40 Days In Europe

This is not a story about someone having a merry trip traveling many cities all around Europe, but this is a heroic story about how 35 Indonesian teenagers from Bandung, West Java, involved in an impossible mission, participating throughout many art and culture festivals in Europe and won every single of the trophies from every festivals with a very limited budget on their hands.
Their names now have been heard and talked all around the Europe and they have also succeed on introducing the art of Angklung, a music instrument made from bamboo which is originally found in Indonesia. This inspiring story started in 2004 when some teenagers from SMA 3 Bandung (35 of them) have made a noble decision to introduce Angklung as a magnificent piece of art of Indonesia to the world. They created an organization known as ESA (Expand the Sound of Angklung) and decided to participate all of the art and culture festivals in Europe. They practiced almost everyday in order to be able to play Angklung and they worked really hard to find any sponsor that will help them to pay for the plane tickets and accommodation during their stay in Europe. Ironically, there are no companies nor the local government agencies that interested and willing to help their culture mission in Europe. However, the teenagers didn't give up and they decided to go to Europe with their OWN MONEY which of course was very limited and must be used carefully. They also weren't afraid to compete with other countries like Japan, China, and many others that also took part in the festival.
Nevertheless, in spite of those obstacles that they have been through, they managed to give their splendid performance they worked so hard and it truly gave an awe to all of the audience. They have finally survived for 40 days in Europe and even came home to Indonesia with a "Cipuaga" trophy that they won from a very prestige and well-known art festival at Zakopane,Poland. Now, many young people in Indonesia have inspired with this heroic story and starting to learn more about their own culture. As the matter of fact, even more and more people from all around the world are coming to Indonesia and study Indonesian culture especially Angklung which now has became quite famous for the foreigners. Having said that, we as the young generation of Indonesia must learn from this story and start taking responsibility to protect Angklung and many other Indonesian culture.

"If you are interested with the detail of this heroic story, buy the novel "40 Days in Europe" now or visit www.40daysineurope.com"