Student Exchange

 Hmm few days ago , my classmate in NAFA , from the same junior college with me , asked me about my days when I was in Perth , Western Australia . So , ya , she asked also "You got any culture shock ?" I was like of course , since Indonesia got different culture , Australia has their own culture mah... For example like in Australia , normally people around 17 plus , already moved out from their parent's house and stay with their friends , bf/gf , or stay alone in a flat or private town house . But in Indonesia , there's no such a thing like that . In Singapore also no such a thing like that . Or maybe another culture shock is like in Australia , people can just anyhow say hello and how's your day to you even though they dunno us . In Indonesia , if you do that , people will think you're crazy or something , lol

Okay , so in this post , I'm gonna talk about how I could be an exchange student . On December 2010 , my English teacher came to my Dad's restaurant then he told my Mom and me about the student exchange program to Perth . He told my Mom to come to parents meeting at school next several days , the day when I accepted my first semester's study report in my second year of high school / junior college . On the day of parents meeting , my principal and my English teacher explained about the student exchange program to Perth . Then after the meeting , my Mom told me to study better in English and Indonesian cause for going to Perth as an exchange student , I need a good English , good Indonesian , good attitude , and good knowledge about Indonesian cultures . Well , since that day , I really prepared my self . Then on January , my school gave an announcement in each class about the student exchange program . I registered my self to my Indonesian teacher then I joined the selection . There were several students joined the selection . The selection had two parts , first part was English speech and interview in English test , second part was Indonesian interview test . Five days after the selection day , there's an announcement at school about who were the ten exchange students via intercom . I was really afraid if I was not chosen as exchange student at that time . Then when I heard that I was one of ten exchange students , I was really happy ! I started learning traditional Indonesian songs and dances with the 9 other exchange students . My Indonesian teacher , Mrs. Dela taught me and my friends to dance and sing for one month . On March 7th till March 10th , my school's in holiday but I kept going to school for joining intensive English speaking course , it's held by an education agent near my school . Then on March 10th , the education agent gave me and my friends pre departure briefing . About what can be brought to Australia and what can't brought . On March 11th , my principal showed us the pictures of Perth College and Guildford Grammar School , the schools where I and my friends would go to in Perth . Girls went to Perth College (PC , not Personal Computer hor ) and boys went to Guildford Grammar School (GGS) . PC is a girl school and GGS is a boy school . On March 12th , I arrived at school at 06.50 in the morning . I and my friends who were the exchange students too joined the teachers at school to pray together before going to Juanda international airport at Surabaya - East Java . Then on 7 o'clock , I went to my class first to say good bye to my friends then I gathered with my friends at meeting room . My principal gave all the exchange students the address , phone number , and email address of host families in Perth . After that , I went to my Dad's car to take my suitcase and the silly thing was I forgot to take my jacket too in car !Well , after taking my suitcase , I said good bye to my parents and going to Juanda International Airport . I arrived at Juanda around 10.30 am . Then we checked in and sat in waiting room . Around 12.00 am , our plane flied to Bali for transit .We arrived at Ngurah Rai international airport at 12.30 am . I was really bored there waiting for about seven hours inside the airport till the plane taking off at 08.05 pm . Waiting is such a boring thing !I and my friends and three teachers from school arrived at Perth International Airport at 11.45 pm . I and the group did checking in and taking the baggage . Then went to custom and declaration section . I and the group went to the lobby and met the host families at around 00.30 am . I was so tired .I met my first host family . (Well , I got two host families there :) )My first host father , David Hall was so friendly . He introduced my first host sister , Dimity Hall to me , he said ," This is Dim ." Then he introduced his wife , Denise Hall , to me :) After that , David Hall took me and his family to his car . He helped me bringing my baggage . On the way to my host's home , David often asked something about me , such as my father's job , my family name , my full name , my nick name , and some information about Indonesia . He also asked me about my middle name and my family name , Kartika Chandra , it sounds like Indian name . Then he got asked me also "Why your face look so Chinese ? Are you Chinese ? Or are you Japanese ? Wait , or maybe you're Singaporean moving to Indonesia ? Last time I went to Singapore , you look like Singaporean , you know ? Or what ? Coz Indonesians normally got darker skin colour then yours ?" So then I told them that actually I'm Chinese who was born in Indonesia .My grandparents are Chinese then they moved to Indonesia and I was born in Indonesia . Dim told me that she's just come back from Rihanna's concert in Perth . Then she showed me some pictures of Rihanna's concert :)One thing that I was surprised for first time in Perth was the way David drives ! Lol , he drove soo fast on the way from airport to home , and I didn't use the safety belt at that time , cause in Indonesia I usually don't use the safety belt except if I sit on front seat . Few times I almost banged my head to the window of the car by accident coz of his driving so damn fast . Wah liao , if he drove like that in Indonesia , confirm he would bang a lots of other cars . 
Before reaching home , Hall family took me to Kings Park to have a quick look of Perth city at night . It's soooo beautiful ! Then after that , I went to Hall family's house at 237 Heytesbury Road , SUBIACO WA 6008 . Denise Hall showed me around the house . I was surprised too when they asked me if I'm thirsty then Denise gave me water from a tap . Because in Indonesia , I can drink from a tap . After that , I went to sleep. I was in one room with Dimity Hall . She got bunk bed so I slept below her . She said that she got one older brother , he's older than me one year , but at that time he was still sleeping , so I didn't see him on the first day in Perth . I slept at 1.30 AM , first time reaching Perth , haha . Perth was so quiet at night sia , this host family stayed in private house , one story house . 
On the next posts , I'm gonna post about my days in Perth , haha