Twenty Seventeen.

It was my year. The year of rooster.

A friend of mine told me that I should be careful during my year because it’s usually full of unfortunate events.

Well, my year has finally passed, and I must say: it was, hands down, the best year in my life.

Twenty seventeen highlights include:

1.     Taking a photo with my most favorite politician in the world: my very own president – Pak Jokowi. I must say that I usually do not give much effort when it comes to taking photos with famous people. I’ve spotted a few famous celebrities, but I never had the guts to ask for a photo. However, on the day I saw Jokowi, I knew that I just had to. It was once in a lifetime experience, and I knew that I had to get a photo with him. It took me more than half an hour to get past his bodyguards and the sea of people and older ladies who wanted to take photos with him too. It was tough because the bodyguards would only let you in after Jokowi pointed at you. Well, let me tell you, if there’s something I’m good at, it’s coming up with strategies. I somehow managed to strategically place myself in a place where no one was around. Jokowi finally pointed at me, and ta-daa – I got a photo with him. A pretty good one too, I’d say. 

FYI: I felt like I was capable of doing anything in this world after getting this photo. 

I mean just look at the fierce expression of the bodyguard behind me; I made it through him!

2.     Getting accepted to and scholarship from my dream university! If anyone asked me in 2014 where I wanted to be in 3-4 years time, I’d say somewhere in Europe doing my masters. After 24 years of living in this world, I never once went to Europe, and so my life long dream was to be able to study (and travel) in Europe. In 2016, I fell in love with Lund University in Sweden after going to this scholarship fair. I actually never once thought about doing my master’s degree in Sweden, but after I found out about Lund, I was determined to go there. I missed the application deadline then and decided to apply to the Netherlands instead. I got accepted but didn’t get any scholarship. Back then I promised myself that I would not ask my parents to pay for my education anymore. Hence with no funding, my dream of studying in Europe had to be postponed. I guess 2016 was really not my year. A year later though, in March 2017, I got accepted to Lund and received 100% scholarship. My dream came true. I literally cried when I read the email at four o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t believe it, and here I am, six months later, slightly smarter and definitely colder. It still feels quite surreal. It’s pretty amazing how my life has changed in the past 6 months.

To be honest, this photo sums up the reason why I fell in love with Lund. 

3.     Traveling to South Korea with my sister! After I started watching Korean dramas in 2016, I knew that it was time for me to come back to South Korea. In November 2016, my sister and I finally bought our tickets to fly to Korea… in August 2017. Yes, you read it correctly. We bought the tickets 8 months in advance because… well because they were cheap. We spent 3.5 million and another half a million rupiah for the visa (~$300 in total). It was quite funny too getting a reminder email from AirAsia every single month about our upcoming trip. I'm sure without those reminders, I would've forgotten about the trip. Fast forward to 8 months later, it was finally August, and we made it to Korea. The last time we went to Korea was in December 2009, and I promised myself that I’d have to come back in summer or sometime when it’s not -20C cold. So then we made it back in 2017 when it was scorching hot (~35C). We spent around 8 days only in Seoul, and if you asked us – how did you spend that much time in Seoul? The answer would be by eating a lot of local food, walking til our legs felt numb, and getting lost too many times underground. It was such a memorable trip, and I wouldn’t have gone with anyone else! It was indeed the best Seoul Sisters Trip.

4.     Solo traveling to Poland and Hungary! Again, one of my ambitious dreams is to do some solo traveling in Europe. Don’t ask why. I just thought that solo traveling would be fun, and I’ve heard a lot about how fun it is. To tell you the truth, it was actually rather nerve wrecking for me. I planned for my first solo trip to Krakow, Poland just a week before departure. I really wanted to go, but at the same time, I was also really scared. I actually felt sick after booking my tickets and accommodation. I was that anxious. I was scared of getting lost, robbed, forgetting my passport, not being able to go back to Lund, and the thoughts just went on and on. I was really nervous during the entire trip, especially after I figured that not everyone could speak English in Poland. Nevertheless, I survived. I had an amazing time traveling alone, and I got really pro at taking panorama photos. It’s so convenient too not having to think about where other people want to go. I just had to think about where I wanted to go. I fell in love with solo traveling so much that I decided to go to Budapest, Hungary by myself too. And of course, I had a blast! East Europe so far has not disappointed me at all. It is super beautiful and affordable.

5.     Meeting some of the best people in class. Some of you may have known, some may not, but I’m taking Economics at Lund. Before coming here, I checked out my future classmates and found no Asian in the Facebook group created. Most of my classmates turned out to be Swedes and other Europeans. I think I’m the only Asian girl in my major. It’s so strange because even when I went to Texas A&M, I could spot a few Asians in class. Before I arrived in Sweden, I was informed that Swedes are shy and that it’s pretty hard to be friends with them. I did not really give much thought into this because I thought I should just deal with this later. One of my friends told me about this saying: 

   "Americans are like peaches; they’re friendly at first but after a certain point, they close up. Swedes, on the other hand, are like coconuts; they take a while to open up, but after that they are willing to share a lot.” 

      Well, after spending six months with mostly Swedes in class, I can confirm that the above saying is true. I lived in the US for almost six years, and yes, it only takes a few seconds for Americans to call you “sweety” or tell you that they love you (as friends or strangers). I met a lot of people and figured out so much about them after only our first meeting, but how many of them do I still talk to until now? Only a handful. Here though, it’s a bit harder to approach people. I was fortunate to have met my circle of friends right on the first day of the Master’s mingles (Swedes love to mingle. There’s always a mingle for everything – but this deserves another post). People here do not sugarcoat anything. They say what’s needed and do not really initiate meetings (unless if it’s a group work meeting – haha). I learned that Swedes do not want to bother people in general, and unlike in Indonesia where it kind of feels awkward when there’s silence, it’s rather acceptable and normal here. Oh and Swedes are punctual and do not interrupt other people. Consequently, conversing with Swedes progresses slowly. It’s only after a few meetings, or months I’d say, that they start opening up. Swedes usually only have a few close friends, which makes sense because it’s hard to get through their coconut shells. For some people, the idea of having only a few close friends might seem a bit lonely, but for me, it’s quite perfect. I’d rather have a few close ones that I can talk to openly about life and such than many that I can only joke with. And honestly, I’m not sure how I would have made it through my first semester here without my current classmates/ friends. We’ve gradually progressed from spending time in the library doing math to drinking hot chocolate/ having lunch together. I have many friendships, but this one here feels the most genuine and real. Girls, you know who you are J

6.     Finally going on a Euro trip with my best friend. I’m sure all of you know that I have this best friend of ten years called Neil. We love talking about where we should meet up next. In 2014, I told him about my dream of studying and traveling in Europe. Of course, I told him that we should meet up there and travel together. Apparently it took a little less than four years to make it come true. I remember our very first plan in high school; it was to go to Disney World together, and we made it come true in December 2011. And last December, Neil flew all the way from California to Brussels, Belgium to see me. We visited most of the major cities in Belgium, then Cologne, Germany, then Copenhagen, Denmark and ended the trip in Lund, Sweden. It was an amazing trip, which included a lot of walking, freezing, and going into restaurants to pee for free. We loved all of the places we visited, but the one city that truly left a mark in our hearts (or wallets) was definitely Copenhagen. Euro trip 2017 was unforgettable!

7.     Passing all of my classes, etc. Grades used to define me, but they no longer do. If I were to write something like this six years ago, this point probably would have been in the top three of my list. Getting A’s used to be my everything, but I’m glad to say that it’s not the case anymore. I came here to Sweden to learn and experience new things, not to get A’s. The ideal case is to get both, but I don’t see the point of stressing over grades anymore. And etc. just includes other stuff I cannot think of at the moment.

To sum up, the year of rooster aka my year was an awesome year.

I’m super thankful for everything that happened to me and for everyone I’ve met throughout my journey here, and this shall conclude my post.

Thank you for reading!