Nika Ichwanto

Hello my name is Hardini Nikamasari Ichwanto, but everybody calls me Nika. I come from Indonesia and am currently an intern in the Ohio State program. I graduated from Bogor Agricultural University, where my major was Horticulture. From the first day I arrived in U.S. everything was so different and made me nervous. I never thought before that I could be in United States and I joined this program because I want to get some greenhouse experience and also improve my English.

I was really amazed when I saw so many differences between the technologies that Intergrow uses from the techniques in my country. Everything is different in the United States, not just in the greenhouse but the culture is different. It was almost fall season when I arrived. The leaves began to change color, yellow and red. I grew up in a tropical climate, so for me it got really cold. So many people said that the winter would be really cold, but I did not imagine just how cold it would be. In the spring, the trees are really beautiful. In the summer, it was really hot. It was nice to experience all the different seasons.

In the greenhouse, wrapping plants was not an easy job for me. But I was lucky that I had nice friends who taught me how to do it so fast. Wrapping is a skill that I learned here and never heard of or knew about before.

During the weekend, I visited many places such as Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls, New York City, the Botanical Garden in Buffalo, Letchworth State Park, and Darien Lake Theme Park. I also experienced bowling, ice skating, ate at an Italian restaurant, and just spent my time at my friend’s apartment. I also visited Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Ohio Floriculture Association (OFA). There were many interesting agriculture technologies that I could learn about.

I want to say thank you to all my friends that I made and to Diane Biemans who really welcomed us. I had so much fun with you and made memories that I will always remember.

-Nika Ichwanto