Ready to shine: AFS exchange students perform at a farewell party in Jakarta on Saturday.

It all began with seven Indonesian students sailing to the United States in 1956. They were the first batch of Indonesian students participating in the AFS Intercultural Program. Among them was poet Taufiq Ismail, who later cofounded Bina Antarbudaya Foundation in 1985.

The foundation forged a partnership with several international organizations to run student exchange programs, including the AFS Intercultural Program in Indonesia.

Since 1985, Bina Antarbudaya has sent 3,000 Indonesian students to the US and various countries in Asia and Europe. It has welcomed more than 1,500 foreign students to live and study in Indonesia.

This year, the foundation received applications from 8,000 students across the country to participate in the AFS program. Only 148 made the cut.

Interestingly, AFS assigned most of the selected students to spend the next eight to 10 months in small, lesser-known towns instead of metropolitans. This is aimed to enable the exchange students to be fully immersed in the foreign culture.

Prior to their departure, the selected students took part in a five-day national orientation where they received briefings to prepare them for the exchange program.

The orientation was concluded with a farewell party on Saturday, with some alumni sharing their memorable moments as exchange students. One of them was Farhana Nariswari, who lived with an Italian family in Palermo, Sicily, for 10 months in 2013.

Farhana conceded that the first three months were daunting. Her host family and high school friends barely spoke any English, so interactions often required dictionaries. She often missed the Indonesian culture and meeting with fellow Indonesians.

Slowly, Farhana was able to adapt to her new environment. Not only does she now speak fluent Italian, but she has also grown to become a more confident person.

“I was able to experience things that I don’t think I would have if I had merely traveled there or visited for a holiday,” Farhana said.

Back home in Indonesia, Farhana rarely had sit-down meals together with her family, but her time in Italy was a different story.

“Every lunch and dinner we had to help with the cooking and sat together as one family,” she said. “I spent a lot of time together with their family.”

Another AFS alumnus, Sari Tjakrawiralaksana, went to Italy as an exchange student in 1994. She revisited her host family in 2016, meeting the siblings who now have families of their own.

“[They] are as warm as before, as close as before. They still remember all my little quirks from 22 years ago when I was staying in their home,” Sari reminisced. “Just like me, I remember the habits in their family. So, being there was like going back 22 years in time.”

Morinda Fitri Folia, who will start her exchange program in Slovakia in August, said the alumni sharing session helped her and the rest of selected students plan their budget, itinerary and prepare for problems they might face when abroad.

Although she still feels a bit nervous living far from her home country, Morinda is confident that she can have new friends and valuable experiences during her time in Slovakia.

“Whether good or bad, those experiences could teach me lessons and give me stories to bring back home.”

Farhana explained that AFS’ student exchange program was not merely about discovering the culture of the host country but also about understanding and appreciating cultural differences.

“AFS envisions its program as a bridge between cultures and world peace,” Farhana noted.

She added that the program would present new knowledge and memorable experiences to everyone involved. This includes not only the students and the host families but also the students’ parents who are patiently waiting for their children to come home.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

— Photos courtesy of Bina Antarbudaya Foundation

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