The Evergreen State Adventure
Umar Abdurrahman — INA KL YES to USA YP 23/24
Growing up, I loved watching movies and series where the main character is a highschooler in America and I always wonder how it felt to live that life. Fast forward to January 10th, 2023 where I got this life-changing email :
Selamat! Dengan ini, kami menyatakan bahwa Adik LOLOS Seleksi Nasional KL-YES Bina Antarbudaya YP 2023/2024.
At that moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I can’t believe that in months, I would be in a country literally half a globe away, to the United States of America. Well, time goes by and in August, I was standing there at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle in the evergreen state, Washington. It all felt so surreal to me. Leaving my family was not hard because I have been attending boarding school for the past 2 years but still, the feeling of being in another country without my family feels a bit scary and exciting at the same time.
On August 9th, I finally arrived in Tacoma, Washington and met my host family. They welcomed me very well and I felt at home. My host family has hosted many kids before and coincidentally, one of them is paying them a visit. I remember vividly the first night in Washington, where I discussed music with my host family and exchange life with their former exchange student over a bonfire while enjoying some smores in a warm and cozy summer night.
I was exhilarated when I finally started school. It is a huge school with around two thousand students. Unlike in Indonesia, we have moving classes and no school uniforms! They also have myriads of elective classes that are hard to come by in Indonesia, such as orchestra, drama, and many more. I also joined a lot of after-school activities such as jazz band, cooking club, and key club which I really enjoy. I also met a lot of new people, both American Highschoolers and other exchange students. It’s always fun talking to them about our cultures and I love to share my culture with them. I was thankful that during International Education Week, I got to actually show them Indonesian culture!
Outside of school, my placement organization also took me to places. We went to Mount Rainier, the Space Needle in Seattle, and an ice-skating rink. We also did fundraisers in a corn farm and in a concession stand on one of University of Washington’s basketball matches. Outside of that, I also did some community service. I helped out a middle school jazz band and also volunteered in a local thrift shop near my host family’s house.
I learned a lot through this exchange program. I get to experience different cultures, and met wonderful people from around the globe. This whole program really opened up my eyes to a new horizon and a new understanding that beyond all cultures, race, and ethnicities, we are all humans trying to live our best lives.
