OH, PLEASE...I MISS ACICIS!!!

Have you ever heard about Australian Consortium 'In-Country' Indonesian Studies or ACICIS? I've been writing about my experience as a LO in this blog. You can read my post on 2015 here, but I wrote that post in Bahasa. So sorry! On that time, I didn't have a courage to write it in English. Well, this is my story. The story about how much I missed being a part of ACICIS as LO, how much I missed my students who I guided for two weeks while they learn Bahasa at my campus, and how much I missed being soooo happy with them.

I've been LO-ing ACICIS student since 2015 until my last year at campus, which means until 2017. Yeah, I've been LO-ing ACICIS student for three years; from felt awkward when we're looking for kos-kosan, until I was able to start the conversation with my student. It's not easy for me: to have a courage to speak in English every time I accompanied them. Well, fyi, my TOEFL score isn't good. I got 475 for my TOEFL score based on my campus' test.

Me, LOs, and ACICIS staff for ACICIS Program 2017 

My first Australian student that I guided before was a male student. Only one student, but I got a male student. On that time, I was afraid that I couldn't be a good LO for him and yes, I was afraid to feel awkward when we're looking for kos-kosan. But, thank to my brother, because he accompanied me when I was looking a kos-kosan with my student (and his girlfriend). Ah, fyi, he's very mature and...older than me. He's 26 years old or 28 years old on that time, i forgot. He also a quite and an independent person, so that's why we rarely hang out together.

In the following year, I guided two female students. One of them was an Asian-Australian. Uniquely, she has a gluten-free lifestyle. So, it became a challenge for me every time we went for lunch together. I should find a restaurant that provide a gluten-free food. Anyway, they were very friendly and kind to me. We spent time together looking for a kos-kosan.

Me and my Australian-Sri Lanka student

In my last year, I guided a male student again. Before I met him, I only knew his name and I tought he's an Australian-Spanish guy, because his last name is "Da Silva". It sounds like a Spanish name, right? But, when I met him for the first time, he's just an Australian-Sri Lanka guy. He's sooo kind to me and he has a good sense of humor. He has a big smile whenever he laugh and it made me laugh too 😅 Before ACICIS began, he asked me to guide him and two his friends to explore Jakarta. Since I didn't have an appointment on that time, so I accept his request to explore Jakarta. And...yeah! That's my very first experience as a "tour guide" for three (crazy) men. It was a challenging part, because I don't know about story behind the historical sites that we visited. Also, we went to historical sites in Jakarta when the holiday season, so...there were so many people in every place we visited and my ACICIS student and his friends became popular like a top celebrity. Yeah, you know, Indonesian likes to take a photo with "bule" or a foreigner, hehehe.

Me and my best friend after guided three foreigners

This year, I couldn't take a part of ACICIS again because I already graduated last year. So, I can only see the news about ACICIS program this year through social media. Today, I went to my campus for doing a part-time job there (yeah, I will support Public Relations department in my campus because one of PR Staff will take a break for giving birth). At lunch time, me and my friend went to the canteen to eat our lunch there. When I waited my friend to buy a lunch, I saw many foreigner in the canteen. I knew they're ACICIS students! And suddenly, I missed my students and being a LO for ACICIS 😢 Oh please, I miss ACICIS and all the memories I've had with my students (and a Bataknese-Australian guy who had been nice to me).

I Miss you guys! I really hope someday I will visit your hometown, Australia!