WEEK 1: The Familiar Cold Breeze
I made a promise last October that I will go
back to Indonesia three years from that moment, but I never thought that the
promise I made would be fulfilled in just three months. Joining this SEA
Teacher Program was the best thing to start my 2024.
The first week of my stay was the lightest week I had in this program. My heart is in awe, for my soul is at home again. Last year my fellow student teacher from Central Luzon State University was a man, that's why it's either I am alone in a room, or I am with another woman that I barely know who happens to be a foreigner too like me, but now my fellow student teacher from CLSU is a woman, so now I have a Filipino I can be with whenever and wherever I will be. I think the Lord blessed me now to have her with me in UPI for I really felt lonely last year, now I have a friend I can talk to anytime. Furthermore, Regular Batch is different from Pilot Batch, Regular Batch is composed of different Universities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, but in Pilot Batch it is only exclusive for four universities from four countries, namely: Central Luzon State University from Philippines, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia from Indonesia, Khon Kaen University from Thailand, and University of Tsukuba from Japan, only these four universities are included in the Pilot Batch of SEA Teacher Project. So it is really at ease for me that I have a Filipino with me who happens to be a woman too. Unlike last year, where I stayed in a hotel, then transferred to another hotel, this year, we stayed in their dormitory for the whole duration of the program.
On our first official day, we had our welcome
ceremony. Once again, I saw the familiar faces from UPI, from the director, the
program coordinator, the staff, and the people we are going to be with for the
rest of our stay. We exchanged our greetings, messages, inspirational words,
and motivations for this one month stay in one of the prestigious and world
ranking universities around the world, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. At
this time, we already met the other SEA Teachers from Japan, and Thailand.
There are only six of us this time, and we are all staying in the dormitory.
Also, we get to know our cooperating teachers and mentors who will be with us
in supporting and guiding us all throughout our teaching practice and stay in
UPI.
I don't feel strange and foreign in this
country anymore, I feel like I am at home. My body and soul have been searching
for this feeling, and here I am savoring each and every moment I have, no time
to spare. That's why right after the ceremony, we, together with Jan, roam
around the campus, and even outside the campus to get some stuff for us. We
went to Borma to buy some food - instant foods, and to exchange our money from
peso to rupiah. Since I really miss Indonesian cuisine, even though we have
some packed foods from the Philippines, we went out to buy some local foods in
Gerlong, and that time we met some Indonesian friends. It is kind of funny of
how we met them, for we bought two gallons of water in Indomaret, and we
planned to carry it all the way to the dorm because we thought we can make it,
but we're just half way to the dormitory and we're already struggling carrying
it, it's really a good thing that we met these two gentlemen who carried the
water gallons until we reach the dormitory. Also, I have seen that the under
construction building last October was already done, and it was really a nice
building to be seen by the public with the reputation it has.
Just like what I said, the first week was the
lightest week I had, for in this time I again met my long distance friends I
had last year from the same program I am in this year. So aside from the
knowledge and learning I had, friendships are also built because of this SEA
Teacher Program. So after Jan and I went to Chiwalk, to buy some stuff, and
batik, we met up with my friends, and helped us to purchase and register a sim
card intended for people living in Indonesia. They introduced us to new local
foods, the sate, it was a grilled chicken with peanut butter as the sauce, together with their traditional
sticky rice, and it was good, specially the chicken, it's just strange that the
sauce is peanut butter since we are using peanut butter as a spread here in the
Philippines, but still it's worth a try. 
Another catch up with our dear friends, we
went to an unlimited restaurant in Bandung, the Go-Grill Ah, we Filipinos love
unlimited goods, and this one is worth it if I were to ask, not just the good,
but the bond we had with our friends. We also had our first night ride with them, and we went to Paris Van Java Mall.
We also went to one of the best tourist spot
in Bandung, the Great Asia Africa, I am not able to go here last year 'cause I
was sick that time, that's why when I am given the chance to go to Indonesia
again, I promised that I will go here, and voila, here is it, this is the first
spot I want to go to, so I fulfilled that promise. Truly, this is a must go
spot in Bandung, where you can see the
special features of different countries like Korea, Africa, Japan,
India, etc. It was truly enchanting to be in this place, photos are not enough
to see the beauty of this paradise. There is also an area where you can find a
small zoo that gives entertainment specially to kids.
This week too, we received some gifts from our
Japanese friends since they are our neighbor room in the dormitory. The sweets
have a really Japanese-like vibe. Cute and adorable. 
As you can see, we have a lot of free time in
the first week, because they are celebrating their holidays at this time of the
year, and luckily, we were there to celebrate and enjoy the holidays with them.
So yeah, it was really a long week for us, tiring and enjoyable at the same
time, but overall, I'm really glad to be back, to feel the familiar cold breeze
once again.
I made a promise last October that I will go
back to Indonesia three years from that moment, but I never thought that the
promise I made would be fulfilled in just three months. Joining this SEA
Teacher Program was the best thing to start my 2024.
The first week of my stay was the lightest week I had in this program. My heart is in awe, for my soul is at home again. Last year my fellow student teacher from Central Luzon State University was a man, that's why it's either I am alone in a room, or I am with another woman that I barely know who happens to be a foreigner too like me, but now my fellow student teacher from CLSU is a woman, so now I have a Filipino I can be with whenever and wherever I will be. I think the Lord blessed me now to have her with me in UPI for I really felt lonely last year, now I have a friend I can talk to anytime. Furthermore, Regular Batch is different from Pilot Batch, Regular Batch is composed of different Universities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, but in Pilot Batch it is only exclusive for four universities from four countries, namely: Central Luzon State University from Philippines, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia from Indonesia, Khon Kaen University from Thailand, and University of Tsukuba from Japan, only these four universities are included in the Pilot Batch of SEA Teacher Project. So it is really at ease for me that I have a Filipino with me who happens to be a woman too. Unlike last year, where I stayed in a hotel, then transferred to another hotel, this year, we stayed in their dormitory for the whole duration of the program.
