Life As Bule

REFLECTIONS 14 February 2016 Today is Valentine’s Day and I am working a 9 hour shift. I see couples dine together, some content and others upset for unknown reasons. I check Facebook on my break, and I am reminded that 3 years ago, I was atop a mountain in Whitefish, Montana, USA. Through all of this, I think back to how I spent my Valentine’s Day last year.

I was in a village, asleep on the dirt floor of a kind person’s home. I drank tea loaded with more sugar than tea -the mass amount of sugar a sign of welcoming me into their home. I rose before the sun to gather donated items to give to the residents of the village. I played with children in a small school as we taught them the proper way to care for their dental health. They jumped with joy and curiously fidgeted with my camera when I pulled it out to record them. They loved the concept of seeing themselves in a screen. I held a flashlight as a dentist peered into the mouths of countless village members- quite likely the only dentist visit they received in a long while.

I felt grateful for everything that I had and all of the opportunities I had been granted in my life. Looking back, I was so happy, and everyone around me was so happy. That was such an amazing experience and I cannot think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day.

This next section may not be relevant, but I feel as if many other former exchange students can relate.

 I feel like I have not accomplished anything since I have returned from exchange. Life seems dull and boring and I constantly find myself comparing my life “home” to my life in Indonesia. I remember all of these amazing experiences I had and they cannot even begin to compare to all of the exciting, breathtaking and beautiful things I experienced while on exchange. Life in a constant routine doesn’t seem like life at all. I need to break out of that routine; yet somehow stay on top of school, homework, work, and preparing for college. But what is most important to remember is that life is constant. Life while on exchange and life back home is indeed the same life continued. Life is ever-evolving and always exciting- just different. 

In My Heart, There are Two Homes

Most high school students are content with focusing on their grades, their friends, and their extracurriculars. They fill their time with coffee dates, shopping trips to the mall with friends, and studying for their daunting Math final. I craved more than simple conversations in the same language, in the same familiar places. As a Junior, I decided to reach beyond my hometown of 9,000 people and become a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. Venturing out of Wisconsin, USA, and making my life in Yogyakarta, Indonesia was the most life-changing, beneficial way I could have spent my Junior year of high school. Through foreign exchange, I discovered myself, gained deepened views of the world, and grew close to others in ways that most people my age have not.

When I arrived in Indonesia, I was ignorant to nearly everything. Every word, smell, and gesture was foreign to me. I knew nothing and no one. I was not even sure of an acceptable way to act. Every bit of common sense I had learned throughout my entire life in America failed me; that knowledge was not applicable in a place so distant and dissimilar. This sudden realization was alarming and agitating. My constant struggle to overcome that cultural barrier and settle my discontentment is ultimately what changed who I was and determined who I would become. I could no longer follow the daily routine and way of doing things that many of us settle into after living too long in one place. By forcing myself to break habits and cherish every morsel of life, I found what I truly value and enjoy. In doing that, I found myself.

I also found strangers who quickly proved to be unbelievably helpful and caring. Since I did not know anything about life in Indonesia, I had to put my full faith in others to show me what was wrong and right. These people: my host families, classmates, and Rotary members, taught me how to speak, how to act, and how to survive in a place completely exotic to me. I grew to love and care for them, and they did the same for me. Our friendships broke borders and boundaries of race, religion, class, and age. Through them, I learned of unconditional friendship. We were not friends because we had been since elementary school, we were friends because we genuinely wanted to be. Foreign Exchange led me to people that I never would have met. We became friends in ways that I have never experienced before, and that many people, especially my age, have not experienced.

The bonds I made with Indonesians and my newly formed mindfulness granted me a deeper view of the world. I discovered new beliefs and took time to question my own ideas. I challenged whether I created my beliefs, or if they were influenced by my culture and my peers. By questioning myself and learning to understand others, I gained a perspective that is not possible to achieve by living in the same 9,000 person town your entire life.

I stepped out of a town with a population of 9,000 and travelled 9,622 miles to discover myself. I travelled to the other side of the world to learn of something greater than myself and my small town. By becoming a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, I was able to unearth myself, incredible people, and a world once hidden to me. I gained experiences and ideas that not many people my age have ever fathomed. I studied abroad, and I am forever changed.

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiDVyEmTjZM)