August 9, 2018
“Nama saya Gracielle Kinahingan, saya dari Benguet State University, Philippines, saya orang Filipino. Senang bertemu dengan anda. Terima kasi banyak.” (My name is Gracielle Kinahingan, I’m from Benguet State University, Philippines, and I’m a Filipino. Nice to meet you and thank you very much).
This day we had our welcome party at the Rectorate Building Lidah Wetan Campus Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Concerned department heads, welcoming schools and students who participated are present. I introduced myself using Bahasa Indonesia and it really made me happy because they were pleased and liked it. My mentor, Mrs. Neni, even commented that she was shocked by my Bahasa since it’s good and that she’ll speak to me using Bahasa. By learning a bit of their language, I was hoping that somewhat I was able to show my gratitude to the UNESA administration and its staff and members for the warm and homey welcoming they had shown upon me.
Though what I showed isn’t that much, they are the reason why I was able to adapt and connect with the new environment quickly. My worrisome and uneasy feeling faded immediately, and so are with my family they are confident that I’ll be okay. “Being able to adapt quickly and learn something new is what you must have during this program,” Yuni Sri Rahayu, the Vice Rector of Academic Affairs said said. It is truly with their help that I was able to manifest this with such an ease. So I daresay thank you very much UNESA and thank you very much SEAMEO for showing me this special experience.
The Forward Step 