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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