UNAIRNEWS – The first thing Fiona Lim discovered during her Erasmus+ traineeship in Lithuania was that international education is not only built through classrooms, lectures, or academic agreements. Sometimes, it begins with a conversation. A casual chat during a coffee break. A discussion about food. A story about life in another country.
For Fiona, an economics student from the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), these moments became some of the most valuable lessons she took home from her Erasmus+ KA171 short-term traineeship at Šiaulių Valstybinė Kolegija in Lithuania.
During her placement, Fiona joined the institution’s International Office, where she gained a behind-the-scenes perspective on how international programs are planned and how student mobility opportunities come to life.
What appeared simple from a student’s perspective often involved extensive coordination, communication, and teamwork among people from different countries.
One of her main responsibilities was assisting with preparations for an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), an international initiative that brought together participants from Spain, Portugal, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Türkiye.
For Fiona, the experience offered a front-row seat to the mechanics of international collaboration. “I learned how much work goes into organizing an international program,” she said. “There were many details to coordinate, but it was interesting to see how people from different countries worked together toward the same goal.”
Yet some of the most memorable lessons came outside formal meetings and office tasks. Working in an international environment meant being surrounded by people with different languages, cultures, educational systems, and ways of thinking. Every interaction offered an opportunity to learn something new.
Although she did not speak Lithuanian, Fiona found that curiosity often became its own language. Through everyday conversations with colleagues, students, and local residents, she gained a deeper understanding of life in Lithuania while also reflecting on her own cultural identity.
“It wasn’t only about the internship,” she explained. “I learned a lot just by talking to people, hearing their stories, and understanding how things work in different countries.”
Those conversations often turned into opportunities to introduce Indonesia to people she met along the way. For many of her international peers, Indonesia was still relatively unfamiliar. Fiona happily took on the role of informal cultural ambassador, sharing stories about Indonesian traditions, cuisine, landscapes, and daily life.
“A lot of people I met did not know much about Indonesia, so I was happy to share stories about our culture, food, and beautiful places,” she said. “It made me proud to represent Indonesia and help people learn more about it.”
Inside the International Office, Fiona also found something she had not expected: a sense of belonging. She credits much of that experience to her supervisors, Guoda and Eglė, and her colleague Şule, who welcomed her warmly from the very beginning.
“I was really happy when they said that I blended in naturally from the first day,” Fiona recalled. “It felt like we had already been working together for a long time. That made the whole experience very welcoming and enjoyable.”
What started as a short professional placement soon became something more personal. Through daily interactions with colleagues and participants from different backgrounds, Fiona developed greater confidence navigating unfamiliar environments. She became more adaptable, more open-minded, and more comfortable engaging with people whose experiences differed from her own.
The internship may have lasted only a few weeks, but its impact extended far beyond the office walls. For Fiona, Erasmus+ was never simply about studying or working abroad. It became an experience of personal growth, cultural exchange, and meaningful human connection.
And perhaps that was the biggest lesson of all: sometimes the most valuable education comes not from textbooks or lectures, but from the people we meet along the way.
Author: Duriati Asmawati, Airlangga Global Engagement
