Cerita Satu Bulan di Pedalaman Australia #WHV

Prolog :

Masih teringat jelas di memori, kala itu saya terbangun dan bergegas menuju ke Cairns Train Station. Dengan membawa 1 koper berukuran besar, 1 backpack dan 1 tas jinjing besar, sebagian besar isinya adalah makanan. Cukup kualahan saya dibuatnya. Beruntung teman saya,  Diah, membantu membawa sebagian barang saya dan menemani saya mencari bus.

Akhirnya hari itu tiba juga, hari dimana saya akan meninggalkan kota Cairns dan tinggal di pedalaman (outback) for the sake of second year visa. Sedikit cemas dan was-was, pikiran entah kabur kemana-mana. Kupasang headset dan kumainkan lagu kesukaanku. Tiba-tiba, gerimis mulai datang dan semakin lama semakin deras. Seperti tidak merelakan saya pergi. Namun itu tidak berlangsung lama, 1 jam berikutnya hujan reda dan saya terperangah melihat pelangi ketika di jalan. 

 

Yah, this was my first rainbow in Australia while leaving Cairns

 Dalam hati saya berkata, everything will be fine. Kalau saya bisa sampai sini, Tuhan pasti sudah merencanakan dengan sempurna.  You don’t need to be worry. 

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The Day Turning into 23 yo!

23 years old…

What do you think about that age? Is that age included in category young or old?

If in Indonesia, that age is included old, adult, for women. Some people, mostly, will start asking about your relationship, when will you married, your career or something like that. That is really different in here, Australia. 23 years old still in category very young for women. No one will ask you something like that. 

Kota kecil bernama Cairns #WHV

Yak, berhubung lagi day-off  dan gak tau lagi mau ngapain, akhirnya memutuskan nulis sesuatu di blog. Sekilas info, sekarang diriku ini sedang terdampar di tempat terpelosok, jauh dari mana-mana, in the middle of nowhere. Next time, i will tell you about this place.

How Does It Feel Working in Chinese Food Restaurant? #WHV

I just wake up today at 4 a.m, 2 hours earlier than I planned. Tried to sleep again and closed my eyes but were not working. Then I just washed my eyes, made a hot chocolate, grabbed some food, started turning on my laptop and writing.

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Is it hard becoming an adult? Just simple reflection

Sometimes I am just wondering, what kind of life is this? What I am actually looking for? What I really want to be? Which paths should I choose? Is it the right way?

So much question in this life, right?

After I moved to Cairns, Queensland, Australia. I met a lot of Indonesian friends. They were and still struggling to look for a job to get a second year working holiday visa.  I did that as well.

Here, I have 4 close friends that always spent time with.  Almost every day we meet for sharing every single information about jobs or just chill out in esplanade or Cairns Central. We have the same feeling, confused and anxious how if we can not find a job. Eventually, one by one, we got a job. Even though the job is not counting for a second-year visa, we took that job to survive living in Australia. You know, the living cost in here is expensive.

But that is not the main point I want to talk.

One of my friends told me being an adult is really hard. Why? Because we have to take our decision by ourselves, especially when you far away from your parent, leaving your own comfort zone and struggle to get a job. Even if, you do not stay with your parent anymore, you still have to discuss with them about the job.  And sometimes, our thoughts and parents are not in the same direction. This made more complicated, right?

In sum, I just find a new song that the lyric is really suited for our condition. Below is the lyric….

It won’t  be easy, becoming an adult

Everyone feels the same as you

Let’s have strength, go back to who you are

Let’s sing a song of hope again

You can look forward to the world that waiting for you

We can start running again

If you get worn out and you want to give up

Just sing a song of joy cheerfully

One day, today will become memories

Let’s be thankful

Remember it and cheers up

The lyric is pretty good for me. Whatever life happen today, just enjoying to pass it. Have a beautiful mind that you will surpass all the hard moment.

So, the answer is YES. Being adult is hard, but nobody tells that we can not exceed that, can we?

Have a beautiful mind that you will surpass all the hard moment.

Remember, the hard ways will lead you to the beautiful place. Do you agree with this quote?

PS:

The title of that song is “JOY”. This is the soundtrack of Korean drama named The Liar and His Lover *LOL

Drama Searching for Sharehouse in Cairns, Australia #WHV

After almost 4 months living in Perth, Western Australia, i have decided moving out to the another state of Australia. Due to extend my second year visa, i have to go to the north of Australia, above the Capricorn line (see the map). Then… I chose Cairns as my second state in Australia.

Before i and my friend left Perth, we had already booked a room in Cairns. We got that room from famous website in Australia, it is Flatmate. In a nutshell, we arrived in Cairns then paid Uber to picked us up and dropped off in that house in Westcourt.

Can you guess what happened?

That house was not as we expected. I could say that was a horrible house. For the first time i saw it from the car, i felt emmmbbb…. i don’t like it. From outside was like old house, when i stepped into, it was smell bad. Muggy. Then i released that the owner have a cat, a chicken coop and the chicken as well in that house. OMG! Seriously (i mused). I did not say directly if i really dislike this house. We kept go to that room and left our stuff then go outside to the city. This house is also far from the city. We had to wait one hour for the bus.

I and my friend decided to look for the decent room. Then i searched sharehouse or shareroom from Gumtree. We got 2 house to be checked. The first house on the Pembroke Street and the second on the Lumley Street.Both of them located in Paramatta Park, Cairns Central.

The first house is owned by Korean girl and the room is much more better than the house in Westcourt. I had a felling to choose this house. The second house further from the central city. When we went to that house, we met 2 girls that had been living on that room. The first girl told all the bad things about the owner and the house. She said that the owner was weird and like to grab underwear. I said what? Moreover she said the sanitary was not work properly. But the second girl whispered to my friend said “please, don’t believe whatever she said. She is crazy.” When we left that house, the second girl texted me. She said sorry and the owner is a decent person. Except that, we think that this house often being held party. So it gonna be crowded and messy.

To sum it, we chose the first house. Although it is more expensive than the second one. But we think again, we do not want to stay with troubled people.

Comfortable environment is important, isn’t it?

 

 

 

Frangipani Flower Myth

Have you ever seen Frangipani flower?

In Indonesia, folks call this frangipani flower as Kamboja of Jepun flower. It is a tropical flower that mostly have white flower with yellow in the center. Commonly used in the beauty shop or spa due to the sheer beauty and sweet scent.  As i have ever seen, each Frangipani flower could have a different number of petals. Sometimes you might find flower with 4, 5, 6 petals but mostly is 5 petals (odd number).

Indonesian people have a lot of myth. One of the is a myth about this flower. You know, if each flower has different petals. If you can find a frangipani flower with 4 or 6 petals (even number), you are lucky. Why?

There is no scientific reason. Just because we (indonesian or for specifically Javanese) believe,”if you find that flower and put in the book, your dream will come true or something good will be happen in your life.”

Someone believe, “if you put that flower in your purse , you will have more money in your wallet.”

It sound silly, doesn’t it?  But i do believe that story since i was child.

And then, accidentally, when i was playing in the backyard last morning, i found this flower. I just shocked and felt happy at that time. That was my first time in my life, i find that flower. Not in Indonesia, but in Perth, Australia (just temporary living here). After that i put that flower in my purse then i moved to inside of the book. Hopefully, i will have very good luck.

Just in one day after i got that flower, something good happened to me. First, i got a call from job agency saying that he can give me a job in Kununura, WA. But i didn’t take that because i have already booking flight from Perth to Cairns. Second, my friends from Netherlands that i just met coincidentally invited me in her house. She asked me to teach her how to cook Nasi Goreng (famous Indonesian food). We did cook that food and have very nice chat, and guess what? I figure out, previously she lived in Cairns. She helps me to find a job. I am wondering and thinking…

Is this lucky because of finding Frangipani flower that have 4 petals?

I am not sure actually. Just keep making a good suggestion in your thought.

You can believe on that myth if you want. ^^

Frangipani Flower

Going Back to Blog

Yeah… Finally, after such a long time does not touch the blog i come back again. Actually, i have a lot of thing that i want to share – such as my experience life in Australia, how i can end in this country, my turmoil about the uncertainty in this life.

To be honest, writing is not my hobby and i can say if i do not like writing – especially writing in English, it is hard tho. But, i encourage my self to writing. Why?

By way of writing blog in English, likely i can boost my English skill in writing. For instance, if i am not sure about the word in English that i want to write. Immediately, i will translate that word, so i can improve my vocabulary. Moreover not only my vocab increasing but also my grammar. I reckon that English language is really important nowadays. It is a international language! By mastering this language, i think, will give a good advantages in our life.

Writing can keep your memory at the longest. With writing, i still can live even though i die – we will die someday, won’we? While i am getting older, i can read back what i have done in the past and smiling.

I want to share everything throughout this blog. Have you heard proverb “sharing is caring”? Yes. Maybe i will share about my life experience and my thought. Hopefully, i can give some tips or tricks about traveling or anything.

 

 

 

 

Timeline, Tips and Expense Applying Working Holiday Visa Australia #WHV

Straya!!! Straya!!!

Finally my working and holiday visa has granted.  Disini, saya tulis beberapa tips based on my experiences while applying this visa dan semoga bermanfaat buat teman-teman yang mau apply WHV.

Untuk yang belum tau apa itu WHV bisa baca postinganku sebelumnya disini What are WHV and the Requisites?

What are WHV and the Requisites?#WHV

Apa itu Working and Holiday Visa?

 Program Bekerja dan Berlibur (Visa)/Work and Holiday mendorong pertukaran budaya dan hubungan person to person yang lebih erat dengan memungkinkan pemuda-pemudi Indonesia untuk menghabiskan liburan panjang serta dapat melakukan pekerjaan jangka pendek di Australia.

Sesuai dengan namanya, Working and Holiday Visa (WHV) merupakan hasil kerjasama pemerintah Indonesia – Australia yang memungkinkan visa holder untuk berlibur sambil bekerja di Australia selama satu tahun. Berita terbaru akan ada second year WHV dengan syarat tertentu pastinya. Program ini cocok untuk kamu yang menyukai hal hal baru, ingin merasakan dunia kerja internasional, bertemu traveler dari seluruh dunia dan siapa tahu bertemu jodoh #eh.

Visa ini hanya diberikan sekali seumur hidup lo. Yakin ga mau nyoba?

Buat kamu yang tertarik mengkuti program ini, yuk check syaratnya!

1. Usia antara 18 – 30 tahun

Telah berusia 18 tahun atau belum berusia 30 tahun.

WHV ini memang dibuat untuk mereka yang berusia 18 – 30 tahun, jiwa traveller dan memiliki mental kuat. Program ini tidak hanya untuk pemuda Indonesia saja, tetapi juga seluruh dunia mulai dari USA, Jerman, Polandia, Spanyol, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia dan masih banyak lagi.

2. Pendidikan Minimal D3

Memiliki kualifikasi setingkat perguruan tinggi, atau telah menjalani pendidikan di perguruan tinggi setidak-tidaknya 2 (dua) tahun pendidikan.

Jadi buat kamu yang masih kuliah selesaikan dulu tugasmu nak! Yang sudah kerja dan ingin ikut program ini tinggal resign (kalau berani sih).

3. Pasport

Barang wajib yang harus kamu bawa kalau mau ke luar negeri, karena pasport semacam kartu identitas pribadi buat go abroad. Jadi yang belum punya pasport, bikin dulu ya.

4. Kemampuan Berbahasa Inggris

Memiliki sertifikat kemampuan berbahasa Inggris IELTS dengan minimal score 4.5 atau sertifikat TOEFL IBT dengan minimal score 12 dan dikecualikan kepada mahasiswa atau yang telah lulus kuliah pada universitas yang menggunakan pengantar bahasa inggris tidak wajib melampirkan sertifikat IELTS/TOEFL.

Nah, jadi kamu harus mengetes kemampuan bahasa inggris mu dulu. Biaya untuk test IELTS sekitar 2,8 jutaan (tergantung kurs dollar).

5. Surat Keterangan Kepemilikan Dana minimal AUD $ 5.000

Surat keterangan / Jaminan Bank kepemilikan dana atas nama pribadi pemohon dengan jumlah minimal AUD $ 5000 (lima ribu Dollar Australia)

Kamu harus membuktikan kepada Australian Goverment memiliki dana minimal 50 juta rupiah. Sebagai bukti kamu dapat bertahan hidup awal di Australia dengan uang itu dan gak jadi gelandangan.

6. Pas Photo

Pas foto terakhir berwarna ukuran 4 x 6 sebanyak 1 lembar, latar belakang putih.

7. Letter of Government Support

Yang paling penting kamu harus mendapatkan Letter of Government Support ( Surat Rekomendasi) dari pemerintahan Indonesia. Tanpa ini, kamu tidak bisa mengajikan permohonan visa ke Perwakilan Australia di Indonesia.

Untuk lihat berapa lama proses apply visa, tips dan biaya yang diperlukan bisa check di postinganku yang lain atau click this link Timeline, Tips and Expense Applying Working Holiday Visa Australia