the road, experience and everything in between

“So, in Indonesia, your house is like in the jungle and stuff?”
“Wait, you’re allowed to go to synagogue? I thought the Muslims and Jews hate each other”
“I worry that once you get there, you will forget about your West Sumatran culture!”
Those are a few questions that popped out from the American about my hometown, Indonesia, my willing to visit synagogue, and the last one was my grandmother’s first comment when she heard about my exchange study opportunity to USA. Despite all the doubts, I wouldn’t miss this chance.
The teenage Hollywood movies rarely portray the religious side of the American. That’s why I was in awe where every single night before going to bed, my host family always gathers and we mention each other’s wish about our self and the world, and then we pray about it. I know I couldn’t generalize that to other, but finding a family where quality time matters and religious, in a country where the movie American Beauty exposes as a country full of fake lads willing to do anything to be captured as a perfect human being, that was the thing I would never forget. And I’m thankful to be placed in that particular house; a place which makes me even forget what stranger means.
Explaining Indonesia wholly is such a challenge. People gave questions like “where is Indonesia?”, “so you’re a terrorist?”, “why do you put fried onions on everything?” and I myself who’s also questioning stuff like “why do you eat salary with peanut butter?”, “why there aren’t wild dog running around on the street like in my country?”, those questions, should be answered by me in order to bridging the understanding between the two. Looks like the phrase from my liaison—“it’s not right, it’s not wrong, it’s just different”—is true.
My 11 months of staying taught me to be eager in exploring other culture and to make a contract with myself: go out there, find the hilarious facts about this world and have fun. Life is short; make it worth living.