A few days ago, I got a task from Mrs. Rany, my MICE subject teacher in school. Well, Mrs. Rany asked me to interview whoever I want who had been traveled or lived in another country outside their own country. So, there's came an idea for me to interviewing Bryon, my American-Brother from a different mother, because I remembered he used to school aboard in Hiroshima, Japan. He won a scholarship in his high school-hood, of course a few years ago when he was 17, right now he's 24. Alright, here we go the story of Bryon in Japan!

                My name is Bryon Cook, and I’m John Tyo Keating’s friend.  I’m happy that he has asked me to tell everyone about my experiences in Hiroshima, Japan.  Before I do though, I think I should say that I’m from Michigan in the USA, and I live near Detroit. Also, the reason I got to go to Japan was because I won a scholarship though my high school when I was 17 to go be a foreign exchange student in Hiroshima for the summer. It was best experience of my life.

                When I arrived in Japan, the first thing I noticed is how everything looked so different from my culture, from the buildings, cars, people, food, weather, trains, and so much more. The weather there in the summer was very hot, I would say about 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit on average, and it was very humid outside.  The humidity was bad for me because I was not used to such hot temperatures so I sweated a lot, and with how humid it was it would take me a long time to stop sweating. Because of the weather and how much I sweated, I would drink over a gallon of water a day just to stay hydrated.

                The school I went to was very different from my own, and also it was a drastic change for me because in my school in Michigan, I stayed mostly to myself and my small group of friends, but at this school I was the only student out of about 1,000 that was not Japanese. This meant that everyone knew who I was and I had no idea who anyone was, and people treated me like I was a famous celebrity to them. I used to be a shy person when I was in my own school, but because of me attending this school I became an outgoing person that actually talked to strangers and tried to meet new people. The school itself was a five story building that was on top of a hill. To get to school every morning with my Japanese sister, Ai, I would walk to the bus stop, take the bus to a transit station, at the transit station me and my sister would get our bikes that were locked up there to ride to school. It took us about an hour everyday to get to school. My school back in Michigan was just down the street from my house that I would walk to, and it was only a ten minute walk. As for the course material in the schools, I can’t tell you how different it was from mine because I don’t know Japanese so they didn’t have me do the actual school work like the rest of the class. I was already graduated from my high school back in Michigan so they didn’t need me to do any work because it wouldn’t have changed anything for me.

                All of the students would try and talk with me to practice their English, in Japan they are required to take at least three years of English, while in my school we weren’t required to take any foreign language classes, although I did take Spanish for two years. They did have something similar to what my school had though, there school had festivals while my school had assemblies. There they had special shoes you also had to wear in school and only at school, also they didn’t have anyone working to clean the school, all of the students cleaned it. In America the students don’t clean up after themselves sadly, I think it’d make a lot more of the students in America more responsible if we had to take care of our schools like they do in Japan.

                Their cars are smaller than what I was used to, they had a lot more public transportation as well than we do in Michigan. We have buses and trains in Michigan just like they do, but no one uses the trains and not many use the buses, while in Japan everyone uses the buses and trains. A lot of people in Japan ride motor-scooters, mopeds, or motorcycles too, while in America only motorcycles are common and ours are a lot bigger than theirs. Their roads are a lot narrower than American roads as well, to the point where I was scared a few times for no reason when riding in a car.

                The buildings in Japan were much smaller than the ones in America also, specifically the ceilings were a lot lower than I was used to. I did hit my head on the ceiling before when I was trying to walk down some stairs, it hurt and I did not notice how low the ceiling was before I hit it. The reason I was able to hit the ceiling is because I am about six feet tall, this meant I towered over most of the people there. The people themselves were much shorter than me, on average they were about a foot or two shorter than me. The style of the buildings were different too, they were built much closer together, and no one had a yard in front of their house or behind their house, while in America almost everyone has a yard in front and behind their house.

                My older Japanese sister, Yuka, took me to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, which was a building built in dedication to those that died from the bombing. It told a lot about the war and had many items that survived from the war. One display that they had set up that interested me was a bottle cap that had been through the bomb, they had it in a special case with a tool that measured radiation inside, and you were able to move the tool with a crank to and from the bottle cap to see how much radiation it gave off depending on how close it was. When the tool was two feet away, it measured 200 radiation units, and while it was right on the coin, it measured over maximum level of radiation. They also had wax figures of people that had their clothes torn apart, their skin peeled back or completely gone and the muscle exposed. Those were some of the people that had survived the initial blast, but did not survive for long because of the acid rain, radiation, nuclear fallout, and due to their injuries as well. They even had a piece of sidewalk on display because in the middle of the square, it was white, while everywhere else it was black. They said the reason the sidewalk was white in the middle was because someone was sitting there waiting for the bank to open up that morning, and so they took the impact of the blast at that area instead of the sidewalk.

                 I also visited an island, I do not remember exactly what the name of the island was but I think it was Mao-jheng or something close to that. On the island though, there were deer trainer there, they had many deer walking around the island, just going up to people and trying to get food from them. My family had got me some deer feed to give the deer, and I had a group of deer surround me and attack me almost for the food, one of them bit my stomach almost on accident cause there was a piece of deer feed on my shirt, and another ate my map I had with me cause it had deer feed on it. The deer in America are afraid of people, and are also hunted for fun, so this was very different for me.

                I swam in the ocean while I was there also, I had never swam in the ocean before then because in Michigan the only bodies of water we have around us are lakes, ponds, and rivers. The stores were very different from what I’m used to, because of the money exchange rate, they have yen in Japan, we have dollars in America. You could be walking down the street and there were many different types of stores and places to eat. While in Michigan, places to shop and eat at are much further apart.

                Something that surprised me about the students in Japan was that they did not really interact with the opposite sex that often. Many of the boys that were my age in Japan hadn’t kissed a girl even though they were in high school, while in Michigan, you are considered gay or that no one likes you. It is common for kids in high school in America to already have had sex. For example, in America we have a TV show called 16 and pregnant, while this would be unheard of in most countries. I personally hate the fact that America is known for things like that, but it is nothing that I am able to change.

                I loved every minute of my trip in Japan, and I plan on going back there again before I die, If I’m able to I would love to live in Japan for the rest of my life. Many of the people that I have talked to about my experience in Japan plan on going there one day because of how amazing it sounds to them. I would recommend a visit to Japan for everyone if they are able to before they die, it is a place that is like no other. Japan is my favorite place in the world to be and I hope that you may consider taking a trip to Japan one day.

This is an example of Transfer-in Tour Guiding Speech made by me. You can use it as your reference during the Transfer-in procedure as a tour guide in Jakarta.  

• Greeting/Ice breaking

Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of my company Globus Tour Travel, I wish you Selamat Pagi dan Selamat Datang di Jakarta, Indonesia. That’s our common greetings to welcome you which mean Good Morning and Welcome to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ladies and Gentlemen how’s your long flight from Chicago to Jakarta? Although it’s such a very long and tiring flight but I believe you had a very pleasant flight. Alright, it’s really nice to hear that and I’m glad that you landed safely in Jakarta, and I’m very excited to meet y’all here. Have you ever visited Jakarta before? If it’s your first time experience, I believe all of you will have a great experience and satisfied trip with Globus Travel’s service.

Now we’re just arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Int’l Airport as the first airport serving the city of Jakarta located in Cengkareng, and this airport name taken from the name of the first president and vice president of Indonesia, Mr. Soekarno and Mr. Moh. Hatta. Now we’re directly going to our hotel name Kempinksi Indonesia Hotel as the first hotel in Jakarta exactly located in the H.I roundabout, Central Jakarta and takes about 60 minutes to get there if there’s no traffic.

• Introduction

Well, I hope you’re all can hear me, first of all, allow me to introduce our crew bus, today our professional driver within 15 years experience is sitting in front of us, Mr. Alex and also we have Mr. Javen as his assistant. Also myself, my name is Tio Perdana but I’m well known as John Lennon. Haha okay, I’m just kidding, you can call me just John for short, and I’m pleased to be your guide that will accompany you during your stay in Jakarta. If you have any questions or requests while we’re going along, do not hesitate to ask and please let me know, I’ll try my best to answer your question and handle your request, please raise your hand like this and say “Excuse me” or “Permisi” in Bahasa Indonesia.

• Commentaries

Ladies and gentlemen, Indonesia time zone is divided into 3 zones and right now if you look with me on your right, on the parking area you should see there are 3 different statues describing time zones in Indonesia, the first one is Nias statue, it’s from North Sumatera that represents Western Indonesia Time Zone or GMT+7h, the second one is Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue from Bali that represents Central Indonesia Time Zone or GMT +8h, and the last one is Asmat Statue from Papua that represents Eastern Indonesia Time Zone or GMT +9h.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jakarta is located on the western part of the island of Java, so we are 7 hours faster from GMT and 12 hours ahead from your city Chicago, Illinois. So to avoid any timing differences, would you please adjust your watches into our local time, at the moment my watch is showing at 10.15 A.M. Have you adjusted? Done? Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, right now if you look with me on your right hand side, look on your right hand side, that is the statue of late Mr. Soekarno and Mr. Moh. Hatta as our founding fathers and it’s to gratitude all their efforts and to memorize them that’s why the name of airport in Jakarta become Soekarno-Hatta Int’l Airport. Also they proclaimed our independence on 17^th August 1945, but in the present we have Mr. SBY stands for Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as our president and Mr. Boediono as our vice president.

And look on your right hand side, that is Candi Bentan or well-known as Bentan Temple, Balinese believe that Bentan temple represents for the friendliness toward the guest or foreign who enter their home, and also become the defender from the evil spirit.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I told you before now we have arrived in Jakarta, as the capital city of Indonesia also one of the 33 provinces in Indonesia. Indonesia has more than 17.000 islands which are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and Papua as the biggest and the main islands of it, we also have more than 3.000 local languages such as Javanese, Sundanese, Bataknese, Padangnese and etc. but we have Bahasa Indonesia as our national language, and after that we also have more than 1.000 ethnic groups, oh it’s really diversity.
Indonesia itself is a democratic and republic country, it has about 245 million people that makes Indonesia become the 4^th nation with the highest population after China, India, and U.S.A. That’s why Indonesia is really diverse, and has a motto “Bhinekka Tunggal Ika”, which means Unity in Diversity, and I can give you one of many examples.

The example is, Indonesia is the largest Moslem country in the world, but we have our freedom to choose our own religion and it’s guaranteed by our Garuda Pancasila, so actually Indonesia has 6 official religions that recognized by the government, Islam, Christianity include Protestant and Rome Catholic, Buddhism, Hinduism, and the last one is Confucianism. So no wonder if all of you can easily find women using veil or hijab and many mosques along the street in Jakarta. Also, in a certain time, you will hear adzan or prayer calling as a reminder to all Moslem to pray.

Ladies and gentlemen because the majority religion is Islam and Indonesia located in the Eastern part, here are some suggestion to you, first if you want to give or take something, please use your right hand, secondly avoid to touch other people’s head, next if you pass other people you can say “Excuse me” or “Permisi”, forth do not show to much intimate or nudity in front of the public, the fifth please wearing an appropriate clothes, and the last one is do not wear to much jewelry, because the criminal could happened anywhere especially in this metropolitan city.

Ladies and gentlemen, I see all of you feel really hot today, alright? Because the temperature outside the bus reaches 30 degrees Celsius, oh it must be really hot, but I’m sure all of you will still love our temperature and the atmosphere of Jakarta city would make your day here more convenient.

Also because Indonesia located in the sub-tropical country, so we just only have 2 seasons, dry season coming from March until September and followed by rainy season starts from October until February.

Since we are now in the beginning of November, which happens to be the rainy season, I would like to remind you to please bring your raincoat or umbrella wherever you go.
Despite of the rain, I still suggest you to still use your sunscreen to avoid sun burn also wear a comfortable clothe to make your day more convenient, because the sun shines really bright here, though it is rainy season. The weather in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta is quite unpredictable. Sometimes it can be a sunny day in one time, but in a moment it could turn into a cloudy day.

Well, talking about economy, it is really important for you to know our local currency, our local currency is INDONESIAN RUPIAH. Well, INDONESIAN RUPIAH itself comes in banknotes also the coins, and the exchange rate for USD 1 is equal with about IDR 11.000 today. And I’ll give you an example of INDONESIAN RUPIAH. Well start from the coin, from the lowest amount we have IDR 100 until IDR 1.000 as the highest and the newest coin. After that, from the banknotes, we have IDR 1.000 as the lowest value, IDR 2.000, IDR 5.000, IDR 10.000, IDR 20.000, IDR 50.000 and I bring you the biggest one, IDR 100.000, and if you want to see it closer, you can pass it on but don’t forget to give it back to me, because that’s the only money I have.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, besides that you also can pay your transaction with credit card, but please make sure to check your own credit card whether there is a symbol of VISA or Master Card, and you have to pay the additional charge between 2-3% based on your transaction.

So have you already converted your money to IDR in the airport? If you didn’t exchange your dollar yet, you can go to the nearest Money Changer, and you are so lucky to stay in Kempinski Indonesia hotel, because there’s an available Money Changer inside the hotel, so don’t worry you will still can exchange your money here.

With USD 1 you can get 2 can of cokes, and if you visit American restaurant like Burger King with only USD 3 you can get a complete meals. That’s why I’m telling you, you are so lucky to come to Indonesia, because almost everything here is really cheap. Also, if you want to give a tip to porter or waiter, you can give a tip from IDR 10.000 and above.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, talking about Jakarta, as the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta covers an area around 650 square km, has 5 municipalities and 1 regency, the 5 municipalities are Central Jakarta, East and West Jakarta, North and South Jakarta, and the last but not the least is Kepulauan Seribu regency or well-known as Thousand Islands regency. Located on the bay of Jakarta, also has hundreds of beautiful Islands such as Pramuka island, Onrust island, Tidung island.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jakarta itself started our history as the most important harbor in 15^th century, but now Jakarta is a really huge metropolitan city inhabited by 10 million people but during the day it population increased up to 2 until 3 million people, why? Because there are a lot of people that come every day from suburbs cities of Jakarta or well-known as BODETABEK stands for Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi to go to work, school and do their own business during the day in Jakarta. That’s why we can easily find traffic jam in Jakarta.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jakarta is crowded with a lot of vehicle, mostly like the other busy cities in the world, in Jakarta you can see a lot of bus in different color, size, and so on. But in Jakarta we have this modern one, first introduced by our former government Mr. Sutiyoso in 2004, TransJakarta. It has about 10 corridors that connect almost every part in Jakarta. Besides it only has a special one way or we call it as busway, the price of the ticket for one single trip of TransJakarta is really cheap! Imagine this, from 5-7 in the morning it’s only IDR 2.000 and from 7 in the morning until midnight it’s only IDR 3.500, Wow it’s not even a half dollar.

So, if you’re going to travel this city by yourself, I suggest that you should take TransJakarta, it’s more comfortable, cheaper, safer and faster.

Ladies and gentlemen, right now we are heading to Kempinski Indonesia Hotel and as I told you before, Kempinski Indonesia is the first hotel in Jakarta and also the first 5 stars hotel in South East Asia, completed with a lot of great facilities like pool, bar, spa, room service, restaurant, gym and son on. Also if you’re a shopaholic, don’t worry because right behind your hotel, there’s the biggest shopping arcade in South East Asia, Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, so during your trip in Jakarta you can shop whatever you want until your legs hurting and you drop.

Well ladies and gentlemen, 10 minutes ahead we will arrive at our hotel Kempinski Indonesia, so far is there any questions? No, alright if there’s no question, I think all of you already had an idea what Jakarta is all about. And now I would like to give you several informations about our hotel, because I think it’s really important to you. As you open the door of your room, you will see a luxurious bed, the bathroom completed with a Jacuzzi, and you will see the scenery of Jakarta city. And it is very important information for you, unlike in your country, tap water here is not safe to drink, it may contain bacteria, so therefore it has to be sterilized or boiled before it is consume. However, branded bottle of mineral water separately available in many groceries or convenience stores.

Also ladies and gentlemen, the tour guide will accompany me to complete the check in procedure, so for all of you my lovely ladies and gentlemen, please collect your passport to our tour guide for our check in procedure, after that please prepare your credit card or cash absolutely in IDR, just in case there’s any personal expenses that you have to pay such as laundry and room service.

Ladies and gentlemen, now if you look with me on your right handside, that is Selamat Datang Monument or well known as the “Welcome Statue”, completed in 1962 to welcome the 4^th Asian Games Player, and  there’s a boy and a girl heading to the West waving their hand to all of you who enter our city Jakarta.

• Closing

Well ladies and gentlemen, now we are entering the gate of our hotel, please prepare your belongings, do not leave anything behind, please mind your head and watch your step. As soon as our bus stop, you can directly go to the lobby hotel, enjoy the very fresh welcome drinks. Also the porter will handle all of your baggage. Me and the tour leader will handle your check-in procedures in the front desk.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, now our bus is stop, it’s a really nice hotel. Thank you for your attention everyone, and on behalf of Globus Tour, I’m John, and we wish you a pleasant and memorable vacation here in Jakarta. See you soon at the hotel lobby.