30 Thankful Days Series - Day 6 - I am Thankful for Life Experiences

Hello WA Family👋

How's your first weekend in November? I hope you are all safe and that your online business is doing great. I feel like the time flies so fast this year despite the impact we all feel due to the pandemic. Still, we have to adjust to the new normal life and keep moving forward!

Today in my gratitude series, I am thankful for the life experiences that I have up to this day.

Do you still remember some important memories from 10 years ago? What happened in your life this month a decade ago?

For me, this month ten years ago, I remember I was in Brisbane, Australia for Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP). I had my first opportunity to stay with an Australian family. From the experience, I could learn about their culture, the way they define what family is, the way they teach us many things as a great host family, I also learned about responsibilities, being independent, and what freedom is as a young adult who lived far away from her family.

Taking a picture with the Minister of Youth and Sports

The Arrival in Brisbane, October 24th, 2010

First group outing in South Bank Parkland, Brisbane
One of the highlights from the experience was the opportunity for us to shae Indonesian culture with people in Australia. We did cultural performance at two different schools or organizations every Monday. Before we went to Australia, we were trained for one full week to do Indonesian traditional dancings, songs, including playing some traditional instruments as well.

Playing "angklung" a traditional instrument made of bamboo from Bandung, West Java.

Performing Saman Dance or One Thousand Hands Dance from Aceh

The next thing was my first internship at an NGO that helps refugees who want to have a fresh start in their life and settle in Australia. From the internship opportunity, I learned about how to work in a diverse work environment. Besides Australians, there were workers from the Philippines, Nigeria, Afghanistan, etc. I also had an opportunity to job shadow an English teacher from England who teaches English for refugee women. Since I have a Bachelor's degree in English Education, so I found that experience very useful and enlightening my views on teaching English for speakers of other languages.

On my last day as an intern at MDA, Brisbane

During the exchange program, I also learned how to work in a team with 17 other Indonesian participants. Then, when we came back to Indonesia for the 2nd phase of the program, we had to stay with Indonesian host families and we were also paired with 1 counterpart, an Australian participant. Our job was to help our counterpart to adjust to life in Indonesia, if they do not speak Bahasa Indonesia (some know the language already from school) we should help them with interpreting or translating the language when we were at our host families' home and at our internship as well.

Since that was my first experience to go abroad and to live independently from my parents for 4 months, it was not easy and smooth all the time. I had some challenges and a hard time too. However, the experiences I had from that journey also help to form me to be who I am today. In the end, I could tackle the challenges and I got some great memories and lifelong friendships.

When I went to the USA for the first time in 2013 to attend a college in Arizona, the adjustment was easy and I had fewer cultural shocks. Thanks to that once in a lifetime experience from AIYEP.

What are you thankful for today, WA Family?

Please share in the comment section below.

Stay safe, happy, and healthy. Take care of your health!

Arizona, November 6th, 2020 - 11.57 PM.