How Exchange Year Changed My Life
Felarose Cendekia Zahwa–INA KL-YES to USA YP 23/24
Finally, after a year of waiting — the time’s finally come to us. August was a special month for us, YES finalists. August was finally the time for us to fly to the countries of our dreams! First time arriving in the United States, we had to undergo an international orientation where we could meet other YES finalists from Turkey, Ghana, Thailand, et cetera. There, we were taught many things such as the Trick & Tips on how to survive life as an exchange student, what and what not to do, how to act when your host family has a pet dog — there was just so much fun in learning and getting to know each other. This orientation was held in Washington DC and lasted for 3 days. After 3 days, we were sent to our state-placements.
I got a placement in Colorado, so I flew from Washington DC to Denver International Airport the last day. I was the only one placed in Colorado among all my friends, so I was completely alone all by myself during the journey. This was my first time flying outside of my country — let alone staying for a new life here for a year. Everything was confusing to me, but once you convince yourself you can figure it out-it just flows naturally like a river. My flight from Washington DC to Denver was around 3 hours long. When I arrived in Denver, I met my host dad for the first time. He was standing with a flower as a welcome gift and a sign of my name so I knew he was my host dad. We introduced ourselves and talked about our interests before driving back home. When we arrived at home, my host mom welcomed me with a big smile and we hugged.
I was so glad and happy to be able to be here, in the USA, with a loving family. So apparently, my family in Colorado was supposed to host a student from Gazha but she had problems with her enrollment, so instead of her, I got placed in Colorado with the family. I, too, personally, was supposed to go to Arizona because that was my 1st placement but I had enrollment issues with my school in Arizona so I got moved here. Can’t say I wasn’t sad knowing I wouldn’t be able to meet my host family in Arizona, but I’m still glad I get to meet my host family that’s in Colorado.
When my school finally started, I was so excited and nervous about it, because I knew no one and the system was very different from how it was in Indonesia. But when I talked to a few of the kids in school, I started to loosen up and decided to relax and that everything was not as bad as I thought it would be. Even though finding friends was difficult particularly for me because of the moving class system, everyone was kind to me and I thought to myself that there was no rush in finding friends and I didn’t want to force it. So I waited for it to come naturally. I made my first (close) friend when I was choosing a table for lunch, and someone approached me asking for my name. Her name’s Avery. We then got closer and decided to have lunch together ever since. I also later grew closer with the kids from my History class and Math class.
Finally, the 2nd month of being in the US came! September was a month full of my first’s. September started with an AYUSA ( my placement organization ) event, where we were introduced to all the other exchange students that got placed in Colorado. There were 31 of us in total. I met three girls here that later became close friends of mine. Their names are Camila, Emily, and Sorari. Both Sorari and Emily came from Japan while Camila came from Mexico. We had the chance to explore the arts drawn on the walls in Boulder with a guide, and we also had the chance to express what we wanted to tell about our cultures through art. There, I drew one of the many cultures of Indonesia where kids have to bow down while walking in front of the elders. My friends complimented my art and then later we got to introduce what we drew to each other. It was really fun, and I also think that was the first time I ever truly ‘hung out’ with friends.
After getting to know each other, I decided to plan to come to Camila’s school HOCO instead because it was held on October 7th, which meant there was still some time for me to prepare.
This week was filled with my hang-outs with Camila. We went shopping for HOCO dresses and shoes together. We shopped at Macy’s and oh my God when I tell you it was so crowded–the line to the dressing rooms made us wait for a solid an hour and half and there were so many options of dress that made us even more confused. I decided to go for a shiny blue dress look while Camila decided to go for a black, glittery dress look. These moments made me so glad I got accepted into the program, because of all the amazing people I was able to meet through the program. I even got the chance to introduce Indonesian cuisines by cooking Camila’s family Indonesian fried rice while she cooked us Mexican cuisines. I was so glad her family liked my cooking. They then asked me about how things are in Indonesia and how they are different from how things are in America. I happily answered their questions. September was definitely a fun week because I got to experience many new things, and I got to introduce my culture to even more people.
October was full of exciting things. October was the month of HOCO, Halloween, and also we were celebrating Indonesia’s Sumpah Pemuda! In early October, on the 7th day of the month, to be exact, I finally had my first HOCO ever! For HOCO, I went to my friend’s house first to prepare together, and then we drove to the garden near our neighborhood to take pictures together! There were 6 of us in total, and it was really fun. The garden was crowded with other students also taking pictures for HOCO, so we had to wait for our turns. The 3 out of the 6 of us are exchange students, so it was very exciting to finally experience HOCO, a very american event. After taking pictures, we went to a Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood and we ordered ourselves lunch. It was really funny, because we were entering the restaurant dressed in sparkly dresses and heels. After eating lunch, we found out we still had two hours left to spend before HOCO started. So, to kill the time, we decided to drive to Mia’s house and just hang out until it was time.
October was also the month of Halloween. For this event, I helped the school decorate the hallways with my friends. It was a competition between the Freshmen Senior and Sophomore Junior. Our theme was fall, while the Freshmen Senior theme was Halloween. If you wonder what the result was, well, we lost. But maybe the win was the friends we made along the way, after all. Other than the Hallway decorating, the basketball club that I was in decided to make a small replica of the basketball ring for the school’s Trunk or Treat.
November was all about winter, snow, cold, thanksgiving, and Christmas. My exchange journey in November was definitely filled with a lot of fun and new experiences. I started November with a hike with my school’s outdoor club. We went to Longmont’s Heil Valley Ranch. Because I live in Berthoud, the ride to the location took me around 30 minutes. My host-dad drove me to the place. It was a really nice drive and a nice morning–the sun was bright covering the mountains that we drove through and the weather was fresh. When I arrived there, I was greeted by my Math teacher who also happened to be the teacher responsible for the club. While we were waiting we talked with each other a little bit about future club plans and things she was curious about about my exchange program. Once everyone arrived, we took a picture together and we started our 10 mile hike! The trail up was tiring but it was beginner friendly so we didn’t really suffer that bad. And we were also allowed time to rest if anyone was feeling ill, but fortunately everyone was in their best condition that day. I made some new friends during the hike and we exchanged social media later! It was a new and fun experience for me, as I had never hiked before.
My host-family then started talking about the plans for Thanksgiving. Because I wasn’t familiar with Thanksgiving, they tried to explain it thoroughly to me. We agreed for Thanksgiving we would make wreaths and cook Turkey. Days went by while we prepared the wreaths and the recipes for Thanksgiving. We finished our wreaths around two weeks before Thanksgiving so what was left for us was to wait for the d-day to come!
And I also got to celebrate no other than International Education Week! I celebrated IEW by making a presentation about Indonesia, handing out Rupiah, and also shared one of Indonesia’s foods which was Abon Sapi. I was very happy by their response towards my presentation because my classmates were very active in asking and answering. They complimented my presentation and the taste of Abon Sapi. One of my friends hung the Rupiah that I gave him on his wall, and my other friend keeps the Rupiah in her phone case. The friend that hung the money on his wall asked me what he could get with the Rupiah, and that he thought it was ‘crazy’ because I was just handing out money like that. I laughed because little did he know… (I gave him a Rp. 2.000,-)
After IEW, Thanksgiving was finally around the corner! The night before Thanksgiving, we prepared the kitchen and the dining table. And on d-day, we started cooking the Turkey, stuffing, and all the foods in the morning. We started eating it in the afternoon. To celebrate it, we talked about things that we were grateful for. I was grateful for the program, and for my host-family to be willing to let me in on their lives, and they were grateful for our new dog and the fact that they were able to host me. Thanksgiving was fun and enjoyable. After our family’s Thanksgiving, I also attended another Thanksgiving that was hosted by my host-dad’s big family. There, I ate my very first pecan pie which turned out to be really addicting. It was fun because I got to know my host-dad’s family and also their lovely Huskey called Dakota.
December was most definitely a month that I’d likely to never forget. It was full of memories and new experiences. In December, I hung out a lot with my friends and I participated in basketball games and got to bond with my basketball friends. At the beginning of the month, my friends and I hung out at a dinner theater to support my friend who was playing a role in a Scrooge play. Her name’s Kayla, and she was playing as an old lady in the play. We’ve watched her play a role in her school’s play before about Frog & Toad, so we knew that we were in for one hell of a performance. We arrived around 30 minutes earlier to reserve our seats and order food which would be delivered during the play. We had dinner before, so all of us ( there were 4 of us watching ) ordered desserts. I ordered a New-York-something-cheesecake and it was really, really good. It was my first Scrooge play and I had such a fun time watching it.
And then, Christmas came! It was a really fun Christmas. We woke up early in the morning and we prepared the food and all the bakeries. After we finished, we sat by the fire stove and by the Christmas Tree. There, we started exchanging gifts. We got a lot of gifts for each other. I gave my host parents gifts like coffee, socks, gloves, tea, etc, while they gave me things mostly like t-shirts, sweatshirts, snacks, etc. The most special gift that I’ve received from them was a hand–made leather journal book with my initials carved on it. My host-dad and my host-mom collaborated in making the journal. They’d been working at it for a while, they said. I thanked them for it and then we had Amanda, who was a relative of my dad, come over and spend Christmas with us.
After that, at the end of the month, I hung out again with my friends. This time, we went to Kayla’s house. Her house is a lot of fun because she collects card games and even online games. There, we hung out on the comfy big couch and played Jackbox together. After playing Jackbox, we went to the hot tub in her backyard and we just talked and, being girls. It was so much fun. And then after that, for New Year’s Eve, I spent time with Camila’s host family and stayed over. We had dinner with the big family, we made our new year’s resolutions and made our What’s In and What’s out for 2024. At midnight, we were already comfy in our PJs, but we still made extra time to eat grapes together. We ate 12 grapes to represent each month of the year, and made a “manifestation” of what we hope to achieve in 2024 for each month with the 12 grapes. Camila said it’s a big thing in Mexico, which I didn’t know. December was a lot of fun and I was very thankful for all the experiences that I got to experience.
