Norther Illinois University!
Yes, it's the place where we had our 2019 SEAYLP.
So, a little knowledge about this place.
Well, NIU is located in DeKalb, a county in Illinois. It is about 2 hours of driving from Chicago, the capital city of Illinois. People say, DeKalb is home of NIU. Yes, NIU is one of the Illinois Universities across the country. What is special from NIU is it's buildings. It has very old buildings which were built in 1800s. I would say that those buildings are similar to those in Harry Potter the movies. Seeing them is like being in the magical words where witches and warlocks lived, lol.
HOSPITALITY
Indonesian people are friendly. Yes, tell me about it. There is no doubt thatAsian people are friendly. But have you ever heard that American are friendly? Yes they are. But different 'kind' of friendliness.
Before getting in to this country, I was afraid.
It was my first travel abroad.
I have no clues of what I will face.
The embassy staff only said, "Your DS1990 is your half soul, when you lost it, we don't know what we can do."
So, I was afraid of loosing it.
I was afraid of being departed from the US without the knowledge of the program I supposed to do.
But my fear went away when I met the immigration staff.
My imagination was there would be scary people with questions about what we would do in USA. But It was wrong.
This what happened:
Immigraition Staf (IS); Good morning, Ma'am.
Me (M): Good morning.
IS: How are you?
M: I'm fine, thanks. (This is the statement I studied and used since I was in Junior High School)
IS: May I see you passport, please.
M: (handed my passport)
IS: So, what is your purpose of coming here?
M: I am here for SEAYLP
IS: What is it?
M: It's a kind of exchange program held by NIU.
IS: Are you going alone?
M: No, I am with 5 other students.
IS: How long will you stay here?
M: about four week.
IS: Do you bring any money?
M: Yes, I do
IS: How much is it?
M: It is ***
IS: OK, please press your finger here. and your finger here. Thank you. have a nice day.
Wow!!!
This is so different from what I experience when I get back to my lovely friendly home country later on. When the Immigration staff lady, with unfriendly face, looked at me, and just passed me my passport, and let me go without even a smile on her face! Hey, you are an Indonesian who is said to be friendly!
But then I told myself: Hey, it's early in the morning, may be she is sleepy.
And talking about American hospitality, it is always the same.
The always begin the conversation with good morning. good afternoon, good evening, followed by how are you. And they always end their conversation with good wishes, "have a nice day". We learned about greetings at school, but what we practice is only the opening, not the closing.
I feel guilty that I learned it but I didn't apply it and use it in my own language. This is a good habit.
Then I should do something about it. Hmm....
TRAFFIC
One first thing I noticed from my stay in NIU was the traffic. The traffic was not as busy as the one in Indonesia. May be because it is in campus, where the students come from many parts of US or even the world, so there were not many cars in NIU. People walk from one building to another, which is quite rare in Indonesia. Compared to Indonesian people who use vehicle for moving to one place to another, even for 100 meters, people in NIU go on foot. another reason why the walk is that there is no parking areas. There are parking lots, yes, in between buildings, but they are far away from the building. So, when you drive, you still have to walk to the building.
And pedestrians here are the kings and queens of the road. When you want to cross the road, car drivers will always allow you to cross before them.
This is very contrast to the one in Indonesia. I don't want to say that we do not respect pedestrian, or may be, we don't, but when you are in Indonesia, you have to wait until the road is totally clear.
But when we went to Chicago, the traffic is busier, and pedestrian is not really noticed. So my conclusion is that: it depends on where the traffic is. When you go to a city, where everybody is in a rush, you won't find such an honor of what you get in NIU.
GARBAGE
You will notice that there is no garbage, or trash, everywhere.
Yes, people are well educated of the importance of putting garbage in its place.
Yo will find many big waste basket everywhere. And people are used to classify them. You won't find any recycled material mixed with disposable one. I believe that they are taught about it from their childhood. I will tell you more about school in other subject. I envy them doing it. I wish people in my country did it.
I wish children put their waste in their places.
FOOD
Food is something interesting to talk about.
Yes.
So, the food is completely different from what we have in Asia, especially in Indonesia, lol.
There is a saying in Indonesia: no rice, no meal. Means that if you eat without rice you will always feel hungry, lol. But the American food knowledge had been acknowledged by the students far away before arriving there. And they adapted well. In the morning, they took sandwich, or toast, or bagel.
in the afternoon, they ate burger, pizza, and some American food.
But NIU was very kind to us that they provided rice once or twice a wee.
It's enough to meet our rice missing, lol.
And they inform all kind of food they serve. so for Muslim students, they won't get 'wrong' food. and fro those who cannot eat beef or chicken because considering about the 'halal' material, NIU provive shrimp and other sea food. So, everybody is well fed.
