Hey bloggie,
Feel really guilty because I haven’t been able to write a proper blog post about my stay in Japan. Promise will write you the complete and deep insight about the whole 6 months journey. Now, I have something to share. I feel the necessity to write simply because i am grateful for the people l’ve met and will meet during this journey, somehow everyone I know is related to AIESEC. How come?
Long story short,3 months ago on October 2017, I arrived in Tokyo to start my internship as english teacher for kindergarten. I couldn’t deny that I was clueless about who will be my friends. As an extrovert, of course I felt anxious about being lonely. Some of my friends told me to contact PPI (Organization for Indonesian Students who Study Abroad). But there are 2 obstacles : I have no network to the organization and I’m not here to be a student. I do realize that how we are linked to each other essentially shaped by the same experience we have. So i guess it is not be my place to be among PPI.
Thankfully, I had my first friend from AIESEC. Her name is Yulia, from Ukraine. Basically, we are teaching in the same kindergarten and living in the same house. Honestly it felt so awkward, you just met someone and you must live with her for 6 months. Not everything goes smoothly, there are times when we just disagree about something. After a long day at work, we’ll just drink tea and share about silly acts the children do today or make fun of those annoying people we face. Things that only the two of us know how it really feels. It helps me get through the work- stress. We are also trip buddy. We are like each other’s personal photographer. So yes, above all the cultural differences that sometimes made us mad, we got each other’s back.
My next friends are my managers from AIESEC in Japan, Daiki and Mizuki. They are the one who took care of my documents before and after I arrived in Japan.The one who took me to doctor so many times. For your information, English is not a neccessary skill here. Even doctor can’t speak English. Daiki and Mizuki also help us to find any information we need (from how to buy disneyland tickets until how to say some words in Japanese). Lately, they were busy with their study so we dont meet that often. I just hope that they can be my long-life friends and that they are not helping me merely because it’s their job as AIESECers. We’ll see
I also make friends with other AIESEC international interns who are currently here, same like me but in different company and school. Canh from Vietnam, Kenya from America, Shie from China, Yureni from Mexico, Islam from Egypt, Nicolas from Germany, and Ryuveida from Turkey. I first met them all in AIESEC event and we went hang out several times, for example one time we did karaoke and attended emperor’s birthday ceremony. I also went to cultural workshop with Ruvyda one time. Actually I just met each of them not more than 2 times during my stay. But we have group chat and sometimes when we have event to attend, we’ll just ask who can join. It’s relieving to have people who share same experience as foreigners.
My next AIESEC network who has became my bestfriend is Maho-chan. FYI, “chan” is a nickname for little children or close girlfriends in Japan, and yes, she’s the only Japanese i can call “chan”. Hahaha. Actually I have known Maho since a couple years ago, she was working for AIESEC and living in Indonesia. But we werent that close maybe because we didn’t work in the same field. Basically we were both in National board but in different year. I contacted her when I arrived in Japan just to say hi and stuff. However, in our first encounter, she was quite helpful and gave me perspective about Japanese people (yes, I had a culture shock). We have the same purpose to create a better world. It sounds cliche, but I guess at some point AIESECers have the same concern about society. I got tired of having small talks with new friends that I just met, and I find it easy to have deep talk with Mahochan . We usually spend time in onsen (hot spring) or sleepover at her house and can just talk for hours without realizing it. She even introduced me to her bestfriends and we had christmas dinner together. I don’t know what I would do without her, maybe I would have hated Japanese if she doesn’t give me the understanding. She holds important role in my culture shock phase. Can you imagine how rare it is to find a bestfriend this fast? I’m the lucky one
Next is Ka Jazman, he was also in the national board of AIESEC Indonesia (same team with Maho). We knew each other pretty well and both are still ungraduated from Universitas Padjadjaran (blame AIESEC for this lol). However, by coincidence, Ka Jazman came to Japan on my second month here. He was hired by Kak Yuri (one of the AIESEC alumni from Indonesia who is now working in Japanese Company) to be an intern in her workplace for around two months. (I told you everything is about AIESEC network). So yes, lately, me, Maho, and Jazman have been hanging out a lot of times.
Now i’m gonna tell you how the giant web of AIESEC brings me to the most wonderful places and people. So, Maho created Indonesian Cultural night and invited all her Indonesian friends who stay in Japan. We showcased our culture to few japanese fellas. And here is the first time I met Kak Yuri, I have adored her since I was really new in AIESEC. She invited Kak Nurul and Kak Tina to come (she knew them both thru AIESEC back then). Yep, so we had a chitchat. I guess we bonded pretty fast, the power of Indonesian blood were strong there haha.
Ka Tina and Ka Nurul invited us to play ski in their town where they live. In Nagano, 6 hours bus ride from Tokyo. I was planning to go alone, but one random talk with Maho and Jazman brought the three of us there. We stayed 1 night in their house (oh yeah, Jazman knew Nurul also back then in AIESEC Bandung, small world eh?). They were very welcome eventho it’s like my second time meeting them. Thank you Ka Nurul for taking 2km bicycle ride in the night just to pick me up from station. It really felt like we all have known each other for so long. They arranged everything and invited 3 other seniors (they’re mexican but living in Japan) to come with us. It was a wonderful day, it was my first time skiing. And without these people, it wouldnt happen! Evenmore, it was cheap! I spent only 700k for the ski including rent the outfit and equipments. I can’t believe I could meet such kind people who are almost a stranger to me. About Nagano, this city is so beautiful! At night you can stare at the stars so clearly and in the morning you can enjoy the mountain range from afar. I’m so blessed to experience it all.
My next circle was introduced by my AIESEC friend, Sarah, who finished her internship in japan a year ago. She introduced me to some of her intern friends who still stay in Japan until now. There were Mathias (Argentinian) and Wishnu (Indonesian) to me. Mathias was also an AIESECer in his country, he went here for AIESEC internship in IT company and then got hired permanently around six months ago. Wishnu also started from taking IT internship here thru AIESEC Bandung. From there, Wishnu introduced me to Irfan (started internship here thru AIESEC in Universitas Brawijaya) and Zegha (Wishnu’s friends from uni).
Somehow, Mathias also know Yuri and Maho. I dont really remember how, guess that AIESEC world is that small. So we hang out together a few times. The best memory was our trip to Yokohama.
I hang out separately few times with Wishnu, Irfan, Zegha, and also their friend Willy who just arrived in Japan 1,5 months ago. He was also from ITB but not related to AIESEC (finally, lol). Honestly it’s my first time being the only girl in a group of man, I feel comfortable tho. Believe me or not, they were the first people that made me actually ketawa ngakak after 2 months in Japan. I can speak Bahasa all I want and completely being myself with them! Since men are no baper.
My next circle, I have Ai, Andrian, Amel, Roselie. They’re also AIESEC interns from Indonesia (yes, Japanese company apparently like to hire Indonesians). They were like younger siblings for me (Since i’m the oldest). Lol. I went out more often with Ai, because we used to live close to each other. She was like my first Indonesia girlfriend after a month in Japan. I made her join my circle with Maho and Jazman. Sadly, Ai and Andrian’s internship was only for 2 months. But we had one amazing farewell night! Well, what happen in Japan stays in Japan :p Now I still have Amel and Roselie. We are planning to go on vacation next month tho❤️
Not only that AIESEC network gives me friends, but also make me involved in one exciting project. So Mahochan has a friend who need translator for his upcoming advertisement. I was hired to translate the script and record my voice in studio. What surprised me is that the directors are also the one who worked for Pocari Sweat advertisement with Jennifer Bachdim! It was such an extraordinary experience. Once again, comes from AIESEC network.
Now you might get confused of how everyone seems connected to one another. It can be a coincidence that I met them during my journey. But what I want to emphasize here is that maybe without these people, I wouldnt be able to experience all the wonderful days I had. They made it possible to happen. Just by being in one same organization, even when wr come diffferent place and generation, we become like old friends who have memories to share. I feel really grateful that I join AIESEC, and I guess this kind of thing will last forever. I’ll forever remain as an alumni and in the future when I meet another alumni, we can always tell each other’s stories about AIESEC. I used to think that international networking only mean that you’ll have friends from different nationalities, but no, it means that wherever you are, you can always find AIESECers❤️
PS: i use term “AIESEC Intern” in this post to describe people who go for internship abroad thru AIESEC Indonesia. If you are interested, find more info about the program Global Talent in aiesec.or.id. Many of my friends here got hired permanently after the internship!
