Welcome to The MMSU ...
On January 22nd was our first orientation of Sea-Teacher Program by the MMSU in College of Teacher Education in the Laoag City. The orientation was intended for all the Sea-Teacher participants. It was really my first activity that I had after touching down to Batac City on January 20th. Before the orientation would be started, we, the Sea-Teacher students were welcomed by the university officers and the students of the College of Teacher Education (CTE) who wore the black and yellow uniform.
I felt very honored to be one of the participants of Sea-Teacher who was sent here to MMSU because since I was here from the first day I arrived, they really treated me well. It could be seen by the way the unexpected welcoming given to us. Firstly, the welcoming speech was delivered by president Shierly Agruphis, a very energic woman. She asked us to consider as our second home far away from Indonesia. The next welcoming was delivered by the other kind university officers. In their speech, they also introduced us about the Philippines, some of it is learning Tagalog and Ilocano language, singing “kumustaka” the Philippines song.
Surprisingly, the students also performed some of the Indonesian traditional dances, such as Tari Piring and Tari Selamat Datang and singing Indonesian local song: Si Patokaan from North Sulawesi. After the performances, we were served the delicious lunch. Such being an honored guest here.
The next agenda was going around the college of teacher education. The university officers accompanied us and introduced their campus to all of the Sea-Teacher participants. The first time I saw the building I was thinking it was really different the one that we had in Indonesia. It was like a Spanish style. Going around the campus felt like I was visiting Europe because of seeing the building. Walking among the students there made I felt like every couple of eyes was staring at us. I knew the reason why they did. All the girls of the student teachers were wearing “hijab” since they are Moslems. It was rare for them to see people who wore “hijab” around them. Moreover, we were 12 female and 4 male students who went there for the first time and walking around the campus. There, we met the friendly officers of Teacher Education. They prepared a room for us for having “ dhuhur” prayer since there was no mosque there.