Outdoor Class @ Lawang Sewu Semarang

Assalamualaikum Friends …
Normally I don’t blog in English. It does not mean that I cannot write in English, it is actually more about me being so tired using English everyday. During my working days I have to use English most of the time and sometimes I feel so tired of speaking and writing in English. My Indonesian tongue and hands really miss their root hahahaha.

For me blogging in Indonesia is more fun since I can express my feeling with many kinds of Indonesian expression. I am sure most of my readers are Indonesian and therefore will enjoy reading my stories in Indonesian. But today, this post is so special that I have to use English. 🙂

This semester I have to teach creative writing. I really enjoy this subject because I like being creative with my writings. I teach with different properties such as music, films, and many more. Once I asked them to create their own superhero, and it was hilarious. They created some absurd superheroes with crazy outfits and abilities. They even came up with very cools names for their superheroes. It proved that they really have creative thoughts, they just need a little adjustment and right place to shine. 🙂

In one fine day something crossed my mind. I thought It will be a good idea if I could just take all of my students outside the class, visiting a good place, and make a story out of this experience. So that’s it. I am a travel blogger and what better ways to teach them how to make travel writing by experience it in a real time. Nowadays teenagers love traveling but only few of them really value their journeys. They just did it for fun or just to take as many selfies as they can. I really want them to have some fun yet they also get benefits from it. So for me it was a good idea and luckily all of my students said yes. Yaaaayy….

I decided to take my students to Lawang Sewu since it is reachable by public transportation not to mention that Lawang Sewu is one iconic building in Semarang. So at 8.30 am I arrived at Lawang Sewu and took some pictures while I was waiting for my students. I booked a guide and paid for Rp.50.000. I wanted my students to get the right information about this building so that letter on, they can write good stories.

It was a very hot day and sadly I forgot to bring my tumbler and sunglasses. Sweat run all over my body as I walk along the building. There goes my beautiful make up. 🙁

Long story short we began our tour around Lawang Sewu building which is now look so amazing. I asked them to take some pictures (not just selfies hahaha) and feel free to ask questions to our guide.He took as to see parts of the building and even share about horror stories. You know that Lawang Sewu has always been associated with spooky things and it definitely triggers more visitors to see the building each year. Sadly the dungeon was under construction so we could not see the most horror part of the building that the visitors are so curious about not to mention my students.

Most of the students were so excited during the tour. Most of the have visited Lawang Sewu before but they did not get as many information as today and definitely took a bunch of selfies and welfies. Before we finished our class that day, I explained them a little bit about travel writing. Eventhough I am not an expert or famous travel blogger, at least I have some experiences about travel writing. After some brief explanation, I gave them assignment to write travel stories based on their experience that day. I told them that I did not want to read advertorial stories or stories about the building. I wanted them to write personal stories based on what they saw and feel during the class.

To make it even more challenging for them, I promised to post 2 best stories in this blog as an appreciation for them. They were so excited and passionate to finish this assignment. So to keep the promise, I will post 2 best stories from my students after this. It was a beautiful day and I could see them enjoying our outdoor class. Most of the stories that my students made were really good. It was difficult for me to choose just 2 since I love many of them. But promise is a promise and I will post the stories this week. 🙂

So for the next 2 blog posts about Lawang Sewu in this blog will be presented by my students. I hope whenever they see Lawang Sewu they will remember our outdoor class and hopefully someday one of them will be successful travel writers. 🙂