August 21, 2004
Everything I did here!
Hey everybody! Finally I can find time to write my blog. OK, I'm just gonna tell u all about what I did after going back home. I might have told some of you these stories in my e-mail, but there's nothing wrong with repeating my writing here, right? ;)
So, two days after I arrived, I had an AFS camp for three days, met other exchange students from Indonesia in that camp & ate all kinds of food I missed (the hot & spicy ones), although with too small portion now ;) It's sooo hot and humid (and lots of traffic and pollution in my city), always above 26 C / 80 F! Although I'm not really "settled" yet here, I'm much better in adapting with temperature, people and environment here than when I first arrived. I still get "US sick"-the opposite of homesick- sometimes, though :P
I also watched Spiderman 2, and felt like I was back in USA for 2 hours! It's a great movie, I recommend all of you to watch it ;) Well, those US movies and TV shows always remind me about USA, everytime I watch them! There's probably only 1 problem: I still have to ignore the Indonesian subtitles that now I find annoying, hehehe :D
I also went to Bandung, another city, about 3 hours from Jakarta, to meet my relatives and friends that I had not seen for 1 year. It's fun to share our stories and hang out together again. I also taught my cousins to play Risk, and they found it really interesting! ;)
The other fun thing that I did: my Class of 2004 Prom Night! I know you may think it's really late (July 21), but most of my classmates had to take the college entrance test in the mid July, so we couldn't make the Prom before that. Prom here is pretty different from the one I had in Hinsdale Central HS. They have bands and other performances here, instead of a DJ. We danced a bit though, but not too much. Prom here is most likely to be just the last time to be together with the class of 2004, since graduation was held before it. I like the prom in HCHS better, though... I dunno, but I just felt a bit strange, being together with all people in the class. I'm still alright for being between my close friends, but I still feel strange if I'm in a larger group. Well, until now I'm still adapting, so I hope I'll be able to handle it better as the time goes...
There's another thing that made me busy for about 1.5 week: the AFS returnees talent show for 2004-2005 AFS exchange students farewell party! We wore crazy costumes and make up there, and overall, it became a great performance-except that I forgot something when I spoke in Indonesian, so I finished it in English :P Well, it was probably just bcoz I got nervous when speaking in front of public... or I just practiced what I want to say in English-thinking that speaking in Indonesian is easy- but I was wrong :P
Another thing, August 17 is Indonesian Independence Day! On that day, we have ceremonie in the morning at schools and government offices. As a tradition in my school, we have some kind of activity fair from all organizations and clubs in my school. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the one this year wasn't as great as the ones we had in previous years :( Beside ceremonies, Indonesians also have another tradition to celebrate our independence: FUN COMPETITIONS! It depends on the area, what competition that they have. They may have sack jumping, tug and war, walking with marbles on a spoon in your mouth, etc. This year, I took part in "fried rice cooking competition" which was organized by the Youth Organization near my house. I really enjoyed it, and I think it's really an "Indonesian" thing to celebrate our independence with those kinda competitions :D
Last thing, about my school now. If you're confused with what I wrote before, here's the explanation for my schedule: Since I'm in science class, I get 9 periods of math and 5 periods each for biology, physics, and chemistry. In one day, we can get either 1,2, or 3 periods of those subjects. And the schedule for everyday is different. Beside science, we also get other subjects that I mentioned in my post before. I've been studying at school for 1 month, and we'll have our first tests next week! Phew, it's pretty hard for me to catch up with my classmates! My quizzes didn't give good results, except for chemistry. And I have to get at least 75% to pass all the subjects. Yeah, it's hard... I also study with the new curriculum that makes the passing grades to be 75%, when in the old I just had to get 65-70% to pass. We can have remedial and extra tasks to make our grades higher though... Phew, just hope I'll pass everything this year :) I'll show pics later. Good luck for all your thingys! ;)
So, two days after I arrived, I had an AFS camp for three days, met other exchange students from Indonesia in that camp & ate all kinds of food I missed (the hot & spicy ones), although with too small portion now ;) It's sooo hot and humid (and lots of traffic and pollution in my city), always above 26 C / 80 F! Although I'm not really "settled" yet here, I'm much better in adapting with temperature, people and environment here than when I first arrived. I still get "US sick"-the opposite of homesick- sometimes, though :P
I also watched Spiderman 2, and felt like I was back in USA for 2 hours! It's a great movie, I recommend all of you to watch it ;) Well, those US movies and TV shows always remind me about USA, everytime I watch them! There's probably only 1 problem: I still have to ignore the Indonesian subtitles that now I find annoying, hehehe :D
I also went to Bandung, another city, about 3 hours from Jakarta, to meet my relatives and friends that I had not seen for 1 year. It's fun to share our stories and hang out together again. I also taught my cousins to play Risk, and they found it really interesting! ;)
The other fun thing that I did: my Class of 2004 Prom Night! I know you may think it's really late (July 21), but most of my classmates had to take the college entrance test in the mid July, so we couldn't make the Prom before that. Prom here is pretty different from the one I had in Hinsdale Central HS. They have bands and other performances here, instead of a DJ. We danced a bit though, but not too much. Prom here is most likely to be just the last time to be together with the class of 2004, since graduation was held before it. I like the prom in HCHS better, though... I dunno, but I just felt a bit strange, being together with all people in the class. I'm still alright for being between my close friends, but I still feel strange if I'm in a larger group. Well, until now I'm still adapting, so I hope I'll be able to handle it better as the time goes...
There's another thing that made me busy for about 1.5 week: the AFS returnees talent show for 2004-2005 AFS exchange students farewell party! We wore crazy costumes and make up there, and overall, it became a great performance-except that I forgot something when I spoke in Indonesian, so I finished it in English :P Well, it was probably just bcoz I got nervous when speaking in front of public... or I just practiced what I want to say in English-thinking that speaking in Indonesian is easy- but I was wrong :P
Another thing, August 17 is Indonesian Independence Day! On that day, we have ceremonie in the morning at schools and government offices. As a tradition in my school, we have some kind of activity fair from all organizations and clubs in my school. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the one this year wasn't as great as the ones we had in previous years :( Beside ceremonies, Indonesians also have another tradition to celebrate our independence: FUN COMPETITIONS! It depends on the area, what competition that they have. They may have sack jumping, tug and war, walking with marbles on a spoon in your mouth, etc. This year, I took part in "fried rice cooking competition" which was organized by the Youth Organization near my house. I really enjoyed it, and I think it's really an "Indonesian" thing to celebrate our independence with those kinda competitions :D
Last thing, about my school now. If you're confused with what I wrote before, here's the explanation for my schedule: Since I'm in science class, I get 9 periods of math and 5 periods each for biology, physics, and chemistry. In one day, we can get either 1,2, or 3 periods of those subjects. And the schedule for everyday is different. Beside science, we also get other subjects that I mentioned in my post before. I've been studying at school for 1 month, and we'll have our first tests next week! Phew, it's pretty hard for me to catch up with my classmates! My quizzes didn't give good results, except for chemistry. And I have to get at least 75% to pass all the subjects. Yeah, it's hard... I also study with the new curriculum that makes the passing grades to be 75%, when in the old I just had to get 65-70% to pass. We can have remedial and extra tasks to make our grades higher though... Phew, just hope I'll pass everything this year :) I'll show pics later. Good luck for all your thingys! ;)
