By Adinda Aisyah Nyndyani
Born and raised in Indonesia which only has two seasons; dry and rainy, makes me always wonder what about the other seasons? Seasons that can only be seen in various foreign-produced films, TV series, or cartoons, of course. I kept asking myself; ‘Maybe one day there will be snow in Indonesia?’ until somehow a question suddenly appeared in my head; ‘or maybe one day it will be me who visits those snowy countries?’
Last September became the answer to my questions. I set foot for the first time in the United States as an exchange student representing Indonesia. Apart from experiencing a new life here, I will also soon meet seasons that I could only see but never knew what it felt like. I’m not lying that the change of season is what I’ve been waiting for from America the most, just imagining the snow makes it feel as if I can feel the cold from the temperature below 0 degrees Celsius. And it turns out that when I was confronted directly with those moments, nothing felt different, just as beautiful and beautiful as I had imagined, my admiration was not diminished in the least when I saw the green leaves along the streets slowly but surely changing color
Some of them turn yellow, and orange, and many also turn red and other beautiful colors. Every time I pass the road surrounded by trees with various colors, I never once do not stare in awe. Especially in the area where I live here, Westfield, Indiana, there are still lots of dense forests, empty land, and no tall buildings at all that allow me to enjoy the view more with a wide field of view. I keep telling myself that autumn is real, and I’m enjoying it!
Apart from being amazed by the scenery, I am also amazed at how the people and the city always maintain the cleanliness and tidiness of the environment in the fall, of course, there are lots of fallen leaves both in the yard and on the streets which, if left unchecked, can certainly disrupt activities. Every morning when I go to school, I always see officers on the streets cleaning up fallen leaves using sophisticated tools that don’t take long for the streets to be clean right away! The community, including my host family here, also always cleans their yard from the many fallen leaves, both in the morning and evening every day.
Switching from autumn will start to enter winter, which will be snowing soon! There are some areas in America where it doesn’t snow, but fortunately the place where I live always has snow. Even my friends here say Indiana has a large amount of snow and very cold temperatures. Sure enough, the night before it snowed I felt like my feet were going to freeze even though I was wearing socks. Everything I touch feels like I’m touching an ice cube! According to my host dad’s predictions, winter or snow should still be falling in the next few weeks, so they weren’t prepared to turn on the heater or heat the house. As it turned out, when I woke up the next day and opened the window, the roofs, roads, grass, trees, and even the cars parked in the driveway, were all covered in snow. It was still six in the morning, my whole family was still sleeping, I quickly grabbed my jacket and rushed out of the house myself!
We all know the legendary film Home Alone, right? The film is always set in winter or snow and is usually shown at the end of each year. If you ask how it feels to see and play in the snow for the first time, my answer is it’s like living in the movie Home Alone! Now the scenery around me is not colorful leaves anymore, but everything is dominated by white snow. Nothing is different, I am still amazed every time I see the beauty around me!
The school continues as usual, it’s just that you need to wear layers of clothing to keep your body warm. In this season, a lot of people I know have gotten sick. I’m grateful because while I’ve been here I’ve never been sick, it’s just that my skin is a little shocked by the changing seasons, especially this winter. My skin is drier than usual, but thankfully it’s not too serious, I just need to use moisturizer regularly and the problem is solved!
Oh yeah, I also joined my school’s ski club and will start playing in January! I can’t wait because I will do it together with my friends here.
Until here first my story! I will continue later with my other interesting stories and experiences. Thanks for reading this, see you!(KL-YES Program Student Exchange to the United States)
