Her interest in learning Spanish made Karina Pravita Putri choose Chile as the destination country for the Indonesia International Student Mobility Award (IISMA) program. This student from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya (FISIP UB) managed to get the opportunity to study for one semester at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.
The Undergraduate students of Communication Science has been preparing to take part in IISMA selection since the second semester after hearing stories from her seniors. She felt that IISMA program was a great opportunity to gain experience studying abroad.
“When I found out about IISMA, I felt like this was a really big opportunity. This could be something new that I can try during this lecture,” she said.
According to her, the experience of undergoing IISMA program was very unique. Karina experienced weather shock since she had to adapt to the current winter in Chile. She admitted that he had a fever at the first week she arrived in the southern country of the United States.
“I turned the heating on there 24/7 because it was really cold,” she said.
Regarding mobilization, Karina revealed that she had no difficulty at all. The public transportation routes available in Chile are very easy to understand so it doesn’t confuse passengers even if it’s their first time there.
“Just on the first day I was able to learn the routes there,” she said.
Karina mentioned that she had attended several Asado events or is usually called a barbecue with local residents. While attending the event, she felt like she was with family. She was welcomed by local residents, even though he was a foreigner.
“At the Asado event, we eat together, sing and chat casually. Then there are also side dishes in the form of cheese, soy sauce and chips. They really like eating chips topped with cheese and soy sauce,” she told enthusiastically.
During one semester of study at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Karina took the Spanish A1 and A2, Persuasive communication, language culture & mind, and English dialects programs. In addition, to improve her skills in Spanish, she took courses independently. From Monday to Friday, before classes start, Karina takes a Spanish course first.
“Because I have interested in Spanish while in Indonesia, I thought why not just study Spanish in Chile, where Spanish is the national language,” she said.
For students who are struggling for IISMA, she advised them to keep fighting and enjoy every process. Even if you don’t get the opportunity to study abroad through IISMA, there are many other paths you can take. (FRH/OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
