KL-YES of Year Program 2017/2018 Registration

Aloha guys, I'm back on my blog woohoo! *drumstick*. It has been awhile, nearly a year I believe, that I haven't posted no thing. To make up with that, here I come back with an information which would probably be useful for you, your friends, or other relatives. 

KL-YES registration for candidates selection of year program 2017/2018 has now opened started March 1st 'till April 15th 2016! Just in case you haven't heard about the KL-YES, so KL-YES (Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study) is a program funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides scholarships for secondary school students (age 15-17) from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend one academic year in the United States. 

Detailed registration procedures & requirements for Denpasar Chapter are on the pictures below. 

Seek for further information on website: www.yesprogram.org & www.bina-antarbudaya.or.id or feel free to contact the contact persons or me on Line: ayuwidyap & Instagram: widyaneko for questions related to the registration and the exchange year program & experiences.

What are you waiting for? Be an exchange student to break your comfort zone boundaries and explore the world! You'll never know what's beyond if you don't push your limit. :)))

Happy Easter!

It's Sunday, April 5, 2015 and it's Easter Day. Most people might think "It's JUST Easter day", but not for me who never celebrated Easter before. With great excitement, I got to celebrate Easter with my host family's big family today!

Easter is a cornerstone event in the Christian faith, but it's surrounded by interesting quirks. It celebrates the completion of Christ's mission of salvation in the Crucifixion and Resurrection. By dying on Good Friday, Christ atoned for the sins of others; by rising from the grave on Sunday, Christ conquered death.

So...it began in the morning, when I was getting ready to go to my host auntie's house for the Easter family gathering, my host dad called me to go outside. For a moment I thought I was running late but quickly I understood what's going on - my host parents were preparing for surprise hunts for Marisa, Katrina (who are my host sisters), and me. After everything was ready, each of us got an egg with a starting clue that will guide us to the surprise. 

After looking around, going up and down stairs, I finally got my surprise...and it was right beside tv shelf at the basement. Anyway, it's actually not all about the surprise, but more to the experiencing the Easter. This morning has been started really sweet and I would say thanks the most to my host family who has made this happened.

Shortly after Katrina, Marisa and I got the surprise, we as family plus Matthew (who is Katrina's boyfriend) took off to auntie's house. It took about 2 hours driving and I spent a little time to read a book for my english class "Into Thin Air", and most of it to sleep in the car. We got there around 2 pm with grandma and grandpa have already been there. Then we eat dinner-lunch (means it's a big lunch that can hold you full until dinner) and just gathered together as family.

A little while later, after my momma and auntie were done hiding all the easter eggs, we all went out and all the kids including my sisters, cousins, Matthew, and me have to find all the eggs and another bags of suprise for us. Here's the another fun part began!! I know I might seem too old for this, but I did really have fun haunting for eggs. Besides, this is actually my first time doing this so I wouldn't count myself as too old lol. #Iamcool

I was kinda having difficulty to find my last bag (which was actually a box), and finally I found it in a bush and it was almost invisible......

Afterwards, we took some pictures together and went back in to the house. Guess what time it was next...it was dessert time!! There were some cakes that we had made a day before, Mississippi smudge that Katrina made (which was really good that I ate 6 pieces of them), and also peach pie made by my cousin. And well...I want to share more about the cakes that Marisa and I have PROFESIONALLY made...it was a chocolate cake with Christian cross shape and a carrot cake that both have been profesionally decorated. Here's a picture of us holding the chocolate cake and unfortunately I forgot to take picture of the carrot cake :(

Left to right: Marisa, Katrina, Jodi, Erika, Jason, Widya

A little bit show before we're all leaving - Marisa and I showed our funny duet act in front of everyone about The Plane Truth by Ellen DeGeneres. And that went really well!

Today just has been a great day. Although I don't have any other Easter day to compare to since it's my first Easter, I'd still say today was the best Easter day I've ever had :)

Wellsville High School

I had a great excitement after knowing that I'll be studying at Wellsville High School and it does really exciting after I got here. I found almost everything is different. There's no school uniforms, no canteens but cafetaria instead, there's walking through different classes, many interesting extracurriculars, etc. Wellsville High School is not a big school, but it never wipes out my willingness to learn and socialize into the new things.

I was all nervous at first, because I've never experienced being an exchange student, or simply moved to different schools. Besides, I realized that most cultures would also be different in here, so I have to be extra careful to prevent any possible misunderstanding. It was so challenging!

The classes I'm taking at WHS are:

1. Media Technology-Other, which I think is a fun class and I love the teacher, Mrs. Rottinghaus. I started this class in the beginning of the year and we got started by learning about google drive and it's features which are really cool. Continued by learning Ms. Word, Excel, Integrating Word and Excel, Web Design, Graphic Design, Prezi, and Ms. PowerPoint. I've been familiar using Microsoft Office since mid school. Anyhow, in this class I found out that there are many more features that I've never noticed are existing which actually are really useful. I'm so happy to be in this class!

2.  US History, which somewhat I get lost in, because I never specifically learned about American history before. Fortunately, I have a great teacher, Mr. Keltner, who always makes the lessons be easier to be learnt. 

3. Anatomy and Physiology, which is ok. I learned about human's body physiology and its anatomy functions related into human's body systems. My anatomy teacher, Mr. Long is pretty cool, because he often shares foods in the class!

4. Pre-calculus, WHICH IS MY MOST FAVORITE CLASS! I personally like math, besides, this class is really fun with a really cool teacher, Mr. Chaney, who always makes sense when teaching. I've loved math since elementary school but I lost that passion during early 10th grader..but now I'd say I can't love anything more than math -just saying what I really feel-.

5. Advanced Chemistry, which I just moved in for the second semester. I was in PE class but I quit because I got an eye accident. I got into Culinary Essential class but I decided to move to chemistry class because I'm pretty sure the lessons I'd learn in this class will be more useful when I go back home.

6. Seminar, SSR, and Lunch. Seminar is a kind of free time given to the students to do homework or projects. I'm not sure what SSR stands for, but I know it's a silent reading time where students are officially required to read a book, novel, newspaper or magazines silently, thus followed by lunch time. Here's a picture of school lunch that I just took today (taco salad):

7. English III, which is kind of rough class because I need to learn the real english, including its appliances in real life. I am often still struggling on basic english even. However I'm having good time in this class so far and this class has a lot been improving my english. 

8. Band, which is my second favorite class! I'm moving to clarinet for the second semester and I'm really excited for that. I've never been playing clarinet before, or even read music, so I need to learn from the really basic. To be honest it was hard..gladly I had teacher and friends who always help me. I've been able to play some songs and I'll play trio with my 2 other friends for an ensemble band in April at Baker University. 

Learn something new is always fun, that's why I'm also taking some interesting extracurriculars including FBLA, cross country, scholars bowl, and forensics.

I have had great time in WHS this far. If only I could, I absolutely would come back here for another years!💖

Say "Hi!" to Uncle Sam

As if you read my last post, you must know where I'm today. I was planning to write on my blog monthly but hmmm...I guess not. Well, this is my 4th month in the country of Uncle Sam. If you ask me if it's hard, then I would say YES it is hard to live away into a place which is totally different from my own. It is hard to leave all people I love, leave my friends, not watching the movie that I used to watch, or not talking my first language. But that's why I should be a foreign exchange student; To discover a different life and expand my perspective about the world wide. 

I remember how happy I was after knowing that I got a placement in Wellsville, Kansas about 6 months ago. I got arrived on August 13, 2014. People say the first weeks will be the hardest and I prove IT WAS. Some things went bad, I felt like being thrown to a very different country where I knew only a little bit about their culture, and hadn't many friends. I often got lost in conversation because I wasn't used to use English. Some classes became so hard, sometime I didn't even know what's going on in class. Unfortunately that became worse after I got a bleeding eye after being hit by elbow when I was playing American Football in my 4th day of school during PE class. Too much pressures, I was wishing I could go home right away... I was like a star who lost my shine. I was upset, not about other people but myself. About how everything messed up only on my first week of my journey. It was hard but I tried to keep be strong, hold my tears, and walk although with a lumpy feet, until I could shine even brighter than I've ever been. 

Such as a rainbow that appears after the rain, my days turned completely brighter after things eventually got better. Days passed, I've gotten to know this place better. I've learned more, gotten used to use English, gained friends, and been more involved into school activities. The greatest thing is I have a host family who always supports me, understands how hard my situation was and cheer me up, helps me in a lot of hard situations, and makes me a part of them❤️. 

So today, I write this blog with a big smile, remembering how difficult it was at the first journey, but knowing how grateful I feel after I could get adapted into this place!

That Moment of Pre Departing

Hai semua! Sehat? Semoga. 

Aku lagi nonton, kalian lagi apa?

Hari ini serasa puncak galau, masalah numpuk sampe bingung mau tulis masalah yang mana dulu. Mulai dari persiapan aja kali ya. Baca post ku yang sebelumnya kan? Ok jadi ceritanya aku di rumah tinggal sekitar 3 minggu lagi, atau mungkin aja 2. Persiapan makin berat, buku bacaan makin banyak, skill training makin rumit, dan banyak masalah yang lain-lain. Kemarin Argentina ku juga habis kalah di piala dunia, jadi makin galau /gak juga sih/. Lanjut. Aku udah bilang ini berkali-kali tapi belum bosen, ini bener-bener gak sesimpel apa yang aku pikir dulu. Bahkan makin deket berangkat (terlepas dari rasa seneng yang aku rasain), ini kerasa makin galau luar biasa. Kalo boleh cerita, aku malah belum nyiapin koper. Abal? Lumayan. Student handbook juga belum aku baca habis, tapi ya, masih ada waktu. Berbekal bahasa inggris dengan grammar ngawur ngidul, sekarang lagi nyiapin presentasi tentang Bali. Yang paling menggalaukan ya kiriman paket tadi sore, kostum tari. Narinya sih udah lumayan bisa, tapi ini nih pake kostumnya yang rumit abis. Belum belajar make up pula. Intinya persiapan ini galau. Galau segalau-galaunya. Harus mengabadikan galau di post ini, tahun depan waktu udah balik pengen liat ekspresi nginget-nginget kalo hari ini galau!! Semangat widyaa!!!

Tari Panji Semirang - Bali

Hari ini masalah gak selesai sampe di persiapan. Dunia serasa gak pengertian. Masalah dateng bergantian. Kemarin malem gak tidur semaleman gara-gara mau nonton bola. Padahal tadi pagi hari pertama sekolah, alhasil mata sipit seharian. Bukan itu masalah utamanya. Jadi tadi ngerasa dijauhin temen, seorang temen. Entah kenapa, mungkin ada fitnah atau salah paham. Entahlah. Jadi agak males aja sih, tapi bodo amat deh ya. Masih lebih galau soal perasaan aja. Pernah denger istilah PHP? Ya, pemberi harapan palsu. Menurutku sih gak ada yang namanya php. Orang yang ngerasa ter-php, mungkin cuma dianya aja yang terlalu naruh harapan. Kayak aku, sedikit. Galau ya, tapi ini lagi on my process moving on. Give me power to do this, God... #alay #tapidikit

Udah mulai ngawur? Ga apalah. Masih ada masalah satu lagi. Charger. Ini udah kayak common problem banget buat aku. Untuk ke-4 kalinya charger hp rusak, sedangkan untuk ke-5 kalinya charger laptop rusak. Parahnya, rusaknya samaan. Parahnya lagi, lagi perlu banget sama laptop buat ngerjain proposal sama presentasi. Seandainya raja neptunus dengan wajah malaikat tiba-tiba dateng bawain charger tahan banting anti rusak seumur hidup (Albert Einstein; imajinasi lebih penting dari kepintaran). Gak ngerti sih kenapa charger rusak mulu, perasaan aku pakenya biasa aja. Mungkin ini salah stop kontaknya. Ya, pasti stop kontaknya yang salah!!

Ini udah makin ngaco. Mungkin otak udah kebelet pengen tidur, well it's 00.06 here now. Write more later. Good bye everyone, good night and have a nice dream!

(Here's a last quote for today..)

I'm a YES Candidate!

I still can't believe that I will leave for USA in 4 weeks!!! Wanna know what I feel? Well it's actually undescribed. I feel excited, happy, sad, shocked, nervous, confused and many other feelings at once. It's excited and happy of having a chance to study abroad, but it's sad to leave a lot of people here, and it's nervous to live in a country which is really different from my own, then it's confusing to think of what should be prepared. Thus, that 4 weeks is such a very short time left, isn't? *heavy breathing* *God, take my soul now*

I mean to make this blog as a diary when I'm gone. Well this started about a year ago, when the first time I heard about the AFS and YES Program then got really excited and tried to participate. The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides scholarships for secondary school students (age 15-17) from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend one academic year in the United States. Scholarships for the YES Abroad program are also available to U.S. citizens attending high school (age 15-18) to spend one academic year in select countries.

You should know! At first I never imagined that I'm going to be the final candidate. I really learned that nothing is impossible as long as we would like to try. I've passed couples steps of tests since last year, such as general knowledge test, interview test, SLEP test, and many more (can be googled if you want to know about the tests in detail). Yay this is my first time of leaving my beloved country, Indonesia. Sounds great? Not at all, I feel so much nervous. And yepp...I got some books for my preparation before leaving!

Orientation book, student handbook, and other documents.

By the time of my departure become closer, the more I feel that this is not as simple as what I thought at first. Well, I've proceed my passport and interviewed for visa, but there are still a lot of things need to be prepared. My worst problem now is; I'm not really confident with my English and I feel like...I'm gonna die. Now I'm preparing traditional clothes, dancing costumes, gifts, and YAY I didn't yet buy a suitcase for my luggage, and didn't yet learn about how to make up as a Balinese Dancer. The time goes, it's 3 weeks left, and some things weren't complete prepared yet. Weird, isn't?

Besides, I can't lie that it's really hard to leave a lot of people here. I didn't go yet but I just feel like I can imagine how homesick is like. Would really miss how parents being my both mood boosted and breaker, my grumpy sister, my innocent brother, and lovely friends. But then I remember whether life is a choice, and we should be wise to choose our way :)) Well, I'm starting of writing absurd things.

Don't know anymore what to write, before it becomes worse maybe it's better to me to end this writing. READY OR NOT, USA I'M COMING!!!