Why I Want To Be An Exchange Student

Why did you decide to be an exchange student:
It has been my obsessions to broaden my knowledge of living in another culture, learn the language, comprehend the value, know how people in another country live their life, and see what they think of people from outside their country as I do. I decided to be an exchange student because I believe that by doing so, I could accomplish those obsessions yet promote a more and just peaceful world, altogether. To be an exchange student is the best way to see my country from the ‘outside’ and understand another country from the ‘inside’.

What was the hardest thing to adjust to:
To this, I have couple things to be considered such as language, culture, food, school, etc. But the superlative degree of ‘hardest’ eventually goes to the weather. I am a person from one heck of a warm-humid-tropical country but I have to adjust to the country with a very fluctuate weather. I’ve felt how hot and dry it was in the summer and how freezing it was in the winter.

Funniest moment you will never forget:
I’ve experienced tons of funny moments but the funniest one happened on the very first day of school when I passed out during the hour of PE after running (only) one lap. It was funny because my friends thought I was just doing some ‘Indonesian routine’ by laying on the ground, thus they left me behind. It must had been an hour by the time my teacher found me, in the same pose as my friends had seen before.

Where is your favorite hang-out and why:
Basically, mall is my favorite hang-out, no matter in what country I’m at because I love (window) shopping. It’s just a girl thing. I love being at home, as well, because it is a place where I can hang-out at most with my host family. Oh, almost forgot, I another place to hang-out is a Chinese restaurant in Dubuque where I can eat the tasty Asian foods.

Your favorite American Foods:
Doritos, hot dogs, taco, nachos, chicken fajitas (it’s not really American)

Three adjectives that best describe your stay:
Amazing, unforgettable, challenging.

Final words of goodbye to your friends:
We’ve known each other by chance, became friends by choice, still friends by decision, and when we say friends forever, that’s definitely a lifetime promise! Remember, this really is not a goodbye.




Dayu Dara Permata

INDONESIA