An awardee of SEG/Chevron SLS 2017: My first abroad trip 33 hours traveling a half-world
By Widia Anggraeni - September 21, 2019
(My capture before landing to Narita Airport (love it so much))
Thursday,
21 September 2017
Woke
up early and ready to go to US!! It took 3 hours from my hometown to Raden
Inten II Airport,
My
departure flight at 2.30 PM to Jakarta, my flight was only an hour - 28minutes
on the air
3.30
PM arrived at Terminal 3 Soekarno International Airport and our international
flight was at 10 PM (layover for about 6 hours), but at least we have to be in
airport 150 minutes earlier.
Did
you know Tanisa already in Airport at 3 PM lol [rajinn kali bu.. Jakarta
macet sii yak wkwkw]
I
rode the free shuttle from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 International Departure and
directly met Tanisa and her family (never met Tanisa before lol). Then, 2 hours
later, Agra arrived, and we had dinner, at 8 PM we went in and checked in… ah I
still couldn’t believe it will be coming true!
We
were waiting for boarding with Japan Airlines, 7 hours night-flight to Narita
Airport [gue capek banget dan gue tidur dan bangun subuhlah, liat matahari].
Friday,
22 September 2017
At
around 6 AM we arrived and moved to the gate for the next flight and then we
cleaned up, there was a store near a gate and we grabbed some snacks for
breakfast.
Yeah!
It was time for boarding with American Airlines for 14 hours of
intercontinental flight. This flight will reverse 10 hours, so the day I
departed from Japan was 8.30 AM but I would arrive at
12.15 PM at the same day, I don’t know what the name it is, but it is
such reverse to Earth’s rotary.
(Layover at Narita Airport before intercontinental flight :) )
Departed
morning, got the sun, sunset, dusk, night, and dawn in only 14 hours.. I saw
the infinite sky view of the millions of dazzling stars, it was so beautiful
view from 38000 ft from the sea surface.[buat makan, karena gue kelaperan jadi gue makan apapun yang
ada, asal inget pas ditawarin ga pilih yang pork yaa.. wkwkwkwk]
After
long flight.. On the same day, Friday 22 September 2017, we arrived in Dallas
Forthworth Airport before getting the connecting flight to Houston. In here, we
got unexpectedly moment.
We
were separated because I and Tanisa were too long in the restroom, and badly,
wifi connection was a bit bad. So we couldn’t reach Agra.. and we were waiting
in a pre-immigration section, airport officer came to us and said salam
“Assalamualaikum” and very welcomed to us, they were Muslim and they guided us
rechecking for immigration & custom clearance, they were so kind to us and
they said “we proud Muslim teenagers were active like you and welcome to USA”
[sebenernya disini Gue ama Tanisa coba nelponin Agra, kita
udah nungguin, tapi lama.. akhirnya kita go to Luggage rechecking, and Agra
udah mindahin semua barang kita.. well, thanks bro].
Okay,
here we went for Custom and Immigration clearance including TSA screening
because we were in a group, so at the line of immigration interview, Agra
answered all the questions for us three. Then moved to TSA screening, I still
brought my Japanese Pocary, No water at all, so I drank it all [hemat bruh
pocari mahal di Bandara wkwk]. My first time got TSA screening, no
problem.. then got the shoes and ready to the connecting flight gate to
Houston! (I thought Tanisa and Agra were already in Skylink, but I was wrong,
they were not there.. I was so panic at that time, I thought that I was going
lost!! Couldn’t connect to wifi! And I tried to looking for wifi spot and calling
them.. and did you know? Tanisa got detention because she brought “yakult”
fermented milk drink.. Okay.. finally they were still in custom section, I was
feeling much better.. Alhamdulillah.. okay let’s move to the next flight to
Houston! Houston!! I am coming!!! It was only 1.30 hours from Dallas to
Houston.
We
arrived in Terminal A - George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and we got our
luggage in baggage claim, unexpectedly we met a Sir that he noticed us because
we were had the same flight since from Jakarta, that’s funny (He noticed
because only both I and Tanisa wore hijab lol). He is Muslim, he asked about
our trip and he gave us his business card and offered help if something bad
happened to us just call him, he lives in Houston and He is a doctor. I felt so
touched, when I am a Muslim traveled to Muslim minority country and every
Muslim we met here were so kind to us, this is what we called “Islam”.
Ya Allah, we were so grateful for all you’ve given to us during
this trip. [Hayatiii terharuu.. muslimnya baik baik banget T_T].
Found this one! Cool!!
(Exit gate Terminal A at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston)
We
needed ground transportation to go to Hotel in Downtown Houston, we planned to
catch a bus in terminal C, we went there by airport subway and we still did not
know where the bus terminal was, and okay we were trying to get Uber, but
unfortunately, none of us has a credit card. Oookay.. we were discussing, to
grab a taxi or other modes. Then Agra called his friend and picked us up in
Terminal C.. ohh Thank god!
we
were so tired, starving, thirsty and of course JET LAG and we grabbed some
snack from vending machine and for the first time I drank tap water, it’s free
and taste like “aer kran” [namanya juga tap water wid lol]..
We
were waiting for around an hour and a half, Agra said that we should not sleep
even we were really sleepy, because if we sleep this afternoon, we won’t be
able to sleep at night (trying to make your body clock suits to your current
location lol). We were talking so much until Agra’s friend arrived. Yeeaaahh
He Arrived, just call him Adi.. I was so excited to see around Houston and Downtown!!
STILL FEELING LIKE INCREDIBLE!! I CAN’T
BELIEVE IT! My eyes couldn’t stop staring at alongside of road from the
Car’s window. I saw American's house, I saw skyscrapers of Houston Downtown,
Traffic Light, Pedestrian, all are wonderful!!
We
arrived at Hotel (Hyatt Regency Houston at Lousiana St., just a few blocks to
the Convention Center). Thank you Adiii for a ride!
So
tired ya Allah and Jetlag, we had different 12 hours from Indonesia. In
Indonesia morning, here evening.. my body clock was still figuring it out with
this new time.. I feel like I have stayed up all night, anxiety and insecure [cuampur
aduklah rasane]..
Clean
up… asked them to look for Dinner.. suddenly sleep….. woke up at 6.30 PM still
bright [Magribnya itu jam 19.40an gitu]
My
roommate: Rimal Bhat already came back from Convention Center.. Let’s go out
for Dinner! We walked around through downtown, we didn’t find any restaurant
open except Bar [Muter2 yaaa lama tu keliling2 sambil menikmati atmosfer nya
Houston].. Oiyaa.. it’s Weekend bruh, and it’s downtown bruh, most all
people here for work on weekdays bruh… because there’s no more option, we
finally decided to grab Cheese Bagle Pizza in Einstein Bros. Bagel at the lobby
of Hyatt Regency [awalnya oke oke aja, memang sengaja pilih yang vegan, eh
pas manggangnya bareng donk sama yang pake pork.. langsung galau si.. mana
segitu 98rbu kan… pas makannya, kolu ga kolu tapi inget punya maag, mahal
pula.. ya Allah ampuni hamba ya Allah ini musafir gini bet yaaa]
But atleast we got some nice pics!
(Houston Downtown, feeling the atmosphere of America)
(The view from my room's window)
It
was my first day in Houston and let me sleep and wake up early for tomorrow -
the first day of SEG/Chevron Student Leadership Symposium!
See
you tomorrow!!
Thank your for visiting my page :))
The next page: An awardee of SEG/Chevron SLS 2017: The
First Day Student Leadership Symposium
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