Bali, Internship Abroad
Hello all! My name is Isa and I did a fashion internship in Bali, the most beautiful island of Indonesia. I did this during my study program at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. I would like to tell you more about my experiences during this unforgettable time!
After an emotional farewell at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, I arrived in Bali 20 hours later. Finally, the start of a new adventure! Via Danielle from AE Internships I arranged a driver who was waiting for me in the arrivals hall and after a one hour drive I arrived at my house where Danielle was already waiting for me. It was already dark when I arrived, so unfortunately I could not see much of the surroundings. The check-in went smoothly and quickly. Bali was not new to me, so I already knew a bit about what to expect the next morning. That next morning another student from AE Internships arrived at the accommodation and together we bought groceries and arranged everything before our internship started.
My Bali internship started on Monday, three days after I arrived. We worked from a co-working space and there was one other intern. The first days were all about getting to know the company and a lot of free time to discover Canggu. A lot of free time sounds great and it was, except that the company I interned in turned out not to be the right match for me. Therefore, after two weeks I stopped here. Fortunately, AE Internships was always immediately ready to help me and I was able to terminate it neatly and started a new fashion internship in Bali three days later. This internship suited me much better and I learned a lot here!
In Bali there are two seasons: the rainy season and the dry season. Nevertheless, the temperature is good all year round. I started my internship in February towards the end of the rainy season. It is not that it rains all day. Often the sun shines all day and it starts raining when you finish your internship at 17:00. Fortunately, it often rains only for a short time and was not so every day. All in all I can say: the weather alone is enough reason to go to Bali for your internship!
In Bali almost everyone moves on a scooter. By car is also an option, but it is so busy here that you hardly get through anything. To be honest, I really did not like the idea of scooter driving in Bali because the traffic is super chaotic, so I used Go-jek a lot in the past. Go-jek is an app where you can order taxis, scooter taxis and food. Super easy and very cheap! Still, after 10 days I thought that self-driving would be more convenient, so I decided to rent a scooter. For a month you pay about 700,000 rupiah (about €45) for a Scoopy. After a while I actually started to like it. However, I advise everyone to only drive yourself if you have an (international) driving license, because if you drive from Canggu to Uluwatu or Ubud, for example, there is a chance that you will be arrested. If you do not have a driving license, you pay a fine of approximately 1,000,000 rupiah (approximately €65).
You can count on it that if you go to Bali you don't have to cook yourself. Eating out is often much cheaper than cooking yourself and you can make it as crazy as you want. If you eat locally and, for example, order a nasi goreng, you often pay less than € 1.50 including drinks. But there are also plenty of western restaurants and cafes where you can eat. Some of my favorites in Canggu were: Warung Local, Copenhagen, Mason, Motion Cafe, Shady Shack and Create Cafe.
The weekends are the best in my opinion. There is so much to do in Bali that you never have to get bored during the weekend. You can lie on the beach all day at one of the many beach clubs or visit a waterfall in Ubud.
Because I interned in February 2020, I had to go home 3 months earlier than planned because of the coronavirus. However, I have been able to do many things and have listed my favorites below.
An Fashion internship in Bali is amazing. I hope everyone enjoys their time as much as I did!
Author: Isa (20 years), Amsterdam Fashion Institute
