Finally, the event we all have been waiting for.....our annual Indonesian Cultural Festival! Permias Purdue proudly presents our Indofest 2015: I HEART INDONESIA!
It was not 11am yet, but the crowd had begun to gather by our welcoming booth. Upon registering in our welcoming booth, each visitor received two tickets, one for the delectable Indonesian dishes that had been prepared and one for the Javanese calligraphy booth. As it was approaching lunch time, immediately a line was formed by the food booth as volunteers served and prepared the delicious mi ayam jamur and pempek, complemented by refreshing es teler. Curious visitors could also look around at the exhibition booths, or had their names written in Javanese calligraphy, or even play a minigame quiz (winners received more ticket to be traded for more food). By noon, the hall was packed and visitors were filling up the seats as the performance started.
After a short opening speech by our current Permias Purdue president, Vanessa F. Sukanta, the festival officially kickstarted as the talented Permias band performed a popular Indonesian pop song, Bendera (by Cokelat). Then the audience was transported to different parts of the Indonesian archipelago by the outstanding vocal group who had prepared five different traditional songs from each of the five main islands. All eyes were on the stage as drama team presented a popular folktale, The Story of Ramayana. Thundering applause filled the room as the drama casts bowed down, accompanied by another amazing performance by the band. Transporting the visitors again to different regions of the archipelago, pairs of Permias Purdue members walked down the runway, showcasing traditional Indonesian outfits of different regions. Last but not the least was the popular dance that had been performed from year to year, the Saman dance! By the end of the performance, you could hardly hear yourself as cheers and massive round of applause echoed trough the hallway.
Following our tradition, this year's Indonesian Cultural Festival's main goal is to promote and share our cultural heritage. It is an honor for us to be able to serve and entertain all the 350 attendees. Terima kasih* to everyone who had came to the festival, our sponsors, the volunteers and performers; this event would not be a success without your time and contributions. So, once again thank you! We cannot wait to see you all again in Indonesian Cultural Festival 2016.
*Terima kasih = Thank you :)
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Back in Indonesia, we celebrated various different cultures and beliefs. One of them is the Lunar New Year, or better know as Hari Raya Imlek by our folks back home.
Yesterday, February 19th, marked a new beginning of the lunar calendar as we welcomed the year of the goat! Permias Purdue was given the opportunity to collaborate with Purdue's Windsor dining court on advising the specialty fares to be prepared that are synonymous with Lunar New Year celebration in Indonesia. Meanwhile, today, the Permias family gathered to have a Lunar New Year dinner together. It was a wonderful way as we could finally have a breathe of fresh air after a long week of school and working. Being a special occasion, Permias Purdue had ordered delicious Chinese food from the local restaurant; and to show our gratitude for the tremendous efforts we have been receiving, registered Permias members were welcomed to join the food for free. Although we are far away from home and were not able to collect our red packets, we could still gather in the warmth of the family away from home! This was the first Permias Purdue event for the spring semester and many members were able to catch up with one another. Apology to the venue host if we were a bit too loud , it was a challenge to not let the fun exploded especially as we had prepared a few minigames, including orange hunt (it's like Easter egg hunt with a twist!), chopstick challenge, and Chinese-zodiac-theme-bingo. The Permias Purdue family members sure have many talents, including cooking! The participating dishes for the cooking competition included roast bbq pork and gado-gado....yum! Thank you everyone for celebrating the lunar new year with us! We hope you all had as much fun as we did. It's still chilly out there so stay warm and all the best for the spring semester! 谢谢你们!恭喜发财,新年快乐! |