Story from Kansas

“fadilla jamila irbar”

Being an exchange student makes me learn a lot new things that I never knew or did before. For me, being an exchange student is not only being a student, coming to America to have fun or to party. For me it is about being a student, coming to America, to get as many experiences as possible, to be open-minded, and be a better person. This is my story…

I came to Wichita, Kansas, a place that I had no idea where it was until two weeks before my departure. I live with an American Family that I only knew for couple days before I met them. I had no idea of their personality, their lifestyle, their rules or anything else. I felt like I was in another world. Here in America I have five siblings and I am the oldest one. I was shocked in first couple of days because I’m not use to this. However I tried to adapt with this new situation.

Next, as we know, most of the American families have chores schedule in their houses like doing dishes, laundry, setting the table, cleaning the kitchen, and stuff like that. Honestly, I’m one of the kids who are not used to do chores. So it’s my first experience to do dishes, laundry, setting the table and cleaning the kitchen. It is not easy. I had some problem in my first couple weeks. I broke a cup and put the wrong setting in the washing machine, but my host mom always says to me “That’s fine sweetheart, I know you try to adapt. This is a step to learn”. She always gives me motivation and in time I will be able to do that stuff.
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That’s just a small part of my experience. I still have a bunch. In America, it’s the first time for me to see snow (as we know that Indonesia has no snow). It’s also my first time that I can wear whatever to school, no more uniforms. I feel free, and I can express myself better. 

This year I also get my first Christmas. I never celebrate Christmas before because my family background is Muslim. All the members of our big family spent time together in our grandma’s and grandpa’s house. It was awesome. I never felt like this before, the love of family, laugh, togetherness, and all the things that we did together. When I was a kid, I always see in the movies, how excited kids in America in Christmas morning when they woke up and see their presents under the Christmas tree. I never imagined that it would happen to me. That’s like a dream. We also eat together on Christmas day in the really long table because we have a lot of members in our family. I felt like I was sitting and eating with my real family.

During my year, there are a lot of things that make me realized and understand about life. Also how to understand better about American cultures which is really different with Indonesian. I keep saying in my mind, “take the positive things and learn from the negative things”. Harold V Melcher also says “Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. Climb slowly, steadily, enjoying each passing moment and the view from the summit serve as a fitting climax for the journey”. This is one step for me to be a better person and the beginning of my life.