I saw the best offer last week. It was the cheapest one, and the transfer time was only 1-3 hours. But I couldn't use the credit card last week. I had to wait until this week (today).
More Reasonable Price and Transfer Time (Last Week)
Well, yesterday they raised the price. It was a little bit more expensive than the one that I saw last week, but it was okay. The flight and the time were all the same. But pity me, I still couldn't use the card yesterday hahaha.
This morning, the offers were not there anymore. They raised the price again, about $30. And that was not all. They changed the flight as well. If I wanted to book that flight, I'll have to wait about 23 hours at Hong Kong for the transfer flight!
This Morning!!
There was another flight, with the transfer time of 10 hours at Hong Kong.
Better, but Still Bad hahaha
I wanted to choose that flight (it's better!), but I needed to go to my classroom, so I decided to book it later.
So I got back home few hours ago and checked the price again. Well the price was still the same. But guess what.
Look at the Transfer Time!
I decided not to buy that ticket (obviously). So I chose a better offer.
This is Still Better Than the Another One (same price)
I want to share this with you guys, and I also want to tell you to take the best offer as soon as possible. Otherwise you'll experience the same thing as me.
By the way, special thanks to my aunt! I used her credit card at last :)
- Learn from Others' Mistakes -
BAHASA
Gue udah beli tiket! Great!
Hmm ga great juga sih.
Minggu kemaren gue ngeliat tawaran paling menarik, dengan harga murah dan waktu transit yang masih masuk akal, sekitar 1-3 jam. Tapi minggu lalu gue masih belum bisa pake kartu kreditnya karena masih ada pembayaran yang harus dilunasin dulu. Singkat cerita, gue harus nunggu sampe minggu ini (hari ini) sampe kartunya bisa dipake.
Harga Paling Murah, Waktu Transfer Masih Manusiawi
Jadi, kemaren gue iseng ngeliat harga tiketnya lagi. Harganya naik sedikit sih, mungkin sekitar 100rb, tapi flight dan waktu transitnya masih sama. Ga apa-apa sih kalo cuma beda dikit. Tapi sayang banget, kemaren gue masih ga bisa pake kartunya hahaha.
Pagi ini, kartunya udah bisa dipake lagi, jadi gue browsing lagi tadi pagi. Harga tiket yang kemaren udah ga berlaku! Ada sih tiket lain, tapi harganya naik sekitar 300rb, dan waktu transitnya agak gila sih, sekitar 23 jam di bandara Hong Kong (waktu mau balik ke Indo).
Transfer 23 Jam!
Tapi ada juga penerbangan di hari laen dengan harga sama, dan waktu transit yang lebih bentar, sekitar 10 jam di bandara Hong Kong juga.
Mending, tapi Sama Aja Lama
Gue tadinya mau book, tapi gue masih galau karena 10 jam cukup lama juga. Dan tadi gue harus buru-buru masuk kelas, jadi gue ga booking dulu. Rencananya mau booking maleman.
Tadi sore gue browsing lagi sesudah sampe di rumah. Harganya masih sama sih kaya tadi pagi. Tapi, waktu transit buat departure malah makin gila!
Oke Speechless
Ternyata di hari yang lain ada juga harga tiket yang sama, dengan waktu transit yang lebih sebentar, walaupun sama aja lama (kira-kira 18 jam sama 10 jam). Sama aja gila. Tapi kalo gue ga book sekarang takut juga sih. Jadi deh gue book. Akhirnya.
Better, Tapi Parah juga
Jadi, sebenernya di post ini gue cuma pengen share aja tentang pengalaman pertama gue beli tiket pesawat online. Cape, pusing, deg-degan, stres! Jadi, gue mau nyaranin, kalo ada offer yang menarik langsung ambil deh kalo bisa. Nyesek kalo engga hahaha.
I've looked for the airplane ticket for few days now, online and offline. I went to some travel agencies few days ago and they couldn't find the most reasonable price for me. The cheapest one was about 1.670 USD. You're kidding me!
Well I also looked for the ticket online. I found a ticket with more reasonable price, it was about 1.200 USD, better!
I Got This from www.skyscanner.com
But the problem is, I can't pay it cos I don't have any credit cards! It stressed me out for sure. If I don't buy it as soon as possible, then they will rise the price and I won't be able to buy that! But guess what. I'm so lucky that my aunt has a credit card. So I was hoping that she wants to help me.
I texted her few days ago and told her about this. She said that she wanted to discuss it with her husband first. Well it wasn't easy to meet her cos she lives in another city.
Luckily, we're having an Easter holiday now (Happy Easter guys!!), so she came to my city to visit us. Yesterday I met her and talked about this again with her. You know what. She agreed to help me!! But I have to wait till Monday cos she has to pay for her bills first. That's okay! At least I can buy the ticket online now hahaha.
Wish me luck guys! I'll call some travel agencies again on Monday, decide the best offer, and buy the ticket!
- nothing is impossible for a willing heart -
BAHASA
Beberapa hari terakhir ini gue udah coba cari-cari tiket pesawat buat Juni nanti. Gue udah cari-cari tiket secara online dan offline. Kemaren ini gue dateng ke satu travel, dan harga termurah yang dia kasih tuh sekitar 1.670 USD. Gila mahal bener mba!
Kemaren-kemaren juga gue coba cari-cari tiket online dari website yang banyak direkomendasiin sama temen-temen gue, dan gue nemu tiket dengan harga yang lebih masuk akal, sekitar 13,5 juta. Kalau ditotal-total mungkin sekitar 14 juta. Mending dah hahaha.
Gue Dapet ini dari www.skyscanner.com
Nah masalahnya, gue ga punya kartu kredit dan bayar tiket online itu harus pake kartu kredit dan kalo gue ga beli tiket secepetnya, pasti harganya bakal naek terus. Gue ga akan mampu beli kalo sampe harga tiket udah sampe dua kalinya hahaha. Hmm tapi entah kenapa, gue merasa beruntung banget karena tante gue punya kartu kredit (woohoo). Tapi sebenernya gue cuma bisa ngarep dia mau bantuin gue. Kalo dia ga mau bantu sih sama aja boong hahaha.
Jadi kemaren ini gue nge-Whatsapp dia dan ngejelasin semuanya. Terus dia bilang ke gue kalo dia harus diskusi dl sama suaminya. Nah gue sebenernya agak susah kalo mau ketemu sama tante gue ini karena dia ga tinggal di Bandung. Jadi semuanya cuma diomongin via social media doang.
Untungnya lagi (gue lagi hoki banget akhir-akhir ini), sekarang lagi libur Paskah (Happy Easter semua!!) dan tante gue ini balik ke Bandung buat ketemu sama semua keluarga yang di Bandung. Kemaren ini gue ketemu sama dia dan dia mau bantu gue!! Tapi gue harus nunggu sampe Senin karena dia harus bayar tagihannya dulu biar ga lewat limit. Yah oke lah, seengganya gue masih bisa beli tiket online hahaha.
Doain yah! Senin gue mau survey lagi ke beberapa agen, terus nentuin harga paling murah, terus beli tiket kalo memungkinkan. Doain!
Few days ago I decided to choose Lihuania over Romania this summer. I have some reasons. First, Lithuania is one of my priority, second, I feel like the previous projects in Lithuania were successful, and third, my Romanian assessor didn't reply my messages (I asked her about the announcement of the result) So I considered it as a rejection.
Yesterday morning I received a message, and it was from Carmen, my Romanian assessor.
A Message From Carmen, My Assessor From Romania
I've made my mind to choose Lithuania, I've got matched with them already, so
I'm taken already :(
Let's just hope that I made the right decision. See you later, Pitesti!
- finger crossed -
BAHASA
Beberapa hari lalu gue memutuskan buat milih Lithuania sebagai negara exchange gue. Sebenernya ada beberapa alesan, pertama, karena emang dari awal gue tertarik ke Lithuania walaupun waktu itu gue baru tau ada negara yang namanya Lithuania, kedua, gue ngerasa kalo project-project sebelumnya tuh tergolong berhasil dan asik. Ketiga, pewawancara gue yang dari Pitesti, Romania ga bales-bales message gue pas gue tanyain tentang pengumuman penerimaan EP. Jadi, sebenernya gue udah melupakan Romania dan nganggep gue ga keterima di sana.
Nah, kemaren pagi gue dapet message dari Carmen, pewawancara gue yang dari Romania. Dia bilang gini.
Message dari Carmen, Pewawancara Gue dari Romania
Gue udah keburu milih Lithuania dan udah match sama mereka, jadi gue bales gini (atas petunjuk manager gue).
Sorry :(
Oke, semoga gue ga nyesel milih project Find Your Way deh. Kapan-kapan kalo gue punya duit gue ke Pitesti deh amin!
But actually I have another person behind me. She is one of my biggest supporter ; my EP Manager! (EP = Exchange Participant). Her name is Ica. She isn't a stranger to me cos she was the first AIESECer that I met back then. She was my assessor when I decided to join the exchange program of AIESEC, she was also my coach, she helped me while I was doing my iGCDP project (I used to run a project which had some EPs that came to Indonesia), she also invited me to be a volunteer in an event called Global Youth Festival in my university, and now, she's my EP manager.
Me and My (super tall) EP Manager
This person plays one of the biggest role in my AIESEC experience. And she's also one of my biggest motivator. But I bet that she doesn't realized that hahaha.
I'm new to this kind of experience, so I always ask her some stupid and pathetic questions. But she always helps me, and sometimes she also gives me her hilarious and pathetic answers hahaha. FYI, she's insanely funny! And always does her best as well!
Well, before I decided to go to Lithuania, I asked Ica about the EP returnees that have been there for exchange because I need to ask some questions related to the country and the project. And Ica found two returnees, just in hours! From those returnees, I got some information about the flight, the life expenses, and also their experiences while they were there for exchange. Beside that, I also asked her about the travel insurance and the ISIC card. Once again, she gave me the information, and it helps me a lot!
For me, my EP manager isn't an ordinary creature. She has four EPs including me, and she is also a team leader. But I heard from someone that her GPA is so high, and her time management is so amazing. That's why I said that she is one of my biggest motivator!
Sebenernya ga cuma mereka aja yang punya peran besar dalam perjalanan gue. Masih ada orang yang bantu gue dan jadi salah satu motivator terbesar gue ; EP manager gue, Ka Ica (EP = Exchange Participant)! Sebenernya dia udah ga asing lagi buat gue. Dia sebenernya orang AIESEC pertama yang gue kenal. Ka Ica dulu tuh jadi pewawancara gue waktu gue mau ikutan program exchange ini, terus waktu gue mau ngejalanin project, Ka Ica jadi coach gue. Waktu project gue lagi jalan, Ka Ica bantuin jadi pembicara. Dia juga dulu ngajakin gue jadi volunteer di acara dia yang namanya Global Youth Festival. Dan sekarang, dia jadi EP Manager gue, yang bakal bantu gue dari preparation sampe nanti gue pulang lagi ke Indo dengan selamat.
Gue dan EP Manager Gue (yang tinggi banget)
Kakak yang satu ini tuh punya peran yang besar banget dalam perjalan gue di AIESEC. Dia juga salah satu motivator terbesar gue, walaupun dia ga akan nyadar kali yah hahaha.
Gue ini masih bodo banget. Gue masih baru di dunia perorganisasian, jadi gue sering banget nanya pertanyaan-pertanyaan bodoh ke Ka Ica. Tapi dia selalu jawab dengan sabarnya, dan kadang juga ngasih jawaban-jawaban yang ga kalah bodohnya hahaha. Tapi sekedar info, manusia satu ini kocaknya luar biasa, dan kerjaannya bener-bener luar biasa keren!
Sebelum gue memutuskan buat milih Lithuania, gue sempet nanya ke Ka Ica tentang EP yang dulu pernah ke Lithuania. Terus dia bantu nyariin kontak orang-orang yang pernah exchange ke sana, dan dalam beberapa jam gue dapet dua orang yang bisa gue tanyain ribuan hal tentang Lithuania. Selain itu, buat bisa bikin visa, gue juga butuh travel insurance, tapi gue ga tau cara ngurusinnya karena emang gue ga pernah berhubungan sama yang namanya asuransi. Sekali lagi Ka Ica nyariin kontak orang-orang yang bisa gue tanyain tentang travel insurance ini. Keren banget orang satu ini!
Buat gue pribadi, Ka Ica itu bukan manusia biasa. Dia punya 4 orang EP (salah satunya gue), dan dia juga team leader. Tapi gue denger dari sebuah sumber terpercaya kalo IP Ka Ica tinggi banget dan doi jago banget bagi waktu gitu. Beneran bukan manusia banget deh. Dan itu salah satu hal yang memotivasi gue hahaha. Makasih kakak kece!
Have you ever gone travelling yourself? Have you ever tried to take care of your ticket, visas, and everything yourself? Well I have never done that myself (before), but now I have to take care of everything myself. Usually my parents and my relatives took care of everything when I went travelling. And even when I went with my friends, someone helped me for sure. So this is my very first time dealing with these kind of documents and requirements. Trust me this ain't easy! You won't know how hard it is until you try it yourself!
I started to look for a cheap plane ticket few days ago and I still can't find the cheapest one, it feels like all of them are in the same price, about 15.000.000 IDR, or about 1300 USD. I called everywhere, I browsed everywhere, but it's still hard. I even got headache because of this hahaha. Yeah I'm weak enough!
Beside the plane ticket, I still have tons of things to be done, like taking care of my schengen visa. Well I just called the Hungarian Embassy this morning, and they are actually representing the embassy of Lithuania. I asked her about the requirements to make the visa. FYI, these are the things that I have to prepare : the invitation letter, my passport, a photo, a travel insurance (min 30.000 Eur coverage), the airplane ticket, the itinerary, and many more. And if you're interested to go to Lithuania, you should check it online, cos the requirements for each countries might be different.
This is a very stressful situation to me, because I have to do that myself, and my dad isn't a big fan of Europe, cos everything's expensive there. So actually he didn't really want me to go to Europe. Yeah it makes this even harder. But luckily my mom supports me, and she's been really patient all these times! So, thanks mom! and dad! One word for you, RESPECT.
My Mom and My Dad
Well I'll try to look for the best offers. Wish me luck!
- you won't know until you try -
BAHASA
Pernah ga lo pergi travelling sendirian? Pernah ga lo ngurusin keberangkatan lo sendiri? Seperti tiket pesawat, visa, dokumen-dokumen, dll? Oke gue ga pernah sebelumnya. Tapi gue sekarang harus ngurusin semuanya sendiri. Biasanya setiap kali gue pergi kemanapun, orang tua atau keluarga yang lain selalu bantu ngurusin. Dan sekalipun gue pergi sama temen-temen gue, pasti ada temen gue yang bantu ngurusin. Tapi sekarang gue bener-bener ngurusin semuanya sendiri, dari cari tiket sampe ngurus visa. Beneran deh ngurusin ginian susah banget. Lo ga akan tau susahnya kaya gimana sampe lo nyobain!
Beberapa hari lalu gue udah mulai cari-cari tiket pesawat, baik ke agen maupun online. Tapi semua tiket harganya mirip-mirip gitu, sekitar Rp 15.000.000 atau sekitar 1300 USD. Buat gue yang bukan orang tajir, tiket segitu tuh mahalnya pake banget. Gue udah coba nanya dan nyari ke banyak sumber, tapi yang gue dapetin rata-rata segituan harganya. Pusing banget deh, sakit kepala gue hahaha
Selain tiket pesawat, gue juga harus ngurusin visa schengen kalau mau ke sana. Gue sekarang masih bodo banget urusan ginian, jadi gue butuh banyak nanya buat ngurus ini itu. Tadi pagi gue baru telepon ke kedutaan besar Hungaria, yang merupakan perwakilan dari kedutaan besar Lithuania. Gue nanya-nanya tentang persyaratan-persyaratan yang harus dipenuhi kalau gue mau bikin visa. Banyak bener dah persyaratannya. Nih gue rinci yah, siapatau ada di antara lo yang mau ke Lithuania juga hahaha. Jadi yang dibutuhin tuh Invitation Letter, original dan copy paspor, pas foto 3.5 x 4.5 dengan latar putih atau abu, travel insurance yang mencover minimum 30.000 Euro, bukti booking tiket pesawat, rincian mengenai planning kita mau ngapain aja di sana, surat keterangan tentang tempat yang akan kita tinggali selama di sana, bukti copy rekening 3 bulan terakhir (ga ada saldo minimum), KTP, kartu keluarga, form Lithuania yang bisa didownload di situs resminya, sama uang 60 Euro buat biayanya (harus dalam Euro).
Banyak banget persyaratan yang harus gue urusin, dan ini stressful banget. Salah satunya karena papa sebenernya agak anti sama negara-negara Eropa, karena biayanya mahal katanya. Jadi dari awal emang papa sebenernya ga terlalu mau gue pergi ke sana. Cuma untungnya papa ga ngelarang sih, jadi seengganya gue masih ada harapan walaupun pengorbanannya banyak banget. Dan ada satu hal yang benet-bener bikin gue bersyukur banget. Mama bener-bener ngedukung gue. Walaupun mama ga ngomong apa-apa, tapi gue bisa liat kalo mama ngedukung gue. Bisa diliat dari cara mama ngomong ke gue, cara dia nanya ke gue tentang progress, tentang negaranya, tentang project, dan dia juga kemaren sempet nanya-nanya gitu ke temennya yang pramugari tentang tiket murah dan negara Lithuania. Jadi, walaupun dia ga terlibat dalam urusan dokumen dll, tapi dia bener-bener ngasih dukungan moral buat gue, dan itu yang bener-bener bikin gue termotivasi buat tetep lanjut. Makasih ma! Makasih pa! Maaf yah link blognya baru bakal dikasih tau nanti sebelum Isel pergi. Malu nih hahaha. Satu kata buat kalian, RESPECT.
Mama Papa
Oke, semoga bisa dapet tiket termurah dan proses tercepat deh. Doakan!
Facebook was so popular 5 years ago. But then all my friends started to leave facebook. So did I. I deactivated my account.
But about two months ago, I started to activate my facebook account again because my EPs (Exchange Participants) and the AIESEC people use facebook as one of their main social media.
So few hours ago I opened my facebook profile and there was a friend request from a stranger. I was curious cos she's obviously not an Indonesian. So I clicked her avatar and found out that she's from the Find Your Way Project. I saw her profile to make sure that she has a role in the project. She does!
Evelina Korvel - My Project Manager To Be
Then I decided to send her some messages, in order to know more about the project. She replied to my messages, and she was so nice! We talked about so many things, and she explained to me about the project.
She said that we're gonna have trainings and 2 summer camps, about 1-2 weeks each. We will teach the 13-15 years old pupils on the first camp and 16-18 years old teens on the second camp. Oh and one more thing. We will have a one-week-long holiday between the 2 camps! Perfect!
This morning my dad asked me about the number of Indonesian students who have been there before. And I told him that Lithuania is not a mainstream country for Indonesian students. He was worried about the quality and the safety of the project. To be frank, I felt the same way.
But then I found someone who went to Lithuania last winter! I asked her so many things about Lithuania. She said that the project was so amazing. Then I saw the pictures of last year's project, and I know why she said that the project in Vilnius was so great!
So if the project was great, why was it so hard to find an EP returnee from Lithuania here? Then she explained to me that she wants 10 EPs from different countries. There were about 50 applicants (25 applicants are from China lol), she needs 10, and she has selected 3 (one of them is ME!). Well, I'm feeling lucky now hahaha.
- feeling lucky - BAHASA
Sekitar 5 taun lalu Facebook cukup populer di komunitas gue. Tapi lama-lama Facebook mulai ditinggalin. Gue juga sebenernya udah mulai ninggalin Facebook dua taun lalu. Taun lalu gue deactivated account gue hahaha.
Tapi sekitar dua bulan lalu gue mulai nge-aktifin account gue lagi. Kenapa? Karena facebook sering dipake sama AIESEC buat ngasih kabar-kabar update, dan facebook juga masih populer di kalangan EP-EP (Exchange Participants) hahaha.
Jadi, beberapa jam lalu gue buka account facebook gue dan ada friend request dari bule gitu. Setelah gue kepoin, ternyata doi tuh ada peran di project Find Your Way. Dan setelah gue kepoin lebih lanjut, dia tuh salah satu petinggi AIESEC di Lithuania, dan dia bakal jadi project manager gue.
Evelina Korvel - Calon Project Manager Gue
Singkat cerita, gue ngirim chat ke dia karena gue pengen tau tentang project yang satu ini. Dan dia baek banget ternyata hahaha gue nanya panjang lebar juga dijawab dengan super sabar hahaha pokonya dia ngejelasin ke gue tentang project ini secara general deh. Nice!
Dia bilang ke gue kalo nanti EP-EP bakal dikasih training, terus juga bakal ada summer camp, sekitar 1-2 minggu gitu. Dan di antara dua camps itu bakal ada liburan seminggu, dan kita bisa ngapain aja di hari libur itu. Asik banget dah hahaha. Dari yang gue tangkep, camp pertama tuh isinya murid-murid sekolah yang umurnya 13-15 taunan, dan di camp kedua isinya murid 16-18 taunan. Asik banget sih kedengerannya.
Oh by the way, tadi pagi papa nanya ke gue, berapa orang yang bakal ke Lithuania dan berapa orang yang udah pernah exchange ke Lithuania. Terus gue bilang ke papa kalo Lithuania jarang didatengin sama EP dari Indonesia. Dan papa agak curiga kalo jarang orang yang mau ke sana. Dia khawatir sama kualitas project sama keamanan di sana katanya. Sejujurnya gue juga.
Terus siang ini gue dapet kontaknya orang Indo yang pernah ke Lithuania taun lalu. Setelah gue dapet kontaknya, langsung deh gue hubungin. Dan dia bilang kalo projectnya jalan dan asik banget. Terus sore ini gue juga ngeliat banyak foto-foto project Find Your Way taun lalu. Nah sekarang gue tau kenapa dia bilang projectnya asik hahaha.
Hmm kalo emang projectnya asik, kenapa kemaren-kemaren gue susah banget yah nyari EP returnee dari Lithuania? Nahh kata si calon project manager gue ini, dia butuh 10 EP dari negara yang beda-beda. Menurut pengakuan dia, ada sekitar 50 orang yang apply ke project ini (25 diantaranya dari Cina), dia butuh 10 orang, dan dia udah milih 3 orang, salah satunya GUE. Nah, entah gue kepilih gara-gara gue emang terpilih atau karena gue satu-satunya yang dari Indo yah. Anyway, gue tetep merasa beruntung.
I had an interview with a Lithuanian girl, named Armanda. She told me to make a video, and I've posted it on my older post. So she said that she would announce the result after I submitted the video ; on Monday.
So yesterday was Monday. I didn't expect too much, because the announcement might be delayed. But deep inside, I was so curious about the result. So I looked at my phone, just in case she sent me the announcement. I looked at my phone for hours!
I was sleeping when my phone suddenly rang. It was 22.30. I saw my phone, and a skype message was delivered. I knew right away that it must be the announcement. I was half asleep, and I opened the message.
Yeah I was accepted. Surprise surprise! hahaha
And I saw other EPs from other countries via youtube just now. Their videos are amazing! Thousand times better than mine! Gosh!
Well I was so glad last night. But you know what. Once I started to look for the airplane ticket, my happiness disappear right away. That was so expensive! Literally expensive!
I went to an agent today, and the price was unbelievable! So I decided to start looking for the ticket myself. I got some lower prices, but I don't have VISA or Master Card. Yeah that's stupid.
So, let's just pray for the best ; the best price, the best people, the best everything!
- cheers - BAHASA
Minggu kemaren gue interview sama orang Lithuania, namanya Armanda. Jadi dia kan bilang kalo gue harus bikin video dulu sebelum dia ngumumin hasilnya.
Dia bilang kalo pengumumannya tuh hari Senin (kemaren). Gue ga ngarep banget sih, kan pengumumannya bisa aja ketunda. Tapi namanya manusia yah kepo lah. Jadi kemaren gue nungguin announcementnya. Gue pegang hape terus berjam-jam siapa tau ada announcementnya. Itu hape sampe ga gue silent tuh hahaha
Jadi ceritanya, gue kecapean dan ketiduran. Terus sekitar 22.30 hape gue bunyi. Gue ambil hape gue dengan mata setengah tidur, dan gue ngeliat notif message skype. Langsung deh gue tau itu pasti announcementnya. Siapa lagi yang ngehubungin gue via skype lol
Nah gue keterima tuh hahaha kaget banget dah!
Terus beberapa menit yang lalu gue iseng kan cari-cari di youtube. Dan gue ngeliat video gue di channel mereka. Ada juga video EP-EP dari negara lain. Gila videonya niat banget! Jauh banget lebih keren daripada yang gue! Minder banget deh.
Oke kemaren emang gue seneng banget. Plong banget karena seengganya ada juga negara yang mau nerima orang dengan CV super singkat kaya gue hahaha. Tapi setelah berganti hari, gue mulai stres mikirin tiket pesawat dll.
Tadi siang gue mulai cek tiket pesawat ke agen gitu. Dan harganya mahal banget. Beneran deh ga masuk akal banget. Jadi gue juga iseng cari-cari tiket pesawat sendiri. Gue dapet sih beberapa yang lebih murah harganya. Tapi itu harganya cepet banget gantinya. Oh satu lagi. Gue dan keluarga gue ga ada yang punya kartu kredit macem VISA ato Master Card. Nah loh!
Well if you have read my older posts, I've posted about my interviews and stuffs. But you know what, I didn't have internet connection on my laptop. So what I did was... I went to my friend's dorm and used her wi-fi connection, FOR FREE!
In this post, I'm gonna talk about this friend, the landlord hahaha
So she's my classmate, she's extremely diligent (unlike me). She lives in an expensive dorm, with all of its facilities ; free wi-fi, cable TV, hot water, laundry, and unlimited electricity. While I live in a cheap dorm with a small room and no facility other than cold water and limited electricity. GREAT.
Her name is Meli, she's a chubby girl, and I bet you won't believe me if I tell you that she's crazy. She's a super fan of almost everything related to Korea. And another thing about her is that she eats very slow. I mean, literally slow. EXTREMELY slow. Ah but that's not a biggie since she's so nice to everyone!
So Meli, I dedicate this post for you dude! Thanks for helping me; to let me stay in your room for hours, to sit on your chair and used your table while you did everything on your bed, to let me use your internet connection. Thank you so much!
- cheers -
BAHASA
Oke di post-post sebelumnya gue banyak ngomong tentang interview, exchange, dll. Tapi sebenernya di balik itu semua, sebenernya gue ga sendiri. Modem gue baru aja abis pulsa sekitar satu sampe dua minggu lalu dan gue udah males ngisi pulsa karena modem gue leletnya ga masuk akal. Jadi, selama proses interview gue selalu numpang internet di kosan temen gue. GRATIS!
Nah di post kali ini gue bakal ngomongin tentang si manusia satu ini, si empunya kamar kos hahaha
Jadi, dia tuh temen sekelas gue, namanya Meli, dan dia rajin banget. Pokonya jauh banget sama gue lah. Kosan dia tuh mahal banget, tapi fasilitasnya lengkap banget; wi-fi, TV kabel, air panas, laundry, sama listrik sepuasnya. Beda banget sama kosan gue yang super murah (yang harga sebulannya ga sampe setengahnya harga kosan si Meli), yang ga dapet fasilitas apa-apa kecuali air dingin dan lisrik seadanya. BAGUS.
Hmm si Meli ini adalah manusia chubby yang bener-bener ga keliatan gila, padahal aslinya gila. Dia tuh pecinta korea-koreaan gitu. Drama abis deh anaknya hahaha. Dan hal lain yang berkesan dari meli tuh, makannya lama banget. Beneran lama banget. Lama BANGET. Tapi ga masalah sih, yang penting dia baek ke semua orang, terutama gue hahaha
Jadi, Meli, post kali ini khusus banget buat lo! Makasih banget dah udah sering bantu gue dari kemaren-kemaren; ngebolehin gue nongkrong di kamar dia berjam-jam, duduk di kursi dia dan pake meja dia sampe dia harus ngelakuin yang lain di kasur, terus ngebolehin gue pake internet gratis juga. Pokonya beribu-ribu makasih buat Meli deh!
I got another interview from Lithuania two days ago!
It was better than the last one cos I learnt from my mistakes! I browsed everything before I got the interview. I looked for some essential information, like the location of Lithuania, the people, the language, and I also browsed about the city that I applied to, Vilnius.
So the interview was quite different from the last one. We didn't turn on the video call, so I didn't see the assessor's face directly. I felt nervous at first (obviously!), but the assessor was so nice, and we couldn't see each other's face (was that a good thing? haha)
The assessor (her name is Armanda) asked me some questions like "what do you know about Lithuania?", "do you have any experiences with kids?", and some other standard questions. But that's not all. She asked me some tricky questions like "if you have a million dollar, what would you do with that money?", "why shouldn't we choose you?" etc.
Armanda Capaite, My Assessor
I felt like I have done my best on the interview, but I'm not sure about the result (again) LOL
Well I thought the interview was over after the question-answer session. But actually that was not all. She gave me another task! Here is the task
"Now you have a task to do. The task is to film a video (about 1 minute long, might be minute and a half). There should be 15-20 seconds of different people from Indonesia saying "Find Your Way", after that you should introduce yourself - name and your country. Finally you have to answer these questions : 1. What was your dream profession when you were a child? 2. What are you studying / working now? 3. What prevented you from your dream profession? If not-what helped you to achieve it? 4. Are you happy? 5. What you would like to change in your life? 6. Wish something for the little Gisella in the age of 5 or 6."
I had to do that in 2 days! So I was quite busy. I recorded my part (introducing and answering questions) on Friday, then I recorded my friends saying "Finding Your Way" yesterday, and also did the editing part on the same day. That was quite hard to edit that video, especially because I only have a basic video editor software. FYI, I finished my video just now! Check this out!
Special thanks for those who participated in my video : Evelyne, Meli, Kiki, Jennifer, Nadia, Stephanie, Amanda, Cinan, Bella, Diana, Soffi, Nindya, Gratia, Fidellia, and Tobias.
Another special thanks to Amanda who 'acted' as my assessor in the video.
This project seems so interesting to me. Why? Because Lithuania is a non-mainstream country, and it's located in Europe. Beside that, Lithuania is located in the Schengen area. I want this! And there's another good thing. Armanda told me that they will give me 160 Euros and I can use it to buy foods or to pay for my transport fees. I'm not sure whether it'd be enough or not, but it's better than nothing!
At this point, I still can't make my decision cos I love both Romania and Lithuania. The life expenses in Romania is lower, but Romania is too mainstream and they have the most number of gypsies.
On the other hand, Lithuania is a non-mainstream country. I asked so many AIESECer about this country, but no one knows cos no one's been there before and I want to be the pioneer. But the thing is, the life expenses there is higher and I can't make sure about the quality of the project cos no one's been there before. And I can't make sure that 160 Euros will be enough for 6 weeks.
Well, let's just wait for the announcement first!
- keep calm -
BAHASA
Dua hari lalu gue interview lagi! Kali ini sama Lithuania.
Menurut gue, interview kemaren kerasa lebih mending daripada interview sebelumnya sama Romania, mungkin karena gue belajar dari kesalahan kemaren. Jadi, kemaren itu gue udah browsing dan cari-cari tentang Lithuania, terlebih Vilnius, kota yang gue pilih buat project.
Interview kemaren agak beda sih sama interview sebelumnya. Kalo di interview pertama tuh si pewawancaranya ga ngomong sepatah kata pun. Sedangkan di interview gue yang kemaren ini si pewawancaranya lebih prefer kita pake voice call aja, jadi ga pake video call. Menurut gue pribadi, sebenernya enakan gitu sih, jadi kalopun gue liat catetan buat nyari referensi, dia ga bakalan tau hehehe
Jadi, si pewawancara gue itu namanya Armanda, dia ramah dan welcome banget kemaren ini. Jadi gue yang awalnya gugup, lama-lama bisa lebih enjoy. Armanda ini nanya banyak pertanyaan ke gue (yaiyalah!), mulai dari pertanyaan standar sampe pertanyaan aneh. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan simpelnya yah paling seputar project, kaya "kamu tau apa aja tentang Lithuania?", terus kaya "kamu pernah ada pengalaman ga sama anak-anak?", dll. Tapi ada juga beberapa pertanyaan yang agak menjebak kalo menurut gue, kaya "kalo kamu punya satu juta dollar, kamu mau ngapain?", "kenapa kita ga boleh milih kamu untuk ngejalanin project ini?" Hmm well, gue sebenernya ga yakin sama jawaban-jawaban gue kemaren sih hahhaha
Armanda Capaite, yang Jadi Pewawancara Gue
Terus, sesudah dia beres nanya semua pertanyaan dia dan gue beres nanya semua pertanyaan gue, ternyata proses seleksi ga sampe situ doang. Dia ngasih gue tugas lagi. Dan kata dia sih pengumuman lolos/engganya dari interview bakal diumumin sesudah gue ngumpulin tugas gue ini. Nah, jadi tugasnya tuh gini kira-kira
"Bikin satu video dengan durasi sekitar satu sampe satu setengah menit. Sekitar 15 sampe 20 detik akan ada orang-orang yang berbeda-beda ngomong "Find Your Way". Sesudah itu, perkenalkan diri kamu (nama dan negara asal), kemudian jawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini : 1. Waktu kamu kecil, kamu pengen jadi apa? 2. Sekarang kamu jurusan / kerja apa? 3. Apa yang menghambat kamu untuk mencapat cita-cita kamu? Kalau tidak - apa yang membantu kamu mencapai cita-cita kamu itu? 4. Apakah kamu senang? 5. Apa yang kamu ingin rubah dari kehidupan kamu? 6. Apa harapan kamu untuk Gisella kecil (5-6 tahun)"
Gue dikasih waktu dua hari buat ngeberesin tugas itu, jadi, gue agak sibuk juga gara-gara tugas satu ini. Di hari Jumat kemaren gut ngerekam semua bagian gue (introduction dan jawab pertanyaan), terus gue ngerekam orang-orang yang ngomong "Find Your Way" di hari Sabtu. Di hari Sabtu juga gue ngeberesin videonya. Ngedit video kali ini kerasa cukup susah, karena software yang gue punya tuh basic banget, dan segala pekerjaan harus dibikin secara manual. Nah, gara-gara itulah gue ngabisin waktu berjam-jam demi video satu ini. Nah videonya udah gue upload nih, yang kepo boleh nih diliat. Hasil kerja keras gue banget nih!
Makasih banget buat semua yang udah bantuin gue bikin video ini : Evelyne, Meli, Kiki, Jennifer, Nadia, Stephanie, Amanda, Cinan, Bella, Diana, Soffi, Nindya, Gratia, Fidellia, dan Tobias.
Makasih banget juga buat Amanda yang bantuin ngisi suara pewawancara di video ini.
Buat gue pribadi, project ini menarik banget. Kenapa? Karena project ini ada di Lithuania, yang merupakan negara yang anti-mainstream alias ga biasa. Selain itu, Lithuania ada di Eropa dan masuk ke daerah Schengen. Kedengerannya keren sih buat gue. Selain itu, Armanda kemaren ini bilang ke gue kalo nanti kita masing-masing bakal dikasih 160 Euro dan bisa dipake buat makan dan transport. Tapi sejujurnya gue ga yakin 160 Euro bakal cukup sih. Yah lebih baik daripada ga sama sekali pastinya.
Sekarang ini gue masih belum bisa ambil keputusan. Walaupun gue belum dapet announcement dari Romania ataupun Lithuania, tapi gue harus udah mulai mikirin kemungkinan-kemungkinan yang bisa terjadi. Romania tuh biaya hidupnya lebih rendah, dan termasuk yang terendah di Eropa. Tapi, Romania terlalu mainstream dan populasi gypsy tuh paling banyak di Romania. Jadi agak serem juga sih.
Nah kalau Lithuania itu anti-mainstream kalo menurut gue. Soalnya dari kemaren-kemaren gue banyak nanya ke AIESECer tentang Lithuania, tapi pada ga tau karena pada belum pernah denger ada yang exchange ke Lithuania. Jadi, sebenernya gue pengen sih jadi yang pertama gitu (belum tentu yang pertama juga sih sebenernya). Tapi biaya hidup di sana lebih mahal dan gue ga begitu yakin tentang kualitas project di sana, karena gue belum nemu orang yang bisa gue tanyain tentang Lithuania sekarang ini.
Oke deh, tunggu pengumumannya dulu aja kali yah. Galau juga kalo masih ngegantung gini hahaha
Have you ever had a random thought? I bet you have. So do I.
In the last few days I've been thinking of the countries that I want to explore. Actually I really want to go to europe, because it's a whole different world for me ; the place, the people, the culture, and the habits.
But there's a problem. If they won't provide the accomodations, the foods, and the transportation fees, then I'll have to spend more money there (FYI, I'll stay there for about 6 weeks! It's quite a long time). I don't come from a rich family, that's why I need to calculate everything, that's too expensive!!
Few days ago, I suddenly asked myself, 'why don't you go to Lebanon? Pakistan? India? Sri Lanka? Nepal? You wanna go to a non-mainstream country right?' Well I guess the life expenses in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal isn't that high. They also have great sceneries and cultures. And I really wanna try to be a minority! That's the point.
Nah that's the problem. I led myself to a huge huge huge dilemma. I just had an interview with a Romanian yesterday, and I'll have another interview with a Lithuanian tomorrow. But to be frank, I'm still a little bit unsure about my budget hahaha. Should I apply to India? Sri Lanka? Nepal? Maybe if I failed my interview, I should give a try haha let's see!
- let it be -
India
Nepal
Sri Lanka
BAHASA
Pernah ga lo mikirin sesuatu yang random banget? Pasti pernah deh. Gue juga.
Beberapa hari terakhir ini gue lagi galau pengen pergi ke mana buat exchange nanti. Dari dulu gue pengen banget ke eropa, soalnya eropa beda banget sama indo, dari tempatnya, orang-orangnya, budayanya, sama kebiasannya juga.
Masalahnya, biaya hidup di sana berlipat-lipat kalinya di sini. Kalo mereka ga nanggung akomodasi, biaya makan, dan biaya transport, pasti pengeluaran gue bakal ga kekontrol dah. Apalagi project exchange yang gue ambil durasinya sekitar 6 mingguan gitu. Cukup lama buat bikin tabungan gue kembali ke titik nol.
Beberapa hari yang lalu gue sempet mikir, 'kenapa gue ga pergi aja ke Lebanon? Pakistan? India? Sri Lanka? Nepal? Gue kan pengen coba pergi ke negara yang ga mainstream' Dan gue pikir biaya hidup di sana ga setinggi di eropa. Selain itu, tempat-tempat di sana juga keren2, budayanya juga unik banget. Nah itu dia! Gue pengen coba jadi kaum minoritas!
Pikiran-pikiran gue sebenernya malah bikin gue makin galau. Gue yang tadinya pengen banget ke eropa, sekarang mulai mikir buat pergi ke negara-negara yang jarang dipertimbangkan sama mayoritas orang. Dan kemaren gue abis interview sama orang Romania, dan besok bakal ada interview lagi sama orang dari Lithuania. Perlukah gue apply ke India? Sri Lanka? Nepal? Mungkin kalo gue gagal di interview kemaren dan besok, gue perlu coba apply ke sana kali yah. Liat nanti deh!
I had my first interview! Whoa that was an unpredictable one guys!
so actually i planned to have that interview last week, but it was delayed because of the miscommunication. I asked my assessor about the interview, but she didn't replied. So it was quite confusing actually. I need to have that interview ASAP, but she didn't tell me about her schedule.
Carmen Elena, My Assessor
Today i went to my friend's dorm to do my homework. I turned on my laptop and connected it to the internet. Few minutes later, my assessor was online! So i sent her a message via skype, about my interview. I asked her about her schedule. Then guess what. She said we could have the interview now. Okay that was a big shock for me lol
Then for the next 40 minutes, i had an interview with her. She was on her working place and she said it was hard for her to speak. So she typed all of her questions, and i answered those questions by speaking to her directly
my interview wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good too. So i'm not sure about the result. I hope i passed the interview cos the project seems great, and they will provide us the accomodations, foods, and they will also cover the transportation fee!
by the way, i forgot to mention the place. It's romania! And the city's name is Pitesti.
- finger crossed -
BAHASA
gue barusan interview sore ini! Mendadak banget!
jadi, sebenernya interviewnya seharusnya tuh minggu lalu, tapi karena miskomunikasi, jadi diundur gitu. Tapi masalahnya, si pewawancaranya ga ngasih tau waktu jelas tentang interview gue yang tertunda itu.
Carmen Elena, yang Jadi Pewawancara Gue
hari ini gue pergi ke kosan temen buat bikin pr bareng. Gue nyalain laptop gw dan gue sambungin ke wifi. Beberapa menit kemudian, ada notif kalo pewawancara gue lagi online skype! Gue galau tadi tuh, bingung mending gue kontak apa engga. Soalnya gue butuh diinterview secepatnya. Singkat cerita, gue ngirim message ke pewawancara gue, nanya tentang interview, kapan bisa interview. Dan dia bilang dia lg free, jadi bisa interview saat itu juga! Oke gue shock.
Wawancaranya sekitar 40 menitan dan dia ga ngomong sama sekali. Dia lagi di tempat kerjanya, jadi katanya agak susah buat ngomong. Jadi dia ngetik semua pertanyaannya, dan gue jawab secara langsung (ngomong langsung via skype).
interview gue so so sih sebenernya. Ga ancur banget, tapi ga lancar juga sih. Gue ga yakin sama hasil interview tadi, tapi masih berharap juga sih. Why? Karena projectnya menarik, dan mereka bakal nanggung akomodasi, makanan, dan biaya transport! Menggiurkan banget.
oh gue lupa nyebutin nama negaranya nih. Romania! Tepatnya di kota pitesti. Aduh pengen deh hahaha. Doain yah!
Well this isn't my first blog. I've made one before, and it's a whole different blog cos I never mentioned my life in any of my posts. And I'm gonna make the translation of my posts below, for my lovely mom and friends who hate to read anything in English.
Maybe for those who have known me, it's kinda weird to see me writing in English. FYI, my English is not that good. Well I have some reasons. First, I'm a huge fan of travelling and I want to share my stories to more people. Second, I have learnt English for years and I feel like I need to use it now, otherwise I'll forget everything.
Okay I just realized that I haven't introduced myself. So my name is Gisella Thiofanny and I chose gisellallesig as my user name in almost all of my social media accounts. Why? Because you can read it forward or backward. Simple!
As I've said before, I really love to go travelling. For me, travelling doesn't have to be expensive and glamorous. Then what? Okay here is the thing, I really want to go abroad and stay there for a long time to experience the real life there. It seemed like a dream to me, an impossible dream. But then, I found a way (by accident). I met a friend who joined an organization, which has an internship program, or you can say an exchange program. I was so excited that I didn't think too much to join that organization, AIESEC.
I joined AIESEC since 2013 and I still haven't gone exchange now. But I will, hopefully this summer (finger crossed). Actually now I'm preparing for my exchange, but you know what, I still don't know where to go. I have applied to some countries, but they didn't respond very well. That's why I decided to write all my experiences here, to record my stories from the very beginning till the very end of my journey.
- enjoy or leave it! -
BAHASA
Oke ini bukan blog pertama gue, tapi ini pertama kali banget gue nulis dan ngepublish pengalaman dan hidup gue. Ini juga kali pertama gue sok-sokan nulis blog pake dua bahasa. Why? Karena gue pengen mama dan temen-temen gue yang males baca tulisan-tulisan berbahasa inggris juga baca tulisan gue, walaupun gue ga tau apa yang harus gue tulis di post-post selanjutnya hahaha
Mungkin buat yang udah kenal gue, ngeliat tulisan gue yang di atas bakal agak aneh, karena gue ga pernah nulis, apalagi dalam bahasa inggris. Bukannya gue sok-sokan pake inggris guys. Gue pengen berbagi sama lebih banyak orang dan meng-improve inggris gue. Masa belajar inggris bertaun-taun tapi ga dipake. Bisa bodo lama-lama hahaha
Sebelumnya, gue lupa kenalan nih. Nama gue Gisella Thiofanny, dan gue hampir selalu pake user name gisellallesig di tiap account social media gue. Kenapa? Simpel sih, karena kalian bisa baca gisellallesig dari kiri dan dari kanan dengan ejaan yang sama. Coba deh.
Gue cinta banget sama yang namanya travelling. Mungkin banyak orang yang punya image kalo travelling tuh mahal dan mewah. Oke, I'm telling you guys that liburan gue hampir ga pernah mewah. Gue udah sering liburan ala gembel bersama gembel-gembel lainnya hahaha. Singkat cerita, gue sebenernya dari dulu punya mimpi pengen ke luar negeri dalam waktu yang cukup lama (tapi ga kelamaan), dan ngerasain hidup di sana. Bukan buat berlibur ke tempat-tempat wisata, tapi buat bener-bener ngerasain hidup di negeri orang dengan segala suka dukanya. Dan entah gimana caranya, gue bisa ketemu sama temen gue yang ikutan suatu organisasi yang punya program exchange. Gue seneng banget waktu itu, jadi gue langsung join ke organisasi itu. Namanya AIESEC.
Jadi, gue pertama kali join AIESEC tuh taun 2013, dan sampe sekarang sebenernya gue belum pergi exchange. Dan gue bakal pergi summer ini hopefully. Tapi ada satu hal yang perlu lo semua tau. Gue ga tau bakal pergi ke mana hahaha. Jadi gue sebenernya udah coba apply ke banyak negara, tapi sebagian besar ga ngerespon dengan baik. Banyak dari mereka yang ga bales sama sekali waktu gue apply. Jadi, gue di sini pengen berbagi pengalaman gue dari sekarang, waktu gue masih galau ga tau mau pergi ke mana, sampe nanti gue balik exchange (amin).
