APIE Advanced Camp 2026 was a week-long international program held in Tokyo, Japan, organized by SOI Asia. Bringing together students from across the Asia-Pacific region, the camp combined intensive technical training with cross-cultural collaboration through hands-on projects and real-world infrastructure. Throughout the week, I explored topics including computer architecture, virtualization with Proxmox, databases, cloud computing, WireGuard, monitoring with Zabbix, and Internet infrastructure, while also visiting Interop Tokyo, one of the world's largest networking exhibitions, and several Internet facilities in Japan. The experience concluded with a final team project, presentations, and the opportunity to meet researchers, industry professionals, and Professor Jun Murai, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the Internet in Japan.
There are certificates that acknowledge what you've learned, and then there are experiences that quietly change the way you see the world. This was the latter.
It was my first time leaving Indonesia, my first time attending an international program, and my first time spending an entire week surrounded by people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. Every conversation offered a different perspective, whether it was about technology, university life, or simply how ordinary days looked in another part of the world. Somewhere along the way, I realized that learning wasn't confined to classrooms or lecture slides. Sometimes it happened over dinner, during train rides back to the hotel, or while debugging a network configuration with people you'd only met a few hours earlier.
The technical sessions themselves were unforgettable. We began by building virtual infrastructure with Proxmox, later developed database-backed web applications, explored enterprise monitoring through Zabbix, connected cloud and on-premises environments using WireGuard, and finished by explaining how the Internet works using a 3D-printed model. Alongside the camp, we attended Interop Tokyo, where I saw technologies that had previously existed only in research papers and conference presentations. Seeing demonstrations related to 5G infrastructure and large-scale networking made me appreciate just how much there still is to learn.
Outside the classroom, Tokyo became a classroom of its own. I wandered through Ginza, Akihabara, Shibuya, Minato, and Kamata. I stood quietly in gardens hidden among skyscrapers, watched the city lights from observatories, sat for hours by the waterfront near Haneda, and somehow found peace in places I had never heard of before arriving. It was a strange week, filled with excitement, exhaustion, friendships, and moments of quiet reflection that I still struggle to describe.
On the final evening, after presenting our project and sharing dinner with fellow learners, alumni, and industry partners, I had the opportunity to meet Professor Jun Murai. For someone whose academic interests revolve around networking and Internet infrastructure, it was one of those moments that felt almost unreal.
When I boarded the plane home, I brought back far more than a certificate. I returned with new friendships, new ambitions, and a broader understanding of both the Internet and the people who build it. Looking back, APIE Advanced Camp wasn't simply a week of technical training. It became one of the defining experiences of my undergraduate years, and one that continues to shape the way I approach technology, research, and the world beyond my own campus.