5 Things To Do In A Long Holiday To Make You Less Lonely

Go Volunteering!

Some said, Yogya is a good place to find who you are. This is a place where not to try new things are going to be regret. For those who love to meet people or do humanity act, Yogya is definitely a perfect option. There are many events held every month; music gigs, art exhibition, cultural or culinary festival, sport championship and some more. To mention some, there is Biennale Art Exhibition (November to January); Festival Kesenian Yogya, Lockstock Music Festival, Yogya Gamelan Festival in the middle of the year and Jogja International Heritage Walk in November. These events usually open a volunteer recruitment for high school or college student to support their committee. One said, meet a stranger regularly and be creative! 

Or, if you want to do a charity but you’re not the Wayne family, join a charity based on community is one of the options. There are Coin a Chance, Senyum Kita, Komunitas Jendela or Save Street Child Jogja community which helps the marginal children’s education. There is also Pagi Berbagi community which donates a pack of meal every morning to the street sweepers, a junk publican, a market porter, the abandoned children, a paper boy, a pedicab driver, etc. Information is so easy to get nowadays, just double click your mouse. 

How to apply? Well, simply as fill in the form. Special for event committee, usually they demand your experience in the project field. But in charity volunteering, your super good hearted is most needed. 

Not only to spend your leisure time, volunteering activity also a good chance for you to build a connection, get experience and skill that matter today, or even just to know yourself better. Moreover, meeting new people is good for your social life.

Short Course

Holiday doesn't always dwell on some fun, like travelling, shopping or hanging out. Hence, many are looking for different nuance in spending their holidays, and one of them is taking a short course fellowship. In Indonesia itself, a short course provides an opportunity for those who want to take academic activities. This is held in order to accelerate the graduation and perhaps would be very boring for you. International short course is definitely different from what is done in Indonesia. There’re plenty of types of short courses for students offered, and one of which is summer school. This kind of short courses is combined with outdoor activities, called excursion. For fee, there’s usually tuition fee and sometimes could be waived because it’s a university partner. In addition, there’re universities that have already facilitated the accommodation, but some haven’t. So it all depends on the requirements. For example, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies provides summer school for International Student. One of our interviewee, Ronang Wahyu, who is studying in HUFS, told us that summer session Korean Language class this year will be held in July 16th up to August 18th. They don’t only study Korean Language, but also learn the tradition in South Korea through the field trip. So basically, with this short course, you will get some benefits. Such as broadening the horizon, having a lot of new friends from all over the world, getting to know each other’s culture, and absolutely enjoying the beauty of the Country where you study.

Happy hunting for summer school, guys!

Date at The Museum.  

We can spend the holiday by doing fascinating activities to relax our mind and body. Mostly people do that. However, you can try another alternative to enjoy your break-time and get education as well. A visit to the museum is an opportunity to experience and discover collection of historical things such as objects of artistic, cultural, nature and science. It is a good chance to gain great knowledge since it enriches us with the history. Those who are planning to have a look into the past, it can be indeed a thrilling experience to visit the museum. Below are suggestion places of museum trip in Yogyakarta as follows:

1.     Museum of Ullen Sentalu

Taman Kaswargan, Jl. Boyong, Kaliurang.

Open Tuesday – Sunday 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (closed Mondays). 

Entrance: Rp 25.000,-

Info: (0274) 895-161, 880-158. (www.ullensentalu.com)

This is museum of Batik and Javanese arts which keep batik made by the ladies of Yogyakarta Palace. Here, you can find out how Javanese ancestors made batik that has deep meaning and significance in every tone. The building is unique since you will through a kind of tunnel to go to the museum. The entrance cost is including a guide who will show and tell about historical things there. Unfortunately, it is forbidden to take a picture inside, so prepare your wide mind storage.

2.    Museum of Wayang Kekayon

Jl. Raya Yogya – Wonosari No. 277

Open  8.00 am – 3.00 pm (everyday)

Entrance : Rp 7.000,- (domestic tourist), Rp 5.000,- (student), Rp 10.000,- (foreign tourist)

Info :  0274 – 379058, 6815151, 0811255151

This museum is a place where keeps wayang, a Javanese shadow puppet play, in Yogyakarta. Collections of the Museum are many kinds of wayang, masks, Javanese clothes, etc. However, there are several kinds of wayang from around the world. How amazing. To take a photographs, you can only pay additional cost Rp 10.000,-.

3.    Museum of Affandi

Jl. Laksda Adisutjipto 167 Yogyakarta 55281

Open 9.00 am – 4.00 pm (everyday – closed holiday)

Entrance: Rp 10.000,- (domestic tourist), Rp 20.000,- (foreign tourist)

Info :  0274 – 562593 (www.affandi.org)

It is a treasure house of Affandi’s paintings, an Painting Maestro. This museum is place for Affandi to stay, to work, to keep his magnificent paintings and to dedicate his rest of life. You can have a look at his and other painters’ works there, the house that functions as a gallery to show the great paintings and its history. Like in the museum of Wayang kekayon, to make your vacation memorable, you can pay additional cost Rp 10.000,- for taking photographs.

To make great time in your holiday, you can spend it by having fun while learning in order to refresh and enrich your knowledge wider. That’s your option: batik, wayang, or paintings. Take it or experience it.

Garage Sale! Turn Your Junks Into Piles of Money.

Get rid of goods you no longer need yet still able to earn quite amount of money. To lose and earn. Maybe this proverb pretty much describes how garage sale works. Sometimes, we are in the urgency to have extra money in a big scale. Maybe for an event; to buy stuffs; to pay the bill; etc. For those who already have salary it might not be a big deal. However, if it comes to us, student, well, it is a problem. By then, we must find another way to earn the money. That one other way is through selling goods we have; garage sale.

However, since we only do it occasionally let’s just do it in a small scale. A simple sample is doing it at Sunday morning. Every weekend, along the street to lembah UGM you will find a long line of stands of various stuffs. From food to pillows; hamsters and posters. While the street is narrowed with humans, among the crowd I see some groups of students and stack of clothes before them. Generally the goods they sell are their own, such skirts, shirts, pants, shoes, etc. Or, if you think your living place is quite strategic like a boarding house just sell stuff in front of your door.

Since this way to earn money is reachable by the beginner, make sure to do it in strategic way.  Here I offer you tips to do  garage sale. 

1. Do it in group. Being all alone and offering the goods by yourself is kinda miserable. Moreover, more stuffs attract more traffic.

2. Keep a neat and attractive display. Don’t pile up the clothes inside a large basket. Instead, hang them. Prepare a clothesline strung or simply clip them on a string with clothespin. Hanging clothes are easier to see and more attractive. 

3. Be friendly. Don’t stay quiet and wait for the questions being asked, nor too talkative. Let the customer feel welcomed and being taken care. 

4. Be a good bargainer. Haggling is the art of shopping. You can’t eluded the haggler only by clearly write the price. All you need is a patient and convincing words. A good bargaining leads to a more selling. 

5. Advertising the sale. First rule of selling is to let people notice you. If you cannot afford a space at newspaper, post an announcement. Send message to friends or simple poster yet notice-able around the neighborhood. Or, tweeting and updating Facebook status informing it are easiest one.

Well, those are some recommended alternative plans you can take in a long holiday. Probably, you have your own idea about how to spend your break time you might need since a good vacation can help you to refresh and relax your mind and body. By taking a break for a vacation, you can try something new and meet a lot of nice people. Hopefully, this article might help you to find your soul and bring you to the right holiday destination