Touchdown Indonesia~

Our Journey to Indonesia as SEA Teachers starts here!

On September 19, 2023. First day in Indonesia! We arrived at the airport at exactly 9:13 a.m with my heart full of expectations and excitement for this brand new experience. We met our buddies or, in Bahasa, they are called "Sahabat." We really didn't know where to go after buying our sim card, which cost 300,000 rupiah. Fortunately, after leaving the airport, we were greeted by one of the two Sahabat. We were delighted that they asked us about our flight and gave us some tips on where we could buy things. At this moment, I still couldn't believe I was a thousand miles away from my family, building my dream of teaching in a foreign country. I am away from my comfort zone; however, I've met good people in this country. I met my co-exchange students, who are from different schools in the Philippines, and in that situation, I am grateful because I feel like I've found people with whom I can share great memories while being in Bandung, Indonesia.

On September 20, 2023. This is the day when we had our Opening Ceremony at the University Center of UPI. We also met the Director of International Affairs, Prof. Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, Ph.D., our mentors, and cooperating teachers. Before the start of the Opening Ceremony, they gave us a complimentary snack, which was a pleasant surprise for me. I found that this mini box contained various Indonesian snacks and water inside, not just bottled water, but a sealed cup of water inside a food box.

During the ceremony, they welcomed us with warm smiles and greetings. Everyone in the room listened carefully to the Director as he discussed the things we were expected to do for a month. He assured us that they would address our concerns immediately, so if there were any discomfort, we could inform them, and they would resolve it as soon as possible. After his welcoming speech, we discovered that the schedule given to us beforehand was not accurate to the schedule of high school students at UPI. After a lengthy discussion with them, we received our new schedule. Since high school students were having their exams during our first week at UPI and a school trip in the second week, we, the SEA Teachers, would start teaching the students for the remaining two weeks. Within those weeks, our 20 hours of teaching would be compressed to ensure we could complete our teaching hours.