ANISSA RATNA PUTRI

Tahun 2015 adalah pertama kalinya saya mengalami 4 musim dalam satu tahun.

Salah satu checklist hidup saya sekarang sudah tercapai: merasakan 4 musim di Jepang (meskipun belum kesampaian ketemu salju).

Musim semi, saya datang ke Jepang disambut bunga sakura dimana-mana. Rasanya saat itu antara nggak percaya sama bahagia: ini beneran di Jepang ya?

That excitement, that happiness, that curiosity.

Pertama kali saya menjelajah Kyoto adalah jalan kaki bersama Wina yang berakhir di Kyoto Imperial Palace. Tempat yang langsung menjadi salah satu tempat favorit saya di Kyoto, selain Kamogawa. This place has such calming ambience that I cannot explain. Entering the gate, walking through the parks, and all of sudden I feel relax. Combine this calm ambience with cherry blossom trees everywhere. You couldn’t ask for more.

Di musim ini saya bertemu teman-teman baru: teman GSGES, teman labo, teman PPI, teman dorm di Satsuki. Kemudian saya memutuskan di sini saya akan dipanggil dengan nama ‘Anissa’ instead of ‘Ica’. Kenapa? Karena saya ingin orang-orang di Kyoto ini jadi seperti keluarga untuk saya.. dan keluarga saya nggak ada yang pernah memanggil saya dengan ‘Ica’. Meskipun awalnya terasa agak aneh sih dipanggil dengan ‘Anissa’. But I get used to it, and actually I kinda like it. Musim semi, terasa begitu singkat karena kesibukan kuliah (13 mata kuliah cuy), dan karena menikmati hidup sebagai mahasiswa (lagi).

Musim panas.

Saya sudah males banget menghadapi musim ini.

Saya nggak pernah cocok sama temperatur tinggi, saya sukanya yang sejuk-sejuk. 

Saya benci rasa pengap yang mengungkung dan terik matahari yang membakar.

Saya nggak suka udara panas, karena saya jadi ngga variatif pakai jilbab (penting).

Tapi setelah saya melewati musim panas dan melihat ke belakang.. hey, I made lots of good memories back then. 

Lihat kembang api, foto cantik bersama lampion, jalan-jalan di festival terbesar di Jepang sambil mengenakan yukata dan makan takoyaki, berenang di laut, Barbecue party, makan es serut…. dan masih banyak lagi hal-hal yang saya lakukan bareng sama orang-orang terdekat. 

Musim panas adalah musim festival di Jepang, nggak heran begitu banyak event sampai folder foto saya lebih dari 30 folder dalam 3 bulan saja.

Melihat foto-fotonya kembali, saya jadi senyum-senyum sendiri. Lalu saya sadar, meskipun musim panas menyebabkan kaki saya gosong, tapi dia juga meninggalkan kebahagiaan yang begitu besar. I can say, summer 2015 is the happiest season while I was in Japan.

Kemudian waktu beralih ke musim berikutnya, musim gugur.

Musim gugur untuk saya adalah kombinasi antara kesepian, tersesat, dan bahagia.

Diawali dengan internship di Tsukuba, kemudian masa transisi antar internship di mana saya kehilangan motivasi dan semangat belajar, kemudian periode di mana orang tua saya datang. 

Musim gugur juga musim makanan - bukan karena saya sering beli apel atau chestnut, tapi karena di musim ini saya paling produktif memasak.

Mungkin sebenarnya dari keempat musim, musim gugur adalah musim yang ‘saya banget’. I love the colors, I love the weather, and I love the ambience. I remember that day when I spent time sitting while enjoying the beautiful colours of maple leaves while listening to a special autumn playlist. Or that day when I went hunting for beautiful maple leaves around Kyoto, and end up enjoying maple leaves at Genko-an after cycling uphill. Bisa dibilang, musim gugur adalah musim paling ansos. Yet, I enjoyed my me-time season :)

And then winter is coming.

Dari semua musim, musim dingin adalah musim yang paling saya tunggu.

Karena saya selalu merasa cocok dengan udara sejuk cenderung dingin, dan saya punya mimpi mau ke Kutub Utara. Tapi sebenarnya I have no experience in the real cold weather. Saya penasaran, will I survive this winter?

Dan ternyata winter terlalu dingin bagi saya.

’Terlalu dingin’ bukan karena saya tidak bisa mentolerir suhu, tapi lebih kepada karena saya tidak bisa mentolerir keterbatasan saya untuk hal-hal tertentu.

Seperti keterbatasan saya untuk bermain di sekitar Kamogawa, atau duduk di luar untuk cari angin segar sambil menikmati pemandangan. I could not do that in winter, unless I want to freeze.

Dan saya tidak suka AC mode warm. Pada dasarnya saya memang nggak suka AC sih. Kalau musim panas, saya masih bisa survive tapa AC. Tapi musim dingin tanpa penghangat apapun dalam gedug minim insulasi itu… bukan pilhan yang baik (believe me, I tried).

Tapi di musim ini saya menikmati nyamannya mengenakan coat dan boots yang sudah disiapkan dari jauh-jauh hari (penting).

Saya main ice skating (outdoor!!), melihat light illumination yang cantik, kumpul lagi sama teman-teman setelah ngansos 3 bulan kemarin, dan.. jatuh cinta.

Si keras hati dan keras kepala ini akhirnya bisa jatuh cinta lagi, sampai saya sendiri agak bingung. Despite of the limitation because of coldness, I really enjoy this winter. And most of the time probably because of him. Sayangnya nggak ada salju, jadi belum ala-ala drama gitu hahaha.

Winter is not ended yet, but I escaped. Thus, even though today is snowing in Kyoto, I cannot experience it. 

Next year, will You give me some snow, please? 

Pertanyaan di atas sering ditanyakan kepada saya oleh banyak orang, bahkan sepertinya lebih banyak ditanyakan oleh orang Jepang, seakan mereka heran kenapa saya mau-maunya datang ke negara mereka. Ada beberapa alasan kenapa saya memilih untuk menempuh master di Jepang, meskipun ada peluang yang lebih menarik di tempat lain. Oke, mari kita jabarkan satu persatu.

Saya sudah 'kenalan' sama Jepang sejak kecil

Merasakan 4 musim di Jepang adalah salah satu cita-cita hidup saya

Waktu pertama kali saya membuat daftar life goals - mimpi dan cita-cita hidup yang ingin dicapai - 'merasakan 4 musim di Jepang' adalah salah satunya. Kenapa harus 4 musim dan kenapa harus di Jepang? Karena untuk setiap musimnya, Jepang punya festival-festival yang pengen banget saya datangi semua! Ketika Juli lalu saya jalan-jalan di night festival Gion Matsuri pakai yukata sambil makan takoyaki, rasanya bahagia banget! Berasa hidup dalam anime.

Lanskap kota yang nyaman

Ini sejatinya pandangan saya sebelum ke Jepang sih. Eh, sebenarnya masih berlaku selama saya masih di Kyoto, tapi langsung hilang begitu saya hidup di Kanto. Kalau melihat Jepang dari sisi Kyoto, pandangan saya ini mungkin benar. Kyoto, dengan segala ketradisionalannya, menyajikan infrastruktur dan fasilitas publik dikombinasikan dengan keindahan alam setempat yang memberikan ketenangan dan kenyamanan. Tapi Kanto? Yah.. 11-12 lah ya sama Jabodetabek. Meskipun pandangan saya tentang 'keseimbangan' ini sudah nggak segitunya lagi, tapi saya menghargai usaha Jepang yang punya ruang terbuka hijau (taman) yang terawat apik di hampir semua kota. Taman utama setiap kota bahkan sepertinya punya syarat minimum harus ada danau di tengahnya. Lumayan memberikan kesegaran di antara segala kepadatan hidup. Dan yang utama: nggak perlu bayar. Semuanya fasilitas publik, gratis.

Saya ingin belajar nilai-nilai yang baik dari masyarakat Jepang

Sebelum saya berangkat ke Jepang, saya melihat Jepang sebagai masyarakat yang punya nilai-nilai kuat yang sudah mengakar dalam masyarakatnya - sebagian baik dan sebagian tidak - dan saya ingin tahu lebih banyak tentang nilai-nilai yang mereka anut. Dengan hidup di Jepang, saya ingin belajar untuk mengurangi 'kefleksibelan' seperti yang sering dilakukan di Indonesia. Tentu saja bukan berarti saya ingin jadi pribadi yang kaku dan ketat atau pribadi yang less tolerance, tapi lebih kepada ingin menjadi pribadi yang lebih baik, mengkombinasikan toleransi yang saya punya sebagai orang indonesia dan disiplin yang saya pelajari dari orang Jepang. Btw, setelah tinggal di sini, saya belajar bahwa ternyata masyarakat Jepang punya berbagai problematika yang sangat menarik untuk didiskusikan. Every nation is not that perfect, after all.

Mau makan seafood lebih banyak (dan mengurangi daging)

Saya ada cita-cita pengen jadi pescetarian. Tenggat targetnya masih jauh sih, tapi dengan hidup di Jepang, saya berharap bisa mencicil niatan saya menuju cita-cita saya tadi. Karena katanya kan, masyarakat Jepang kebanyakan makannya seafood. Setelah tinggal di Jepang, memang sih, mereka makan seafood. Tapi sekarang ini sudah agak nggak sebooming itu ya restauran seafood (yang murah, kalau yang mahal sih banyak). Untungnya di grocery store  masih banyak dijual seafood, dari yang mentahan, semi-mentah siap makan, sampai yang dimasak dan disajikan dalam bento. Dan personally saya rasa masakan Jepang itu sehat banget! (Ternyata masakan Jepang itu world heritage lho) Suatu hari saya akan tulis tentang masakan Jepang, ya.

Jepang mendaurulang sampah

Meskipun ada kontroversi ini-itu, but yes, they do recycle. Mereka punya 6 undang-undang daur ulang sampah spesifik, mulai dari sampah elektronik rumah tangga (TV, kulkas, AC, mesin cuci) sampai sampah kontruksi. Mereka nggak hanya bikin undang-undang tapi nggak dijalanin - mereka benar-benar melaksanakan apa yang mereka tuangkan di undang-undang itu. Karena saya fokus karirnya berkaitan sama persampahan, kelebihan Jepang ini jadi nilai plus untuk saya pertimbangkan sebagai lokasi master saya. Meskipun orang Jepang sendiri bilang sistem daur ulang negara-negara EU lebih baik - dan memang iya - tapi saya tidak menyesal memilih kuliah di sini. Justru dari sistem Jepang yang kurang di sana-sini, saya belajar banyak.

Setelah dilihat-lihat, alasan saya memilih Jepang lebih banyak non-akademisnya daripada akademisnya ya? Tapi ini juga penting lho, dalam memilih lokasi sekolah. Sebaik-baiknya sebuah kampus, kalau kita nggak nyaman sama negaranya, bagaimana mau belajar? Saya bersyukur bisa sekolah di Jepang, merasakan perubahan musim di sini (sekarang masuk musim ketiga!), dan mengalami berbagai hal-hal baru yang saya percaya, semuanya akan ada manfaatnya suatu hari nanti.

Love,

One might wonder why my first post about a city in Japan is about Tsukuba, of all places that I've been. You can say I found inspiration to write about simple things in life that you may only appreciate  when you live in such solitude.  I've been living in Tsukuba for one month now, and will stay here until the next two weeks. Let's find out what I experience here.

Those days working (learning?) 9 to 5

I have my internship in AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology), one of Japan research institute. Since it's a research institute, and I'm not conducting any experiment, you may guess what did I do for daily work: yup, reading lots of journals. This may sounds boring, but since I love reading, I didn't mind at all. It's just that it less challenging and I personally think that I don't have to sit in front of computer the whole day if I only need to read (oh, and summarise). It's been a long time since I have a 9 to 5 work (literally). Sometimes I feel sorry because I miss a chance to have a nice afternoon reading in a beautiful park nearby when the weather was good.

Those time ungratefully regretting my past decision

Why I didn't fight more to have my internship in my (other) purposed place? (Since my first choice rejected me because they can't speak english) Why I have to go with sensei's recommendation? This regret comes up every now and then, a very ungrateful thinking. Despite of everything, in AIST actually I have a very nice supervisor, who apparently successfully connect me with all recycling plants I want to visit due to his connection from previous work, although his daily works now has no connection with my research. He is also a nice person to talk about anything, from the real situation of waste management in Japan to the difference of culture and modern society behaviour. And because his research is about recycling of a material that I've just know exist when I start my internship, I learn a lot about new things. The most important thing is I was provided a time to focus learning to prepare my research. A time that I might not have if I have busy daily work in other institution.

Those days doing shopping only because that's all the entertainment I have

Usually, on weekend I always have a plan with friends - whether here in Tsukuba when No-chan still around or in Tokyo with other Indonesian. But there was once in a long weekend, when my plan to Tokyo was cancelled and I chose to just have my me-time in Tsukuba. And it turns out to be a very wrong choice, because even though I am an introvert, spending 3 days alone with no one to talk to except the receptionist is just too lonely. I end up went to malls and shop some groceries and... clothes. Now I know that sometimes money can buy happiness. Especially when you are lonely.

Those days cooking 2 times a day

Back then in Kyoto, I also often cook to save money and to make sure I eat halal food. But, in Kyoto I didn't necessarily follow a recipe step-by-step, and I didn't try to cook new things - well, maybe only a few - and there's always university cafetaria and restaurants nearby to have your lunch/dinner. But here in Tsukuba, since I hardly know any place to eat (and it's very few around my place though), I have to cook every day. I've been trying 12 new recipes, from miso soup to vegetarian burger. It was a nice experiment! Most of them ended as a delicious food. However, my opinion might be subjective, I will need others to judge :p

Those weather forecast I watched every morning

Since I'm staying in a hotel room where they provide a TV, I experience how Japanese channel is like. Based on my observation, apparently Japanese are obsessed with weather forecasting and food tasting. Roger.

Those anime I watched although I barely understand the story

Who will pass to watch anime in the country where it was born? Of course it's not me. I watch Doraemon and Shinchan every Friday, Conan every Saturday, and One Piece every Sunday. And there are some other anime too, in a very random schedule. By random I mean it can just pop up on weekdays, unlike in Indonesia where anime always shown on weekends.

Those nice time I spent on the park

Tsukuba has a lot of nice park. Near my place there is Doho Park, where I often do my running/jogging time. They have a running tracks, something that I really appreciate - a proper track to run. My last running track was Sabuga in Bandung. There is also Akatsuka Park, where I once worked on my study while enjoying a beautiful afternoon. The park has table and bench, so it's a really comfortable place to work with a refreshing view.

That day I climbed for the first time

I've been always wanted to climb a mountain, but in Indonesia my parents not allow me to. Finally here in Japan I did it! I climbed Mt. Tsukuba, a nice place for a beginner like me. It has 2 tops, Nyotai-san (877m) and Nyantai-san (871m). I climbed both. Please note that climbing mountain in Japan is very different with climbing mountain in Indonesia. Here, they provide a really good infrastructure and facility, although I am not saying the track was easy (they have many rocks there). And I was climbing with my not-so-appropriate-shoes. But again it was fun! Thanks to No-chan who accompanied me :)

And that is all my summary from my daily life in Tsukuba. A quiet science city, where I found the meaning of lonely and where I experience homesick for both Kyoto and Indonesia for the first time. But I am grateful to have my time here, to learn to appreciate simple thing, to cook new things, and to have time to learn what I've been wanted to when I have no time to. I still here for next two weeks, but since I'll be away for lots of site visit, I might just say it now - thank you, Tsukuba. I hope one day if I may come here again you will be more lively than before!

Love,

When I am about to moved to Japan, I had to chose a dormitory as a temporary place for me to live. At that time, I put Satsuki Dormitory as my least preference. My considerations are; Satsuki is quite expensive compared to other dormitory, it is not Kyoto University's dormitory (it is Kyoto Prefecture's), and there are barely pictures or review from the residence in internet. So when my sensei's secretary announced that I'll be placed in Satsuki, I kinda worried - can I stand to stay in this place for one year? Should I ask to change place? etc, etc. But when I arrive in Satsuki, and now been living here for 6 months, my worry proved wrong.

Satsuki Dormitory is located in Ogawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, near to Horikawa-dori in Kyoto City. It has 4 levels with 45 rooms for international students which mostly are study at Kyoto University or Ritsumeikan University. The rent price per month is 32500yen, but you will also be charged for changing sheet, which cost 1080yen. Thus the overall rent price is 33580yen per month (excluding electricity fee).

In Satsuki first floor, there is a common room, where students can gather to cook, eat, watch movies, and do other activities together. Not necessarily for gathering though, sometimes you can just sit and working your own things, while say hello to others that may do the same. This room also useful for those who wants to save for electricity in their room (and spend it here instead :p).

As for rooms, the first and second floor is men's floor, while the third and fourth floor is women's floor. My room is on the third floor, and here is what it looks like (when I just arrived). The size of the room is about 12 m2, and you can see from the picture that they provide it full furnished. Each room has its own wi-fi modem.

In Satsuki, we use share kitchen, share toilets, share shower room, and share laundry for everyone. Each floor has share kitchen and share toilets, but shower room is only available in the basement and laundry is only available at the first floor. They differentiate between men and women for each facility, even we (women) have a special key to enter women's laundry room and women's shower room. But, there is a space in the rooftop on the fourth floor where people can hang their clothes, and it can be used by both men and women.

As for access, the nearest bus stop is Horikawa Shimodachiuri and the nearest subway station is Marutamachi. Unfortunately using bus and train from Satsuki to Kyoto University is kinda complicated, you have to walk around 1km to reach the bus stop to Kyoto University and for subway it has a complicated route because we have to transfer. But no worries, we're here in Satsuki (like most other Kyoto citizens) often prefer to go everywhere by bike. I usually bike to Kyoto University for around 15-20 minutes (about 3 km distance). Here is bicycle parking lot in Satsuki which located in the back of the building.

Bicycle parking lot

Welcome party for April 2015 students

Volunteering at public elementary school

Farewell party for August 2014 students

For you who interest to enrol in GSGES Kyoto University, you can check the details here.

LPDP
1. Online document submission
Study Plan, Essay, Letter of Recommendation, TOEFL/IELTS score, Statement Letter, Academic Transcript, Certificate of Graduation.
2. Announcement (1): Phase I Passing Candidate
3. Interview and LGD
It was held at Ministry of Finance Headquarter. The interview was conducted by 1 psychologist and 2 professors for around 15 minutes. LGD (Leaderless Group Discussion) was discussing about various current happening issue in Indonesia for about 30 minutes.
4. Announcement (2): Phase II Passing Candidate
5. Pra-leadership training (Pra-PK, Pra-Pelatihan Kepemimpinan)
You will be assigned to a PK-group, and you will be involved in various group tasks, for example choosing your group leader, create your group uniform, etc.
6. Leadership Training (PK)
I cannot tell you much about this because I'm not attending PK. As far as I know, you will be trained for a week, meet various inspiring people as well as doing various physical activities.
7. Announcement (Final)


MEXT
Primary Screening
1. Document submission
Application Form, Research Plan and Study Plan, Photo, Academic Transcript, Certificate of Graduation, Letter of Recommendation, Abstract of previous research, TOEFL/IELTS score
2. Announcement (1): Document Submission Passing Candidate
3. English/Japanese exam
It was held at University of Indonesia. You will have to working on english and japanese exam, yet the scoring system will choose the best score. For example, in my case, I don't understand japanese, thus I did not working a single number of the given exam. Instead, I focus on working on my english exam to excel my score.
4. Interview
It was held at Japanese Embassy, Jakarta. There were 3 professors from Japan and 2 professors from Indonesia, asking me questions about my research plan, my interest to study in Japan, and my future contribution for Japan and Indonesia. Interview time was around 15-30 minutes.
5. Announcement (2): Primary Screening Passing Candidate


Secondary Screening
1. Document Submission (same as Primary Screening submission documents + Health certificate)
2. Letter of Acceptance Submission (Placement Preference form + Letter of Acceptance from your desired university)
This is a temporary Letter of Acceptance, means if the university require you to take entrance exam, you will be accepted as Research Student, and you will take the entrance exam 6 months later after your arrival in Japan. However, for some people like me who already took the entrance exam from my home country, this Letter of Acceptance means that I accepted as Master Student, and I could join master classes as soon as I arrive in Japan.
3. Announcement (3): Secondary Screening Passing Candidate


Departure Preparation
1. University Placement Announcement
Some people apply to be a research student to more than one university. Thus, their placement will be announced in this phase. This is not applied to those who already enrolled in their preferred university as master student.
2. Decision Letter and Visa
The Japanese Embassy will take care of your visa. No need to queue in a long line with other visa applicants.
3. Orientation (listening to speeches, eat lots of food, meet new friends)
4. Departure (usually at April 1st)

You can also read more detail about applying MEXT scholarship from here. This blog had help me a lot. Thank you, Samy senpai!

How do you choose which scholarship you should take?
For those who lucky enough to get accepted by two scholarship, I guess you will have to choose one of them because most of the scholarship institution will not allow you to take both, no?
To choose your preferred scholarship, there are some consideration you may want to think about other than just comparing the amount of money they offer.

• What benefit this scholarship offer you?

Other than the tuition fee and the monthly allowance (both of these should be the first priority to consider), is there any other service or allowance they offer you? Some people preference not (only) defined by the amount of money, but also the service offered by the institution. For example, 

Scholarship A: offer XX amount of money with a lot of other allowance (books, insurance, etc), but you have to do all of your administration things by yourself (go to the embassy to apply visa, pay the given tuition fee in your account to the university each semester, and some other complicated administration things). 

Scholarship B: offer XX amount of money for tuition fee and monthly allowance, no other allowance, but they offer you a service in such a way that makes you basically do not necessarily need to think about a lot of administration things - because they had taken care of it. You can sit back, relax, and enjoy your master. 

Please also consider any requirements they mention. Some requirements may define your future. For example, some scholarship may require you to go back to Indonesia  straightly after your graduation, other may require you to work with Company Z for X years.

• Which scholarship will be better to put on your CV?

Nowadays it seems like going abroad is become more common in Indonesia. In the near future, it will be more competitive to gain your desired job if everyone also has a background education from abroad, no? Thus, the institution that grant you the scholarship do matter. Also, the competition level to obtain the scholarship, for me, also matter. Are you one of lucky 200 out of 2000 applicants? or better, you are one of lucky 20 out of 2000? Both of this point - the institution and the competition level - is something you can put on your CV later and explain as your excellence.

What other knowledge/skill need to be prepared before going abroad? 
Surely there are plenty of things you should prepare - but I think the most important one is to get to know the intended country before you leave. You can browse what kind of food they usually eat, what kind of culture they have, and what kind of life people experience in the city. You should also learn the language. Do not expect everyone - especially local people - will understand english in the same level as you do. I'm not saying you have to be an expert before you leave, but at least please learn the basic for daily conversation. By learning local language, you also appreciate their culture and you can also hangout with local people and make more friends!

I hope I explain all things clearly. Should any of you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Goodluck!

Love,

Setelah tekad mendaftar S2 ini sudah bulat, universitas dan jurusan sudah dipilih, saya pun mencoba mencari peluang kerja selama setahun ke depan yang sekiranya akan memberikan saya pengalaman kerja di bidang yang saya sukai dan di bidang yang akan saya teliti nantinya. Lalu bertemulah saya dengan Waste4Change.

Waste4Change sendiri belum resmi saya kenal sebagai 'Waste4Change' saat saya mendaftar sebagai calon karyawan. Saya mengenalnya sebagai bagian dari Greeneration Indonesia. Karena pendirinya, Kak Sano, adalah alumni Teknik Lingkungan ITB, dan juga pendiri U-green, unit lingkungan yang saya ikuti di ITB, jadi saya cukup familiar dengan lembaga ini. Greeneration Indonesia adalah lembaga yang fokus mengembangkan environmental awareness melalui berbagai media: promosi penggunaan shopping bag untuk mengurangi penggunaan kantong plastik, edukasi dan kampanye lingkungan melalui film dan kegiatan-kegiatan lingkungan lainnya, serta memberikan solusi pengelolaan sampah bertanggungjawab.

Alasan saya mendaftar saat itu karena mereka sedang membutuhkan Project Officer untuk sebuah proyek bertema Extended Producer Responsibility. Ini topik yang saya banget! Saya pun mendaftar dan ternyata kemudian berjodoh dengan Waste4Change selama satu tahun.

Ketika saya baru masuk, Waste4Change sedang mencari 'bentuk' nya. Walaupun sudah menerima jasa konsultasi selama sekitar 2 tahun di bawah nama Greeneration Indonesia, sah nya Waste4Change sebagai PT sendiri baru terjadi pada 2014. Jadi saat itu saya menjadi salah satu saksi bagaimana Waste4Change membagi divisinya, bagaimana Waste4Change mencari staf, bagaimana Waste4Change mencari dan mengelola klien, di awal masa-masa pengembangannya.

Bekerja di perusahaan start-up bagi saya menjadi sebuah nilai tambah, selain daripada tujuan saya bekerja dan belajar soal dunia pengelolaan sampah. Di Waste4Change, saya belajar tentang dasar konsep bisnis, cara riset pasar, manajemen proyek, membina relasi dengan klien, membina relasi dengan komunitas, how to deal with your spontaneous boss, how to keep calm di keadaan hectic atau chaos, dan tentunya belajar tentang isu-isu pengelolaan lingkungan, khususnya persampahan. Saya juga kenalan sama konsep value-based pricing yang menurut saya menarik banget untuk diexplore lebih jauh. Juga kenalan sama berbagai aplikasi untuk memudahkan pekerjaan khususnya untuk pekerja dari remote area: Todoist, Google Drive, Box, Evernote, dan aneka apps lainnya. Thanks to Izul, Master of Apps!

Melalui Waste4Change, saya juga bertemu banyak lembaga dan relasi yang menarik. Bertemu berbagai relasi ini membuka mata saya bahwasanya sudah ada pihak-pihak yang concern pada isu lingkungan. Tidak hanya business-as-usual, they want to conduct a sustainable business in which economies, environment, and social value are integrated. Saya salut dengan para pelaku bisnis di Indonesia yang menjadi pelopor-pelopor dan 'mau bergerak' ini.

Selain itu, saya juga bertemu pribadi-pribadi yang mau bergerak untuk lingkungan Indonesia yang lebih baik. Teman-teman saya di Teknik Lingkungan dulu, jangan dikira semuanya cinta lingkungan banget, ya. Justru melalui komunitas Pasukan Bijak Sampah yang dibentuk Waste4Change, saya bertemu orang-orang yang peduli, mau belajar, dan mau ambil bagian untuk solusi masalah persampahan di Indonesia.

Bukan berarti, bekerja di Waste4Change saya senang-senang terus (meskipun sebagian besar memang iya sih). Sebagai staf bidang Strategic Service yang lebih fokus ke jasa konsultasi dan kampanye, saya tidak harus ke kantor setiap hari. Dulu saya lebih banyak menghabiskan waktu 'di jalan'. Mobilisasi saya cukup tinggi selama bekerja di Waste4Change. Hari ini meeting sama klien A, lusa pitching ke klien B, minggu depan training perusahaan C, dan sebagainya (sok sibuk banget). Saya bisa kerja di mana saja dan kapan saja. Hal ini kadang menjadi sesuatu yang bagus, tapi kadang juga menjadi bumerang kalau sedang padat-padatnya kerjaan. Meskipun saya selalu berusaha membatasi diri supaya nggak kerja 24/7 (ajaran mantan bos yang juga nggak mau kerja 24/7), tapi orang-orang yang kenal saya pasti tahu kalau saya sudah passionate mengerjakan sesuatu, saya susah berhenti. *CyborgmodeON* Untungnya, partner-partner kerja saya di Waste4Change adalah orang-orang yang selalu siap mendukung satu sama lain - meskipun sejatinya masing-masing juga punya kesibukannya sendiri. Glad to know you, guys! Thank you for being such a fun and nice work partner to me.

Melalui postingan blog ini saya juga mau mengucapkan terima kasih untuk Kak Sano dan Paola, untuk berbagai sharing pengalaman, sharing pengetahuan, dan sharing kerjaannya :p Such a pleasure to work with you both.

Terima kasih ya, Waste4Change!

Love,