Institute Asia welcomed six students from NEUST University of Philippines which is a Top 24 university in Philippines, they are Aliah Nicole, Almer G Bondoc, Keven Gabriel, Jeeramel Cyrill, Mark Francid, and Hemerson. The aim of the international cultural exchange program is to help open students’ eyes to cultural differences, norms and values that apply in other countries so that they can learn to adapt because of the differences between their country and the destination country, so that a new culture is formed. their character.

The Philippines is a country not far from Indonesia, namely both are in Southeast Asia, precisely to the north of Indonesia. Because they are quite close, it is not uncommon for the Philippines and Indonesia to have several similarities. According to NEUST University of the Philippines students, Indonesians and Filipinos both have typical Asian facial features, politeness norms in Indonesia and the Philippines are not much different, in fact almost the same, apart from that, the similarities between the two are also mentioned. campus and the Asian Institute, which are the same to gives freedom to their students, they call it “student mental health”. They also explained the slight differences between Filipinos and Indonesians, namely that Indonesians like spicy food, even very spicy, in contrast to Filipinos and they found that Indonesians, especially women, like spicy food more than men, and Filipinos are stricter. from Indonesians.

What did they get and learn while in Indonesia? they said that Indonesians are business enthusiasts and the prices of food and drinks are still relatively cheap. Apart from that, they also mentioned a very interesting thing when they lived in Malang, that they could live in peace because in Malang at night it was very quiet and quiet so they could rest in peace. They also mentioned an interesting thing in the Philippines, namely that Filipinos like to take pictures or selfies wherever and whenever so it is very common for many Filipinos to take photos everywhere, the word they use to refer to freestyle is “Wakky”. Filipinos always use umbrellas everywhere, no matter whether they are men or women, because it is very hot in the Philippines, which is different from Indonesia, where most people only use umbrellas when it rains.

Recommendations for places and food that must be tried when visiting the Philippines according to NEUST Student are Boracay Beach, Ambuklao Dam which is almost similar to Karang Kates Dam in Indonesia, as well as typical Filipino food such as bolat and chicken Adobo (Spicy) and many more.

Article written by :  Irene Hastianti Zefanya / 23101121