OBSERVING FAMILY VALUES BY DOING AN INTERWIEW TO A FOREIGNER VIA VIDEO TELECONFERENCE “UNIBRIDGE PROJECT”

            Here is the data we got during an interview with one of our foreign friends from Australia. We also made observations during the interview activity through the teleconference program namely the UniBridge project. Through this video teleconference, we can more easily communicate directly with our friends who are abroad like in Australia. It is because this video teleconference allows us to make a video call in a group or with more than two people. That’s why we can conduct an interview together within one frame. That’s the advantage of using the Unibridge project, it can be easier to communicate with people who are far from us. Our friend is one of the students who take Indonesian language courses at one of the universities in Australia. The reason she took this course is because of some things. First, she wants to know more about Indonesian culture through the Indonesian language. Second, is because every year she takes a vacation to Indonesia to enjoy the natural atmosphere of Indonesia and the various cultures that exist in it. Third, she is fond of learning a foreign language that she thinks unique and feels challenged to learn. In addition, she also sees job opportunities where the Indonesian language is the official language used by Indonesian citizens. So that one day she could have the opportunity to work in Indonesia, and there are many more reasons why she wants to learn the Indonesian language.

We have been friends for about 6 months with her. So we know a little about what she told us, such as her habits, passions, family, and experience during the course of the Indonesian language. When we asked her about family values, she was very open to explaining them. We were just explaining the points only and she already understands the core we mean. We gladly listened as she told us about how family values in her family.

She is a wife and a housewife who has 3 children. Since childhood, she had familiarized her children to set aside their money for the sake of her children later. She teaches her children to save money with the goal that when their teen grows they will always remember to set aside half their income for urgent needs. In addition, currently, her three children have grown into teenagers and all three have entered the university. She also said that her three children had part-time jobs while studying on the campus. This is natural for her because part time jobs are professions that can make money to finance their lectures and to buy daily necessities. Although her children still live in a house with her, she never gives money to pay for her children's college. It is common to happen there, the child is accustomed to being responsible and independent from an early age so that later they can grow by supplying their own abilities without charging others. Although her children already have their own income as a mother, she still gives attention and affection to her children. This is evidenced by always preparing breakfast in the morning and accompanying her children while following extracurricular activities outside the campus.

When we asked her about how she responded to hiring a school-age child, she answered confidently. All of this is for the future of my children. They work for their own lives. If not themselves who will survive for their own lives then who will fight for them? She indeed impressed rough but all this she does for the sake of kindness. From this part-time job they will learn how hard it is to earn money as well as they will appreciate the money because it is obtained through sacrifices and a quite difficult effort. When we know all that, all of us immediately think and reflect. Apparently, the reason they work while studying is to earn money to pay for their own schools. We are so amazed at the same time salute the value that our friend familiarized her children. They will be trained to be independent even when building a family later on they will not rely on their parents anymore.

In addition, we also asked about her relatives who have a kinship with her. One thing to note is that, she lives far apart from her relatives, but she always spends time visiting her family during the celebration of religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Although living far apart but kinship ties are closely intertwined. By seeing this considerable difference in residence, we become surprised. Because living far apart from our closest people is very difficult to do especially for a very long time. This certainly causes a deep longing for the closest people to us. We are very saluting with our friend, even though she is married but she lives far apart from her husband. Because her husband works as a music tutor in one of the high schools there. Her husband only comes home about 6 months to meet her and his children. Despite having a very short time to gather together, he still lives normally like other people. For her, distance is not important to unite the family but communication is the key to maintaining kinship relationships with her family relatives.

Furthermore, the last thing we asked is about the provisions in choosing a course for university entrance. When we asked who was responsible for deciding what course her college student would take, confidently she said all the decisions were in their hands, we just approved them. But without her consent, the decision is still considered valid by her children. This is because by deciding what to choose when entering university, the rights and interests of the child are the most decisive success the child. She believes that the reason her children chose the desired course is to channel their interest and potential within themselves. When one of her children decided to choose a music course, she supports her son proudly. Freedom in deciding a decision is considered a responsibility to be taken by her children. Therefore every decision is entrusted to the child because it teaches her children to dare the risk of the decision that they have chosen.

Finally, there are several things that we can conclude from our observations on the family value shared by one of our friends. Each family has its own value. The value is something that can give positive goals and teach positive habits to someone. The value grows and develops with the development of the individuals’ age. The value cannot be measured by one measuring instrument, it is because the value is different for each person depending on the view of the person himself or herself. That's our brief report on the family value shared by our friends. From the experience that she shared, we realized many things, ranging from what we think is inappropriate to do but for her, it is good to do, and vice versa. It is because family values varies from culture to culture depending on the situation and environment of where someone lives. -lr