Yolla's AIESEC Experience to Russia

Azolla Degita Azis, 
Governmental Management Accounting 
Bandung State Polytechnic '08  

What is your opinion if you heard about Russia ?? Well, many people think that Russia is very big country, the weather is very cold and it makes the Russian people cold too with foreigners, racism, communist, many skin-head, have a nuclear, participate in World War II ?? Is it true ?

Wew , Let me prove that it is truly happened or not with going there. .  because we cannot be a wiseacre, right ?? Actually I decided to go to Russia because I want going somewhere place that very far away from my home, not many building, and have a different culture with my country.   
 

I’ve matched with LC Saratov-Russia since 29^th March 2011, My project is Sunshine-Culture Education, and I’ve just get my Invitation letter 17^th July, it means that I must wait for 4months to get my Invitation Letter.  Then I apply my visa at Russian Embassy at Jakarta by myself, bought a ticket flight, and packing for only 1 week . Very hard and crazy week for me at that time. Because I must prepare everything and I must search my representative to do my job as Financing Manager at AIESEC LC Bandung while I’m Exchange. Because I just had a little time for prepare, so I’m going to money changer 6 hours before my flight at Jakarta. Hahahaha . .

Welcome to Russia !!!

I've arrived at Domodedevo airport-Moscow on 29^th July. 16 hours from Indonesia to Moscow. In this airport no one can speak english. Very strange, because this is International airport!! All words in Cyrillic. I try to understand and read the words, I try to find a flight to Saratov from Moscow, I ask to every people at there, but no one can speak English. I just back and forth again and again about 3hours, makes me so tired and hungry after 2days didn’t take a bath. So I decided to take a train to get Paveletsky station at Moscow, because I think I can get any help from PERMIRA at Moscow. 

After I've arrived at Paveletsky station at Moscow, I met with Permira (Indonesian Student Organization) at Indonesian Embassy. They are very welcoming and they are really nice to me. They teach me how to walk at escalator, how to use bus, tram, or use metro. Before I go to Saratov, they took me to go around Moscow and help me to buy a ticket train to Saratov. Because at the train station no one can speak English. =___=

  

On 31^st August I've arrived at Saratov Train Station. There are many AIESECer and EPs took me up at the station, very warmth . .

From Moscow to Saratov takes 16hours by train and the price is 2600rubel if you take 2^nd class, but if you take economic class you can get very cheap price, only 600rubel (180.000idr), and if you want feel Harry Potter’s train you can buy Kupe class, 4000rubel, it’s very expensive. I think it’s better if you take a plane rather than buy Kupe class. :D

Before I'm going to the camp, I live at my host family for 2days and then I went to the camp at the 3^rd day I'm in Saratov after I've got my medical check-up and registration my visa at Saratov post office. 

And then I go to the camp . Yeeaayyy!! 

I live at Samgrad Camp – Atkarsk for a month. Atkarsk is a village, 2 hours from Saratov. Because of that, I didn't have a signal phone, no internet, and my laptop damaged. This camp is art and sport camp. And I came to this camp when the end of third session. I’m alone in here, no one EPs in here except me. But, I think it’s great because I can get more challenge because of this!!

 The kids, The bedroom, and Teachers

So my work will begin on 11^th August at Fourth session. So, until my work begin I just go around in the camp, make ceramics, batik, and origami with other kids. They are very nice, and I have so many gifts from them. I'd rather to stay at camp than come back to my host family.

I started to work at 13^th August. I'm teaching Balinese dance and Angklung everyday for big event at this camp, called with Parent's day on 21^st August. So I have only 10days for prepared everything. And I started to make a costume for dance and I have a classroom for my practice with the kids.

Playing RamaShinta

 Making Batik

My director camp very nice to me, he repaired my laptop and buy a raw material for make the costume. Then I saw this costume. And other teachers in this camp help me to finish my costume. I like this camp so much. And they are very Interested with me, because I can dance, play a music, can play a basketball, can make a ceramics, drawing and painting. They told me that I'm very multi-talented girl. Hahaha . So, they hope I can go back again to Russia next year.

Before all teachers sleep, usually we have a cay party (tea). we drink tea, eat salad, sandwich, and cookies, and also we have a chit chat between all the teachers in my group. Very warmth and I like this moment very much. If the temperature’s very high, we are going to river near the camp, and swim together. We jump off to the river from the bridge, and it's really cool!!

I'll miss this river so much! 

In this camp, the children cannot speak English, but they’re very curious with my coming in here. They’re talk to me in Russian Language, but I try to understand them with bring my dictionary. They wanted me to teach them English. They try to speak with me a lot, but they didn’t know how to speak in English very well.

When I went to sleep, they kisses, hugs me and said to me “Spakoino noci, yolla. . (Have a nice sleep)”, and when I ate they said to me “Priyatnogo Apetita, Bon Apetit yolla!! (Have a good eat!!), and if we met each other they asked to me, “Hello yolla !! kak dela?? (How are you?)”, and I said, “Atlicna !! (Excellent!)”.

I miss them so much !!! 

 Summer time !! ^_^

On 21^st August, I've finished my work because today is Parent's day. And I've done it with successfully. I show to them Balinese dance and playing Angklung with guitar and flute with the kids in front of many parents. Horeeey !! 

Pendet Dance

Playing Angklung

And today, there is many EPs come to my camp, they are from USA, Iran, India, Columbia, Turkey, and Brazil. They are very nice, and finally I can speak with English Language after 1 month!! They live at my camp only for 1 week, because before they are coming to my camp, they live at another camp.

And they had nothing to do in this camp, because this is the end of summer camp. But I help them to search any job here. I asked all EPs, what can they do and what is their skills?

For example:

EP from Colombia can salsa dance, so I told the kids who wants to learn salsa to this EP . And I search a room for her to teach salsa to her student.

And I help other EPs to search their new host family, because they are not satisfied with the host family, and I help them to get a new one and introduce them about this camp.

While I had my exchange, I’m doing my job as Exchange Country Coordinator for Russia, if there is any problem that EPs from Bandung have got while in Moscow, I’ll try to solve it. So, there is 2 EPs from LC Bandung that had a problem while they are exchange in here. But, Other EPs including me have had very great experience in Russia. 

With Directur camps, Teachers, and EPs

I must stay at Samgrad camp until 26^th August. And today I take a little vacation to lake near the camp with my closest friend at this camp, and also with her husband and her kids,

her kid’s age is 9 years old. So, we build a tent near the lake, make a fire, barbeque, fishing, and playing a guitar. And tomorrow go to Saratov because I need to buy ticket train to Moscow. While in Saratov, I live at her house. Her family very nice to me. Thank you so much my friend, Julia Kireeva!! 

So, at 23August, I go back to camp. And now I want to enjoy my last week at the camp with kids, make batik and ceramics with other kids, teaching dance of Dangdut to kids, and go to Disco Time at hall with the kids every two weeks at the camp. But at Disco, alcohol, smoking, and drugs is forbidden.

On 26^th August I’m going back again to Saratov because AIESEC Saratov has an event, called with International speaking club. Which is all EPs must presenting their countries in front of AIESECer and all interns. In here is very cold, because now is autumn, 5-10degrees everyday. And of course I never swim again at the river. .

 International Speaking Club

I  came back to Moscow on 28^th August to celebrate Eid Mubarak at Indonesian Embassy. and I live at Moscow for 2weeks. Because my flight back is 12^th September. When I’m in Moscow, there is very big event at Kremlin, Den Goroda event (Moscow Birthday), every people celebrate this day. Many posters of this day and fireworks. So beautiful. .

 Eid Mubarak

In embassy, I meet with Military Atachee, Ambassador, PERMIRA, other EPs from Malang, UI, and Bandung. . And in this 2weeks I've just spent my time with go around Moscow with EPs from Brazil and Colombia, EPs from Bandung, and PERMIRA. I went to Arbatskya, Leninsky prospyekt, GUM, Kremlin, Kitay-gorod, Saritsyino palace, Tochka-g museii, St. Basil, white church, Gagarinsky, etc. Sometime I go around Moscow alone until late night, but everything is alright and there is no skinhead. . Although I’m a little bit scary when I across metro at late night because so many people drunk, but I think its ok . I ‘m safe until now.

After I live at Russia for 1,5month, I can read a Cyrillic very well and I know the basic conversation, it helps me when I’m at the airport to go back to Indonesia.

 GUM (Главный универсальный магазин) - Autumn

I don't want to leave Russia , really . I love this country, I love my interns here, I love my camp, if I could I want to stay at here. But what can I do? I must go back to Indonesia.  Everyday in Russia is a new experience for me. It's a different thing for me, because usually I'm going to university everyday, and it makes me a little bit boring with my activities. This exchange is like a dreamland for me, because when I come back to Indonesia then I'm going back to my reality. 

From this exchange, I can meet with many people from many countries with different background, and work together in this project. And I learn how to be a strong woman with keep my ideology, my religion values, and my culture.

I realize one thing, I cannot stop to run after this exchange, everyday I must move to be a better person. Because there is a clouds above clouds, there is so many people in this world, and you must know what do you wanted to be and what's your goals.

If you want to grab your future, then try to make it happened from now!

I really enjoy my time here, minutes by minutes, hours by hours, I would never forget all the time that I've got in Russia. I hope someday I'll go back again to Russia, and can feel the heat of Sunshine in summer camp. 

Ya budyu skucat po Russii!!

Narendi's Exchange Stories in POLAND

Narendi Muhandri, 21, AIESEC LC Bandung

Industrial Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology

“Enter Your Future” – AIESEC LC Krakow, Poland

It is said that there would be a workshop on 16-17 May 2011, before the project started. I came here in Krakow on Sunday afternoon, 15 May. I got picked by Marina from LC Krakow. I asked her about the workshop but she doesn't know about that. She just said that there will be another Aiesecer will come with other EPs and will tell me everything. I was the first one in this project come to the dorm. I lived in a room for 3 people and when I came, there were other EPs from different project, kindergarten. All of them are girls. While I was waiting for my project mate, we had a nice talk in my friend's room, about our country and its culture. Finally, I had a roommate from Ireland at night, Declan. I also met another Aiesecer, Aga, who told us that our OCP will come the next day and tell us all the information.

Monday morning, me and Dec still clueless about our program. Therefore we decided to take a walk around to look for internet cable. At the afternoon, our OCP came with other EPs and took us for integration meeting at the city centre. We went to some club near the main square. Most of the clubs here are located underground. It is also said that Krakow Main Square in the city centre is the largest in Europe! 

On Tuesday we went to Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny W Krakowie (UEK) for our
workshop. It wasn’t workshop as I expected before. At that moment, there were only five people attended, from Brazil, Hungary, Georgie, and Me & Dec. Three Aiesecer gave us presentation about Poland, Aiesec, and LC Krakow. They told us our schedule for the next two day at school. First day was for country presentation, and second day about communication and time management.

After the workshop, we went to other side of UEK, where bungee jumping area located. At that time, there was Juwenalia. It is a week of student festival that consists a lot of activities, music performances, and carnaval. Bungee jumping area is one of the program. It was not in any kind of high building, nor bridge, nor river. The bungee jumping held at the campus area, in a crane! That was not many people accepted this challenge. Only me, Iza, and Dec who were jumped.

On our first day, we got accompanied by Irina from Aiesec. The name was Gymnazium no.9. The teachers were very welcome to us, even mostly they don’t speak english but they’re really try to communicate to us. We started our presentation by give them trivia quiz about our country. Each of us told two facts about our country, and the students have to guess which one is true which one is false. Then we presented our country with some videos, and close the session with questions. Surprisingly, my first question I got was “who is your God?”….. I thought its more about Indonesian -,- After that, we asked them to make a small group discussion about our country and they have to tell us about Polish as well. But still, because the students don’t speak english well, and maybe they’re shy, so not many students involved.

On the second day, we’re supposed to talk about communication and time management. Second workshop we had was quite short, and we decided to create our own workshop for the students. And so we divided each three of us preparing material and the games.

We began our class by Sasha’s presentation about Ukraine. He didn’t make any ppt, he just talk some things about Ukraine, because he thinks Poland-Ukraine is so similar so not much to tell. But, he brought traditional Ukrainean clothes. We wanted the students to be surprised, so after he presented, we asked him to go out class and change his clothes into Ukrainean clothes. While he was changing, we created a break-ice game, “Tik-Tok.”

We played the game in a circle. First person have to give the “pen” (or whatever thing) to the next person. The next person should ask first “what is this?” and give it back to the first person. The first person will answer “this is tik” and give it back again to the next person. The next person should give to the other next person, and so on.

The “tik-tok” game is created to start “communication” as well. We talked about meanings, portion, body language, and eye contact. We also showed video about body language.

For tima management game, we asked someone to make a paper plan. Then he will ask some other persons to create the same paper plan by his order. We counted paper plans that have been made in some time. The next part, he will start to make the paper plans in first step, and the other persons will continue in sequential. The aim of this game is about efficiency specialization. Flavio was the one who gave this idea. Maybe because he studies Industrial Engineering which we learned about that :D After we finished our class, we were invited to play the basketball with them.

At night, the Aiesecer asked us to watch some Polish Concert, still part of Juvenalia, so everyday will be some events at each university. Before we go to the concert, everybody bought drink first, since its not allowed to drink during the concert area. And we played some drinking game, which is called “Bitches bitches”. We had our nickname, clap your hand, and then you call another nickname, and then continue.. The one who missed the tempo or call wrong name or who didn’t realize been called, should drink *nangkep ga?* the game called “bitches bitches* caused you have your “dirty” nickname which is held to make the game fun and funnier :p

Still about juwenalia festival!! On friday there was this parade for all students in each university. They wore unique costumes and made parade to the city centre, and then there’s some concert in the main square. Kostumnya macem-macem dr yg superman, pirates, roman emperor, naughty nurse, ghosts, or some japanese/some other cultures. We had friday as day off so we fortunately able to see this :D

After seeing the festival for a while, I went to say my Friday prayer. When I report myself (lapor diri) to KBRI, they gave me some contacts number of Indonesian people around Krakow. So I texted mas Anggana, who’s worked here and live with his family to ask how to say my prayer. 

Don’t be surprised if you won’t do your prayer in a mosque. Since the population of moslem here quite small, tempatnya juga kecil. They said, maybe the population of moslem is not that small, but the people who say prayer regularly is small. Jadi yg gw temukan adalah 25 orang saja utk sholat jumat!! They keep saying “assalamualaikum brother” to every people.

We said our prayer in some building, quite near to the main square. So I was cabut bentar dr festival utk sholat ini. Ruangannya underground, dan klo dibayangin cuma semacam musholla di GKU Barat ITB dgn ukuran lebih besar. Somehow I feel more alive whenever I meet indonesian people or moslem people, it means I’m not alone here :”p

At night, there was this “Night of the Museums” in Krakow. We can only pay 1zloty (3ribuan) to go to the all museums around at night. So around city centre there was a lot of people queueing to enter museums. Quite surprise, we don’t have this kind of events in Indonesia, yes? And even we have this, how will our people be participated?

Minggu malemnya, sang ocp dtg ke dorm. Tiba-tiba bilang, krn bsok snin ada 2 cw dr China dtg, dia minta ada 3 org cowo yg pindah ke flat biar si cw-cw ini bs tinggal di dorm dan bisa integration sm kita. Setelah perdebatan panjang, ni cowo-cowo ga ada yg mau pindah, tmen2 dormmate jg gamau ada yg pisah, akhirnya dikasih lah kita ga pindah dan si cw2 ini yg dpt di flat. Cw cina ini dtg ke dorm ga dijemput, trus yg seharusnya jemput dia jg kyknya gatau klo she supposed to live in flat, not dorm.. Akhirnya mlm dia beres2 pindah ke flat, trus ngomel deh krn kondisinya lebih jelek dr dorm. Sebenernya sih macem kosan di bandung yg rumahnya udh dr taun 90an, kondisi kmrnya debu dan berantakan sampah jg, cuma di HongKong lebih bagus kali ya dan udh liat dorm jd cukup mengeluhkan kondisi kamar.

Di minggu kedua, sekolah kedua ini suasananya beda dr sekolah pertama. Klo sekarang kita ga terlalu diperatiin sm guru-gurunya, entah ga bisa bhs Inggris apa gmn, makan juga ditinggal aja kita. Trus krn anak-anaknya udh lebih gde, sekitar SMA, jd kita nyiapin materi baru. Ada yg kasih presentation skill, job interview, sm CV.. Ini sih kita improve aja krn kan ga mungkin dikasih game yg sama.. Makanan di sekolah-sekolah selalu menyenangkan dan dinanti. Kita dpt 2 dish, set pertama soup, set kedua heavy meal. Cuma krn sering ada babi jd kdg-kdg gw cm makanin potato and saladnya.

Akhir weekend kedua ada Reception Weekend, jd EP dr LC LC lain pd ngumpul. Acara pertamanya jumat mlm ke klubs. Di sini akhirnya gw ketemu sm Monica, EP yg di LC Lodz. Sabtu jam10an harusnya ada city quest di city square, cuma krn mlmnya abis party ampe pagi, jd pada ga ada yg bangun paginya, haha.. Akhirnya gw sm temen2 project join acara dinner di traditional polish restraurant. Judulnya sih dinner, pdhal makan jam3, and btw, org-org sini klo ngomong maksi juga seringnya dinner.. Ternyata city questnya memang batal, setengah group peserta reception weekend yg tinggal di hostel pd kabur ke salt mine ga bilang2, jd anak LC sini sempet bete jg.

Abis makan itu gw sempet mampir bentar ke hostel mereka, ngumpul2 ngobrol2.. Mlmnya ada party on a boat for Aiesecer. Tp ini boatnya ga jalan kok, cuma mangkal di sungai di Krakow sini. Minggunya kita ke Oswieciem / Auschwitz, concentration nazi camp, around 1.5 jam by bus from Krakow. Berangkatnya sempet ketinggalan bus, jd nunggu sejaman dulu busnya, trus kesiangan sampe, krn tournya kelilingnya lama, beresnya sore, kita ketinggalan bus (lagi) buat balik ke Krakow. Akhirnya nyarter minibus buat balik krakow malem.

Second Week 

Dua minggu ke depan ini kita dpt sekolah yg sama, cuma dpt kelasnya beda-beda tergantung guru englishnya. Sekolahnya yg ini cukup gede, smp-sma bareng kyknya makanya banyak kelasnya jd kira-kira satu group consists of 4/3 person dpt 2 hari di satu guru. Hari Senin pertama di sekolah ini, yg berhasil berangkat pagi cuma 3 org, gw Dec, and Flavio, pdhal harusnya 6 org untuk 2 group. Karena memang info suka mendadak juga, jd minggu malem kita pulang dari Auschwitz itu br diemailin lg klo sekolah ini udh pernah kedatangan orang dari Ukraine, Georgia, and China. Alhasil mgkn krn pd capek jg minggunya, senin pagi pd susah bgn org-org dr negara ini. Hr kedua br dtg 7 org deh, pdhal harusnya 6 :p

Senin mlm ada 2 org cw Ukraine di project lain dorm-mate juga, pulang, beres projectnya. Mereka ini biasanya yg suka ngajak-ngajak pergi, tau tempat-tempat jg krn udh lebih lama. Akhirnya beberapa hr berikutnya tiap malem kita pd mendem di kosan aja, bagus jg sekalian istirahat dan hemat :D nah hari kamisnya pas lg break time, si Dec main basket sm anak-anak sini, dia salah jatoh kyknya (wkt itu gw lg di kmr mandi jd ga liat) then he got dislocated knee. Pulang dr sekolah dr dorm kita lgsg cari taxi buat pergi ke dokter. Supir taxinya nganterin ke hospital lumayan dket jg dr dorm. Hospitalnya lebih kecil dr boromeus, dan agak lebih serem sih suasanya menurut gw. hehe. bukan serem hantu, tp kyk lebih rapi boromeus. Naudzubillah, mdh2an gw (and other EPs) sehat-sehat aman-aman aja ga ush berurusan sm rumah sakit, soalnya org-orgnya ngomong polish. Untung akhirnya di dlm ada kayak dokter muda pernah magang di Ireland jd bisa jelasin jg ke si Dec ini. Seinget gw biaya tindakan emergency termasuk gips kaki dan x-ray ga terlalu mahal, 300 zloty apa ya (900rb?) tp obatnya yg agak mahal ktnya, soalnya dikasih suntik buat bbrp hari.

Sabtunya kita diminta isi presentasi culture shock di acara OPSnya LC sini. Gw pilih shift yg pagi, brg sama anak Ukraine + Hungary. Krn mereka dr yurop2 juga jd kayaknya ga terlalu culture shock jg sih, jd gw yg rada diminta ngomong, bentar sih jatah kita setngah jam doang. OPS wkt LCC berguna bgt jadi bahan omongan ;p Mostly wkt shift gw kayaknya peserta MT deh, udh agak gde2 soalnya, and they said mostly go to Asia, kyknya china/thailand.

Selasa sempet diminta VP OGX yg ktemu wkt OPS ini buat dtg di some meetingnya LC sini, presentasi ttg country and @ XP. Wkt itu yg diminta Flavio, trus dia ngajak gw ikutan. Rabunya gw dpt kelas yg sama kyk minggu lalu, krn teachernya ini, Mrs. Dorota udh kenal sm group gw, dia jg semacam koordinator project Aiesec di sekolah ini, jd dia minta kita masuk lg. Nah skrg giliran kita yg dpt presentasi dr kelasnya. Mrk yg presentasi ttg Poland, sama bkin small group discussion ttg personal/country, and even they made us this Poland apple pie, sm kelas ini kasih coklat ke Dec.. mgkn krn wkt itu main basketnya sm kelas ini so they kinda worried about Dec :D

Weekend kita trip to Budapest. Temengw ada yg mau cabut ambil project sports camp di Greece, jd dia invite us to come to Budapest, ber 8 minus Dec + satu cw di flat + 2 aiesecer sini. Brktnya 2 mobil, satu mobil anak Budapest ini satu lg mobil anak Aiesec. Brktnya mampir Zvolen, Slovakia buat maksi sm keliling bentar. Perjalanannya kira-kira 6-7 jam. Sabtunya kita ikutan free walk tour sini sama sight seeing lg. Krn mobilnya cuma ada 1, akhirnya gw & 3 org lainnya pulang naik bus duluan, krn jadwalnya cuma satu jam 7 pagi. Busnya sih enak very comfortable, dpt hot chocolate sm headset krn ada inflight movies (the proposal and 2 lagi ga jelas sih tp trus gw tidur jg jd ga nyimak).

After these second two weeks, still mostly we go to school present our country, cukup berbeda sm TN Form yaaa. We all have different reality from our previous expectation, dan udh jd jokes kita jg, haha. Yeah because it depends on the OCP, the schools, and us as an EP as well.

Tyas's Exchange Story in POLAND

Dwi Sasetyaningtyas, 18, AIESEC LC Bandung

Chemical Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology

AIESEC LC Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland

It was my own decision to join the internship program from AIESEC during summer 2011. I think i would be great if i could live far away from my comfrot zone to get some new experiences with people from different countries. I got two projects from AIESEC LC Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland. “Live and Learn” and “International Summer Semi Camps”. I love these projects, i got lovely new friends and family from them. Not only amazing experiences, I also had some obstacles in these projects and it made me learned how to deal with problems and being a problem solver.

“Live and Learn” – my first Project

I started my internship on June 2011. This project gave me chances to teach english and indonesian culture to children in some kindergartens in Wroclaw, Poland.  I worked here with just one Exchange Participant from Singapore, her name is Jay. But we worked in different kindergartens, and unfortunately we also lived in different place. This condition made me didn’t have much time to interract with Jay (the EP from Singapore), sometimes we had dinner together but not everyday because she lived far away from me. I also had a very nice EP Buddy, her name is Milena Lech, she helped me a lot, she took me around Wroclaw, we bought ice creams, we did a Barbeque etc. My OCP’s name is Michal, i didn’t have much time to spend together with him, but he also took me and jay around the city and gave us a city map. He introduced me to other exchange participants from ET program and then we become friends until the end of the projects. They are from Tunisia, China, Canada, Portugal, and USA. We spent great time together in Wroclaw or we travelled to some places on the weekend, for examples Prague and Krakow. 

 a photo of me, jay, some EP from ET’s program and my EP buddy, Milena.

A photo of me and EP from ET’s progam.

  My first kindergarten was amazing, i met very nice , smart and lovely students. They learned english very well , i taught them english with songs and games. The challenge here was no one speaks english, including the headmaster. So, it was really good experience to talk without words with Polish people.

A Photo of my first kindergarten students

In my second kindergartens the children are smaller, that’s why i had to make new materials for younger and smaller children. The teachers in my secon kindergarten speak english very well, we had really great time together with children.

A Photo of my second kindergarten students

I had some problems from this project. First time i came to the city i stayed in Milena’s flat for one night. Everything was nice until i knew that they haven’t paid my dorm. I thought everything should be done before i came to Poland, maybe there was some problems with the OCP and finance or others. After a week or more, the lady from my dorm got angry, she said that AIESEC hasn’t paid for the dorm. It was my first problem in this project. But, Milena and Michal took over the problem very well and the problem solved. Anothe problem i had was my OCP, Michal, suddenly stopped the project and asked me to move to another project for two weeks. In this new project i had to move to 2 other cities for 2 weeks and worked with new exchange participants from Ukraine and Vietnam. I knew about this changing of the project in very last time , so i had to prepare my self and prepare some materials for the summercamps. I took over this changing of the project very well.

“International Summer Semi Camps”-my second project

 This was my second project after “live and learnd” project. I had my OCP here, his name is Martin. In this project i worked with two nice girls. Anna the Ukrainian girl and Thao the vietnamese girl. 

A photo of me, Martin, Anna, Thao and staffs of the project

 Our first place to work was in Kamienna Gora, it’s about 2 hours by Bus from Wroclaw. We spent great time together with children in the camp and also we met very nice manager of the camp, her name is Magda. She and her family welcomed us very well. We shared our culture, food, religions, many things. Magda and her family always took us in different places after work. They took me, Anna and Thao went around the city, went to colorful lake near the city, a very nice church and they also took us to the mountain. Kamienna gora ‘s like my second home, and Magda’s family is like my second family. Thao and I also cooked our traditional foods for this family.

A photo of me, Anna, Thao and Magda’s family

For the children, i taught them english with tradtional games from Indonesia and english songs. I talked a lot of things about Indonesia everyday. We talked about Indonesian tourism, languages, foods and drinks, clothes, dances, etc. Even we played Angklung (a tradtional bamboo intrument from West Java, Indonesia) and traditional puppet called Wayang Golek very well. We went to miniatur park, rode horses, and other fun activities.

A photo of me and children in Kamienna Gora playing traditional game called Ular Naga

A photo of my students playing tradtional puppet called Wayang Golek

Actually i worked in Kamienna Gora for one week then i had to move to Olesnica, but unfortunately i wasn’t in a good condition in my very last day in Kamienna Gora, so i decided to stay in Kamienna gora for 2 days then moved to Olesnica. I felt bad that i couldn’t go to Olesnica on time and i couldn’t deliver all of my materials. But I still had really great time there with nice family and children.

 In Olesnica i stayed in the headmaster’s house. I had really great time with her daughter. Her name is Ola. Ola took me around the city and i also cooked indonesian food for Ola and her family. I taught Ola to play Congklak, a traditional game from Indonesia. My students and I also played Angklung in the school. We went to a swimming pool, we played a traditional game calles Gobak Sodor, we had a barbeque in the school, we made animals from special gel to make balloon (i brought it from Indonesia, it is made in Indonesia), etc. 

A photo of my students in Olesnica playing Angklung

A photo of me, my students and the headmaster.

I didn’t have any problems from this project, i only had so much fun with new family , new students and new friends here. Everything was great for me until i had to go back to Wroclaw and had my farewell with people there.

In the end, the internship is over, but friendship and experiences stay as an adoreable memory. I met really nice, great and inspiring people that i won’t forget in my life. This internship also gave me a chance to develop my self, improving my english, gaining my self confidence and learn how to interract with other people from different backgrounds and be a problem solver for my problems, futhermore, people’s problems. So, GO EXCHANGE! And have your own adorable life changing experience!!

Astri's Exchange Story in TAIWAN

May 22, 2011.

After the 1 hour delay in Hongkong (because of the bad weather), i finally arrived in Taiwan at around 4 pm. At the airport, i was greeted by Wenda and Tina who was holding a paper with “Astri” written on it :D . At first we went by bus to the city, and then with the MRT to Shillin station. I was carrying 3 bags with me: 1 20 kg luggage, 1 duffel bag, and 1 laptop bag. They were SO heavy and dragging them around the mrt station was tiring! Thankfully, Wenda and Tina helped, they carried my laptop bag & duffel bag so i only had to drag the heavy luggage (with the wheels broken!).

I forgot which MRT station we went first, but later we went to shillin station where i was picked up by Xishan elementary principal: ms. Cheng and the dean, Andy. We had a talk, arranging my homestay for 2 days before i move into a dorm. So in the end, they decided i was to stay at the xishan teacher’s house , Joy, for 2 nights.

We went to Joy’s house, and there i was introduced to her family:  children Debra & Daniel and her husband Luke. They were amazing! I became friends with Debra instantly, because we have so much in common and i also learned that she goes to the same university as my friend, in Canada.

For dinner we all went to a restaurant (i dont remember the name) where we ate these 5 course meal. I WAS SO FULL by the end of it. After dinner me and debra went to the night market, and stayed there until 11 o’clock. I LOVE THE NIGHT MARKET!!!! 

I love Taiwan~ the people are just so friendly ^^

May 23

This is the first day of my teaching in Xishan elementary. I was sooo nervous! 

Soon i learned that the school is small: only 1 class each grade, and only around 12 students in each class. The students were so cute! I introduced myself infront of them at the school field, and afterwards they asked me questions. The questions were funny, like “do you have a boyfriend?” “what kind of animal do you like?” and stuff.

My first class was the 2nd grade. They were learning the months in english, so we sang a song.

next was 5th grade, we watched a health drama by the nurse, informing the students they need calcium and healthy food to grow tall. The nurses also wore costumes (mario bros, hobbit) to attract the students which was brilliant!

The last class was the 6th grade. They were REALLY hyperactive, and when we played the name game, they couldnt stay still! I lost the game twice, once cos i forgot Emmy’s name and in the end i had to kiss her on the cheek. And the other time i had to write a mandarin word with my LEFT HAND.

Tiring day but i had fun!

May 25

OKAAAAY~ so i moved into my dorm yesterday. I live at Wesley Girls’ High School’s teacher’s dorm. It’s the single dormitory (with 3 dorms) but no one lives there, so i live alone. No roomate, no tv and no internet connection. FANTASTIC.

At first it was scary, cos i’m not used to living alone, i always have people around me so being alone was somewhat scary and lonely. I was bored and had nothing to do, so i watched The Big Bang theory dvd i brought with me. I watched a couple of videos and then fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night though, and couldnt fall back asleep so i called my friend, Nick (in Indonesia).

Oh yeah! Today Tim, a 6th grade student, came up to my office and gave me cookies! He was soooo sweet~ i kept the cookies in my desk, but my co worker, Jack, ate one of them without me knowing (he didnt know it was mine). He then gave me a mango candy to make up for it. The principal also bought me 2 mugs because i said i needed glasses in my dorm. She’s SO NICE! I was gonna buy myself but she bought it for me instead.

After school today, i went to Carrefour at zhishan (i think?) and bought lots of things. For the first time i went by the bus and MRT by myself! It was FUN!

Everyone’s so friendly at Xishan! The teachers are so nice, and even the student’s parents asked if i wanted to go somewhere with them.

May 27

I dont have any class today, so i just finished my culture powerpoint and drew 2 patterns of batik for next Art class. The dean from Wesley also came to Xishan to discuss the possibility of me coming to Wesley and give them culture studies. I didn’t mind so we fixed a schedule.

JJ, Kyle (3rd grade) mom came to the office today and we talked about the culture ppt. She’s gonna be my translator for the 3rd grade class, so we discussed the ppt and she also invited me to go to a summer festival thing in June, but i already made plans with my friend so i had to decline. That was very nice of her though, and i hope i can go out with her some other time 

ANDD~ we had AIESEC MCLC welcoming party! It was GREAAAAT! I met a lot of people ^^

At first it was awkward because i dont know anyone, but after we introduced ourselves i became more comfortable and just enjoyed the rest of the evening. Befriended so many people like Stan, Ben, Till, Pierre, Rita, Flora, Yoyo, Jamie, Daniel, Chloe, Margo, Cindy and lots more^^ they were so nice! We played games, listened to some stories from the sharing session, etc. Oh, dinner was DELICIOUS!

I had to leave the party early though, cos i had a bus to catch (9.30) so me, Daniel and Pierre left earlier- accompanied by Jamie and Yoyo.  We went to Yuanshan MRT and seperated there. I went with the same MRT as Pierre though, so we talked for the rest of the trip home. He’s hilarious, i asked why his english is unlike the other French people i know, and then he changed his accent into a French one on purpose. Haha. “I can talk like this no problem!”

I can’t wait to meet the MCLC people again! So fun! Now i have more friends! YAAAY~

May 29

Today i had SO MUCH FUN!

I went out the whole day with my xishan co workers, Jack, trina, louis, fina and Jay.  We gathered at shillin MRT station at 9 am, then we went to Chiang Kai Shek’s residential place and took lots of pics! After that we ate lunch : pearl tea & beef noodle. SO YUMMY~

Then  we went to Longshan temple, i observed the place and took lots of pictures, From there we went to Ximen where i bought 2 pair of glasses, and a food bag. After that we went to the presidential palace (Jack knows the place so well because he was a guard or something when he served his time at the military) We also took many pics at the old town.

Around 6 pm or 7 pm we went to Shillin night market. Louis, fina and jack were tired and not interested so only me, trina and jay remained. We shopped and ate a lot! I also bought A LOT of things. Omg i think i spent too much. Oh well, i was happy anyway ^^

We called it a night at 9 or around 10. My legs hurt SO bad! They were really sore from all the walking T____T

June 2

Today i had to teach 2 classes, originally it was 3 but the morning class got cancelled. So i only thought art for the 3rd grader and also sociology (culture studies). 

For the art class we made batik pattern, they could draw anything as long as there’s some dots or swirls covering the page so it’s kind of like a batik pattern. During culture studies, i introduced indonesian culture, they were very enthusiastic! Especially because i put so many videos, they kept asking me to repeat the video. They also asked a lot of questions, and this time they werent “do you eat snake?” “do you like cockroach?” their questions were actually very good. They asked a lot of things about indonesia, like what kind of religion most people believe in? What’s the meaning of the traditional dance? Etc.

At 5 pm, i went to Jiantan MRT station to meet Jo to discuss about the english camp. After i met up with her, we went to ming chuan university where i met new people, like victor, cindy etc. We discussed the schedule, what kind of food i’d make etc. We also went to the computer building where i FINALLY got internet connection (at night) so i chatted with my friend for a while, as well as continue discussing the games and rundown for the english camp.

Around 7.30 i left because i was meeting Adi (also an EP) at NTU MRT. I met with adi and we went to Dingxi where we met his coworkers: Vivienne and Peter. We went through the night market there, we talked, ate, looked around. It was fun! I made new friends again ^^

June 3

Today, i did  a presentation for the whole school, from grade 1 – 6 at the recreation center. Because ive done quite a lot of presentation, i wasnt nervous anymore. The kids were VERY hyperactive, thankfully my co worker Jack  ke[t reminding them to be quiet and throw candies to get their attention once in a while. I also wore my traditional skirt, a batik skirt and the kids liked it very much

I played a lot of videos. Because the kids seem more interested that way, and sure enough they were very happy 

Today’s the last day before the dragon boat festival, so ill be back at school in Tuesday. I think im gonna go to carrefour today to buy some supplies. Haha 

EXCHANGE OPPORTUNITY IN POLAND

Have you ever thought about coming to POLAND during the european summer?

do you want to get to know new awesome people ? 

discover different cultures in Poland and Europe ? 

Work with students from Polish schools. Get involved and share your experiences with people of different attitudes, opinions and more!

 

Join Enter Your Future Project in Rzeszow, Poland. 

Enter Your Future is a project invented and organized by AIESEC in Poland in order to give young students inspiration to be entrepreneurial and have better understanding of the world and other cultures, motivate them to do more, give them impulse to think. All of that will be happening during workshops in junior high and high schools in totally diversified multinational environment. 

 what will you do ? 

You will:
- prepare context and agenda for trainings,

- lead trainings for students of school and develop their knowledge in entrepreneurship and cultural understanding,

- facilitate group work during the trainings,

- prepare and facilitate team management with groups of students.

Workshops will be led in a schedule:

1 school per 1 week,  from monday till friday, approximately 20 hours weekly.

When?

The project will take place from 19th of sepember till 31th october 2011. 

 

 Where?

In Rzeszów, a city in south-eastern part of Poland 

Click here !

here for video about the city and here for more video

Want to know more about AIESEC in Rzeszow ? do click here

GRAB THIS OPPORTUNITY FAST ! 

Contact : Tazkya F (081809470784) to have the form and the deadline for submission is 15th of August 2011