Hello, long time no see!
I can't believe that my last post was on September 2013. I haven't been blogging for 5 months! I was still in Indonesia when I wrote my last post. And now here I am, enjoying the two-months spring break, that also marks the end of first semester. Time goes by really fast. I did not expect my first semester to be THAT busy (it's not busy actually compared to my seniors, but busier compared to my high school life). For the first semester I only studied Japanese and introduction to environmental studies, but Japanese courses are the ones that took A LOT of my time. Quiz everyday, homework everyday, study everyday (well I don't actually study everyday but... yeah let's say I study everyday :p). That's why I stopped posting on my blog.
Many moments happened during my first semester, but too bad I haven't shared anything on this blog. Most of them are beautiful. Let's see what I've experienced during last semester ;)
This was right after the entrance ceremony for the newly-enrolled students at APU. People wore their traditional outfits. After the ceremony, people gathered in front of the building and took pictures with students from other countries. I took pictures with Uzbek and Vietnamese students. Btw it was damn hot that day (September 2013)
This was on my birthday!!!!!! 3 freshmen from Indonesia were having birthday on the same day, which was pretty cool! This was my first birthday without my family. But I was really happy that my Indonesian friends and some senpai (we call seniors as senpai) celebrated my birthday, and they gave us cake! ＞。＜ (September 2013)
This was during Sri Lankan Week when I performed a jungle dance haha. So at APU there are multicultural weeks. The concept is one country has one week to show their culture to the people at APU. Every of these weeks are marked with a grand show inside a grand hall. Last semester there were Oceania Week, Sri Lankan Week, Nepali Week, Japanese Week, Taiwanese Week, and African Week. Next semester there will be Philippine Week, Korean Week, Chinese Week, Indonesian Week, Vietnamese Week, and Thai Week.
Here in Japan I experienced my first snow in my life! I was really happy when the first snow fell on December. But at that time it wasn't snowing hard and I had classes, so it wasn't that fun :/ My first heavy snow experience was when I was in Fukuoka with friends on December. We stayed outside for about 1 hour under heavy snow only to take pictures haha (the first photo). The second photo was in my dorm, AP House. Snow was really thick we could make snowman out of it :p
Me with my pretty share mate, Aiko Hori. I think having a share mate in dorm really boosted my university life. In AP House, you can choose if you want to have a share mate or living alone. Between your and your share mate's room, there is a sliding door that you can lock. Aiko and I always opened the connecting door except for bed time. We helped each other with home work and other stuff. Because of her I could improve my Japanese. But her English was too good, so I rarely spoke in Japanese when we were talking. We cheered up each other when we were sad. We gave each other food. I was never lonely in my room. But now she has moved to single type room :(
On November, I joined a kinda research program called FIRST Program for 4 days. The participants were divided into groups and traveled and did researches to little towns in Kyushu Island. My group and I went to little town Imari and a city Sasebo. We had a lot of fun because we could understand Japanese culture through the journey. We had to make the questionnaires (in Japanese!) and gave them out to random people, and of course we had to speak in Japanese. It was crazy because my Japanese level was really basic. There were ups and downs, and we had so much fun during this trip. This program helped me to build my confidence in speaking Japanese and get to know with Japanese people and culture.
These photos were on Christmas' eve. So many unique fireworks up in the sky at that night. Loved it! There was one with heart shape but my phone couldn't snap it haha. The cool thing is they played music during the fireworks. It lasted for about 45 minutes
Even if I'm far from home, family, and friends, I never feel lonely here because so many Indonesians live here as well. I'm really grateful because the Indonesian community here is big and close with each other. I can ask for help from fellow freshmen or even seniors. Even on big days such as Idul Adha, Christmas, etc, we usually had party and cooked together.
What I also like from fella Indonesian people is, we like to take a lot of pictures. Whenever we see camera, we don't think about anything else. Just join and smile. That's why whenever I take pics with a few friends, more people will end up being in the same frame (you can see from these photos haha)
Maybe APU is not the best place to study, but it is sure the best place to make friends, especially for freshmen. Freshmen usually live at the dorm (AP House) for 1 year, then they have to move out to downtown. I've only been staying here for 5 months but I already met sooooo many friends from many countries. There were also many group work for 1st year students which helped me meet and befriend with a lot of people. I think it is so cool to have friends from various countries, that's why I chose APU from the beginning. Once you get to know the people, you can learn more about language, culture, etc. You might find your love, too (I've seen so many international relationships at APU :p)
My cooking skill has improved since I arrived here. I turned from a person who burns karaage while frying it into a person who can make my dinner without looking at recipes! I know this means nothing to some people but for me this is an achievement hahaha. I've brought so many instant spices from Indonesia because Japan has little ingredients that Indonesians usually use. It all started from September or October (I forget) when my Vietnamese friends invited me to lunch. From that moment, I wanted to learn how to cook and cook for somebody else, because I feel extremely happy when someone gives me food, especially when they cook it for me <3 Because I know cooking is tiring (actually washing the dishes is tiring) so I really appreciate people who at least try to cook everyday.
This is basically the summary of what has been going on during my study in APU, Japan. I really like my life here. Being away from parents makes me independent, even I miss Indonesian food really bad :( I will not go back during this break, but I will go home during Summer break (August-September). Those who are still in high school and interested in APU, trust me APU is the best place you could ever be :)
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