Happy 36th Anniversary SMA Negeri 5 Palembang

THIS Friday and Saturday, November 1st and 2nd, 2013, SMAN 5 Palembang celebrated its 36th anniversary/birthday. In style.

Students assemble for the pre-parade ceremony. 

Posing with some teachers. I was the
only person wearing shorts, and everyone
was quite taken-aback by my
liberal/inappropriate garb for the event. 

Headmaster rings the ceremonial gong.

Headmaster Pak Budi
speaking before the students. 

Each class had their own
 costumes and decorations.

A mass of balloons sent into the sky
with the SMAN 5 flag.

Students stop traffic to cross
the street for the parade. We walked
for about an hour through Palembang.

Pak Budi oversees the street crossing.

Most of the signs all said 'Happy Birthday'. One of
my fellow English teachers was upset that
they did not use the 'proper' term, anniversary.

I was very impressed by the
students' efforts and creativity.

The Kirby class was my favorite.
Real men wear pink.

They made 5 huge signs and posted
them aroundthe school grounds.

Chillin' with Extreme Class.

We're a tough bunch.

After the parade, we returned to the school and
each class performed a song and dance. 

More balloons to be sent to the heavens.

The cake was a pyramidal mound of rice
with eggs and vegetables stuck into it.  

The other sugary cake in front of the teachers.

Headmaster Budi slices the cake.

Everyone then proceeded to feed
each other, one by one.

Each class made a bunch of presents and
threw them in a pile. Representatives then
came and got 10 seconds to grab as many as they could. 

The next day, we returned for more celebration.
Here the teachers pose before the cooking contest.

Student rock bands jammed throughout the whole celebration. So many of them are amazing musicians.

Confused bule stands fearing his inevitable
failure during the Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)
cooking contest. They chose me as anchor
and I did a great job ruining all of their hard work.

The Ibus were all pros at cooking Nasi Goreng.
It was awesome to watch them do their thing.

Grinding chilis and vegetables on the stone.  

Great cooking face. She knows she's good. 

Rock stars take a break.

Poster for the poster contest.
 They were amazing.

Some amazing artwork. Got me thinking
 that I need to do more art projects in class.

A judge looks scrupulously
 at one of the posters.

Next were the games.
Rifki poses in front  of the relay track.

Ibu sits and waits for her turn to play 'Bisa Jadi'.
A word is put on her head and she must use
clues from her partner to guess the word.
'Bisa Jadi' means 'Could Be' in Indonesian.

Krazy kids.

Some students practice for the relay race.

                              

This weekend I learned a valuable lesson: Indonesians know how to party.