow the rice paddy. It's a memorable experience and it made me respect those farmers who work on the rice field every day. After lunch, fishing and lounging we head to our next stop, Pura Gunung Kawi, it's a temple which they build in memorial of their king, queen, prince and the concubines. We take a walk there, up and down stairs until it's time to go, before we go of course we do a little shopping then went down from northern to the southern part of Bali. The famous Garuda Wishnu Kencana is where we were heading. They said that around 2015 a statue will be presented to the world, the highest statue that will be the new Guinness World Record. Professional Kecak dance ended our activities for the day.

Biking in Bali? Why not? We went to the "Bali Bird Park" for a bike. I know it sounds weird? Bird Park? Bike? But they have this program for a tour around using bike. we were then separated into two groups. Boys and girls, the boys paddle first while the girls are still gearing up. Our first stop was the rice field, Coffee shop and a traditional Balinese house. Those biking make us tired but didn't broke our spirits to see the birds and reptile in the Bird Park. In the middle of a Bird show suddenly the rain shower so we decided to eat since we were starving. We have tour around Bali, eat Balinese food, saw Kecak dance, did the kecak dance and paint but we haven't learned the instrument and dance the famous dance, that's why we went to Balerung. After Balerung we went to the Sanur beach, not far from the hotel. It was our last night so we swim in the sea and have our "BBQ PARTY" in the beach and it was a lot of fun.

Bali was a lot of fun, money can't buy this experience and happiness I and all my friends have here. I never wanted leave, I never wanted go home but every beginning will have an end and this is our ending, our last day without our parents.In the early morning, 5.30 a.m to be exact Pak Hari, myself and a few of my friends went to the beach to see the sunrise and it is so beautiful. We then went back to the hotel, pack, shower then went to the airport. Before we leave for the airport we shop again in Kresna, we can't bargain there which make it a bit easier for me. Pack one last time then off we go to the airport. We board the airplane waited for so long and guess WHAT??!! there's a plane reporting that it's being Hijacked so we have to went leave the plane and wait. It's the Virgin air and we were panicking that we can't go home, but luckily a few moments later we were informed that we can board the airplane. We arrived home sound and safely and happy.

 This activity told me a lot and it's useful for my future so, I do thank my parents for letting me join and for the teachers who took care of me while I'm there.

( By: T-rex - Vianca)