Summer Break this year part 2 (in Jakarta)

This post is the part 2 of the title "Summer Break this year."
This time, I'm going to write on my stay at a volunteer center in Jakarta, Indonesia.


On May 20th, I finally arrived at an international airport in Jakarta.
It was the longest flight I'd ever had.
I changed three flights to come to Indonesia. I changed the flight from San Francisco at Hong Kong International Airport, and then I changed in Singapore. I think it took 20 hours or more in total. Besides that, I had a big jet lag when I got to the airport.


Before I left US, I already got Indonesian visa for 2 months. So, I didn't have any problems at the immigration.
Just after I passed through the gate, I saw so many Indonesian people trying to get us as their customers. They were taxi drivers, bus drivers, and money changer.

I did travel China two years before, so I was a bit used to seeing such scenes. I knew it's not special to see crowd and merchants like this in developing countries.

I took a taxi, and headed for a volunteer center where I would work at.
However, it was a heavy traffic in Jakarta.
There, many children walked on the highway and sold bottles of water and snacks.
At this point, I realized that I came to a developing country.
Even 5 or 6 years old children were trying to get money by themselves to survive. I was heart on my mind to see such children.
To tell the truth, I was not sure if I would be able to live there for 4 months then. Everything around me was changed so suddenly.
When I was in US, I had really fun time with my friends. It was a lot of fun every day.
Also, a day before, I was with my friend at Palo Alto where I'd wanted to come for a long time, but a day after, I was in a country where poor children walked on highway.


I could get to the volunteer center where I would work for 4 months after two hours after I left the airport.
There, I met two volunteers and 4 children whom I would teach and support for. One of two volunteers is 30 years old woman from Philippines, and the other is a about 50 years old man from India. I introduced myself to them and they taught me the policy at the volunteer center. After that, I filled in forms which are all necessary for volunteer.
They noticed that I was exhausted because of the long flight. So, they said to me that I can go to bed. I slept in airplane the day before, and I finally could sleep on the bed.


I got a strong loneliness and a sad feeling on the second day at the center.
Itry to be honest and am going to write on what I felt and did there.

It was holiday in Indonesia on my second day. So, my work was off all day.
I woke up in the morning. After a couple of hours, I felt big loneliness. I couldn't imagine that I would work there for 4 months.
I don't want to say this, but I was so confused by the sudden change of the environment. Everything was changed so quickly as I mentioned above.
Before I came to Indonesia, I really wanted to live in a developing country. I thought I am a kind of special in the world. It is because I know only Japan and US which have two of the most powerful economy in the world.
I wanted to know other world and I even thought it's necessary to know those things.

However, I admitted then that it is easy to only imagine but it is not easy to act.
I'm not saying any special, but I didn't know that before that.
And, the stay at the volunteer center in Indonesia was way over my limitation.

I realized that I am not special at all, and am also weak.
I knew I would be depressed if I had stayed there. And it was mentally impossible for me.
It was very shameful of me, but I had no choice except for leaving Indonesia.

Actually, I talked with my friends whom I made in US a lot on Skype. They tried to understand me and helped me a lot.
I couldn't stop crying while I was talking with them.

Then, I truly decided to go home in Japan.
It was only a five-days stay at the volunteer center.
I explained about my problem to other volunteers, and I apologized for that many times. Literally, I couldn't accomplish anything there.
Then, I headed for the airport.

However, I learned a very important thing. That is I am not strong mentally.
Before I came to Indonesia, I thought I can do anything I want and I was confident to myself too much. So, I misunderstand myself that I don't have any impossible thing.
But I was not.

I'm sure that I could develop myself from this experience. I failed, but I could know about myself more.


Sorry, I don't have any pictures of my stay in Indonesia.
OK, next post is about a short stop in Kuala Rumpur, Malaysia.

Summer Break this year part 1 (in Hong Kong)

I'm going to write about how I spent the summer break this year.

You know I studied in US between the last year and this year.
Yes, I studied at College of William and Mary for 9 months by mid-May this year.
And then, I flied to my friend's place at Stanford.
I stayed there for three days, and I headed for Jakarta, Indonesia, for a volunteer work.
So, I think I should start telling about my summer break from this point.

I changed my flight first at Hong Kong. I remembered it was very early in the morning that the flight from San Francisco got to Hong Kong's International Airport.
I had almost 4 hours till my next flight, so I went to the downtown in the morning.



There was no one at the station at this morning time...

The train runs every 20 minutes even almost no one uses.

Anyways, I was hurried to go to the center of Hong Kong because of the time for the next flight.







I could see so many tall buildings through the window in the train.
Also, they were packed in a tiny space...

I had heard that more than 40 of 100 tallest buildings on the earth are in Hong Kong, but I truly understood it soon after I took the train.

At the same time, however, I imagined their life. It's good for me to just travel, but it would be so stressful for people who live here.




It was early in the morning, so there are only a few people even in Hong Kong at this time.

When I took this picture, I felt that I came back to Asia. In Asia, there are many artificial stuffs, and many things are in a small space compared to US.
So, I still remember that I felt a bit strange with seeing this place.




















That is the downtown across the river.
This is a famous view of Hong Kong.
I didn't have enough time to come the downtown, so I came by this place and took a pictuere.

After I took pictures, I run to come back to a nearest station...
I could stay here only for 10 or 20 minutes, but it was a good memory now.


Next post is about the short stay in Jakarta...