Dear Student,
If your’re reading this, you’re probably interested in going abroad. If you’re sure I would like to congratulate you on this decision; it is going to be great! But if you’re still hesitating I would like to encourage you to take this chance because it will be an amazing adventure no matter where you will go.
I went to Universitats Gadjah Mada (hereafter: UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I made the decision to apply for this university as my grandfather was born in Indonesia and I had never been there before. It was thus a decision based on the country and place rather than the university and its courses. It was an unique experience and I will never forget it. I learned a lot about the country and its culture but even more about myself. I am writing this story the day I got back to the Netherlands so everything is still fresh in my mind.
It all began in December 2016 when I handed in my application to go abroad. UGM was my first choice and I was happy to hear I got accepted in March 2017. Then I had to hand in a lot of paperwork and submit documents to the RUG and to UGM. I noticed that the
communication I had with the RUG was smooth as it was quick and I could count on the exchange office to send me everything I needed in time. It was not the same for UGM where the Office of International Affairs responded weeks or even a month later which made me stress about deadlines set by the RUG. I asked UGM several times for documents but I had more questions that didn’t had to do with studies. For these other questions all exchange students were assigned to a buddy. My buddy was supposed to help me with all my questions, with my preparation, and even during my stay in Yogya she should have been there to show me around. However, I was unlucky with my buddy as I never got to meat her in real life and she only sent me two or three emails to tell me before I arrived saying what was appropriate to wear and where I had to go before the start of the semester. She didn’t pick me up from the airport or brought me to my house which she promised to do. Luckily I could ask people around me who had a better buddy than me to help me out and in the end everything was fine.
It is important to note that in Indonesia the culture is very different than in the Netherlands.
The phenomenon of stress that we are so used to at home doesn’t exist there. Whenever you need some information or documents in a certain time (as described above) it will take a while before you have it. The people in Indonesia simply take their time for everything and are often at least half an hour late for appointments and 5-15min for class (even the teachers!). The culture is therefore not rushed and a bit lazy. In the beginning this was a bit difficult for me but later on in my exchange I accepted this and even realized that I could learn from it. Not to be so stressed out all the time and that everything will turn out just fine. It is one of my new year’s resolutions to take a little bit of this lifestyle back to my daily life in Groningen and to remember to enjoy life everyday like I did in Indonesia.
Because life in Indonesia is amazing. I lived in a house with 11 other exchange students from Germany, France and the Netherlands that all studied at UGM. I arranged this myself as a friend of mine lived in the same house on his exchange. The house used to be a hotel and had big rooms with a double bed, private bathroom, air-conditioning, a bureau and a closet.
In the garden we had a private pool that we enjoyed in the beginning of the year before the rain season started the end of October. The house was very luxurious and the people I lived all became my friends. In total I had to pay EUR 240,- per month for the housing.
Apart from the rent I also had to pay my scooter monthly which was EUR 30,-. Before Indonesia I had never driven a scooter and I was scared to do so as the traffic in Yogya is crazy and they drive on the left side of the road. But on the first day I tried it and it was immediately fine. Dutch people are naturals on a scooter I got told because we are used to cycling. I was happy that I managed as you will definitely need one to get anywhere in Yogya.
Besides a scooter and the rent for the house you can live very cheap in Indonesia. A local meal will cost you around EUR 2,- and at uni you can even eat a proper meal for less than EUR 1,-.
In the end I did end up spending a lot of money. Approximately EUR 1000,- a month as I made trips almost every week. I only had to go to uni two days per week so the rest of the time I was free to do whatever I wanted. I used most of my free time to travel and not to study as the courses are very easy at UGM and you can often finish the homework in class or within a few hours the same day. Only for the midterms and final exams I used my days off to study and not to travel.
Together with my housemates and other friends we made sure that we all had the same days of school (Tuesday and Wednesay) so we could go on the same trips. During the semester I’ve been to several places both inside as well as outside of Indonesia such as Bandung, where my grandfather was born – Jakarta – Bali – Lombok – Sulawesi – Cambodia – Vietnam – Thailand. I think it is important to see the country that you live in order to understand the culture and the people. What also helps is to speak the local language.
Together with six other exchange students I took Bahasa Indonesia class once a week. A 21- year old girl teached us every Monday evening two hours of the language. It was an easy language to learn as they don’t have different tenses and some words are similar to Dutch. I can stronlgy recommend it to take a class as you will be taken more serious by the locals and it makes life easier because not everyone speaks English in Indonesia.
To conclude, I had the time of my life. I would encourage anyone to take this chance and to go to Indonesia. Yogyakarta has given me the opportunity to get to know not only Java but also other cultures within Indonesia. Besides everything I learned about the country I learned about different people too. I met many nice and intelligent exchange participants from all over the world that I can surely call friends for life now. In the end I also developed myself and I am a bit sad this adventure is over. But I am very thankful for this semester abroad and everyone who was part of it.
