Rindang’s Diary

The Ministry of Research and Higher Education has launched a national student exchange program called Permata or Program Pertukaran Mahasiswa Tanah Air. Students participating in this program are expected to learn things beyond the academic sides in the host institutions of their choice. The English Department proudly announces that we also take part in this national exchange program. This semester we are hosting one student, RINDANG MAULIDIA, from Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Central Java.

Sep, 13th 2016

HELLO  

Surabaya, Indonesia – 28 Celsius

My name is Rindang Maulidia and I am a student of Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga majoring in English Teaching Education of Faculty of Language and Arts. Recently, a lot of my friends have been asking where I am right now as I have been absent for almost 3 weeks in all classes I am supposed to take in this semester. Some says I am taking a semester leave and even the others say I am doing a research. Well, the exact one is I moved to Surabaya to feel the experience as an exchange student for a semester.

I am lucky to be in Surabaya because of an exchange program held by “kemristekdikti”. This program is called PERMATA (program pertukaran mahasiswa tanah air/national exchange student program). Annually, “kemristekdikti” recruiting numbers of students from state and private colleges all over Indonesia to be involved in this program. The students from state universities will be exchanged with the others state university and so will be the students from private universities. The delegates will be facilitated by “kemristekdikti” and the receiver college during the realization of this program. “Kemristekdikti” will cover the round trip flight and the pocket money for a semester which is IDR 3.600.000,-. Meanwhile the receiver college will cover the boarding house payment for a semester.

I was lucky to be sent to Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya in Kalijudan. The place is surrounded by the shady (it means Rindang in Bahasa Indonesia, though) trees with comfortable benches near the pound (what a perfect place for an introvert like me to spare my times for reading fictions!).  Moreover, I have been meeting nice people from various batch here since I am taking various classes offered for the 3rd, 5th, and 7th semester students in this campus. Not only that, but the lecturers are nice as well. However, the most interesting fact is most of the people I am getting to know do not even know where Salatiga is.

By involving as a part of the community in this campus, I hope I can get the memorable take home messages aftermath. Being a sojourner for a semester is a new thing for me. In addition to that, I need to be more independent and wise. Furthermore, being in a new neighboring gets me to be an adaptive individual in spite of my personality as an introvert. In conclusion, being a new part of a new neighborhood, I must be ready with thousands of opportunities that will make my outer and inner journey live adventurously, so  I will be saying yes to every opportunity that will develop me as a great individual.  

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