DAY 1 (January 22nd 2018)

Magandang umaga!! Today was the day that marks the starter point of the SEA-TEACHER program. At first, we ate breakfast at the university’s canteen. The breakfast was consist of boiled egg and a local cuisine, which called bangus or milk fish. The bangus is a boneless fried fish and the taste is a bit salty like Indonesia’s ikan asin. After breakfast, I and the others visited PSU Bayambang’s Faculty of Science and Math. There, we were introduced to the teachers and staffs and had a good time talking with each other.

At 10 am. the bus came to carry us to the Lingayen City. Along the road, we enjoyed the scenery of the Pangasinan Province, such as the migrant birds, the fishponds, and of course the beach of Lingayen Gulf. The bus stopped at the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol, which used as the governor’s office. There, we were formally greeted with the vice governor and the executive boards of Pangasinan Province. After that, we had a photo session with them and enjoyed a tour around the building.

At noon, we were transported to the PSU Lingayen Main Campus. There, we were served lunch inside the university’s convention hall. The lunch was a local cuisine which consist of fried fish with tomato sauce and something called chicken gulay, chicken stewed with thick sauce. After lunch, we started the orientation of SEA-TEACHER and SEA-TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) program. The orientation was filled with the PSU students’ singing and dancing performance. We were also greeted by the handsome President of Pangasinan State University, Dr. Dexter R. Buted. There was also an introduction for each of participant from Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Then, I was granted the honor to deliver the welcoming speech as Indonesia’s representative. It was such a thrilling experience to give the speech in front of the people from other countries, and even a university’s president at that. At the end of the speech, I said “gustung-gusto ko ang Pangasinan State University” and was applaused by the whole audiences.

At 5 pm., we concluded the orientation ceremony and went back home to Bayambang. We fell tired and felt asleep on the way home. But we were wide awake when we came across the beach, just so we could see the sunset on the beach. The trip back to the Bayambang was held by the traffic due to the busy hour at the afternoon. We arrived at 7 pm. at PSU Bayambang and were served the dinner by Mr. Don at our room. The dinner was fried chicken with stir-fry vegetables. I finished the dinner and then slept fast. That was such a tiring day for me.