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Name: Cecilia Hidajat

Exchange location: CZECH REPUBLIC

Program Name: Crazy Christmas​

Internship duration: 6 weeks​

In three words, summarise your AIESEC internship: growth, learning, connections​

Please describe a typical day on your internship:
The group of interns would meet at the local university, before travelling together to the organisation week would be presenting at that day. It may be a youth club, a library, a kindergarten or a local school. We would then have some time to set up and this may involve cooking traditional foods, if global village was scheduled and then we would present about Christmas at home to the audience.​

What was the most shocking/curious/fun fact you learned on your exchange?
Finding out that in regional Czech Republic, in a town where no fast food chains exist, buses still run all throughout the night, which is very convenient for getting home anytime you like.​



What did you enjoy most from your exchange? Any words of advice for future exchange participants?
Meeting people from all corners of the world and making friendships to last a long time.​





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Name: Pragati Pritmani​

Exchange location: Ivano-Frankivsk, UKRAINE

Program Name: Children’s Path

Internship duration: 6 weeks

In three words, summarise your AIESEC internship:  Engaging, eye-opening and pretty darn awesome (:

​A typical day on your internship:
As my exchange involved travelling to different schools within the Ivano-Frankivsk region in Ukraine, each school had it’s own expectations of what the interns were required to do. A typical day however would involve teaching children of different ages English as well sharing my culture with them.

What was the most shocking/curious/fun fact you learned on your exchange?
I guess the most interesting fact about going on exchange is actually having the chance to immerse yourself in a completely different culture and realizing that despite all the differences, everyone’s the same as a human being. Going on exchange also made me realize just how big AIESEC around the world. When I was travelling in Lviv after my exchange, one of the tour guides I randomly met was an ex-AIESECer. It was so surprising to see that a stranger was actually connected to me in a way through AIESEC and I think that’s the beauty of AIESEC. It gives you this amazing opportunity to be part of a huge existing global network.

What did you enjoy most from your exchange? Any words of advice for future exchange participants?
The best thing would be the culture and the hospitality of Ukrainians. I had the opportunity to live with a Ukrainian host family for 6 weeks and it was absolutely amazing. They were so kind and hospitable and really curious as to where I’d come from.



A piece of advice I’d give to future EP’s is to prepare for the unknown and to do your research before you leave. Things will happen when you’re travelling so it helps to have a positive attitude towards everything and to take things as they come (:



Name: Vivien Gu​

Exchange location: Lublin, POLAND



Program Name: Express Your Knowledge

Internship duration: 8 weeks 
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In three words, summarise your AIESEC experience: incredible, rewarding, crazy-fun!

A typical day on your internship:
Express Your Knowledge is an educational project designed to promote cultural diversity to students in middle and high schools. Working in pairs, we would facilitate workshops and give presentations about the culture of our countries, and then develop their English language and soft skills through activities such as mind mapping and mnemonics.  Working 3-5 hours a day,  because classes start early at 8am, we often finished before 12, so there was a lot of free time. We would normally meet up with other interns and organising committee locals to sightsee, hang out or partyyy. Because we lived in uni dorms, the doors were always open, and there was always something going on, which offered a great chance to socialise and make new friends. Weekends also offered an opportunity to travel.

I spent a week in small village where I met some of the kindest and most hospitable people. One of the teachers despite not knowing any English, invited us to his house for dinner; we ended up using Google Translate and hand gestures to communicate, which was quite an unforgettable experience. Dinner at the Mayors house was also a highlight!

Most of the children in Lublin have never been overseas, or seen foreigners so through this project we were able to in a way, bring the world to them. They were fascinated and excited about our cultures, asking many questions, and even requesting for autographs. Seeing their enthusiasm was extremely rewarding, and reminded me I wasn’t there to just have fun, but to also make a difference.

We were also given a 2 week Christmas break, which offered us the opportunity to travel to surrounding countries, and also get to know Poland better. Many Polish cities have an ‘old town’ which is well preserved, Krakow is particularly breathtaking with its market square, well decorated with beautiful medieval buildings.

What was the most shocking/curious/fun fact you learned on your exchange?
Poland is not a very ethnically diverse country, so this resulted in some stares when shopping, and especially on public transport, which was a bewildering experience. However we eventually got used to it, after understanding that it was more out of curiosity than anything else. Sometimes individuals would also initiate conversation on transport, asking about our program and the work we do.

The most amazing thing for me was the patriotism that the Polish people exhibited towards their country. They are so deeply rooted, and beautifully proud of their country, despite a complex history that at times was not so forgiving. Many are quite passionate about sharing this history and can talk for hours! It has proven to be a very beautiful place with some truly amazing and kind people. Polish hospitality was also something that really warmed me.

A pretty random fun fact is that over there lunch is called dinner, and dinner is called supper, which really confused me in the beginning. I also learnt that Mt Kosciuszko was named by a Polish, after a Polish national hero. I was constantly quizzed on the tallest Australian mountain, by many history and geography teachers.



What did you enjoy most from your exchange?​
Definitely meeting and living with people from all over the world. Living with other interns from Brazil, China, Colombia, Mexico, NZ and Vietnam was so much fun, there was never a dull moment. We shared our stories, made fun of each others accents, cooked and cleaned together. We were there to teach kids about our culture, but at the same time our own perceptions became more culturally diverse. We were also able to share our new Polish discoveries as we experienced and learnt about the country together. I also learnt a lot about myself through seeing the way people around the world lived.

I enjoyed being able to slowly learn about Poland, the countries traditions, history and way of life. Before arriving, Poland was a part of Europe I didn’t know much about, except that Dorota from Gossip Girl was Polish! But it’s amazing how much that can change in 8 weeks. I feel like I was able to connect with the people, share our similarities and differences, try the food, learn a bit of the language(-only a bit because Polish is like a never ending tongue twister), and understand some of their history. That is definitely something I would never have been able to experience coming here as a normal tourist. The locals were able to show us about real Poland, the good and bad, and despite being a country not exempt from hardship, the people are very hard working and humble.

Polish hospitality is also something that amazed me. How kind and generous people could be to open their homes after just meeting us. One of the members from the project invited us to his hometown for a few days. His family were the most beautiful, kind people, and even though his parents didn’t know English, they still made the effort to communicate and make us feel welcome. His father was so funny, speaking the few words of Chinese he surprisingly knew and his mum would cook up the most delicious feasts.

Trying new things is also something I believe exchange is all about. Especially new food. Polish cuisine was quite interesting, I enjoyed trying everything, though I admittedly didn’t like it all. Some dishes like Sledz(pickled fish) and bigos became my favourite. I’ve found a Polish restaurant in Sydney and can’t wait to go! Learning the Polish way of drinking was also quite an experience in itself…

Teaching the kids is something that I will miss. It was refreshing to see them so curious and eager to learn, and asking some innocently random questions like ‘are there cats in Australia’? Hopefully we left showing them that learning English is important, and there is an amazing world out there waiting to be discovered.

Going on exchange really offers you many opportunities, to try to new things, meet new people and grow as a person. It is however, up to you to seize those opportunities, as it is always more rewarding to be out of your comfort zone, adapt and ultimately thrive- cheesy I know. Independence was also something exchange really enabled. We didn’t have the comfort of our homes or the safety blanket of parents, so it was up to us to be responsible, show up on time, plan our trips, cook, clean and live independently.

The hardest thing about going on exchange is definitely leaving. 8 weeks went by so quickly, and I didn’t expect to miss it this much, and become so attached. I miss the interns, the students, teaching, the parties and of course the snow!  I have met some of the most amazing people, and coming here has shown me how beautiful the world can be.

Any words of advice for future exchange participants?
It’s definitely up to you to give yourself the ultimate experience. Meet the locals, get to know the interns, see as much as you can, and try everything(reasonable)! Step out of your comfort zone, go in with an open mind, and you’ll leave with the greatest memories.  Be open to everything, as it can be one of the most amazing times of your life!



AISEC has given me an experience that will remain with me forever. I’m glad I took that first step to an incredible journey and applied.