four months in

It’s December, and I can’t believe today is the last day of class this semester. Hey world, I managed to survive my first semester of grad school (!) and living in the US!!!

To be honest, the first semester of school isn’t as bad as I thought. Despite my dislike for stats class, I understood quite a bit and achieved my grade expectations. The other two classes I took, writing, and introduction to biological research, were both fun and engaging, but at the same time challenging. I can’t imagine the thousands of words I wrote this semester, and the presentations I did as well. So yeah, classes were achievable. One thing for certain I am glad about is the fact that next semester I won’t have classes at the main campus. I live nearby the north campus, and my classes will all be at the north campus next semester. I’m excited about not having to ride the shuttle bus between campuses, which usually makes me nauseous. Although my classes for next semester are more challenging than those this semester, I’m looking forward to it and meeting new people in class.

A challenge I had outside of academics, was my *cue dramatic music* financials. The living cost in Miami is beyond the roof, my accommodation is half of my given stipend, and public transportation here are unreliable. Thus, my frequent use of Lyfts/Ubers (plus, public transportation here is also scary at night), which costs… a lot. Commuting in Miami makes me miss GoJek, and living in Miami makes me miss my $80/month accommodation in Lembongan. With food being quite costly too, I cook most of my meals at home and bring them to campus. I like shopping at Walmart, the Asian store, or the nearest small grocery store near my place, where everything is quite affordable. Cooking all the time really challenged my creativity so I do not eat the same meal for the whole week. So far, some of the things I made:

• Tteokkbokki with boiled eggs, chicken, and spinach
• Gochujang pasta
• Chinese chicken porridge
• Homemade garlic noodles
• Lemon chicken and tofu with bok choy
• Oatmeal fried chicken
• Garlic naan
• Flour tortillas
• Chicken katsu with Japanese curry
• Gochujang fried rice
• Pisang Goreng
• Macaroni and cheese

As you see, I’ve made a bunch of Korean meals as I have a huge box of Korean red pepper paste, also known as gochujang. Unfortunately, though, I can never find affordable chili. I only get my spice from chili and paprika powder… Sometimes jalapeño, or pepper… But never cabe rawit. I love cooking, but it can get tiresome sometimes. I miss quick and cheap nasi campur or warm tipat tahu after a long dive. Living in the US woke me up to the privileged and convenient life I had in Indonesia. Living here is definitely outside of my comfort zone…

Despite the challenges I have financially, I was still able to force traveling onto my budget. By the time I am writing this, I have been to a part of the Everglades National Park, Shark Valley, and have ridden a bicycle for 15 miles!!! I also recently traveled to New Orleans with my boyfriend and visited our mutual friend and her family during Thanksgiving. We stayed in NOLA for four nights and had some of the best food I’ve tasted in the US, so far. For winter break, I am planning to visit my aunt in Washington DC, and take a bus to NYC sometime in between my trip. I am excited to experience my first winter, and hopefully some snow in either city. Although low-key, I am scared of how cold I will be. I do not do well in the cold.

To end the post, I realise the lonesome I felt in the earlier days of August, and the lonesome I feel more recently has changed. Although I sometimes feel sorry for myself for being alone and living quite far from the people I consider friends, I can appreciate more alone downtime, at home, or on the streets exploring North Miami. I’m looking forward to purchasing half-price movie tickets when I have time to do nothing or get on the 9 bus towards Wynwood for some matcha ice cream under the scorching Miami weather. Quoting the brilliant and talented Dr. Taylor Swift’s lyric “Yeah… We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. It’s miserable and magical, oh yeah” is exactly how I feel living abroad.