Universitas Sebelas Maret became the first winner in The 4th International Student Summit (ISS) 2015, Monday-Wednesday (11/16-18/2015). The event is the program of Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti) cooperating with University of Muhammadiyah Malang as the host. One hundred students from more than 40 countries who have been studying in Indonesia participated in this event.
There are 3 students representing Universitas Sebelas Maret, they are Mukhriddin Khosimov (Uzbekistan), Huang Zhaoying (Tiongkok), and Jean Jacques (Madagascar). They created the video that the culture were become the major topic as the themes of this event are Indonesian language and the tourism spots in Indonesia. In the video entitled “3 Palates 3 Stories” , each of those three students express what they experienced when coming to Solo for the very first time.
Mukhriddin was surprised about how Solonese eat their food. He said that the way the people eat is very unique as he has not found it yet in Uzbekistan. “I am very surprised. In Uzbekistan, people only eat at home or in the restaurants. We do not eat in the outdoor space.” he said. Meanwhile, Cherry shared her impression about traditional market in Solo which still keeps its traditional architecture style. She pointed on the most fascinating part in the market is when she found the small alleys that intersects in the center of Pasar Gede.
Jean himself admitted that he found it difficult to adapt with the cuisine in Solo at the first time. “At first, I find it hard to get used to the sweet and spicy food here. In Madagascar, all of the food is always salty.” He told that he needs 1 month to savour Gado-Gado as he disliked it because of its spicy taste. Moreover, he now does not enjoy his food whenever the food is not spicy. “Solo is my favourite city in Indonesia, the cuisine here costs much cheaper. I invite you to come here and to taste its local cuisine. I guarantee a hundred percents you will eat a lot.”, he added.
The participants of this competition are Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Universitas Negeri Malang, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Padjadjaran, and many more. Universitas Sebelas Maret won the first winner, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan won the second place, and Universitas Atmajaya Yogyakarta won the third place.
“This video is complete and all is well-done. The message, culture, language, and cinematography technique are very attractive. I suppose that if it was shown to their friends from where they are from, it will leave mark to their impression and will take their curiousity about Indonesia,” explained Nasrullah, one of the evaluator, as cited by Tempo.
