Apr 27 2008 /
Differences + YES = Understanding

by Taqia Rahman, Indonesia 07-08
hosted in Cincinnati, OH



One day in early August 2007, I traveled from Indonesia to Washington D.C, United States of America (USA). But there was a long story before I came here to the US. After I decided to be an exchange student, I had not seriously thought that this journey would change my life.

I still remember the day before I traveled to my host family in Cincinnati, Ohio. I and 79 other Indonesian exchange students went to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., during arrival orientation. It was a really hot day in the summer, and we wore Indonesian traditional costume. When we agreed to wear this costume, we didn’t know how hot it was going to be!

I was looking at the Lincoln Memorial when an AFS tour guide asked to help me take my picture with this monument. She also took my picture in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln a couple of times, and then I left.

2 months later, I was sitting at my desk in US history class when my teacher told the class, the history about the civil war and Abraham Lincoln; what he had done for this country, and how this history was so important. I realized I didn’t notice history very carefully. I didn’t know that 2 months ago I was standing in front of the statue of the Emancipation Proclamator; I didn’t know that I was sitting on the stairs where Martin Luther King Jr. was telling his dream and the African American’s dream about equality, desegregation, and integration.

There are many peoples in the world who choose to do the right thing for the world. Many of them are here in the country that I have been visiting: USA.
That is just a little example of my experiences. Being an exchange student might be the best thing I have ever done in my life. I go through the day with a new lesson, new understanding, and new knowledge, in every single aspect. Here in USA.

So many rumors about the USA that I had heard before I came here are truly right, but many of them are wrong. Since US government decided to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, Indonesian people’s perspective about USA has been changed. News and mass media persuade us with their opinion, so what the media said were what we thought. I had never known the truth.

Now that I have arrived in USA, I have been looking around, I have been examining carefully. I didn’t see violence there, I didn’t see war there. There were Human beings, there were people with their dreams, there was a government taking care of the world, there were communities helping their neighbors, there were parents bringing up their children, and there were folks hoping the war will end soon. I have seen no war.

There are so many differences between Indonesia and USA. But it is not impossible for an exchange student to discover new love, friends, and peace. Because we have the same concept in taking care of the world, honoring parents, and living peacefully. One day when I go home, I will tell my country what I’ve seen here is different than what I have heard from the news.

I wish every single person in every country in the world will have an opportunity to be an exchange student, so they will understand how friendly their neighbors are, how good their attitudes are, how unique their cultures, religions, and languages are, and how beautiful all its differences are.

Being an exchange student means being a young ambassador, presenting differences, building up understanding, and creating peace among countries. Being an exchange student also means being an agent of change and peace. It is not only being a tourist. The most important thing for being an exchange student is being a member of a beautiful family, being treated as an equal as a real family member, enjoying leisure or chatting at the dinner table.

For me, the USA is like my second country where people voluntarily give their hand to help me. They are my host family, AFS volunteers, AFS and school friends and other people that I can’t mention. Without them this journey would mean nothing. And without the US government, AFS and YES, all those who are providing for this program, it wouldn’t be possible for me to be here. In our own small way, we are helping to create peace in the world.

This is just a little story of me as an exchange student in USA. I begin my day with a little word: Hi! My name is Taqia Rahman, I am an exchange student from Indonesia, Nice to meet you!