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| Dag! Alles goed? |
Well, I'm not going to continue that shit thing anymore. Let's talk to the point. In this post, I'll tell you about choosing of being an exchange students, especially in high school.
Why do you waste your time with that useless thing?
Why don't you go after you're graduated from high school?
You're stupid, give your money with useless thing!
You can go wherever you want after you get much money on your job, dude!
You're stupid doing that thing!
Why do you do it if you miss your country, family, friends?
How come you go there and don't know the language?!
Those are statements and questions I've got before I left my country until NOW, when I'm still on my exchange year. I think not only me, all exchange students have ever got it surely. See, we are awesome, guys! We are strong because we can get through all those underestimated questions or statements. We can face the people who underestimate us! Right now, I'm gonna tell you a little story of me before until now as an exchange student.
Well, I started from January 2014. At that time, I really wanna go abroad. Then once I looked for scholarship and I found AFS. I know AFS is not a scholarship actually, but I think that's my chance to go abroad. Then I said to myself that I MUST DO IT!
In March, I signed up myself and I took some tests which are required by AFS Indonesia. Fortunately, my parents agree that I join it. I know it's hard for them to agree with it, but this is my life, I have right to do what I want and I convince them that it's gonna be all right. Finally, I'm official AFS-er in April! I got placement in Belgium Flanders. Well, I never thought before that I'll get this little country. I don't even really know how Belgium is. But later, after I'm here, I really don't regret to get placement in this beautiful country.
After I got visa with many obstacles and had orientation camp, I departed on 21st August 2014. I still remember the face of my dad, mom, sisters at that time. Unfortunately, my brother couldn't join us because he was really busy. My mother cried a little. So did my friends who are going with me to Belgium. While I didn't actually because I believe I'll meet them next year and it's time for me to see the world.
Then I arrived in Belgium on 22nd August 2014. I met many people who are also AFS-ers from around the world. It was really nice to know them. I met my host family on 24th August 2014. Such a wonderful moment for me! I didn't really know my host family before I arrived here. One thing that I knew was only that I'll be alone with a 75-year-old man at home. My feeling was mixed when I met him. It was like he is my grandpa. He can't speak English well but I took it as a positive thing for me. I was challenged to be able to speak Dutch as soon as possible. I learned a lot of Dutch and everyday tried to speak with him.
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| Have friends from all over the world |
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| Indonesians :) |
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| Host family |
1st September was my first day at school. I really felt weird but I could only smile to everyone. Then I have many friends at this school. Such a nice thing!
Then in October I changed my host family. It's not a problem. I just felt alone there and it's not the time for that man to take care of anyone anymore. I still love him, we still have contact, even a few weeks ago I made a waffle to him. Now I have hostdad, mom, two brothers and one sister. I really love my family here. We travel a lot, play, discuss many things and others together. I really can't describe how I love them. Since January 2015, I changed my school also and I met many nice poeple again!
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| Host family at the Christmas night |
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| We played with snow during sport lesson haha |
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| We also made snowball |
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| My friends in the new school :) |
Well, now I'm already 7 months here. I got many experiences here. I have new family, not only one but two families! I have many friends, either from Belgium or from other countries. EN NU KAN IK NEDERLANDS PRATEN!
Just imagine, you will have new family, friends from around the world, and can speak other languages. Besides, maybe you'll get new skills that you never thought before. I mean, like me, I learn how to cook now which was really not me before. But at school I take direction which has cooking lesson and I have to follow it! I also learn swimming here. Belgians really like sport! Everyone I meet here has sport activity. So, I choose to learn swimming here as I never learned it as serious as here haha.. So, isn't it enough to be the reasons for being an exchange student?!
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| First real snow in my life |
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| And now I know how snow is as we don't have snow in Indonesia haha :) |
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| Cooking lesson in school |
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| When I made waffle with my counselor |
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| LOOK! I got this in Netherlands which is near to my house and cooked it with my host mom |
It's not an useless thing! We learn here. Maybe not learn like in school, we learn more about the life. Experience is the best teacher of our life, isn't it? And later, you'll know that holiday is not same as exchange. Trust me, you won't regret it and remember, YOLO! You're still young and it's time for you to explore the world! So, are you ready?
Still doubt? Here I give you more reasons.
And you should also read this, it's really amazing and represent us:
Exchange
is change. Rapid, brutal, beautiful, hurtful, colourful, amazing,
unexpected, overwhelming and most of all constant change. Change in
lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, houses, school, simply
everything.
Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand is wrong, but also right in a way.
Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But not entirely new. You are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.
Exchange is learning to trust. Trust people, who, at first, are only names on a piece of paper, trust that they want the best for you, that they care. Trust, that you have the strength to endure a year on your own, endure a year of being apart from everything that mattered to you before. Trust that you will have friends. Trust that everything’s going to be alright. And it is seeing this trust being justified.
Exchange is thinking. All the time. About everything. Thinking about those strange costumes, the strange food, the strange language. About why you’re here and not back home. About how it’s going to be like once you come back home. How that girl/boy is going to react when you see her again. About who’s hanging out where this weekend. At first who’s inviting you at all. And in the end where you’re supposed to go, when you’re invited to ten different things. About how everybody at home is doing. About how stupid this whole time-zone thing is. Not only because of home, but also because the tv ads for shows keep confusing you.
Thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong. About how stupid or rude you just were to someone without meaning to be. About the point of all this. About the sense of life. About who you want to be, what you want to do. And about when that English essay is due, even though you’re marks don’t count. About whether you should go home after school, or hang out at someone’s place until midnight. Someone you didn’t even know a few months ago. And about what the hell that guy just said.
Exchange is people. Those incredibly strange people, who look at you like you’re an alien. Those people who are too afraid to talk to you. And those people who actually talk to you. Those people who know your name, even though you have never met them. Those people, who tell you who to stay away from. Those people who talk about you behind your back, those people who make fun of your country. All those people, who aren’t worth your giving a damn. Those people you ignore.
And those people who invite you to their homes. Who keep you sane. Who become your friends.
Exchange is music. New music, weird music, cool music, music you will remember all your life as the soundtrack of your exchange. Music that will make you cry because all those lyrics express exactly how you feel, so far away. Music that will make you feel like you could take on the whole world. And it is music you make. With the most amazing musicians you’ve ever met. And it is site reading a thousand pages just to be part of the school band.
Exchange is uncomfortable. It’s feeling out of place, like a fifth wheel. It’s talking to people you don’t like. It’s trying to be nice all the time. It’s bugs.. and bears. It’s cold, freezing cold. It’s homesickness, it’s awkward silence and its feeling guilty because you didn’t talk to someone at home. Or feeling guilty because you missed something because you were talking on Skype.
Exchange is great. It’s feeling the connection between you and your host parents grow. It’s hearing your little host brother asking where his big brother is. It’s knowing in which cupboard the peanut butter is. It’s meeting people from all over the world. It’s having a place to stay in almost every country of the world. It’s getting 5 new families. One of them being a huge group of the most awesome teenagers in the world.
It’s cooking food from your home country and not messing up. It’s seeing beautiful landscapes that you never knew existed.
Exchange is exchange students. The most amazing people in the whole wide world. Those people from everywhere who know exactly how you feel and those people who become your absolute best friends even though you only see most of them 3 or 4 times during your year. The people, who take almost an hour to say their final goodbyes to each other. Those people with the jackets full of pins. All over the world.
Exchange is falling in love. With this amazing, wild, beautiful country. And with your home country.
Exchange is frustrating. Things you can’t do, things you don’t understand. Things you say, that mean the exact opposite of what you meant to say. Or even worse…
Exchange is understanding.
Exchange is unbelievable.
Exchange is not a year in your life. It’s a life in one year.
Exchange is nothing like you expected it to be, and everything you wanted it to be.
Exchange is the best year of your life so far. Without a doubt. And it’s also the worst. Without a doubt.
Exchange is something you will never forget, something that will always be a part of you. It is something no one back at home will ever truly understand.
Exchange is growing up, realizing that everybody is the same, no matter where they’re from. That there are great people and douche bags everywhere. And that it only depends on you how good or bad your day is going to be. Or the whole year.
And it is realizing that you can be on your own, that you are an independent person. Finally. And it’s trying to explain that to your parents.
Exchange is dancing in the rain for no reason, crying without a reason, laughing at the same time. It’s a turmoil of every emotion possible.
Exchange is everything. And exchange is something you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it.
Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand is wrong, but also right in a way.
Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But not entirely new. You are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.
Exchange is learning to trust. Trust people, who, at first, are only names on a piece of paper, trust that they want the best for you, that they care. Trust, that you have the strength to endure a year on your own, endure a year of being apart from everything that mattered to you before. Trust that you will have friends. Trust that everything’s going to be alright. And it is seeing this trust being justified.
Exchange is thinking. All the time. About everything. Thinking about those strange costumes, the strange food, the strange language. About why you’re here and not back home. About how it’s going to be like once you come back home. How that girl/boy is going to react when you see her again. About who’s hanging out where this weekend. At first who’s inviting you at all. And in the end where you’re supposed to go, when you’re invited to ten different things. About how everybody at home is doing. About how stupid this whole time-zone thing is. Not only because of home, but also because the tv ads for shows keep confusing you.
Thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong. About how stupid or rude you just were to someone without meaning to be. About the point of all this. About the sense of life. About who you want to be, what you want to do. And about when that English essay is due, even though you’re marks don’t count. About whether you should go home after school, or hang out at someone’s place until midnight. Someone you didn’t even know a few months ago. And about what the hell that guy just said.
Exchange is people. Those incredibly strange people, who look at you like you’re an alien. Those people who are too afraid to talk to you. And those people who actually talk to you. Those people who know your name, even though you have never met them. Those people, who tell you who to stay away from. Those people who talk about you behind your back, those people who make fun of your country. All those people, who aren’t worth your giving a damn. Those people you ignore.
And those people who invite you to their homes. Who keep you sane. Who become your friends.
Exchange is music. New music, weird music, cool music, music you will remember all your life as the soundtrack of your exchange. Music that will make you cry because all those lyrics express exactly how you feel, so far away. Music that will make you feel like you could take on the whole world. And it is music you make. With the most amazing musicians you’ve ever met. And it is site reading a thousand pages just to be part of the school band.
Exchange is uncomfortable. It’s feeling out of place, like a fifth wheel. It’s talking to people you don’t like. It’s trying to be nice all the time. It’s bugs.. and bears. It’s cold, freezing cold. It’s homesickness, it’s awkward silence and its feeling guilty because you didn’t talk to someone at home. Or feeling guilty because you missed something because you were talking on Skype.
Exchange is great. It’s feeling the connection between you and your host parents grow. It’s hearing your little host brother asking where his big brother is. It’s knowing in which cupboard the peanut butter is. It’s meeting people from all over the world. It’s having a place to stay in almost every country of the world. It’s getting 5 new families. One of them being a huge group of the most awesome teenagers in the world.
It’s cooking food from your home country and not messing up. It’s seeing beautiful landscapes that you never knew existed.
Exchange is exchange students. The most amazing people in the whole wide world. Those people from everywhere who know exactly how you feel and those people who become your absolute best friends even though you only see most of them 3 or 4 times during your year. The people, who take almost an hour to say their final goodbyes to each other. Those people with the jackets full of pins. All over the world.
Exchange is falling in love. With this amazing, wild, beautiful country. And with your home country.
Exchange is frustrating. Things you can’t do, things you don’t understand. Things you say, that mean the exact opposite of what you meant to say. Or even worse…
Exchange is understanding.
Exchange is unbelievable.
Exchange is not a year in your life. It’s a life in one year.
Exchange is nothing like you expected it to be, and everything you wanted it to be.
Exchange is the best year of your life so far. Without a doubt. And it’s also the worst. Without a doubt.
Exchange is something you will never forget, something that will always be a part of you. It is something no one back at home will ever truly understand.
Exchange is growing up, realizing that everybody is the same, no matter where they’re from. That there are great people and douche bags everywhere. And that it only depends on you how good or bad your day is going to be. Or the whole year.
And it is realizing that you can be on your own, that you are an independent person. Finally. And it’s trying to explain that to your parents.
Exchange is dancing in the rain for no reason, crying without a reason, laughing at the same time. It’s a turmoil of every emotion possible.
Exchange is everything. And exchange is something you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it.
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| Me with my friend and her family |
And also this:
I am an exchange student.
How do you know what is a dream if you never accomplished one.
How do you know what is a dream if you never accomplished one.
How do you know what is an adventure if you never took part in one.
How do you know what is anguish if you never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears.
How do you know what is being desperate,
if you never arrived in a place alone and could not understand a word
of what everyone else was saying.
How do you know what is diversity if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world?
How do you know what is tolerance, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it.
How do you know what is autonomy, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself?
How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stopped being a child to start a new course?
How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it.
How do you know what is distance, if you never, looking at a map, said “I am so far away”.
How do you know what is a language, if you never had to learn one to make friends.
How do you know what is patriotism, if you never shouted “I love my country” holding a flag in your hands.
How do you know what is the true reality, if you never had the chance to see a lot of them to make one.
How do you know what is an opportunity, if you never caught one.
How do you know what is pride, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished.
How do you know what is to seize the day, if you never saw the time running so fast.
How do you know what is a friend, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones.
How do you know what is a family, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally.
How do you know what are borders, if you never crossed yours, to see what there was on the other side.
How do you know what is imagination, if you never thought about the moment when you would go back home.
How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?
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| Greetings from Belgium :) |
asik kali bah. mantap bang krebo!
ReplyDeletemakasih kakak seksehhhh!!!
DeleteHalo, Kak Benny! It's so inspiring to read your blog, thank you so much for sharing your experience with us :) Saya kandidat nasional chapter Jakarta nih Kak, doakan ya Kak, semoga bisa menyusul Kak Benny mendapatkan pengalaman-pengalaman berharga di atas!!! :D
ReplyDeleteHalo lulu! Salam kenal. Terimakasih sudah membaca, saya kira gak ada yang baca nih karna kepanjangan haha. Amin! pasti, it will be really worth for you! Jadi ingat flashback saya tahun lalu nih haha. :)
DeleteKak mau tanya, biaya AFS yang kakak bayarkan untuk ke belgia ini berapa ya kak? dan kan katanya bisa cari sponsor, nah itu sistem nya gimana sih kak? terimakasih
ReplyDelete