LIDWINA LEARNED FROM TIME AWAY

Sometimes it takes going away to make you feel more at home.

That's what Frida Lidwina experienced during her four years studying in the U.S.

The Jakarta native decided early on that she wanted to be a journalist, as a child watching the American television series "Murphy Brown" about a fictional anchorwoman.

"I probably didn't know what she did, but I know I wanted to be like her," says Lidwina.

It was while attending the University of California-Berkeley when she felt the strong ties to her home country.

"When I was in America I felt a lot more Indonesian than when I'm home. I guess it's something we all want to hang onto," she says. "And here I feel more international."

There were no other Indonesians in her journalism program at the time, so Lidwina learned to depend on herself. "It was lonely... just me," she recalled. "I learned to survive on my own."

Now she spends her free time around friends, either mall-hopping, seeing movies or dining out. "I love Japanese food. And junk food!" she laughs.

Her long-range goal is simple. "I would love to be a good mother, and balance my career and personal life."

24.12.2009. 12:05