Memories #1 — The Most Memorable Thing in My Life

Written on March 23th, 2019
Disclaimer : ini versi puanjang & detail hehe

One fine day in October 2017 when I was in my 5th semester of college, I remember, one of my friends asked something randomly on our badge LINE group. He asked us whether somebody wanted to go to Japan. If there’s any, he told us to inform our chief of major about it.

I was so curious and interested back then. I immediately asked my chief of major via WhatsApp and informed her that I was interested in that. She told me that there was a research internship program at Tokyo Univ. of Agriculture & Technology (TUAT), Japan.

At that time, I was so excited because this opportunity was terribly rare and I didn’t want to miss it, so I asked about the fees and accommodations. She answered that there would be a scholarship for those who were accepted. The announcement wasn’t published yet, but I already got all the information from her.

Afterwards, I made a promise to myself that I had to be accepted in that program. I began to follow up the requirements, prepared and submitted them to our faculty deans, because they were the ones who would select the two best candidates for the program. There were several students who submitted the requirements. My best friend, Fristy, also joined me to apply for this program.

After finishing the admission, we had the interview and we waited for a week to get the result. If we were accepted, we would be informed by our dean. One day, when we were having the lecture on our class, suddenly our dean informed me via WhatsApp that I was selected for this program. Fristy got the same message.

It turned out that we got accepted, both of us. It was the happiest moment so far. After that, we completed the second requirements for application to TUAT and they were so many; including medical certificates, passports, visas, and other winter stuff like coats, shawls, and gloves, but we enjoyed it anyway.

After a long journey of preparation and flight, we finally arrived in Tokyo on February, 1st 2018. As far as I can remember, it was a bit gloomy-weather day when we first came. We were so ready with our warm winter coats and stuff. When we tried to look for the exit door, Kanako and Eriko were waiting for us.

They were lifting our name tags, so Fristy and I could easily find them. They are the students in Prof. Shibusawa’s laboratory, the one Fristy and I would join for the next 2 months. We didn’t know each other at first, but as time went by, we could get along really fast. They are so friendly and adorable. When we were having the conversation, our train arrived so we continued it on the train.

We spent apparently one hour on the train that took us from Haneda Airport to Fuchu (where TUAT located). Of course we had to take some different trains and also changed the train line that made us walk a bit far. I remember, when we were on our last train, Kanako fell asleep.

Yeah, I know it was a bit tiring. I actually felt tired and sleepy, but I couldn't let myself sleep 'cause I was too curious about Tokyo and I didn't want to miss a thing. So I kept my eyes wide open to look around everything outside the train.

After arriving at Fuchu Station, Kanako had to take a different way and leave us 'cause she got something to do, so it was just the three of us after that. Then Eriko took us to our dormitory that located not far from TUAT campus.

But of course, we had to go there by foot from Fuchu Station. It's about 1,5 KMs far and we made such noisy luggage sound on the street back then. Nah, we didn't care, we're just too tired, haha. The one thing that made me feel not-so-tired was the piles of melting snow along the road. It's kinda funny and weird to see snow for the first time in other form. I posted it on my Instagram Story.

One thing that I can never forget until now is Eriko's kindness. She's really a nice and helpful person. She helped me to carry my luggage to the 2nd floor of our dormitory 'cause our rooms were at the 2nd floor.

She lifted it through the staircases. Oh my God, I couldn't thank her enough. It's just that she was so kind and my luggage was totally heavy for me. I felt terribly sorry for causing such difficulties for her 😥

After putting our things, Eriko took us to the campus to meet Prof. Shibusawa for the first time. He explained about the details of this program and he wanted us to get rest first so the next day we would be able to start the program well.

Then we were introduced to Mrs. Kawaguchi, the one who's in charge to manage our administration, including Student ID Card, Library Card, medical assurance, dormitory permission, and also our scholarship, hehe 🤑

After some kind of bussiness at campus, I finally went back to my dorm. I continued arranging my things and tidying up my room so it could be as comfortable as possible.

Before I got there (Japan), I had already known some kind-hearted people who are a master student at TUAT (mas Andri) and also exchange students at TUAT from Indonesia (mba Carol and mba Nita). I frequently asked them about everything related to living in Japan hacks wkwk

Day 1 of living in Japan. Fristy and I didn't have anything to eat for dinner. Lucky us, mas Andri and mba Carol invited us to have dinner outside (at Sezzeria, Italian restaurant haha quite affordable for student's budget).

We went there by foot, ofc. Along the walk, Fristy and I were informed the places where we could buy groceries and stuffs for the next day. We ate pizzas and spaghetti for free, bcs mas Andri paid them for all of us, yeay!

The next day, we still had dinner together. This time we ate in other restaurant but I forget the name. There were more people who joined us this time, they were mba Sasa, mba Lela, and mas Rehino. They are master and doctoral students at TUAT.

You know how amazing it was to have a chance like this, and got inspired by them everytime I heard their stories. They're so cool and humble, I hope someday I can be like them too. I'm really grateful 'cause God sent them at that time and they're so helpful. I can never forget their kindness 🥺

Afterwards, at campus, we had the introduction with all the members of the lab and started to work on our assignments. The members of this lab consist of doctoral (Mr. Qi Chen), graduate (Eriko), and undergrad (Kanako, Yamaguchi-san, Watanabe-san, Azuma-san, Hiraide-san) students that are under Prof. Shibusawa's supervision and also the joint-researchers (Kodaira-san, Ikeda-san, Himeno-san).

Oh, I forgot to introduce you to Dhira! Yup, he's a part of this program too. He's from Udayana University. He's a real Balinese guy with all that Balinese accent, haha. To be honest, he's an easy-going, smart, and funny person. Fristy and I could easily get along with him. But at the same time, he is super annoying. He always made fun of me 'cause he's that tall, almost like a tower and I'm like a total dwarf standing beside him 😑

I even once got really mad at him for being soooo annoying that he pushed me and almost made me fall to the rice-field ditch. Ugh, that was terribly annoying as far as I can remember. But that didn't last for a long time 'cause he always knew how to make a stupid joke whenever we got tired of our works (when in Matsuyama).

In the middle of the program, we had a field trip to Matsuyama to learn about the actual precision agriculture concept performed by some companies and the farmers for 3 days. Fristy, Dhira, and I joined this field trip with Kanako, Kodaira-san, Ikeda-san, Himeno-san, and Shibusawa Sensei. We went to Matsuyama by plane. I was so grateful back then, Allah gave me the opportunity to feel the sensation of getting in the Japanese Airline.

We, the students, laughed a lot along the field trip. We enjoyed the works as much as the funny yet stupid experiences that we encountered there. After spending the whole day at field and companies, we had some rest at one cozy hotel and each one of us got one room, so it was really convenient.

Oh and not to mention, we always ate delicious yet pricy meals after field works, but most of the time we had to pay it ourselves since the campus only afforded our accomodation (hotel and plane tickets). That made me feel like (almost) a crazy rich Asian (but RIP my moneeey 💔). Lol.

Kanako is also an easygoing, friendly and the funniest accompany I've ever had. We talked about many things and laughed a lot. I really miss every moment that was spent with them, both in Matsuyama and Tokyo.

At the end of the program, we had to present our reports to all the members and we had a farewell party for us because our program has ended and also a farewell for Watanabe-san as he just graduated from TUAT. The day after that, Fristy and I had our free time to explore the city. We explored many places and cultures there (tough we think it's not enough, wished we had more time to explore 🥲).

Fristy and Dhira went home earlier than me. I was the last person who stayed in Japan. I had one day left to explore Tokyo's landmarks by myself. Literally alone. For the record, I didn't feel afraid of lost or something as long as I had money and google maps, haha.

I once was lost in somewhere, okay let's say, that place is called Gumyoji. It might be a district or from what I see, it's more like a village, 'cause it's really quiet and there’s barely anyone but me at the station.

The fun fact is I was lost and I could get there because I didn't notice what train I was getting in, nor realize which direction the train would take me until I checked it on google maps, just because I didn’t see any familiar place in half an hour while on the train, lol.

I thought I used the right train that I used to take, 'cause honestly I once used the train from that line as well, but this time I didn't notice the destination. I thought it was just the same. I spent one hour in that "lost" trip.

I just got off the train as soon as I knew that I picked the wrong train that got me in the opposite direction, then a second later I was in Gumyoji Station and took some photos to remind me of this silly experience 😆 and immediately texted Dhira and Fristy about this, well they were already in Indonesia when I was telling them.

Fortunately, I didn't have to pay more because I didn't have to change the line and still could get back to where I was by getting the same train with backwards direction. And then finally, I safely arrived at Asakusa Station and made it to visit the famous Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Tokyo Skytree. I also had a delicious famous kebab lunch at Asakusa.

Though I visited Asakusa alone, I kept enjoying the moments. I also had many pictures of it. Even some Japanese visitors offered to take pictures of me because they knew I came there alone. It's really kind of them 💖

To sum up the story, I would like to thank Allah for giving me such beautiful blessings. I got so many experiences and lessons from that opportunity. After all, these were the most memorable thing in my life :)