Sistem Edukasi Aust se-superior itu kah?

Dan pendapatmu?

Saya, dan banyak students lainnya, yang telah lumayan makan asem garem dunia edukasi kangguru, belum bisa berkoar banyak karena tidak tau sistem UK.

Tapi mau gimana lagi, sistem (dan budaya) Anglosakson saat ini sangat berpamor dan bermanfaat untuk kompetitas di dunia kerja.

Knowledge of the English language. Perlukah dikomentari?
Tapi ngomong2 ex-housemates saya di SYD selalu bilang, you should learn more English. Boh ...

Dan sistem pendidikan RI? Rumus demi rumus, hafalan demi hafalan, sistem kebut semalem suntuk?

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Australia, NZ education Mecca for Brits

Increasing numbers of British students are heading to Australia and New Zealand to further their education, a newspaper says.

The Times reported the number of British students travelling to the Antipodes to take up undergraduate and postgraduate places had risen by more than a third since 2002.

More than 6,250 British students were studying in Australia and New Zealand last year.

"Sports sciences, health sciences, and Asian studies have attracted British students in the past," Kathleen Devereux, from the Australian Trade Commission, was quoted as saying.

"But now people who want to study medicine or veterinary science but have failed to gain a place at a university in Britain are considering the move.

"You'd think of the UK market as being a fairly mature market, but we have had 12 per cent year-on-year growth from 2002 to 2005."

While university fees are more expensive in Australia than in Britain, lower living costs and the pound's strength against the dollar make studying abroad an attractive option.

The newspaper said another drawcard was the position of 13 Australian and three New Zealand institutions in the world's top 200 universities, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement.

Kejal Patel, a 22-year-old student from Charlton, South London, hopes to undertake postgraduate study in psychology at the University of New South Wales after struggling to find the work experience needed to secure a place in Britain.

She plans to return to Britain as a chartered clinical psychologist in half the time it would have taken her at home.

"It's really exciting, the standards are very good and it's based on a British education system, so I feel that I would slot in really well," Ms Patel told the newspaper.

"It's also a really dynamic, vibrant country."

Ms Patel expects to work part-time during her two-year course and has applied for a graduate scholarship offered to UK residents wanting to study in Australia.

Siena, Toscana

Ungkapan kasarnya, Siena adalah kota nomor dua di Toscana. Pamornya redup ditelan oleh kepesatan ekonomi dan guliran ide Renaissance tetangga, pun ex-musuh, si kota bunga Firenze (Firenze).

Dan sejarah Toscana menorehkan Siena dan Firenze keduanya bak dua “sisters” yang beradu sikut selama berabad-abad. Siena sempat unggul pre-Renaissance, bahkan hampir menaklukkan free comune Firenze. Belum lagi, setiap kali tersiar kabar, Ooh the Fiorentini (habitants of Florence) are to knock up a grand cathedral, of the most grandeur in the whole of Europe, make para Senesi (habitants of Siena) pun tak mau kalah, Well we’ll show them we have a prettier, bigger and grander Duomo – lihat photo Duomo Siena!

Saya tiba di Siena jam 10 pagi tanggal 16 agustus. Alasan pertama untuk melihat keramaian yang ada. Il Palio di Siena, yang terkenal global, warisan 500 tahun persaingan antar contrade (districk). Pacuan kuda yang selain menghormati la Madonna (Mary) pun penuh intrik licik mempertahankan gengsi mendapatkan the Palio (latin. Pallium) banner kehormatan bagi si pemenang plus pesta semalam suntuk bagi tim contrada. Salah satu aturan uniknya adalah, si jockey haruslah orang non Siena, katanya untuk menjaga fairplay. Boh!

Namun, harus diakui, seperti kata orang Italia, che confuzione, che casino! Siena, ketika Palio, adalah kota sibuk tak kepalang. Ribuan orang mengalir bak air bah ke Piazza del Campo di Siena. Piazza ini dijuluki oleh banyak travel guides sebagai piazza terindah sedunia. Benar atau tidaknya relatif bagi setiap visitor, tapi memang tak bisa dipungkiri Piazza del Campo bukan saja bagus mencengangkan pun unik (dengan shape trapesium, umumnya Piazza di Italia hampir selalu persegi).

Jam satu siang saya pun mabur dari kerumunan spektator dengan hasil pampasan foto berikut di bawah ini.

Sampai jumpa di Palio tahun depan, July 2007, mungkin???
Ciaoooooooo …. macchiato






Il Duomo, Siena

Paradisiaque Cinque Terre

Riomaggiore, Via Antonio

Gli amici, mates, buddy ...

You guessed it right: Italy is the most beautiful place on the planet. Along the Mediterranean peninsula, the Spaghettini share more UNESCO world heritage sites, more mediaeval spots than any other nations, more objets d’arts, more this, that, and everything else.

Cinque Terre (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
What more can one say, it is just absolutely bloody fantastic. The sublime beauty of the five lands (in fact the name derives from the five isolated villages) is beyond description, really. Just too good to be true, but it exists. To be seen by own eyes to be believed. Worth every fucken penny, every effort to come to this Italic paradise.

Hopelessly wedged between terraced greeny vineyards, mediaeval villages, churches, ruins and fortresses, cathedrals and lanky sombre lanes, Cinque Terre surrender its serenity to the rocky coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tutte delle Cinque Terre:


Cathedrale, Riomaggiore


Castello, Riomaggiore


Manarola, Porto, Abbronzarsi



Port, Manarola


Riomaggiore, Porto bathed in light


Riomaggiore, View from Hostel


Vernazza, Beach and Cathedral


Vernazza, Porto


Vernazza, Skyline & Castello

Cinque Terre in Aquerelle

Hfff .. hela nafas panjang.

Perjalanan panjang yang, walaupun penuh drama pada awalnya (bus telat, salah kereta, ... anglomerasi turis lokal dan internasional en masse, ketinggalan kereta, lalu salah kereta lagi, pfff ) menyenangkan juga.

Cinque Terre adalah sebuah sudut di provinsi Liguria, Italia yang penuh sensasi, magica dan belezza.

Kali ini saya tinggalkan beberapa foto. In aquerelle. Kamu bisa menggunakan imaginasi terliar kamu, eksplosi warna, ports, fisherman villages, promenade on the Mediterranean sea, pretty palaces, medieval fortresses, concerts at midnight, cutesy pubs, foccaccia al pesto (Ligurian specialty) dalam tempo dua malam.

Ooooaaaah....

Saat ini masih di Roma, menghabiskan weekend dan sisa liburan, dalam beberapa hari harus kembali ke «real world», ke Universitas, dan pastinya ... saya posting lebih banyak foto dan cerita.

ciao ciao gli amici!

Jangan lupa tinggalkan pesan buat saya yah.

Che ne sarà di noi

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Sampai jumpa minggu depan para temans, diriku akan melepas diri beberapa hari di Toscana.

Cinque Terre, Firenze dan Siena : siap ngga siap, diriku mengunjungimu!

ciaoooooooooooo
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Dan kemarin pun akhirnya ada progess, ada aktifitas non-homey setelah lama mengendon di rumah.

Perugia merayakan hari Saint Patron mereka, Sant'Ercolano, yang menurut legenda menjadi martir setelah dieksekusi alla barbeque, dibakar hidup-hidup.

Maka kota Etruska antik ini bikin pagelaran dengan efek pyroteknik, sembur-sembur api.

Namun, sebelumnya di unversitas pun ada film buat students. Untungnya diberi subtitel Italian, hingga walau ngga ngerti total, minimal bisa 60-70% ngerti, walau percakapan anak muda Italian, normal memang, penuh slang dan ekspresi colloquial.

Che ne sarà di noi

Bagus euy! Menarik. Komedi Italian coming of age yang menggelitik nerves humour sekaligus memberi pertanyaan.



«Che Ne Sara' di Noi I thought was a quite unique film. Everyone goes through the summer that comes after leaving high school and everybody feels that they are going towards the "unknown", that can be going towards university, college or work.This movie talks about 3 friends that while on vacation ask themselves: what will happen to us? (che ne sara' di noi).The movie at the beginning is not dramatic at all, it's actually quite funny in presenting the 3 different friends that come from 3 totally different backgrounds. After the Italian "maturita'" exam (the final high school exam) one of them pushes to go on vacation on a Greek island as his lover has just gone. When they get there they somehow start to change and slowly it seems that their friendship is dying.The ending is quite open, they all take different paths that somehow makes them finish their teen age and makes them start having responsibilities.»

Madonna «pulang kampung» err ...

Madonna mudik, «pulang kampung» euy!

Vatikan pun sibuk menghujatnya: konser si ratu Pop berusia empat puluh delapan tahun BLASPHEMY. Alasannya, euh mari tanyakan kepada il Papa, alamatnya: the Pope, Vatican. Gampang diinget kan?

Konser tunggalnya di Italia ludes total, SOLD OUT, kecuali kamu ke ebay.it; penggemarnya dari penjuru Italia kamping di depan hotel dan nangis sesegukan saat mereka mengaku kehabisan tiket.

Dan saya pun baru tau kalau si Esther yang mangambil nama panggung Madonna itu ternyata berdarah italian. Baru tau itu pun karena sebulan terakhir ini ia satu-satunya artis yang jadi buah bibir.

I don't wanna hear, I don't wanna know, please don't say you're sorry ... lalala, I heard it all before I heard it all before

...

+++ Addendum 07/08/06 +++

Madonna has staged a mock-crucifixion in Rome, ignoring a storm of protest and accusations of blasphemy from the Roman Catholic Church.

In a sold-out stadium not far from Vatican City, the lapsed-Catholic diva wore a fake crown of thorns as she was raised on a glittery cross during the Rome stop of her worldwide "Confessions Tour".

The Vatican had accused her of blasphemy and provocation for even considering staging the sham crucifixion on its doorstep, anger Madonna further inflamed prior to the show by inviting Pope Benedict to come and watch.

The self-styled "Queen of Pop" went on to pepper her two-and-a-half hour show on Sunday with more controversial imagery, at one point showing photographs of the pope after those of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

"Did you know two miracles have taken place in Rome?," the star, dressed in skin-skimming black, later joked with the crowd. "Italy won the World Cup and the rain stopped before my show."

The 70,000 fans, crammed into the Olympic Stadium, shrugged off the scandal, by dancing, singing and jumping as she performed songs from her latest album Confessions on a Dance Floor and classics such as Like a Virgin.

Yet, the cheering lulled when she was raised on the cross and some fans from predominantly Roman Catholic Italy confessed their disappointment.

"The crucifixion was unnecessary and provocative. Because this is Rome, I wish she'd cut it out. But it's Madonna, she's an icon, and that balances out her need to provoke," said 39-year old Roman, Tonia Valerio.

It is not the first time Madonna, whose father is a Catholic Italian American, has caused religious anger for her controversial religious and sexual imagery.

Catholic leaders condemned as blasphemous her 1989 video for hit song Like a Prayer, featuring burning crosses, statues crying blood and Madonna seducing a black Jesus.

In 2004, a Vatican group warned that her latest religious belief, Kabbalah, a mystical form of Judaism, was a potential threat to the Roman Catholic faithful.

And she looks likely to face another storm when the tour reaches Moscow in September, where the Russian Orthodox Church has advised its followers to boycott the show because of the crucifixion stunt, agency Interfax reported.