Sunday, November 22, 2015
By Ellen Livia - 4:01 PM
Dear folks, It’s been a month since #YESmendukung first movement! We had met hundreds amazing kids accross the nations, from Medan, Bandung, Bogor, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, etc.
We love seeing these kids who are cancer survivors smile and laugh. These kids from Rumah Cinta just released wishing baloon with #YESmendukung volunteers.
YES Mendukung (Youth Exchange & Study, Meningkatkan Edukasi dan Lingkungan) is Indonesian YES Alumni Association Project (IYAA) 2015. Our goal is to increase people’s awareness of education and environmental issue 🌿📚
Throwback a year ago I celebrated it in Columbia, MD. I remember mom drove me and i asked her if we could stop by at Oakland Mills and took a picture with Indonesian flag, and we did it! Now im home and i am going to celebrate it this morning.
Anyway, I wander what OM looks like now in the summer!
#ciamique #AFS #klYES #nyanyiantanahair (at Oakland Mills High School)
Selamat untuk #LangkahAnakBangsa, 140 (mohon koreksi jika salah) siswa-siswi Indonesia yang baru berangkat senin lalu menjadi duta muda Indonesia ke negara-negara lain. Teringat satu tahun lalu, kami berangkat dengan penuh harapan dan impian untuk menginjakkan kaki di negeri lain. Membawa satu nama dalam benak, #NyanyianTanahAir. Terasa asing ketika menapakkan kaki itu, tapi kami tahu bahwa petualangan akan dimulai.
Waktu itu, mama saya naik ke panggung Teater Kautaman TMII menyematkan pin bendera merah putih dan burung garuda di dada saya, menandakan restu untuk membawa nama negeri ini.
Kini saatnya kalian untuk melangkah, berbakti sebagai anak bangsa. Semangat #langkahanakbangsa!
Photo Credit @binaantarbudaya (at Teater Kautaman TMII)
#Day306 tuesday, June 16, Day 2 of Pre Return Orientation, how to rock the american squad pose with no american squad.
We went to Capitol Hill and US Department of State Office. We talked to the US Dept of State Staff. We also met Kal Penn, one of an actor from How I met Your Mother. It was a good day. I am glad i was an exchange student to USA. US is a very diverse country with a large group of different races and people from different country. The people are nice. A lot of people said that American are individualist. Yeah, that is true but they also really good to work as a team. That’s the reason you have squad pose in ‘Murica ;) Show your squad pose, that is how to strike a pose with your team!
#Day305 June 15, Sunday. literally that was the last day I saw my host family this year. They took me to La Palapa, Mom’s favorite restaurant in Old Elicott City. It was actually my favorite Mexican restaurant. I was thinking it’s gonna be the last Enchiladas i ate in ‘Murica. True that. This family has been there for me everytime. Support me everytime in the states. Thankyou for letting me be part of The McGarvey family. After that, dad and mom took me to Hilton Dulles Airport hotel, the place where i would have a 3 days return orientation before going home. Some exchangestudents that is hosted in the states that is far away from DC have said goodbye to their family at the airport. I lived close to DC, so my host family took me to the orientation place. They also gave me a farewell gift to remember, and Maryland & USA flag. On the way to DC, i did not fell like i was leaving. I had my maryland flag wrapped around my shoulder. I have been to DC so many times that I felt like I was going back to Maryland soon. But i was not.
I haven’t posted anything about my last couple weeks in the states because I wasn’t ready to post or write things like this.
My host family is amazing!
Things I miss so much from my exchange year in USA are : Family, Friends, FOOD
#Day304 sunday, June 14 was the last full day in Maryland.
Brittany came over to my house in the morning and took me hiking to Savage Park. It was one of the best summer day ever, we picked up Sarah on the way there. That day was super fun, it’s not just a normal “fun”, it was really fun. We were hiking and swimming in the river. Woodcoppin is a beautiful place, we don’t really see a lot of people, it was a nice park. I feel sorry that Sarah broke her finger. But the adventure is out there. So I and Brittany went to the mall to get some Maryland Souvenirs, got some coffee and went to Hoco summer fest, and riding a carousel.
Our adventure started with jumping into the river, playing ukulele, get lost, hoco art fest and ended up riding a carousel.
One day we are going to have another adventure day!
I went to DC, explored DC a lil bit. I’ve been to different places that I haven’t been before. They have DC Summer Fest with a bunch of food and drinks. I went home and went to Jasleen’s going away party. I always love going away party because i could see some people that i was not going to see anymore for couple years. But it sucks that i have to say goodbye. One of the things that I miss so badly is Cross Country team. OM XC team has been a big part of ny exchange year in the beginning. It’s fun when you have somebody that want to have fun with you, cheer for you, and support you.
#day302 Friday, June 12 we went to Philadelphia, PA. It was a beautiful city. I love the landmark, the museum, the food and the people. We explored the Franklin Institute, crash a graduation ceremony (whoops!), walking around the city hall, and went to the Love Park. Love Park is literally a park with a bunch of loves. A lot of kids were swimming in the water fountain. It was a hot day.
I’d like to thank my awesome American parent for taking me everywhere for a new journey. We always filled by love, one love.
After that I crashed Leon’s going away party with a face mask of his face.
#Day301 Thursday, June 11. Another pool day with Sam & Jasleen. It was a hot day that i didn’t think I would go for a hot tub. I was not feeling well that I thought i wasn’t going to swimming pool. But i did. Jasleen got lost on the way to the pool but she made it anyway. We spent most of our day chilling at the hot tub. After a day in a pool. I, mom and Jasleen stopped by at a garden to do geocaching,
We didn’t find anything but we found a beautiful garden. We got some mint leaves for us to make mint tea.
it’s never been wrong to go to a hot tub in the summer.
#Day300 Wednesday, June 11 I had BBQ with some friends, i tried to cook indonesian soto ayam, which sucks because Leon never had a chance to taste that. It was still bright out there. So we decided to walk to Dunkin Donuts and get some ice coffee. We took a walk for a while and it brought us to Atholton Park and an open theatre in the middle of a forest. It’s always fun to do something with them.
I remember the sound of the river. The summer breeze in Maryland.
So happy that I could see her. Lidia is my sister. I went to US for a year abroad. It surprised me that the fact I left her for a year abroad in US made her more mature and wise. It has been 4 days since I arrived home. I had a week orientation in DC and Jakarta. It was worth it. I didn’t post anything in 2 weeks. But I promise i will catch up with the last 2 weeks that I did in the States and on my way home. Thank you for the McGarvey (my awesome host family), AFS, Bina Antarbudaya, YES program, Oakland Mills High School (my host school) and all the people that I have met during the year.
I would say so far this year is the most #ciamique year for me! ✈️
I went for running & geocaching with Mom. We ended up arriving at a playground. After that we did geocaching again. The app took us to an old family cemetery from 1800. Running always bring us to a cool place.
It was a beautiful day. After that i had a good time with Ivana, Jasleen and Hanna 🌳. #nyanyiantanahair #AFS #ciamique #KLYES
