Going home

Six years have passed and I reached the finish line. The finish line is temporary, as a whole new start is about to begin. I first arrived in San Francisco on August 2010, with a six luggages and both of my parents eager to take me to the orientation day. Coming straight from a country nestled close to the equator, United States seemed very big and cold, with all the spacious roads, the unfriendly, bone-prickling breeze, restaurants and stores standing on its own building instead of cramped next to each other. I wore a ton layers of coat. Now it’s November 2016, I walked out in the Bay Area wrapped in a cardigan and I felt fine.

Many asked me why I decided to go back. First off, the visa issue seemed quite obvious and inarguable. The work visa system barred me from staying longer in the States. As much as I wanted to stay in US where opportunity, wage, and lifestyle couldn’t have been better, I couldn’t stay if it weren’t for work. That ruled out the possibility of going back to school. Also, I had personal matters at home too.

Many treats leaving the country (especially USA) as an unpleasant milestone. Some might consider it as a failure for being no longer “accepted” in the country (the idea of going back to the third world country). Some might not tell others they were leaving out of shame. Staying or leaving is a choice, whereas in my case, I chose to go home.

To me, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about for going back. First of all, I feel very fortunate to have the chance of studying and making a living in the States. Second, I feel more than lucky to study in what’s possibly the best design school in the States. Lastly, I feel lucky to apply what I learned for five years in LIFT Agency in San Francisco as well as other clients and studios.

My coworkers at LIFT

There are so much I’ve learned and I’m eager to see what Indonesia has to offer.

A month after my post-graduate work permit expires, I felt creatively drained, having worked 9-5 for almost a year. I used up the grace period, which lasted for two months until I was due to leave the country, preparing to go home and discovering my other passion – writing.

I opened up my first novel draft, which I’ve been writing. Then I contacted some beta readers. They went back to me with feedback, and in that period of time, I polished it. It may not be finished now and I’m still not sure what method of publishing I’m planning to pursue. However, I converted my draft into a mock-up novel, designed the cover, formatted the interior, and printed it out with a Print-on-Demand service. I may not have a major design project but this small project is something I’m proud of and I certainly put it on my portfolio. It successfully combines both of my design and writing passions in a 450-page tangible printed form.

Of course, I also did a little traveling, met up with some friends, visited my favorite places in California, and tried to make the best of it all within 2 months.

I went to LA, my former home, of course. I spent my birthday with my friends, spent my last visit to Disneyland as an annual passholder solo, and went to Hollywood boulevard and had a brunch with my close friend, Carolyn, and visited alma mater.

Last Disneyland visit

Wandering around at Hollywood Blvd

LA's iconic palm trees

Art Center Graphics departmental deans: Nik and Steve

Art Center friends in Bay Area

My parents came to visit and helped me pack before I took off last Tuesday night too. I took them around the Bay and drove up north to Napa.

Tiburon

Castello di Amorosa, Napa

Now that I’m back home. It’s been less than a week and yet I’m still struggling with the jet lag, and adjusting. Things aren’t as easy as it was back in America, especially when it comes to dealing with communication. My phone turned to out to be locked when switched to local SIM card. The only way to obtain my phone back is to send it to the factory. It takes two weeks and it costs a lot of money. My parents and I are still thinking of the best way to get my phone back and especially, get me back to communicating with my friends out of wifi ranges.

My view on the way to the airport. Stunning sunset sky above San Francisco

Transportation is another issue. Given the unpredictable traffic and me not driving here, it gets hard to go everywhere. The uber doesn’t work unless I have a phone service out of wifi range. Everything correlates to each other. So I can probably go somewhere within my walking distance until I figure these all out.

So that’s a little bit of where I am now. I’m going to give a heads up some time in the future and where I’ll be headed to in terms of my career. Definitely in design, but that’s another thing now that my portfolio is still under construction.