themasterofpuppet

Obama's Speech at Universitas Indonesia

2010-11-10T17:09:00.003+07:00

I really hope MY Indonesia can be the Indonesia Barrack Obama talked about.

Gratitude

2010-07-16T20:11:00.001+07:00

It’s time!
NO MORE SCHOOL UNIFORM, FELLAS! Am officially a college girl :D

University of Indonesia, majoring in International Relations.
(typical exchange student eh?)

I wouldn’t able to achieve this if I were alone. My high school years had been PRICELESS. X-3 class of 2009, XI IPA 8 class of 2009, Dublin Scioto high School class of 2010, and XII IPA 3 class of 2010. No matter how long I usually rant about my high school, now that I think about it, it was A LOT of fun. The fact is I miss my school already, my class, my friends, even the teachers. And I graduated like a month ago. Or less.

So lemme thank everybody who has helped me for everything.

God, for His kindness. He practically paid all my hardwork (yeh know, reading social books at night and all), THANK YOU.

My beautiful family, my mom and dad for supporting me in difficult situations (like when didn’t know what I wanna be in the future) and for giving me freedom on deciding my own future, Adla and Fazel, my amazing sister and brother who always able to make me laugh And forget my pain for a while, THANK YOU.

XII IPA 3 class of 2010, I barely know you people, but I’m gonna say this : YOU GUYS ARE FREAKS. Sorry to say but NORMAL humans DO NOT study that much! Do you know how scared I was looking and the entire class sitting neatly at 6.30 in the morning, doing chemistry problems when the teacher wasn’t there? FREAKS. But if it wasn’t for you people, I wouldn’t even touch the book (no kidding here), I owe you, in a way. So THANK YOU.

My fellow 2009 buddies; Marsha, Ayu, Kiki, Ticeu, Uchup, Sizi, Zahra, Wewe and everyone I can’t mention one by one; for supporting and well, LAUGHING at me because I wore uniform when you guys didn’t, for sharing your experience of being a senior from last year, for lending and giving me books, for being there when I need you guys, THANK YOU.

Temen2 di Daniel, kelas reguler, kelas intensif SIMAK, kelas intensif SNMPTN (walau cuman sebentar), and of course, the amazing teachers! for trying to explain accounting to me, for forcing me to read bio, for telling me not to stop, THANK YOU.

Debaters, SEF 3: Marsha (err okay she’s SEF ITB now) marini gich flo ivan juan citra rany hurri lidya pixel, and SEF ITB especially my beloved mommy coach, Uphie, for helping me ease my burden, THANK YOU.

Dublin Scioto High School, my high school of junior year. It was a fabulous year! My classes were amazing: Systems of the Earth, Calculus, Music Theory, AP US Government & Politics, Band, Advanced ESL, Public Speaking, Argumentation & Debate, and Orchestra (I know right, I had Mr. Gray for 3 periods. EWWW lol jk). It was my happyhappy year, no bad grades, the classes were fun, my friends are super, yet I had learned A LOT of new thing in this school. maybe not academically, but the year was worth it. The school helped me mature myself, THANK YOU.

SMA Negeri 3 Bandung, where the worst of the worst can happen (okay I’m just kidding lol), my school of 3 years where I start as nobody. I used to hate my school so much, for the school system, for the grades, for the teachers (ehem). Yet I found myself boasting about my school to people so much. I’m proud of my high school, although studying at that school feels like torture sometimes (yeah maybe I need the torture to some extent), THANK YOU.

I believe there are A LOT of people I forget to mention here. Everybody, THANK YOU! Muchas gracias! Pray my future will be brighter than Sirius, if you will.

July 2010

AFS Selection: Interview

2010-06-11T11:49:00.002+07:00

So this year I'm the interviewer for exchange-student-wannabe freshman! We had the interview last week, and it was fun (yea considering the fact that A LOT of thing happened lol).

#1
ega: so what do you want to be in the future?
participant 1: I want to be a psychologist.
ega: cool. so which college do you want to go to?
participant 1: oh I want to go to ITB
ega: .......
eka: wait, what major do you want to take in ITB?
participant 1: Huh? Psychology.
eka: (PURA2 kehilangan dan nyari2 sesuatu di meja, lalu PURA2 mau ke ruang panitia buat nyari, hanya karena gabisa nahan ketawa)

#2
ega: so why do you think AFS should choose you?
participant 2: because i good speak english
ega & eka: ................

#3
eka: what's you hobby?
participant 3: i like singing and playing guitar.
ega: cool. i like playing guitar too. so what kind of song do you like to play?
participant: err... because i think it's cool if a girl can play guitar. yes? yes.

#4
ega: so what's your hobby?
participant 4: i like reading Al-Qur'an.
BUGGGH (suara eka nginjek kaki gw tapi kekencengan sampai si participantnya nyadar dan ketawa malu) -_-

#5
ega: so why did you apply for this exchange program?
participant5yangadalahanaksman3dankenalsamagw : ya because i heard the story from... from kak ega, so i think it's interesting to be an exchange student.
eka: (ngeliat ke gw dengan so-you-know-this-participant?-glare)

fun fuuuuuuuuun.

The 3rd selection will be on June 20th.

We are AFSer! :D

college

2010-05-12T21:34:00.003+07:00

So, International Relation it is.

Not that I'm not happy - dude, only 35 students are accepted this year, and i'm one of them. So there, that's something to be proud of.

Wee i'm kind of glad that I already am accepted, so i dont have to study anymore (I've paid 850k for USM ITB and 800k for the class tho).

But I cant be as happy as everybody else.

Here is the thing: the university i'm going to is one of the best university in the country. They have musical organizations, english debate society, basically everything I'd ever need from a university.

BUT STILL.

So I have these friends, no, this all people in this particular INSTITUTION, which I really fond of. Wait, NO. How do I put this? I LOVE this institution and the people in it. I'm DYING to be one of them. I've spent so much time with them; practicing debate, hanging out, karaokeing, A LOT of other things. I love the buildings, the tress, the ground, the sky; and I remember what has happened in every different place.

Problems:
1. This particular organization with all these people in it, doesn't belong in the university I'm going to
2. The university which this organization belong to doesn't have the faculty that can accomodate my interest

And this thing DOES bother me. A LOT.

And there is this girl. She's my bestest buddy AND teammate I've ever had. Like, she understands what I mean just by looking to my eyes (okay now I sound like a lesbian). The thing is, she knows me so well, and I promised her I'd go to the same college as she does. She waited for me, and apparently I lied to her.

Yes, I'm such a mess.
Or better: a traitor.

I don't freaking know what to do. And I'm TOTALLy scared; will it be enough to just tell them "I'm sorry"? Will they kick me out of the practices? Does this mean I'm not allowed to attend their karaoke session?

Yea I know nobody will believe me if I say I WANT to be with them. Cause I can't. I got life to do. And the thought that I'll someday stand up as their, especially HER opponent makes me shiver. I DON'T want to do this. But I have no choice. And nobody understands.

Is it really THIS hard just to leave highschool and go to college? Like, I'm dying.

At this point, of course I'd be the only one crying.

State of the Art

2010-03-06T20:25:00.007+07:00

You can never get everything you want, can you?

So, I just got these marching band DVDs - State of the Art, sent by Alice Iwata, whom I'm really thankful to :) Last year I played in Dublin Scioto Marching Band as a member of the pit squad. Nobody in this world miss those bandies as much as I do, I must say.

Well here comes the problem.

I feel like I'm "left". Again. Like, it feels really weird to see my pit squad without me. Like, I'm supposed to stand behind the marimba or glockenspiel. Well, at least I know i used to. But on the videos, there is no me, apparently. Cause I'm right here, stuck with silly Indonesian school system, with no band. No marimba, no cymbals, no chimes, no tympani, no xylophone. NOTHING.

I miss marching band, but there's no "going back". Not for now.

Well for the happy part, the State of the Art show is really nice. They played Debussy's Clair la Lune! AND Sanctus based on Pachelbel's Canon. The cubes are cool, and I like the colorguards' uniform. I got to see my sister Emma on the video, along with Hailey, Kibby, Jack, Jason, all the pit people. And I saw Sravanti on the video as well. Baritones, trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, flutes, battery! Gosh, I'm soooo mad i didn't get to play those new snare drums! And I saw the teachers, Mr Gray, Mr Lewis, mr Chesser, and Mr Vogt. I saw our marching field, with the "magical" 50 yard line. I saw the skit on the camp. I cried in between my laughs.

I miss my bandies, and I know they miss me as well. I promise myself I'll definitely go back there, at least once before I die. They need to know how much I love them.

Dublin Scioto Marching Band - we are the Irish!

AVATARIZE YOURSELF

2010-02-26T10:10:00.001+07:00

Irish Now 2008

2010-02-20T11:54:00.002+07:00

Haha i don't know that this article exists.

STUDENT SHARES THOUGHTS ON U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 By Ashley Huot
Advertising

"We have nothing to learn from education in Third World countries, much less a Third World country that lacks freedom of speech," said a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, according to www.2mminutes.com. Many other Americans, however, dispute this statement. They would avouch that, yes, America does have quite a lot to learn from Third World countries.

"What is now surprising and worrisome is U.S. students are even lagging the developing world, " Bill Compton said on www.2mminutes. "If our athletic performance at the Olympics were as poor as our global academic performance, it would be a national crisis and every level of government would be attempting to respond. That we blithely ignore the declining intellectual standards of American students seems almost insane. The cognitive skills of our children will determine both America's economic future and the economic future of each child."

A documentary movie called "Two million Minutes" was created to compare and contrast schools in different parts of the world. The movie stated that America places 24th out of 29 countries that are proficient in mathematics by the 12th grade.
Junior Egalita Irfan said,"Honestly, schools in USA are much easier, if you ask me. First, you can choose classes you want to take, so you don't have to take classes that you are not good at."

Irfan is an exchange student from Indonesia who came here three months ago and is living with an American family. In Indonesia, Irfan wore a uniform to school and did not switch classes. She stayed in the same classroom, and the only thing that changed were the teachers, who switched classes.

"We have the same students in the same class for a year, and we change classes and classmates every year. We can't choose classes we're taking," Irfan said. "In Indonesian high school, you can only choose two major classes: science class or social studies class. In science class, you have to take all the science subjects: chemistry, physics and biology. You have to. You can not choose. And in social studies class you have to take history, sociology and geography. And for both classes, math, Indonesian Government, Indonesian Language, Physical Education and English are required," she said.

Some countries even go to school earlier in the day than the United States. For example, Irfan had to go to school every day Monday through Friday at 6:30 a.m. The end of the school day varies due to extra curricular programs or tutoring.

Another difference Irfan pointed out is the attitudes students have toward their teachers.

"Some attitudes of the students that is categorized as 'fine' here can be considered 'impolite' in Indonesia," Irfan said.

Many American students sleep in class and do not do much homework. Procrastination is a major conundrum when it comes to doing work. "Two Million Minutes" said eight out of 10 students would preferably go to football games, to the movies and just hang out with friends than work on their project due the following day of school.

"I like both schools, here and Indonesia. It's just different. I can learn so many things in a year in my school in Indonesia, but my school there sometimes makes me crazy if my brain is burdened too much," Irfan joked. "And it's fun here. I can choose my own class and I don't really have to use my brain on those classes, except when I'm stuck with language. I can use a calculator here, too, so I think I lose some of my manual calculating ability!"

from Irish Eye

blasphemy

2010-02-11T04:15:00.000+07:00

Considering that: 1. My debate coach is the master of feminism, sex, and religion issues (and we've debated about these themes a lot), 2. I respect people's freedom of speech, and actually do not give a damn about it, and 3. I'm a very very liberal moslem myself, I thought blasphemy would do nothing to me.

So guess what? It DOES offend me.

Realizing that i'm actually mad at this particular person because he offended my religion made me kind of surprised. I'm not that religious after all. Not at all. I mean, really. I don't care about people's religion. I don't care if a Christian doesn't go to church. I don't care if a Hindu eats meat. I won't stare with my mouth wide open if I see a moslem eats pork. I don't even care if someone is an atheist. I believe that religion, which is a form of relationship between human and God, is your own responsibility. And what i believe in might be different with everybody else's, and I have NO RIGHT to interfere with something as personal as religion. Not that I care.

If people say something 'weird' about my religion, in this case is Islam, I'll just laugh, and I'll explain. But today, someone said something, something that I couldn't laugh at, about my religion. Really. Before today, I honestly thought that blasphemy should be okay, people should not take it as an offense, since it's a form of freedom of expression. But now, I'd like to state that IF you want to keep the world peace and safe, you need to basically abolish all possibility to make other people get mad at you. For example, blasphemy. If you don't have any strong urge to do that (in which i doubt that there IS any good reason to intentionally offend other people's religion), then just shut your face.

c'est ma vie

2010-01-13T18:34:00.002+07:00

this is really what it took to keep me and my sister home on New Year’s Eve. (plus corn, barbecue, hotdogs etc)

2010-01-01T17:24:00.002+07:00

yang tidak bisa diucapkan ayah

2009-12-11T15:52:00.003+07:00

I read this last night and I cried. Think I should share it with everybody.

*"YANG TIDAK BISA DIUCAPKAN AYAH"*

Biasanya, bagi seorang anak perempuan yang sudah dewasa, yang sedang bekerja diperantauan, yang ikut suaminya merantau di luar kota atau luar negeri, yang sedang bersekolah atau kuliah jauh dari kedua orang tuanya.....

Akan sering merasa kangen sekali dengan Mamanya..

Lalu bagaimana dengan Papa?

Mungkin karena Mama lebih sering menelepon untuk menanyakan keadaanmu setiap hari, tapi tahukah kamu, jika ternyata Papa-lah yang mengingatkan Mama untuk menelponmu?

Mungkin dulu sewaktu kamu kecil, Mama-lah yang lebih sering mengajakmu bercerita atau berdongeng, tapi tahukah kamu, bahwa sepulang Papa bekerja dan dengan wajah lelah Papa selalu menanyakan pada Mama tentang kabarmu dan apa yang kau lakukan seharian?

Pada saat dirimu masih seorang anak perempuan kecil......
Papa biasanya mengajari putri kecilnya naik sepeda.
Dan setelah Papa mengganggapmu bisa, Papa akan melepaskan roda bantu di sepedamu...
Kemudian Mama bilang : "Jangan dulu Papa, jangan dilepas dulu roda bantunya", Mama takut putri manisnya terjatuh lalu terluka....

Tapi sadarkah kamu?
Bahwa Papa dengan yakin akan membiarkanmu, menatapmu, dan menjagamu mengayuh sepeda dengan seksama karena dia tahu putri kecilnya PASTI BISA.

Pada saat kamu menangis merengek meminta boneka atau mainan yang baru, Mama menatapmu iba.
Tetapi Papa akan mengatakan dengan tegas : "Boleh, kita beli nanti, tapi
tidak sekarang"
Tahukah kamu, Papa melakukan itu karena Papa tidak ingin kamu menjadi anak yang manja dengan semua tuntutan yang selalu dapat dipenuhi?

Saat kamu sakit pilek, Papa yang terlalu khawatir sampai kadang sedikit
membentak dengan berkata : "Sudah di bilang! kamu jangan minum air dingin!".

Berbeda dengan Mama yang memperhatikan dan menasihatimu dengan lembut. Ketahuilah, saat itu Papa benar-benar mengkhawatirkan keadaanmu.

Ketika kamu sudah beranjak remaja.....
Kamu mulai menuntut pada Papa untuk dapat izin keluar malam, dan Papa bersikap tegas dan mengatakan: "Tidak boleh!".
Tahukah kamu, bahwa Papa melakukan itu untuk menjagamu?
Karena bagi Papa, kamu adalah sesuatu yang sangat - sangat luar biasa
berharga..

Setelah itu kamu marah pada Papa, dan masuk ke kamar sambil membanting pintu...

Dan yang datang mengetok pintu dan membujukmu agar tidak marah adalah Mama....
Tahukah kamu, bahwa saat itu Papa memejamkan matanya dan menahan gejolak dalam batinnya, bahwa Papa sangat ingin mengikuti keinginanmu, Tapi lagi-lagi dia HARUS menjagamu?

Ketika saat seorang cowok mulai sering menelponmu, atau bahkan datang ke rumah untuk menemuimu, Papa akan memasang wajah paling cool sedunia.... :')
Papa sesekali menguping atau mengintip saat kamu sedang ngobrol berdua di ruang tamu..
Sadarkah kamu, kalau hati Papa merasa cemburu?

Saat kamu mulai lebih dipercaya, dan Papa melonggarkan sedikit peraturan untuk keluar rumah untukmu, kamu akan memaksa untuk melanggar jam malamnya.
Maka yang dilakukan Papa adalah duduk di ruang tamu, dan menunggumu pulang dengan hati yang sangat khawatir...
Dan setelah perasaan khawatir itu berlarut - larut...
Ketika melihat putri kecilnya pulang larut malam hati Papa akan
mengeras dan Papa memarahimu.. .
Sadarkah kamu, bahwa ini karena hal yang di sangat ditakuti Papa akan segera datang?
"Bahwa putri kecilnya akan segera pergi meninggalkan Papa"

Setelah lulus SMA, Papa akan sedikit memaksamu untuk menjadi seorang Dokter atau Insinyur.
Ketahuilah, bahwa seluruh paksaan yang dilakukan Papa itu semata - mata hanya karena memikirkan masa depanmu nanti...
Tapi toh Papa tetap tersenyum dan mendukungmu saat pilihanmu tidak sesuai dengan keinginan Papa

Ketika kamu menjadi gadis dewasa....
Dan kamu harus pergi kuliah dikota lain...
Papa harus melepasmu di bandara.
Tahukah kamu bahwa badan Papa terasa kaku untuk memelukmu?
Papa hanya tersenyum sambil memberi nasehat ini - itu, dan menyuruhmu untuk berhati-hati...
Padahal Papa ingin sekali menangis seperti Mama dan memelukmu erat-erat.
Yang Papa lakukan hanya menghapus sedikit air mata di sudut matanya, dan menepuk pundakmu berkata "Jaga dirimu baik-baik ya sayang".
Papa melakukan itu semua agar kamu KUAT....kuat untuk pergi dan menjadi dewasa.

Disaat kamu butuh uang untuk membiayai uang semester dan kehidupanmu, orang pertama yang mengerutkan kening adalah Papa.
Papa pasti berusaha keras mencari jalan agar anaknya bisa merasa sama dengan teman-temannya yang lain.
Ketika permintaanmu bukan lagi sekedar meminta boneka baru, dan Papa tahu ia tidak bisa memberikan yang kamu inginkan...

Kata-kata yang keluar dari mulut Papa adalah : "Tidak.... Tidak bisa!"
Padahal dalam batin Papa, Ia sangat ingin mengatakan "Iya sayang, nanti Papa belikan untukmu".
Tahukah kamu bahwa pada saat itu Papa merasa gagal membuat anaknya tersenyum?

Saatnya kamu diwisuda sebagai seorang sarjana.
Papa adalah orang pertama yang berdiri dan memberi tepuk tangan untukmu.
Papa akan tersenyum dengan bangga dan puas melihat "putri kecilnya yang tidak manja berhasil tumbuh dewasa, dan telah menjadi seseorang"

Sampai saat seorang teman Lelakimu datang ke rumah dan meminta izin pada Papa untuk mengambilmu darinya.
Papa akan sangat berhati-hati memberikan izin..
Karena Papa tahu.....
Bahwa lelaki itulah yang akan menggantikan posisinya nanti.

Dan akhirnya....

Saat Papa melihatmu duduk di Panggung Pelaminan bersama seseorang Lelaki yang di anggapnya pantas menggantikannya, Papa pun tersenyum bahagia....
Apakah kamu mengetahui, di hari yang bahagia itu Papa pergi ke belakang panggung sebentar, dan menangis?
Papa menangis karena papa sangat berbahagia, kemudian Papa berdoa....
Dalam lirih doanya kepada Tuhan, Papa berkata: "Ya Tuhan tugasku telah selesai dengan baik....
Putri kecilku yang lucu dan kucintai telah menjadi wanita yang cantik....
Bahagiakanlah ia bersama suaminya..."

Setelah itu Papa hanya bisa menunggu kedatanganmu bersama cucu-cucunya yang sesekali datang untuk menjenguk...
Dengan rambut yang telah dan semakin memutih....
Dan badan serta lengan yang tak lagi kuat untuk menjagamu dari bahaya....
Papa telah menyelesaikan tugasnya....

Papa, Ayah, Bapak, atau Abah kita...
Adalah sosok yang harus selalu terlihat kuat...
Bahkan ketika dia tidak kuat untuk tidak menangis...
Dia harus terlihat tegas bahkan saat dia ingin memanjakanmu...
Dan dia adalah yang orang pertama yang selalu yakin bahwa "KAMU BISA" dalam segala hal..

Saya mendapatkan notes ini dari seorang teman, dan mungkin ada baiknya jika aku kembali membagikannya kepada teman-teman ku yang lain.

Tulisan ini aku dedikasikan kepada teman-teman wanita ku yang cantik, yang kini sudah berubah menjadi wanita dewasa serta ANGGUN, dan juga untuk teman-teman pria ku yang sudah ataupun akan menjadi ayah yang HEBAT !

Yup, banyak hal yang mungkin tidak bisa dikatakan Ayah / Bapak / Romo / Papa / Papi kita... tapi setidaknya kini kita mengerti apa yang tersembunyi dibalik hatinya.*

I LOOOOVE my dad more than anyone else in this world :)

Menjelang Ulangan KWN

2009-11-24T19:38:00.002+07:00

Suka itu bukan karna ada apanya, tapi karna apa adanya.

Widya Arifianti, stress mau ulangan KWN.

Drenched in Memories

2009-11-19T20:24:00.004+07:00

So I went to this Founders' Trophy last week.

Broke 8th, quarterfinalist, did all of the drama stuffs, and I'm done with my highschool debate career (at least that's what my parents thought). It was fun. Watching these stellar debaters (and didn't understand what some of the were saying) debate, getting frustrated, not knowing the definition of the motion, you know- all those debate stuffs.

Something felt different though.

I must say that I'm sooo against that "I-want-to-be-in-the-same-team-with-this-particular-person-blablabla" kind of thing. Like really, I think that's DUMB. I dont' like relying too much on other. And you can't expect yourself to be in the same team with people you like throughout your debate career. Like seriously. I personally can debate with and against anybody (my coach does NOT included in the definition of "anyone"). I have no problem with team so far. At least that's what I thought.

Now, there is this woman called Marsha Faradina.

My 1st speaker, my all-time debate teammate, one of my "Trio Macan" partner, a person that I can share my arguments with just by looking at her eyes and vice versa.

You can say I've never really been in a debate competition without her.

I debated on FT with Hugo, another SMAN 3 senior. He was good, I'm not saying that he was bad or something. The problem was just... Marsha wasn't there. It felt like something's not right.

I miss those frantic-ness we used to share during casebuilding.

So, teammate is an essential point for your debate, no?

Trio macan reunion on Phyxius 2009. Took this picture after making an evil plan for Mr. Coach's birthday surprise.

I miss those old moments, ALSA UI 2 years ago in particular.

Marintong, good luck for your UM UGM. And Marsha, wait for me. I'll catch up. I love you guys :)

Like It or Not, It's Our Senior Year

2009-11-19T20:18:00.002+07:00

Way to 2010, seniors.

Recordando

2009-10-19T13:38:00.001+07:00

It’s been 3 months since I came back from the USA.

Three months that I learned to accept the truth that I’m no longer an exchange student, that I’m no longer as “special” as I was.

Three months of re-adjusting, struggling at school, looking for new friends.

Three months of not going to marching field and touching marimba.

Three months of not having row dinner and going to Noodles and Co.

Three months of not seeing my American family and friends.

I’m not sure why, but I was fine, at least before I knew that there is another exchange student coming to Scioto this year. I feel so jealous of her, but I was still fine. But now, when I learn the truth that she’s now a member of Scioto marching band, I can’t help but crying.

Don’t get me wrong, I know Melon is a really nice exchange student and I really hope that she enjoys her stay in Ohio. I know she will, because no other school that can make you feel grateful that you’re an exchange student but Dublin Scioto.

Yet this burning jealousy in me has already on its limit that I need to do something to get it the hell out of me.

Last year, I tried my best to do everything I wanted to do, so when I get back home to Indonesia, I won’t regret anything. And I DID. I did basically everything.

But the regret is stilll here.

I regret the fact that I’m no longer there.

Yes once again, I AM super spoiled. I envy Melon for being there and having fun with them while I’m not.

E Pod, Band room, Marching field, footbal games, competition, the pit, row dinner.

I miss those all things.

I even miss Mr. Gray’s “Shut up, Egalita, I hate you”s. I miss my Music Theory class. I miss the percussion closet in E3. I miss those freezing moments during football games.

In case you haven’t notice, yes I AM a band geek and I’m proud of it. I rotate around the band and bandies and that’s my life.

If only I could go there right now, I’d hug them all and tell them how much I love them and they are a family to me.

“Gapapa Ga, taun depan juga dia (si exchange student baru) bakal kangen sama US dan isinya, ama aja kaya lu sekarang. Terus yang lu iriin apa?”

BJ (Thanks Je, it actually helps)

Grumbling

2009-10-16T13:56:00.006+07:00

It's SMAN 3 Bandung, not Dublin Scioto High School.

IT'S INDONESIA, NOT THE UNITED STATES.

Hmm. Yes I know that’s the fact.

It's been several months since I came back here to Indonesia. I re-adjusted well (at least that's what I think) but then still, sometimes everything feels weird.

(HAHA akhirnya setelah sekian lama gw ngeblog lagi. Abis diprotes si Marsha nihh)

Anyways, as you can see from the title, this is just me grumbling so if you don’t feel like reading to a student complaining about stuffs, just don’t waste your time.

I AM a liberalist, that's one thing to begin with. I'm not particularly a democrats, but once again, I value liberalism although there are some points in liberalism that i don't agree with, but whatever. But the thing is, I hate being restricted from doing what I can do just because of some stupid unreasonable rules.

I know freedom of speech and freedom of choice in Indonesia is not as widely accepted as they are in the States. Well we do democracy as well over here, but it's still different. There are some “limits” of those freedoms in indonesia. For example, we Indonesian students can't choose our classes at school. Yes I know the curriculum is different from the United States', but for me, being trained to think and decide for your own needs since you’re young is a good thing, and I don’t understand why don’t we do it here?

From what I see, our current Indonesian school system doesn’t really work. Well it DOES work but not as efficient. First, we students are forced to take all assigned class. We can only choose whether we want to take IPA (Natural Science) Class or IPS (Social Studies) Class. When we decide to take IPA, the school will force us to study all of the subjects; physics, chemistry, and biology for ALL YEARS, added with math, Indonesian Government, Indonesian and World History, English, Islamic Study, Computer, Gym, and Islamic Study. For IPS, they have to take Geography, Ecomomics, Sociology etc.

Those all classes are compulsary, with so may stuffs going on in every subjects. Not all students like these all classes nor they need all of them for college. But everyone is forced – obliged – compelled to study this subjects and meet the standard the school made. Thus the students feel so much burdened and frustrated. We DON’T choose our classes so we DON’T feel responsible to study for them. We’re (me in particular) lazy – slothful – sluggish, yea whatever you wish to call us. We study hard JUST to graduate a.k.a. get out of the freaking school and go to college, then we’re done. Of course there are some students out there who love studying from their heart (which obviously is NOT me), and I respect them for it.

“Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa” is the first point in Pancasila. In other word, you can’t be an Indonesian and an atheist in the same time. Why?

At school, all moslems have to take Islamic Study class, which I personally think is good. But the problem is, the school which I go to is a public school, not a private Islamic school. I know that the majority of Indonesians are moslem –so am I-, but then how about our friends who are not a moslem? What they do when we’re on this Islamic Study class is just go outside the class, idk what they do, like, wasting time?

According to egalitarianism, everyone should be treated equally. In this case, no matter you’re a moslem or not, you should be considered the same no matter where you are. In my school, Christians or Catholics have their own religion classes, but not inside the school time, a.k.a. they need to take those classes after school or something like that – I’m not sure. I personally don’t think this is justifiable as in, when we moslems study our religion at class, non-moslems should be studying their religion as well –in other classroom. THAT’s fair. Although we moslems are the majority, it doesn’t mean we can just kick the non moslems out of the class when we gotta study Islam. Actually, it’s not just the school, it’s also the government. Indonesian government acknowledges only Islam, Christian, Catholics, Buddhist and Hindu. How about others; Shinto, Atheist, Yehovah, etc? What makes the government mutually exclusive that they can decide which religions should be accepted and which are not?

Now, the teachers.

Dedication is what they’re laking of. Like, seriously, this one teacher likes to come to class like, 15 minutes before the bell rings. Dude, I’m a freaking senior and I WANT to graduate and you KNOW it’s NOT easy! It’s hard to pass the tests already so teachers, you guys don’t have to make it even harder for us. Other teacher clearly doesn’t seem to be wanting to teach. Blahh. My Islamic study likes to give us what I call doctrines; something like “Kalian ga usah blang selamat natal ke orang-orang yang merayakannya”. Why? Who are you, my mom? How dare you tell me what to say? It’d probably better if he elaborate the whole thing with AREL (assertion, reasoning, evidence and link back) but he didn’t, and I held myself back, not saying anything, just because I don’t want him to fail my grade. Huh.

There ARE some teachers who teach really well and I appreciate that. But PLEASE, for SMAN3 Bandung - MY school - why do these kind of teachers exist?

Maybe this is one form of my continued reverse-culture-shock. MAYBE. Or these things around me is just wrong.

Well, thanks for the “welcome back”s.

-ME grumbling in the frustration of the mid-semester exam-

Reverse-Homesick

2009-08-08T11:53:00.001+07:00

One thing: it SUCKS.

My Life Back Home

2009-08-01T19:12:00.000+07:00

First, it SUCKS.

I hate Indonesian school!!!!!

Well, I’d blame myself for taking neither chem, bio, and physics in the US but IT STILL SUCKS!!! I definitely need to catch up with my “new” friends! I’m now in class 3 IPA 3, with underclassmen-used-to-be. That wasn’t my problem, because I do have friends now, but school SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m totally frustrated.

When I got better on physics, chem got screwed!!!!

And I met my 2009 friends, and it was fun J

Thir first reaction would be : “EGA??? OH MY GOD!!! I miss you!!!” And then they’d glare at my school uniform and laugh.

Haha, not that I care. I went to the US and they didn’t :p Well, they’re already accepted in colleges now. BLAHH.

Yesterday I stucked in the teachers’ room, they forced me to tell stories on America. BLAHH. I spent almost an hour there.

Another day, my old English teacher saw me skipping my physics class with my friends and she yelled at me. I thought I’d be in trouble but she dragged me to a junior class and FORCED me to tell them about AFS and the US. Another BLAHH.

My name wasn’t on the class list, so I came to the teacher and told her that I AM now a member of the class.

“What’s your name?”

“Ega.”

“Oh. EGALITA IRFAN??”

“Y-yea. How do you know?”

“Well, I teached this class last year too and everytime I call your name, you were never there. So how was America?”

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Yayaya, I should get over it. I really SHOULD.

But friends comment on my wall on facebook and their emails made me cry still.

I MISS THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iknow what’s this called.

Because I felt the same way on my first week in USA.

It was called HOMESICK.

But this time I’m homesick of the host country a.k.a. America so it’s not really a “homesick” but hell, I don’t care what’s it called.

I WANT TO GO BACK THERE.

The End of the Stay

2009-08-01T18:42:00.009+07:00

IT’S INDONESIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lalalaaa :)

This post is kinda late but who cares anyway? I’ve been home since July 5^thish. We left the States on July 3^rd afternoon, after spending the 3 previous days in Washington DC for re-orientation. I met other Indonesian exchange students there as well as my other exchange student buddies from India, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany etc. We had some (boring) sessions at Hilton but we also wend to Capitol Hill to “talk” to the Congressmen but most of hem weren’t there. It was still fun!!!

At Capitol Hill :)

I was really glad to realize that I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO GAIN WEIGHT DURING MY STAY IN THE US!! Lol yayayaay!!! And oh, we also went to Indonesian Embassy in DC and ATE INDONESIAN FOOD!!!! ;)

The inside part of Indonesian Embassy

Bandung exchange students, still in Indonesian Embassy

One night before we left, every country had to perform some sort of talent show. We Indonesians sang and danced Janger and Yamko Rambe Yamko and of course, we were awesome ;)

We left the States from Dulles International Airport. It was A LOT of drama!! We had a totally mixed feelings about going home. We’re SAAAAAAAAAAAADDD to leave the States but we were excited (and scared too) to go back to our own country and meet our family!!

Stuffs I needed to bring home. A LOT of work…

LEAVING ON A JETPLANE

All my bags are packed, i'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn'
The taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn
Already i'm so lonesome i could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
'cause i'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when i'll be back again
Oh babe, i hate to go

There's so many times i've let you down
So many times i've played around
But tell him that they don't mean a thing

Every place i go i think of you
Every song i sing i'll sing for you
When i come back, i'll wear your wedding ring

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, oh let me kiss you
And close your eyes and i'll be on my way

Dream about the days to come
When i won't have to leave alone
By the times that i won't have to say

We stopped in Frankfurt and Malaysia. Our plane got delayed for 5 freaking hours in Malaysia!! It was really tiring but we were alive when we got to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at Jakarta, Indonesia. When the plane just landed and touched the ground, we 87 exchange students screamed “INDONESIA!!!!” a thousand times. Lol. Kind of embarassing but I think other passangers understood (I really hope so :p). And then we still had to wait to get our suitcases, and then we walked out in line and we saw this huge banner held by people we knew –returnees and the exchange program committees-. It said “WELCOME BACK, INDONESIAN EXCHANGE STUDENTS TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2008-2009!!!!”

And then…

I SAW MY FAMILY.

My dad looked just the same, my mom look skinnier –prolly thinking about her daughter too much-, my sister looked a little bit fatter and taller, and my brother definitely got really tall!!! Almost as tall as I am. I miss miss MISS them so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh, unfortunately, we still had to attend mandatory national re-orientation for another 3 days and THEN we can go back to our home. So I saw my family for like 15 minutes and then I gotta go. That sucks so bad!! Uh well.

Re-orientation was fine. It was really tiring because we were still jetlag and we needed some sleep. But we all survived!! On the last day we were really sad because we gotta leave and say goodbye. We exchange students came from different provinces and islands so we don’t know when we’ll have everyone gathered again L We have facebook though, so we can still contact each other!!

I met my relatives on he 7^th, right when I got out of the re-orientation camp. I was really happy to see them!!

But deep inside, I couldn’t deny the sadness.

I MISS MY AMERICAN FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, you can never have everything, can you? L((((((((((

To AFS and Youth Exchange and Study Program and the US government,

Thank you SO MUCH you have no idea how grateful I am. I’m really glad I went to the US. I learned A LOT from my stay. I now understand that people are different and I respect our difference. The AFS experience change my perspective about the US and a lot of other things. Now I appreciate my family even more, and I have so many American friends whom I know I can always rely on and talk to J Thank you so much.

And I’m officially an ex-exchange student.

Egalita Irfan

RETURNEE

AFS/YES (Youth Exchange and Study) Program 2008-2009

Hosted in Dublin, OH, USA

Dublin Scioto High School

Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES)

2009-06-27T10:57:00.001+07:00

Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES)

Shared via AddThis

Over

2009-06-05T06:22:00.007+07:00

Youngs will turn to olds,

green leaves will turn to brown,

seeds will grow to become flowers,

any living thing in the world will eventually all die.

Everything that starts has an end,

no matter you like it or not.

Tears, however, need to be shed,

pains must be borne,

constraint has to be endured,

humans have to grow wiser.

Everything that starts has an end.

Yes, you probably need to say goodbye.

But it doesn't mean that you can't start something new.

-Egalita Irfan-

Mourning over her last day of school in the US ever.

Music Theory Project : DONE

2009-06-03T04:46:00.002+07:00

FINALLY.

Today we performed our song that we've been working since approximately a month ago! I was really scared, and excited :)

First, they performed Jojo's song for String Quartet. It was AMAZING. I mean, DUH, it's Jojo. Mr Gray told us that she's been working on this piece since last fall so it's not fair if you compare yourself to Miss Jojo (yaya because obviously our songs sound horrible compared to hers). He also said that she's been taking composing lessons with Mr Gray wayyyy before we started so yea, honestly it eliminates my inferioroty feeling, just a little bit.

Now,

My piece is just called Clarinet Quintet in C Minor Op. 1 by Egalita Irfan. It has exactly 100 measures, with a 7th fermata fff for cello in the last measure (lol. This is supposed to be a joke for Nikita). Yayaya. I should prolly change the name to "Mr. Gray is a Bully" or "Shut up, Mr Gray, I hate you". I REALLY should. lol. I told Mr Gray about this and all he did is laugh and tell me that it's my own piece, therfore I get to pick a name. But I obviously didn't put any of those titles on my music :p

Honestly, it was better than I thought. The piece. My freaking song. I eventually enjoyed it. Thanks to my amazing performers who made my song sounds 100x better :)

Bb Clarinet: Katasha Ross

Violin I : Yang Liu

Violin II: Rebekah Lee

Viola: Jolyn Tsai a.k.a. Jojo

Violincello: Nikita Annenkov

It makes me relieved to realize that I'M SOOO DONE WITH MY PROJECT! finally!! after those freaky sessions about conterpoint 1st-4th species, chord progression, phrases, cadences, HARMONIZATION, whatever stuffs we've learned from Music Theory, finally I can rest my right brain!! Lalalala string and percussions are awesome (I dont know where do these come from :p).

Composing your own song is frustrating, but believe it or not, it's a lot of fun!! During this summer i'm gonna work on my next piece, prolly it'll be a trio for piano-violin-cello but i don't know yet.

Other student's song were good too :) Being the only percussionist in the class, I played marimba part for David's and Mike's song. haha.

I had fun with those music theory people today. This is gonna be the last time I can see them all together. uh well.

And tonight: Jojo's senior recital at 7!! I'm gonna meet Sravanti and Melissa before it starts. I'm excited! Jojo's gonna play Beethoven's Pathetique! Yayyy!!

When a Spoiled Baby Whimpers

2009-05-30T06:50:00.001+07:00

She stared blankly at the music.

The violin sat on her lap, glaring at its owner, wondering why she stopped playing all so sudden.

It's been 30 minutes.

30 minutes of nothing. 30 minutes of silence. 30 minutes of recalling.

She knows this will eventually happen, and she's prepared for it. At least that's what she thought. The realization, however, is not as simple as the theory.

I'm going back to where I belong, she thought, shouldn't I be more excited?

She sighed. Realizing that she's been wasting time, she lifted her violin, and started playing. This time she's being super careful not to play Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 or Rhosymedre.

But she knew it was too late.

She knew she couldn't do anything about it. All the memories were coming back to her, squeezing her brain, banging her feeling, and tearing herself apart.

She's not ready yet.

Not ready to leave all of the euphoria she's already get used to. It's not that she did not grateful for her life back home. It's just different. When she went, she knew that she'll come back somehow, so despite all of her sadness and sorrow to leave her beloved family, she encouraged herself to go, and so did she, to experience a complete new world for her.

But this time, she doesn't know if she'll have the opportunity to come back. She doesn't know if she can see these people that she love again. She doesn't know if they will even remember her.

Spoiled little baby.

Probably she is one. Over-pampered kid who demands for everything, even the absurd ones. She wants her life back, yet she whines to stay longer. People have been telling her to be more mature, but she just can't help.

She gave up and put her instrument away. She looked at her violin, and smiled; at least she tried to. She remembered perfectly every single things that happened in orchestra ever since she came. Every song, every rehearsal, every concert, every small things that made her laugh. She smiled still until it came to realization that she's not gonna be here next year.

Stop it, she told herself, You're just hurting yourself even more.

Even her brain didn't work as she wished.

The flashback on her head kept going. Music, band, marching field, drumline, marimba, symphonic band, her first pre-game, her part on Star Spangled Banner, the freezing weather on band competitions, her first friends in the pit, her moments on parades; everything that colored her days.

She remembered the feeling of being an outsider on her frst day in the band camp. She knew how hard she struggled when she first touched and played her xylophone. She realized how everyone has really support her that she's now an actual part of the percussion section. She's aware how she's different, yet people are still willing to stay by her and help her.

She closed her eyes and turned her face away, now directly looking at a stack of paper, with the unfinished part of Violin II on the top. She stayed still.

Is it really wrong for me to remember though? She hesitated for a while, although she knew she already had the answer.

Today was her last day of school.

It actually made her scared how time goes so fast, how her time will come and she has to go no matter what. It amazed her how things change; how the first months of her stay felt like hell, how back then she really wanted to just go home. And now, she honestly doesn't wanna leave yet, although she misses her natural famlily so much.

Humans are creatures that never satisfied.

It's not she's blaming herself that she came. She's glad that she stayed and learned instead of being a coward and close herself to people. She's now open to new things, and she believes she knows what's best for her.

It just hurts to leave.

She used to get everything that she wants, however this time she knows no matter how loud she cries and screams, she gets to leave. She really is selfish, but this time, she'll give it a try.

There is no need to be gloomy, she tried to ensure herself. She has 35 days left, and she'll make sure they're memorable. She knows that now she has her second home that she'll always able to go back to.

She let a tear drops; but just one. No more.

*I'm SUPER sad that school is over but really, i'm not that pathetic. lol. At least I'm trying not to :p

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T07:14:00.004+07:00

Hmm lalala blablabla doremifasolatidooo (obnoxious).

So, I've been frustrated since last Friday because ALL SENIORS ARE GOOONE!! They're so freaking done with school. Menwhile I, Egalita Irfan, an exchange student from Indonesia, am a junior which means I still have to go to school for another week and THEN I still need to do semester exams. It's not that I dislike school; it just SUCKS to be alone in my Calculus, Music theory and AP US gov class; and we have half of people in my Systems of the Earth class missing. Yea, i'd blame my conselour for putting me in senior classes *sigh*. but uh well. I love all of my classes. I ended up sitting and drinking coffee in Mr. gray's office 3rd-4th period and I have band in 5th period; which means 3 PERIODS IN E POD. yayayaa.

So.

Sunday May 24th, we had Asian Festival in downtown Columbus. Mukee and I volunteer there. It was really fun, despite the super-hot weather was killing me. I met some people I knew from school, and a bunch of Indonesians! I was really excited to practice my bahasa. lol. I ate Indonesian food for lunch (obviously)! Hailey she was there for Taiko performance but i didnt meet here, and Sravanti, Qisti and a bunch of other people I know went on Saturday.

Some people really freak me out. This Pakistani guy in the festival just randomly said "are you an indonesian?". HA. that was NOT the first time. In Disney World somebody asked me the exact same question. This time, I asked how did he know, and he said that I LOOK like an Indonesian and my hijab is totally an Indonesian hijab (haha iya gitu? gatau gw :p). umm well... That was kinda creepy but he's really nice.

On Monday, May 25th, we have this parade for Memorial Day. Apparently I'm on Scioto Marching band, so I got to march with my dear drumline section AND my lovely HEAVY cymbals. Yayaa, lets say it was an exercise to lose weight AND make some muscles in my arms. lol.

First, we march to the Jerome Cemetery. We played the Armed Force Salute song (Jack & I basically made up the part for cymbal section because the music we got didn't make sense :p). Then we stand there, listened to those people from military talking about the soldiers who passed away on their service. Some people from trumpet section played the Taps after the army guys shoot the gun to the sky (halah).

So, here is the story about Taps.

(Ini cerita dari Mr gray during 3rd-4th period today.)

Dulu zamannya Civil war, perang tu antara orang2 amerika sendiri. Pas perangnya udah mau selesai, terutama saat many people from both sides injured, cara mereka ngumumin soal "the End of the day" a.k.a. "get the hell out of here and take care of your injured armies" (lol, excuse my language) tu make Taps. taps selalu dimainin make trumpet. Sekali lagi, tune itu mengindikasikan the end of the day, makanya pas gw baru2 dateng ke amerika, during band camp, tiap jam 11 malem pasti ada yang mainin Taps, yang artinya hari ini udah selesai. Oia Mr Gray juga bilang Taps bermakna the end of the day buat orang2 yang gugur, which means mereka udah "selesai" harinya a.k.a. mati.

Kita juga main taps & had ceremony thingy on a bridge. Those army people shoot the gun above the river, buat menghormati marines yang mati di laut dan jenazahnya ga pernah ditemuin. Terakhir, kita main di Dublin Cemetary. beberapa anak trumpet section kali ini main specially di depan kuburan orang2 yang dulunya pernah main di Scioto Marching band.

I like how these Americans appreciate these people in army who passed away on their services to defend their country, although I don't think sending troops to Iraq is a smart decision. We eventually talked about this in my debate class, and I see most of Americans; unless they're super conservative like someone I know; think the same way i do. Wars are stupid; it kills people and I hate whoever triggers it. Here is the thing : those people went to war not because they want to; they went there because they HAVE to. To make it simple, I'd blame the freaky government, who's being a butthead and didn't put some more effort to find another way to solve the problem rather than war. We are human; we have the ability to talk and do diplomacy. We're not animals who can only follow their instinct to maintain their life. We're human, God bless us with superiority and knowledge but some humans in particular are stupid still. We need to change.

That's why the world needs me.

Haha seriously ;)

PRISM Concert

2009-05-21T02:38:00.013+07:00

Dublin Scioto High School Orchestra

PRISM Concert, a.k.a. my last concert in the US.

OMG I'M SOOOOOOOOO FREAKIN SAAAAAAAAAAAD!!

Anyway.

Gw maen buat orchestra, symphonic band, sama percussion ensemble.

Main Rhosymedre buat orchestra, Polka buat symphonic band, sama Sabre dance buat Percussion ensemble.

Jadi kalo concert biasa kan cuman 1 per 1 grup mucul di panggung, standar lah. Kalo yang ini, the last concert of the year, jadi tiap grup tampil semua, berturut2 in different places, nyambung2 gitu. Audiences were not allowed to give applause until the end of the concert. Ini urutannya:

1. Jazz Band

2. "You Raise Me Up" Trio

3. Dublin Scioto Orchestra "Rhosymedre" (YAAAAAY!)

4. Taiko "Ikari"

5. Bassoon Duet (Jamie & Rachel)

6. D'Eramo solo "Deh Vieni Non Tardar"

7. Irish Fiddle Fetish "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"

8. Mukee Thai Flute Solo

9. Symphonic Band "Polka" (YAAAAAAY!!)

10. IFF "Drowsie Maggie" fill

11. Tsai String Quartet (for God sake,, JOJO made this song for Music Theory. Bedanya, lagu bikinan gw belum jadi!! lol.)

12. Men's chorus "Brothers Sing On"

13. Jonathon Sun (a.k.a. CA) piano solo

14. Concert band "The Incredibles" (okay i didnt play in this band but their song was FREAKIN amazing! dang.)

15. Women's Chorus "We Rise Again"

16. Yu Solo "Porcelain Heart"

17. Percussion Ensemble "Saber dance" (YAAAAAY!!)

Haha.

Jadi, pas pembukaan gitu, si Mr Gray ngasih "awards" kind of thing ke seniors yang mau graduate taun ini. TAPI ternyata gw juga dipanggil.

"We have 2 exchange students this year. Egalita Irfan, please come to the stage. She's from Indonesia. She came in the middle of the band camp. She plays multiple instruments; she played pit in marching band, percussion section in symphonic band, violin in orchestra. She's a part of percussion ensemble and chamber percussion, and she writes music in Music Theory. She plays piano and guitar as well. She's giong back home in 2 months. Egalita, thanks for everything you've done and shared with us, and we'll definitely miss you."

That's what Mr Gray said.

HUAAAAAA mau nangis gw.

Gw dikasih keychain yang menandakan kalo gw udah "graduate" dari Dublin Scioto Music Department although I'm a junior. Well, I'm SPECIAL ya know ;)

Umm. terus concertnya mulai dengan urutan di atas ;)

Pas udahannya, kita fofotoan kaya gila. Here are some.

Hailey, Allison, Emma, Scott, Mukee, Egalita, Mr. Gray, Taylor, Lindsay :)

Kayla Walker (trumpet), Egalita Irfan, Jamie Polzin (bassoon, conductor, guitar)

Jolyn Tsai (Jojo -- viola, piano), Egalita

Katherine Barndhart (percussion), Hailey Sult (percussion, piano, Allison Kennedy (violin), Egalita Irfan

Sravanti Tekumalla (oboe, piano), Egalita Irfan

Melissa Weber (trumpet), Egalita Irfan

Mr. Lewis (percussion instructor), Melissa, Egalita

Me & Mr. Gray (I was standing on something just so I dont look so short standing next to him. lol.)

That concert was the best concert EVER.

I had so much fun! It was awesome! I'm gonna miss them all; E pod, the music sections at school, Mr Gray, Mr Lewis, Mr Chesser, Orchestra, marching band, symphonic band, percussion ensemble, music theory.

Dude, i'm gonna cry.

crap crap crap

2009-05-21T02:36:00.001+07:00

I don't wanna go home... yet.

I DON'T WANNA GO HOOOOME!!

I need to stay longer!!!

Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 and Music Theory

2009-05-12T08:40:00.003+07:00

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor.

This song had stuck on my head since last week.

We had orchestra concert like 2 weeks ago or so and we DID play this song with Miss Jolyn Tsai a.k.a. Jojo a.k.a. FREAK as the pianist. She was AWESOME. yayayaa thats ONE reason for me to call her a freak, not to mention her amazing ability to play viola (she's the 1st chair of viola section. seriously.) and composing song.

And so.

I understand this post is not even worth to read but that Beethoven Piano Concerto stuck on my head along with Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 and they mess me up! I'm supposed to work on my own song for Music Theory final project but everytim I try to do the harmonization (believe it or not; I have my melody already) those concertos will appear and blind my ears and brain (lah?). This is not really a valid excuse because apparently Mr Gray doesnt care about whatever happen and going along in my brain; all he wants is the sketch of my entire music. Anyway, I'm writing a music for 2 violins, viola, cello, and clarinet. Let's call it Clarinet Quintet No.1 in C minor by Egalita Irfan for now. lol.

So.

Screw Beethoven.

And Rachmaninoff.

But for real, those piano concertos are AMAZING. I LOVE them.

Hahaha lalala...

I should prolly go back and work on my harmonization. Yayaa.. Chord progression, voice leading, modulation. OMG I HAVEN'T FIGURE OUT THE MODULATION YET!!! It's gonna be to G minor but I can't find a good way to put them together! And it was 4/4 before but I need to change it to 6/8 and it's gonna be harmonic minor (I actually put some melodic minors too). And during the cello part I dont even know what are the damn chords gonna be! Need to talk to Mr Gray tomorrow. And I want to put a chromatic scale but it'll be really hard to harmonize and it apparently won't follow the circle progression. oh AND the amount of my measure isn't enough yet!!!!! And how about that exposed tritone in the middle of the melody???? crap crap crap.

.....

uhm.

anyway.

I've got 2 violinists who are gonna play the Clarinet Quintet No. 1 in C minor by ME during exam week, and they are the concert master (Yang) and 2nd chair of violin section (Rahim) of our orchestra. I got (actually forced) Jojo to play the viola part, and I got Katasha to play clarinet. I NEED A CELLIST, for God sake! Nikita won't play for me, obviously, and I need to find a cellist with no exam during 3rd period! I should prolly look for a senior.

Or I should play the cello part.

NOT.

I have no intention to destroy my own song, especially when the rest of quintet are those brilliant musicians.

I feel so free to write whatever kind of insane pitches because I know these people are amazing and I know they'll able to play whatever I write down for them no matter how weird it's gonna be. So frankly now I'm making a riddiculous music. HA. But then IF I play the cello, I believe it's not gonna be... umm... too "desirable"?

GO BACK TO THE FREAKIN WORK.

lalala.

*a frustrated Music Theory student who got stuck in harmonizing the melody; 10 o'clock at night*

Orchestra Rehearsal

2009-05-06T02:02:00.005+07:00

Well well.

Mr Gray (our orchestra conductor) had been "disturbed" a little bit (yayayaa) and he decided to move our seats randomly during rehearsal JUST FOR FUN. He said so the we can actually listen to other people's part and stuffs. Whatever.

I used to play 2nd Violin part (obviously). But then I ended up sitting next to Yang Liu, the CONCERT MASTER the orchestra.

Hahahaa. Funny.

NOT.

It wasn't over.

We eventually have to sightread a new song.

Once again, SIGHT READ.

FYI, I SUCK so bad at sight reading! Especially on violin. Honestly I can do better on marimba or xylophone but uh well.

AND I had to play 1st violin part too.

My Gray ignored my argument on not-wanting-to-play-1st-violin-part; Nikita, sophomore 1st chair cello gave me his daily "Shut up Egalita" and move his freakin stand so he can't see me (thank YOU so much), and Jojo, 1st chair viola just laughed as always. In other word, I had no choice but to sightread the damn song.

Next to the best violinist at school, of course.

Now.

I was actually better than I thought.

The whole point is, I always get lost in the middle of the song everytime I have to sightread a new song. This time, Yang was right next to me, and he (of course) played everything perfecty as written, so everytime I get lost, I can always catch up just by listening to him.

Neat isn't it?

I can actually sightread. That fact made me a little suprised.

It was last Friday.

Honestly, despite the fact about Nikita's face who liked to stare at me AND my fingers (prolly observing how bad I played compared to Yang), I like sitting on that seat. I could play 1st violin part pretty well. And I told it to My Gray; how I can sightread my part.

He laughed and told me THAT was the goal of moving people's seat.

On Monday, Mr Gray made us sit randomly again, so I sat next to Yang AGAIN. This time, we sightread Dvorak's Symphony (I don't remember the number). BUT the 1st violin part was harder. WAY harder compared to the previous piece.

I knew where we were when we played. I know the exact measure and beat of the music. But this time, I couldn't play.

I just couldn't.

Okay, I could play like the first half of the song. And then there was a 3rd position part; I could definitely do it. Then there was 4th position, and then 5th.

Screw my life.

That was really beyond my ability, No kidding.

I couldn't catch up with Yang and other 1st violins. I was so mad at myself. Mad at my right side brain. Mad at my finger. Mad at my inability.

So, at the end of the rehearsal, I decided that I have to do something about my sightreading-retarded-ness.

I talked to Mr Gray, asking him if I can borrow any book for sightreading practice (because apparently I don't bring any music book from Indonesia). He lend me the Suzuki Violin Book grade 6 (if i'm not mistaken). He was wondering why all so sudden I wanted to borrow a book. And I told him how I feel so stupid with my horrible violin sound, playing next to the concert master.

"Stop it, Egalita. That's not the reason why I move people around. That's not what I want to see from you after you played next to Yang. I don't want you to say you are stupid or something like that."

"Well too bad then Mr Gray. It's too late. I feel inferior already. Just give me the freakin book and I'll practice." (I did seriously say this :p)

"I'll give you the book. You can go practice, but no inferiority."

(this reminds me of something. "Inferiority syndrome". lol.)

Anyway.

I almost skipped percussion ensemble practice after school because I really want to practice the damn book so then I dont sound as horrible on violin. But I did come after all. When I got back home, I practiced violin immediately, several hours until dinner time.

I was like possessed.

Here is the thing: I like violin.

A lot.

I hate to realize that I suck at it, especially when I play next to someone who is really good.

So, practice.

Practice.

PRACTICE.

I was being really stupid that I almost skip the school on the next day just so I can stay at home and practice violin for the entire day, but I didn't. I went to school today.

And Mr Gray move our seat again.

But Yang wasn't there. So Rahim sat as the concert master.

Yayayaa. Rahim is awesome at violin too. But he's just funny, as in crazy. lol. Any today's song was really EASY, even the 1st violin part. So, I was totally fine. Especially after hours of sightreading practice yesterday.

I was going to take my violin home for today too, but then I have AP Calculus Test tomorrow! So I figured I won't have enough time to practice.

Well, long way to go!

You need to actually appreciate music and love your instrument to produce a meaningful sound.

-egalita irfan

Irish Eye

2009-05-06T01:55:00.004+07:00

This is rather late but last week I was in the Irish Eye, my school's magazine :p

1 full page! Haha (ga jelas).

Spring Break!

2009-04-03T03:11:00.012+07:00

Hmm haha setelah sekian lama akhirnya ngepost lagii. Well this is kinda late, but oh whatever. Minggu lalu sekolah gw spring break. Tadinya kita sekeluarga mau ke pantai di South carolina, tapi ternyata Bill sama mom dua2nya ada kerjaan yang ga bisa ditinggalin, jadi ga jadi deh. So we stayed here in goddamn Ohio (halah bahasanyaa) for the whole week, with tons of homework, of course.

Senin, basically ga ngapa2in. Emma kerja di Lifetime, jadi di rumah cuman gw, Mukee sama anak2 kecil ini. Cuman pas sore2nya kita keluar terus balapan sepeda ampe kaki rasanya mau potong.. Oia FYI walopun judulnya "spring break" suhunya masih 32 F a.k.a. 0 C. NGGA BANGETT.

Selasa, baru ada kejaan. We went hiking! Hoho. Gw, Emma, Mukee, Hailey, Katherine, Dee, and Casey. Yep, 7 of us. jadi ada semacem track yang emang khusus buat orang2 kurang kerjaan yang pengan jalan2 ga jelas (just like us). anyway, jalan kaki kan sehattt. Kita jalan keliling2 kira2 5 miles lah. haha olahragaaa. diett! bentar lagi pulang gw gamau jadi gendutt. lol. Oh, habis cape jalan, kita piknik gitu. Jadi tiap orang bawa makanan dalam jumlah banyak buat di-share sama semuanya. Pas udah menjelang waktu makan siang, semuanya udah mengganas karna kelaperan gitu, jadi kita ended up sprint ke mobil, ngambil makanan terdekat, terus duduk di rumput, rebutan makanan bentar, terus makan (finally).

Udah kenyangg. Ga bisa berdiri. Terus ngegosip (biasa lahh). terus Emma lari2 ke mobilnya, keluar2 bawa perlengkapan badminton! Jadilah kita olahraga, membakar kalori. hahaa. jadi dibagi tim 3 ganda:

Hailey Sult & Egalita Irfan

Emma Park & Casey Lea

Mukee & Dee Dech

Nap Team: Katherine Barndhart

(haha she just took a nap when we were playing. lol.)

Believe it or not, Hailey and I managed to win! Yayaay! And so, gitu lahh. Pulangnya tepar sakit kakii..

Hari Rabunya ga kemana2. Gw sama Mukee sama Zena sama Rachel (temennya Zena) ke perpustakaan. HAHAHA gila2 kita kaya anak2 rajin gitu, meni geleuh (haha gw masi bisa ngomong Sunda!) pas liburan maennya ke perpus. Perpusnya namanya Worthington Library. hm hmm. FYI, perpusnya BAGUS bangett di sini. Lumayan deket pula sama rumah. Bisa nginternet gratis selama kita terdaftar sebegai library member. Bukunya banyak banget, bagus2 pulaa. Teens sectionnya keren. Children sectionnya lengkap. Bukan cuman itu, movies collectionnya juga awesome. Gw mah emang kutu buku jadi yaaa library makes me happy. Sementara movie freak kaya Mukee langsung lari ke movies section terus minjem 7-10 movies sekaligus. Di sana juga ada beberapa manga gitu (asa bodor baca komik Bleach make bahasa inggris) tapi ga terlalu banyak. So well, gw minjem beberapa novel buat ngisi spring break gw yang most likely bakal jadi ngebosenin, sama gw juga minjem bukunya Shakespeare, Macbeth. Bukannya sok2 nyastra atau gimana, cuman pas di debate class gw nemu buku English Literature nyasar dan setelah gw liat2 entak kenapa gw tertarik sendiri sama si Shakespeare. Hehe geje.

Hari Kamis gw nonton TV dari pagi ampe sore. well, malemnya gw mulai2 ngerjain PR juga sih. Calculus sama AP US Government & Politics homeworks. Calculus mah gampang, tapi AP US Govnya SINTING, it took me HOURS to finish it. Gosh. Really.

Hari Jum'at, ga ngapa2in. Jadi kata mom coba maen aja ke columbus zoo. Sama Emma dianter nanti pulangnya dijemput Bill. Hmm yaudah deh gw sama Mukee ke sana. Tiket masuknya lumayan murah sih, cuman $12. Di sana keliling2 terus makan siang.

Oia there was this one section about animals from "islands". And there were plenty of Indonesian stuffs in there! I was impressed! Ternyata ya "islands" ini more or less ngedescribe Indonesia, makanya banyak penjelasan tentang Indonesia. Bahkan ada bendera Indonesia jugaa!

Red and white :)

Bhinneka tunggal ika. I really didn't expect to see these words here in the US!

Map of Indonesia

And this one is just totally PHENOMENAL!!

Oh well. Pulangnya cape banget sihh. Tapi rame :)

sabtunya cuman maen sepeda sama ke perpus bentar, balikin DVDs. Terus latian drum beberapa jam (halah sok2 pro :p) lanjut sama latian biola sama piano sama gitar jugaa. Kalo ga latian nanti dimarahin si Mr. Gray. lol jk.

Hari Minggu, gw unexpectedly nonton konsernya the Eagles.

Honestly gw ga begitu tau sih mereka itu siapa. Mereka band 80an gitu deh kalo ga salah, udah tua2 gituu. jadi gini ceritanya. Apparently Mukee tu penggemar berat the Eagles (iyalah, kalo ngga mana mau dia bayar $103 buat tiket konser mereka), sama Bill (hostdad) juga kind of penggemar the eagles. Jadi Bill juga beli tiket konsernya, udah dari bulan lalu. Ternyata Bill harus kerja kann, jadi mom yang mau pergi sama Mukee. Eh ternyata mom juga harus kerja, jadinya gw dehh yang disuruh nemenin mukee. haha lumayan killing the time. Sama emma dianter ke tempat konsernya di Ohio State University Basketball Stadium, which is gede banget, terus pulangnya dijemput Bill. Oh well, jadilah kita nonton konsernyaa. Since gw ga kenal gw ya duduk manis dengan tenang, not as excited as mukee (apparently).

Well, spring break sudah usai. but of course, WE NEED MORE BREAK!! Hahaa. Nanti summer break bulan juni TIGA BULANNN. ampe agustus. gila ga sih? sementara nanti juni gw pulang,, ga sempet ngerasain enaknya libur 3 bulan dehh. huks.

Anyway, sekarang udah April!! Bentar lagiii...

teman2ku yang gilaa :p

2009-03-09T06:45:00.001+07:00

well, conversation ini gw translate sebisanya ke bahasa indonesia (karna bakal jadi awkward banget kalo ketauan gw ngegosipin mereka. lol.) Nama mereka juga ga akan gw sebut, cuman gw kasih inisial nama mereka doang. Yang jelas mereka 2 orang cowo bule yang otaknya rada2 terganggu kayaknya, yang juga sahabat gw yang udah deket banget, dua2nya anak band.

Jadii, suatu hari, sebelum konser band dimulai..

M : Eh Ega hari ini bagus jilbab yang kamu pake (waktu itu gw make jilbab batik gituu.)

E : Oh yayaa, thanks.

M: Aku belum pernah ngeliat yang ini. Emang kamu punya berapa sih?

E: Mana aku tau. Ngapain juga diiitung2 :p

(tiba2 si S dateng)

S: Eh Ega Ega, kan kamu pulang kapan sih?

E : Hmm, Juni gitu kayaknya. Awal2 summer break.

S: Ohh, kalo gitu kamu bentar lagi kan di sini. Boleh ga aku liat rambut kamu dikiiiiit ajaa?

E: hmm hahahaha. NO.

S: Yahh. Kenapa?

M: Soalnya itu ga boleh sama agama dia. Ya kan Ga?

E: Hmm. Kind of. (lagi males ngejelasin)

S: Kalo gitu kamu mandi gimana? Ga pernah keramas dong? Ih dasar jorok.

E: Hmm HAHAHHA ENAK AJA. Ngga lah. Pas mandi ya dibukaa.

M: Iya2. Kan kalo di rumah kan dibuka. Iya kan Ga?

E: haha tau dari manaa?

S : OH! Aku tau kalo gitu! Aku main aja ke rumah kamu. That way aku bisa liat rambut kamu kann?

E: Give it up. NO.

S: Lohh??

(gw berusaha ngejelasin gimana orang2 yang make jilbab cuman boleh ngeliatin rambutnya ke ayah, saudara laki2, anggota keluarga, sama suami)

S: Haha kalo gitu mending kita nikah ajaa.

E: hahahaa. GILA.

M: oia jadi penasaran nih gimana sih cara make jilbabnya? Tinggal dimasukin ke kepala aja gitu?

E: yaa gitu ajaa. Susah aja ngejelasinnya.

M: Eh eh besok bawain dong salah satu jilbabnya. Trus aku mau nyobain make boleh ga?

E: ......................

S: Aku jugaa! Bawain satu lagi!

E: Sebenernya aku ga peduli sih kalian mau gila ampe kaya gimana but FYI, jilbab tu dipakenya sama cewe doang, cowo mah ngga.

M: biarin ajaaa. besok bawa yaa. kamu punya yang warnanya pink kan? aku mau yang pink!

S: hell no! aku juga mau pink!

(dan 2 orang gila ini berantem approx. 5 menit rebutan siapa yang bakal make jilbab pink)

S: hhhf. Eh kamu ada yang warnanya ungu ga?

E: ada sih tapi..

M: HAHA YAUDAH GITU AJA. aku make yang pink, dia make ungu.

E: eh tapi2...

S: ga ada tapi2an. pokoknya besok bawa ya. ntar kita pake pas latian band. Eh eh kira2 bisa ga ya kalo aku make jilbabnya seharian?

E: hah?? Maksudnya kamu mau jalan2 di sekolah dari 1 kelas ke kelas lainnya make jilbab?? seriusan??

M: ga akan boleh lah sama guru2. paling nanti disuruh dibuka.

S: kok? trus kenapa si Ega dibolehin?

M: Karna itu bagian dari agamanya Ega dan bukan bagian dari agama kamu.

S: (dengan muka polos) tapi aku ga punya agama.

E: hmm. GYHAHAHAHA GILA GILA GILA DASARR! Stop this stupid conversation!! HAHAHAHAA. sinting sintingg.

Mr. Chesser (guru + konduktor band): Percussionists! Kalian ngapain? Ngobrol? Emang instrumen udah pada siap??

Para percussionists: riweuh masang suspended cymbals, dorong2 marimba, nyari mallets, mindahin bass drum, ngangkat glockespiel, etc etc.

haha gitu dehh. ga penting kan? emangg. oia besoknya gw bawa jilbabnya tapi ga sempet dipake sama mreka soalnya di kelas band kita belajar lagu baru, persiapan buat marching di parade minggu depan pas St. Patrick's day.

hahaa. tapi gw rather interested juga sih, pengen liat kalo mereka beneran mau make jilbab terus dengan cuek belajar di kelas.

lol.

Today's Debate : a Report

2009-02-28T23:09:00.002+07:00

hmm hmm.

Today's motion was THW Lower the drinking age to 18, or in PUBLIC POLICY debate, Resolved : That we should lower the drinking age to 18. Yayaa, whichever works. lol.And so,I was negative.

first of all, I would like to say that I'm SOOOO GLAD that my coach was not there. Seriously. He might CRY (hello there, Phie :p). So we started the debate. Affirmative first (ya obviously). Well the debate system is "a little bit" different than "ours". We had 3 on 2 today. I was the 2, with Kruti. 1st aff constructive, then 1st neg constructive only WITHOUT rebuttal, 2nd aff constructive only, 2nd neg constructive, 1st neg rebut (since we only have 2 people in our team) for just 3 minutes, 3rd aff rebuttals for 3 minutes, then 2nd neg rebut, then another 3rd aff rebuttals for 3 minutes. I was 2nd speaker (ya of course. lol.) Although I wasn't supposed to give rebuttals during my constructive speech, I did. Well I kind of mixed my rebuttals with my arguments so it didn't really matter. I guess :p. Constructive speeches are 4 minutes each. FOUR MINUTES. Holy sh*t. I mean, i know that 4 minutes is just for constructive without rebuttals, but as everyone (probably) has known, I CAN'T do speech without rebuttals. That's why I hate to be a 1st speaker, furthermore, I already have a good 1st speaker (ya go marsh! ;) Rebuttals are 6 minutes but in our case, we have to do it both so it's 3 minutes each. THREE. Screw my life.

Hm hmm. Another different thing is that we are allowed to just literally read the speech, besause Leahy (my teacher) said that we have to know exactly where we are and what we are talking about during the speech. Oh well, I have my own type of debate though. I can't just simply read like that. And I did put more effort NOT TO BE FRANTIC (highlight that), and not to be sarcastic (Indonesian debaters, ya know what I mean, don't you? lol.) I didn't say "shame shame" for today, but i did say "hear hear". I just can't help. Hahaa.

Bagian yang ini khusus buat indonesian debaters. Kemaren gw ngadju anak2 amerika ini dua hari berturut2. GILA BIKIN STRES LAH. Debatnya ga nge-clash! Gimana ngga, orang rebuttal speechnya juga disiapin dari minggu2 sebelumnya! Emang gitu instruksinya dari gurunya sih. Gila gila bete gw. Jadi 3rd speakersnya tu dengan tenang tinggal ngeluarin teks speech yang diketik rapi dan udah disiapin even sebelum ngedenger argumen lawannya, trus maju ke podium, trus baca deh! Busett. Gw cuman bisa ngeliat dengan ngeri. Rebuttalsnya ga nge-clash sama sekali sama case lawannya. Pas disuruh nentuin siapa yang menang, bingung gw. Kacau lahh. Lawan gw juga sama ajaa. Arguman gw ga kesentuh gituu.

Anyway, today was pretty fun. I did debate again after a while (approximately 6 or 7 months). Hff. Once again, I'm glad that SEF 3 AND SEF ITB people were not there. here, I did a really bad signpost, I was frantic after all, and I was still lacking of elaboration. Huaaaa... I'll try harder not to get dumber :p

And oh, at the end of my speech I said, "And so, I rest my case in piece while theirs ini pieces." Lol. The whole class was laughing. Hahaa, it's been a while since the last time I said that sentence. Crap. I miss my teammates, my coach, my sparring partners! I miss those magical moments in debate competition; when we're getting frustrated on practices, when we were tortured by our coaches, when we have our "nice" 30 minutes casebuilding, when we waited for the announcement of the breaking teams, when we were wondering if we're gonna win, when we talked about hearing aid (lol), when we play 24 during the break, when we hated the stupid adjudicator, and so much other "when"s.

Yah, life your live. Hear hear, debaters.

Friday the 13th

2009-02-15T02:20:00.000+07:00

Umm haha sebernya yang mau gw tulis ga ada hubungannya dengan Friday the 13th. Cuman kemaren (Friday the 13th) tu akhirnya gw presentasi tentang Indonesia lagi setelah ga presentasi2 dari bulan November taun lalu. Dulu gw ga sempet nulis apa2 tentang presentasi gw so now here it goes :p

*demi kenyamanan bersama untuk ngomongin kegilaan orang2 Amerika ini, mari kita gunakan bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benarr ;)

Gw minta ke guru AP US Government & Politics gw kalo gw bisa presentasi di kelas. Trus langsung dibolehinn. Kelas AP Gov gw kan di 4th period, tapi Mr. Wrigley minta gw presentasi di SEMUA kelas AP Gov dia. Ya gw sih mau2 aja. Jadi deh gw presentasi di 1st, 4th sama 8th period (nge-skip kelas Systems of the Earth & Orchestra. Hoho.) Pagi2 gw udah siap2, ke sekolah make baju batik semi-formal gituu, plus gw bawa baju adat Minangkabau lengkap dengan tanduk2nya. heheh. Trus gw bawa pensil2 batik, duit 1000an, sama batik2 things gituu, buat dibagi2in.

Dan seperti biasa, sebelum presentasi perasaan gw pasti sama : TAKUT. Yea, gw takut kalo anak2 Amerika ini ga tertarik sama apa yang gw omongin. Gw takut kalo mereka ga ada yang mau ngasi pertanyaan. Haha biasa penyakit lama. Pre-conceive notion.

Gw udah ngerevisi power point gw yang mau dipake buat presentasi. TERNYATA pas dibawa ke sekolah, ga bisa dibuka soalnya power pointnya beda dengan yang di laptop gw. Mr. Wrigley keliatan lebih panik dari gw, dia sempet nawarin kalo gw mau re-schedule presentasi. Tapi karna gw tau gw speaker yang hebat HAHA APA SIH, dan gw juga tau kalo si power point tu fungsinya cuman pendukung doang sementara si presentasinya sendiri bertumpu pada speaking skill gw, ya gw bilang aja ke Mr Wrigley kalo gw bisa kok presentasi tanpa power point. Gw punya peta Indonesia yang gede dan itu udah lebih dari cukup.

Yaudah deh, presentasi. Mr Wrigley baik banget, dia bilang ke kelas kalo gw presentasi as a part of my exchange program. Dan karna kita di kelas lagi ngomongin bab tentang diversity in the US yang bisa meng-affect political agenda (maap bahasa saya campur2. Lol.), jadinya presentasi gw ini bagus buat ngebandingin Indonesia sama US, persamaan sama perbedaannya. Terus tu anak2 sekelas pada teriak kesenengan kann, soalnya ada assignment yang due hari itu tapi gajadi dikumpulin. Hahahaa.

Trus gw ngomong deh. Perkenalan dulu (walopun rata2 udah pada kenal sih sama gw. Hehe.) Gw ngasitau program gw namanya YES -- Youth Exchange and Study program, program dari pemerintah Amerika kuhusus buat anak2 SMA terpilih dari negara2 bermayoritas muslim terutama setelah 9/11. trus gw kasihtau Indonesia dimana, sama general info, kaya Indonesia tu negara dengan pulau terbanyak di dunia, iklimnya tropis etc etc. Hahaha. Sekali2 di tengah2 presentasi gw randomly nanya2, misalnya ada yang mau nebak ga presiden di Indonesia ada berapa ampe sekarang? Ada yang jawab 40, 30, 100, haha gaul lahh. Kacau bangett ;) Dan sekelas pada teriak ketakutan pas gw bilang SMA 3 Bandung a.k.a. sekolah gw mulai jam 6.30 pagi. Mereka juga pada bertampang kagum pas gw ngeliatin baju minang sama tanduk yang gw bawa, gw juga nyeritain sejarah bajunya, tentang kerbau Java vs Sumatran yang akhirnya orang Sumatra menang.

Ini pertanyaan2 yang mereka tanyain ke gw (sekali lagi, ini pertanyaan2 gw translate ke bahasa Indonesia seperlunya)

1. Sekolah di US lebih gampang/ susah?
(Ya gw bilang aja buat gw sih lebih gampang, terutama matematikanya. (trus ada yang nanya emang gw ngambil apa buat math? Pas gw bilang gw ngambil Calculus, semua orang sekelas pada ngeliat gw dengan tatapan serem. Hahaa. Calculus mah gampangg. Heheh.) Tapi buat kelas AP Gov tu SUSAH banget terutama sebulan pertama gw ga ngerti Mr Wrigley ngomong apaan. GERR. Langsung sekelas ngakak semua. Temen gw ada yang triak, "don't worry Ega, AP Gov is hard for us all! You're fine!" HAhaha sementara Mr Wrigley kekeuh ngomong kalo AP Gov tu kelas yang GAMPANG. Halah sia deui :p)
2.Perjalanan dari Indonesia ke sini berapa lama?
3. Do you know mie goreng? (anak yang nanyain pertanyaan ini pernah tinggal di Brunei thus dia masi inget bahasa Melayu dikit2)
3. Do you eat nasi goreng? (NAH anak yang ini neneknya orang belanda lahir di Indonesai jadi dia tau deh nasi goreng :p)
4. Punya binatang peliharaan ga? (Kayaknya yang nanya ini ngarepin gw bilang "YES, binatang peliharaan di Indonesia tu singa, harimau, gajah etc etc. Hehe.)
5. Do you have peaceful transition of power of government? (haha anak yang ini serius banget pertanyaannya)
6. tsunami waktu itu gimana ceritanya?
7. Kenapa kamu milih buat dateng ke US?
8. Apa makanan Amerika favorit kamu?
9. Makanan kaya gimana yang dimakan di Indonesia?
10. Kuliah mau ngambil jurusan apa? Kenapa?
11. Di Indonesia olahraganya kaya gimana?
12. Musiknya kaya gimana? Kamu main any musical instrumen ga?
13. Apa kamu make baju tradisional in daily basis?
14. Kamu jalan ke sekolah atau ada alat transportasi? (haha i LOVE this question)
15. Orang2 di Indonesia pada pay attention tentang US Presidential election ga?
16. Kamu mau balik lagi ke sini ga setelah kamu pulang ke Indonesia?
17. Kamu perlah liat gajah ga? (LOL.)
18. Menurut kamu kelas apa yang paling gampang di sini?
19. Kamu di kelas IPA atau IPS di Indonesia?
20. Udah berapa lama kamu belajar bahasa Inggris?
21. Kamu BENERAN baru dateng Agustus taun lalu? (Kan ceritanya bahasa inggris gw bagus banget gitu jadi mereka ada yang ga percaya kalo gw baru dateng 6 luan yang lalau HAHA GA PENTING BANGET)
22. Gimana caranya bilang "Thank you" make bahasa Indonesia?
23. 1000 rupiah berapa dollar?
24. kamu tinggal di kota atau country?
25. itu baju yang kamu pake kamu beli di mana? (pas gw bilang gw beli baju batik di indonesia, cewe2 di kelas pada kecewa. haha pada pengen beli mereka :p)
26. Gimana pas pertama kali kamu liat salju?
27. Di sana ada KFC ga?
28. Kan katanya di indonesia ada 300 lebih bahasa lokal. Berapa banyak bahasa lokal yang kamu bisa?
29. kamu tinggal dimananya di indonesia?
30. Gimana caranya Islam masuk ke Indonesia?
31. Dulu indonesia dijajah siapa? Inggris?
32. Jelasin lagi tentang flas ceremony dong.
33. Hostsister kamu ada yang sekolah di sni ga? Siapa namanya?
34. Rumah kamu terbuat dari apa?
35. Kamu tinggal di rumah tradisional atau di rumah modern?
36. Untuk trade kamu make uang ga?
37. Indonesia terkenal sebagai penghasil apa?
38. Kamu punya rambut ga sih? (HAHA ngga ding. Itu mah pertanyaan hostsister gw yang umurnya 9 taun pas gw baru dateng. Lol.)

Hahaha gitu dehh. Masi banyak lagi pertanyaan yang aneh2 gitu tapi gw ga inget. Question session ini menurut gw the best part of my presentation soalnya gw jadi sedikit banyak tau apa yang ada di kepala anak2 amerika ini tentang negara gw. Sebagai penutup, kita nonton DVD tentang Indonesia (gw dapet DVD ini pas gw maen ke Kedutaan Indonesia di Washington DC). Videonya BAGUS BANGET. gw yang orang indonesia aja jadi kagum sendiri. Pertama kali gw nonton DVDnya di rumah, gw ampe nangis sendiri. negara gw indah banget, berbudaya, potensial,, sayang ga dimanfaatin, sayang pemerintahannya busuk. Hmm. Yahh, orang2 sedang menunggu gw buat merevolusi Indonesia. HAHA APA SIH NARSIS.

Dan yah, as expected, si orang2 amerika ini termasuk guru gw terpukau semua. Videonya 8 menit, isinya ada panorama tempat2 yang indah di Indonesia, tari2an, musik tradisional, ampe ke tempat2 modern, gedung2 etc etc. Guru gw terutama seneng banget sama videonya. Di akhir presentasi gw dia bilang kalo Indonesia nge-preserve culturenya banget, keliatan dari videonya. Dia juga bilang katanya kalo salah satu dari anak2 Amerika ini yang jadi exchange student trus pergi ke indonesia dan disuruh presentasi, pasti bingung mau presentasi tentang apa, soalnya di US sini emang ga ada kebudayaan yang berbudaya gitu (ga jelas banget ni deskripsinya). Ada anak yang bilang dia ngiri banget sama gw, for having such a beautiful country. HAHA GATAU MEREKA KALO YANG ADA DI VIDEO TU SISI YANG BAGUS2NYA DOANG. Yep, karna apparently di video itu sama sekali ga ada yang menyinggung2 soal kemiskinan, korupsi etc etc. Tentunya gw juga ga nyebutin soal ini di presentasi gw. Jadinya gw cuman bilang makasih trus senyum2 aja pas mereka bilang gitu, trus gw meng-invite mereka buat sekali2 maen ke indonesia, dan janji ntar mreka gw anter keliling2. Hohoo.

Di akhir presentasi gw bilang makasih udah mau ngedengerin gw. Mereka malah bilang harusnya mereka yang bilang makasih, trus pada ngasih applause malah ada yang standing applause. Hehehee. Kerasa banget, tiap selesai 1 presentasi, i've got a self-sctualization, for being an ambassador of my country.

Jadii, gw presentasi 3x dalam sehari itu. Pulang sekolah gw ke SDnya hostsister gw, presentasi di depan anak2 SD tapi kali ini cuman 20 menit. hahaha bodor lah anak2 SD :) Walopun rasanya gw prefer buat presentasi di depan anak2 SMA karna gw lebih yakin mereka ngerti apa yang gw omongin.

So as a conclusion. semua pre-conceive notion gw sama sekalo ga terbukti. Semua anak2 ini bener2 tertarik sama apa yang gw omongin. Mereka menghormatin gw dan presentasi gw. Mereka bener2 pay attention sama apa yang gw omongin. Mereka bener2 antusias nanya2 tentang negara gw.

Minggu depan gw presentasi di debate class dan sekarang lagi meng-arrange waktu buat presentasi di Middle School. Wish me luck, people ;)

*I feel really honored to be chosen to be an ambassador of my country. I'm glad that I get these opportunities to present my country. I'm an exchange student from indonesia, and I'm proud of it :)*

Egalita Irfan
Youth Exchange and Study Program
Bina Antarbudaya Indonesia 51 2008/2009
Hosted in Dublin, OH

Casebiuld!

2009-02-15T02:15:00.001+07:00

Hari ini di debate class ngomongin gimana caranya signpost dan ngambil2 statistik dari hasil research. The thing is, hasil research-an yang di-print GILA BANYAK BANGET!! Beneran ini mah ga lebay. Global warming! Emang sama gurunya disuruh ke writing center trus research mengenai motion trus print entah berapa lembar udah kaya orang sinting aja gw bawa2 kertas segunung, nge-highlight yang penting2. Hfff.. Yaa, I know this is policy debate!

Trus tadi juga sama guru gw ditanya gimana sistem debate di indonesia. Jadilah gw ngasi speech sendirian tentang parliamentary debate, 3 on 3, role of speaker, plus penjelasan tantang Australasian and world system yang biasanya kita pake. Dan semua orang di kelas termasuk gurunya shock pas gw bilang casebuiding time cuman 30 menit dan kita gatau kita bakal jadi aff atau neg sebelum 30 menit itu. Mereka tambah kaget pas gw bilangin bahkan buat impromptu juga cuman dikasih 30 menit setelah launch motion. Haha gila gila bring back memories banget sihh. Gw jadi inget gimana tim gw udah rusuh ngomongin argumen otw ke chamber X) Guru gw heran kok intense (dan sadis) banget sih cuman dikasih waktu 30 menit buat casebuild. yaudah gw kasihtau deh kalo biasanya buat latian casebuild paling 10-15 menitan, mungkin lebih kalo bisa nawar atau ngajak berantem yang ngecoach duluu (yea, thanks to SEF ITB) =D

.....

Yang penting debat dulu dehh.

*jadi inget HOLY pros cons, HOLY usual position, and HOLY juklak! LOL. Haduu otak saya tergangguu..

My Argumentation and Debate Class

2009-02-01T04:19:00.003+07:00

Well, it's been several weeks since the school started, and what we've done on our debate class is several discussions and short speeches. And 2 days ago, Ms. Leahy just started giving us a long long lecture of HOW TO DO DEBATE. Sure. Interesting. NOT. It's not that I under estimated the lecture or something like that, but it's just I know these all things about debate already. I used to LECTURE and give this kind of presentation of how to do debate to my newbies and juniors in Indonesia.

Wow, don't take it wrong. it's true that I like debate but it doesn't mean I'm good at it. Yea, that's also true that I've won several competitions here and there but as a matter of fact, I SUCK at debating. That's right. Go on and ask my coach(es). They will tell that I speak too fast, I made too many defensive rebuttals, my case usually lacks of elaboration, I am frantic, unqualified as a 3rd speaker, no structure on speech, etc etc. I'm not even kidding. Yah, but I have to admit that these all bloodshed and tears on our practice lead us to the "crown" (kind of) in the end :p Even in Indonesian debating competition, I suck even more. I'll mess Indonesian words and mix them with English; something like "meng-touch grassroots level",, or whatever.

Anyway, as I was about to die on my debate class (actually it's *mati kebosenan* :p), I realize that I actually did enjoy listening to these all phrases and words that I used to say every day back then when I still have my "normal-debate-world". here we use some different terms though.

Preposition is basically theme line. Resolution is the same as This House Believe That (THBT) or (THW). Instead of saying THBT every country has the equal right to develop nuclear weapon (motion from semifinal ALSA :p), here we write it Resolved : Every country has the equal right to develop nuclear weapon. Yaaa, they're basically the same. And Ms. Leahy also explained about the terms "Affirmative" and "Negative". In affirmative case, there must be 3 things:

1. JUSTIFICATION to change (hahaha that's my favorite word)

2. Plan on action (like the proposal and mechanism)

3. Inherency (the same as "effectiveness")

4. Topicality (same thing as "feasibility)

Affirmative has the advantage of defining the topic. Negative usually defends the status quo, or stick in status quo and make some changes (a.k.a. contra proposal). Neg can also attack on the effectiveness of affirmative plan because apparently affirmative has the BURDEN OF PROOF (haha my other favorite terms. Lol.). Definition of burden of proof : term used in formal debate and in law refer to the duty or responsibility to prove something.

Hmm, we also read about argument and evidence on the text book, as well as about case and constructive. There are 2 kinds of responds : refute, and rebut. Refute is more to defensive, asking if argument or statement provided by the other side of the house is true. Rebut, is more to offense and to rebuild argument. Well, in most cases, some many people (and adjudicators) will be freaking out if I refute too much so I guess I'll just try not to do that :p

As everyone may have noticed, this debate class is more to teach policy (proposal) debates than the philosophical one. Policy resolutions follow certain guidelines:

1. The resolution should focus on a current, controversial issue.

2. the resolution is started in a way that forces the affirmative to change policy

3. Resolution should contain only 1 topic.

4. Resolution should avoid ambiguous language.

Hmm. I'm relieved. Seriously.

I know it was not a policy debate, but it just remind me to Erry's motion on Phyxius : THBT Love is the answer. Yaa, at that time I was the negative team and I have no idea what case will the affirmative bring so during the case building time, my teammates and I were just eating and gossiping. I still remember Erry's other motions: THBT in cock fighting, THB in Peter pan. Well at least I know I'll never get this kind of motions in my debate class here. hahahaa.. Those motions are actually funny. I guess I'll tell my teacher about these motions and she how she'll react.. ;)

In the text book, there is a part with the title of EVALUATING EVIDENCE, which is basically a bunch of question a GOOD debater should remember before taking an evidence to the debate:

1. Is the authority qualified?

2. is the authority cited?

3. Is the person a reluctant witness?

4. Is the evidence independently verifiable?

5. In statistical studies, are supporting reasons given for the conclusion?

6. Is the evidence recent enough to support the claims made?

GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA.....

I tried real hard not to laugh to death. I was in the class so I think it'd really weird if suddenly I just laughed beacuse of reading a freakin huge textbook, which is NOT supposed to be funny anyway. Yayaa, if you are my teammates, Marsha Faradina of Marini Nur Izzah or have been in the same team with me, or if you were my opponents or my adjudicators or my coach or if you are Norman Febrian or Masyhur Hilmy, I bet you know why ;)

Now, problem.

I suck even before I came here. I suck still even when I practiced debate everyday. NOW, I've been not debating for almost 6 damn months, and surprise! I'll be super dumb. Nah, on the 1st semester, I told my debate teacher that I did English debate in Indonesia back there, and she remembered that till now. And guess what? My teacher believes that I'm a master of debate or something like that; she said in front of the class that I can be a freaking expert on the class, and at the and of the class, she told the class that if anyone need further explanation about debate terms, they can go and ask me. HAHAHAHAA. Ask me? SURE. Me, Egalita Irfan, an ESL student, a debater that frequently got lost to SEF ITB students especially to her coaches, with the "honorary" name of Chernobyllia Lapynda, and did get 0 speaker point and did lost with margin -140? SURE.

Anyway, that is now my burden of proof. However stupid I am, I am still carrying the pride of winning ALSA, and some other competitions. Yayaa, ganbatte then! I need to refresh my brain.

Wait, why the hell do I write these all?

Debate Life

2009-01-27T06:42:00.003+07:00

Yahh.

When I came here to the USA, I was expecting my school to have a debate club, with some random weird people who are freakily freak with the hobby of messing up in debate competitions; just like my debate club in my school in Indonesia. I brought my debate "bibel" : Pros & Cons : a Debater handbook :p, with the assumption I'll develop my debate skill during my stay.

Apparently there isn't one in Dublin Scioto High School.

Well, there is Junior State of America (JSA). Some people said that JSA is kind of a debate club. But I was super busy because of marching band and stuffs, so I never come to their meeting so far. I couldn't.

I was super disappointed, because I knew, I was stupid enough already thus I realize that I'll get dumber if I don't practice debate for the whole year. Debate was my life. I used to debate almost everyday, abandon "all-kind-of-stuffs-a-student-should-do" and made my mom freakin out.

I thought I'd just die if I don't debate.

I THOUGHT so.

Not really.

Well, it's been 6 months and I'm apparently alive. My school actually has a class called Argumentation & Debate, but students can only take that class in 2nd semester. I'm currently taking that class. Well actually we haven't really done anything on the class, just some discussions and talks. During those sessions, I realize there is a huge degradation of my brain. I can't make rebuttals as fast as I could back there after ALSA. And that makes me frustrated.

Life is not all about debate.

Well yea I know that. But it's just I was really into it and it just can't be helped. I'm scared. People are expecting me to be at least a "better" debater when I come back home. But whatever. My life has changed since I came. If it was all about debate before, now it's full of music. Yep, I go to E-Pod (music classrooms) three times a day, or maybe four times. I go there on the 3rd period for my Music theory, on the 5th period for band, and 8th period for orchestra. On Monday and Wednesday I have percussion ensemble practice.

It's not that I don't like music. I love music. Now I'm even considering myself to take music as a major in college. But still, it's just I feel some parts are missing. I miss my "normal" debate life.

There's nothing I can do. I just hope my debate class will be "fine", at least so then i can catch up with those freaks in Indonesia.

Obama

2009-01-24T11:29:00.001+07:00

Please check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvFSUYj9NPI&fe ature=channel !

In Memoriam NOT

2009-01-24T11:24:00.002+07:00

It is indeed scary to be alone. It really is a fear not to have friend. But one thing that is worse: the feeling of worried to be betrayed and left by people whom you were used to be together with.

well.

It's true that I was the one who left. I was fully understand about what I'm doing and why did I do that, but I wasn't betraying. It was just I have to go. I know this will happen. Bonds never last forever. People will be dispersed all over, and live their own life. Yes, friendship is beautiful but it doesn't last forever.

However, giving up is not a choice. I AM a part of them, or at least I was. I know they are gonna change, but I do change too. I know it's gonna be a new challenge to be treated as an outsider again after all these things, but I can't stand just to stare enviously to them.

Yep, so I'll be back, and once again, be a part of them; practice, study, and have fun with them. Just like what we used to do before I left.

You can't expect the world to wait for you. YOU catch up with the world.

I guess once again you're right, Grandmaster. Thanks :) *desperate 3rd speaker NOT*

Kehidupan "Musik" gw (halah)

2009-01-23T06:19:00.002+07:00

Hmm hmm.

Jadii sejak pertama dateng, tepatnya di hari kedua gw di OH, gw langsung di"lempar" ke band camp. Karna hostsister gw anak band jadi otomatis gw jadi anak band jugaa. main marimba. It turns out gw jadi cinta mampus sama marimba! hahaa.. Sekarang posisi gw di symphonic band, percussionist, dengan tuntutan harus bisa main semua instrumen perkusi T.T Yaa habisnya mau gimana lagii, gw ga bisa mainin woodwind atau brass instrument kann. Jadi stuck di percussion dehh, Walopun kesisninya jadi rame juga :)

Itu yang pertama.

Terus masih ada lagi kelas gw 3rd period judulnya Music Theory. gw kira kelas apaan tu, taunya kelas composing & arranging song gitu lahh. Standar music college. Pertamanya ngebahas teori dulu kann. Gampang2 gitu. makin ke sini makin susahh and sekarang Music theory 100x lebih susah daripada kelas Calculus gw. Tapi di kelas ini gw menemukan banyak banget fact yang sadly I didnt know before. keren abis lah Music Theory :)

terus terus.

Percussion ensemble. Dari namanya juga udah ketauan yaa. Ini khusus buat orang2 yang berminat main instrumen perkusi. yah buat gw mah sekalian lebih mendalami keyboards : marimba, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone. Konser baru sekali nihh, pas sebelum natal. Mainin lagu2 natal gitu lahh :)

lalu lalu.

Orchestra. gw baru ngambil orkestra pas semester kedua soalnya pas semester pertama gw ga punya biola. Si hostfam gw nyewain gw biola buat hadiah ulangtaun gitu kann. Lucunya, guru orchestra, band, sama music theory tu sama : Mr. gray! Ahahaaa... Gw terpaksa ketemu dia 3x sehari dehh :p JK! Mr gray asik banget ngajarnyaa ;)

Nahh. Tapi2.

gw ga pernah tau kalo si Mr. Gray ini maniak sight reading!!

FYI, gw PARAH ABIS kalo disuruh sight reading. kalo di keyboard sih lumayan ya. Tapi biola tuh instrumen gw yang paling baru dan yahh,, kacau lah sight reading gw (silakan tanya Afifa Ayu untuk konfirmasi). jadii, gw baru main di orkestra 2 hari dan kita udah sightread 3 lagu KLASIK. Mampus gw. Apalagi lagunya si Shostakovich, Symphony no 5 Finale! udah mau nangis gw ngeliatnya juga. Padahal gw 2nd violin.

I HATE SIGHT READING.

But "hate" does NOT mean I can't do that.

Jadilahh, hidup gw dulu yang didominasi debate tiap hari, sekarang switch jadi music tiap hari.. I'm kinda missing my old debate world tapi yaa mau gimana lagii. My argumentation & debate class has just started dan gw harap kelas itu memenuhi ekspektasi gw.

Smangatt! 5 more months left, dan gw gamau pulang dengan regret :)

School X(

2009-01-23T05:28:00.002+07:00

Nah.

To make it short,,

In both Indonesia and USA, there are apparently some days of school off for students (yea sure. If there isn't the suicide rate will be increasing every year :p)

That is the same part. And now the BIG difference is, the total amount of the holiday the students have.

How many day off do we Indonesian students have at most? 2 weeks? 3 weeks? Sure. No more than a month. Never.

And here in the USA, every single year, students in all grade have approximately three, THREE FREAKING MONTHS of school off during summer break.

So WHERE IS THE JUSTIFICATION, LADIES AND GENTS?

*just a small note from a frustrated exchange student who is mad because apparently she has to go back home to her country right at the beginning of the summer break :p *

If I'm not an Exchange Student

2009-01-13T05:07:00.008+07:00

Hmm. Let's see.

If I'm not an exchange student, I will be graduated this year, 2009.

If I'm not an exchange student, I don't have to do my senior year in Indonesia when my friends are already in the college.

If I'm not an exchange student, I don't have to spend my time crying on the first month.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't be desperately missing debate so much.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't leave my best friends.

If I'm not an exchange student, I will just be happy being at my home with my beloved family.

If I'm not an exchange student, I can play my violin, guitar, and keyboard everyday.

If I'm not an exchange student, I don't have to make my family worries about me everyday.

If I'm not an exchange student, I don't have to be freezing everyday.

If I'm not an exchange student, I can fight with my sister everytime I want.

BUT

If I'm not an exchange student, I'm not gonna meet my wonderful hostfamily and host sisters, Emma, Mukee, Zena, Hannah, Liz, Sabrina, mom & Bill.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't be a part of the best-pit-ever of Dublin Scioto Marching Band : Mick, Hailey, Katherine, Jack, Jason, Olivia, Sean, Stephanie, CA.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't able to play marimba, snare, and percussion instruments.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't be in Music Theory class and I won't know about these all things I learned in theory with Mr Gray.

If I'm not an exchange student, I'm not gonna care as much about my country.

If I'm not an exchange student, I'm not gonna learn how to appreciate everything in my life : family, friends, all the time I spent together with them.

If I'm not an exchange student, Mick won't teach me about "those-all-words" and when to use them.

If I'm not an exchange student, I'm just gonna be a spoiled selfish girl forever.

If I'm not an exchange student, I can't make my parents as proud as they are now.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't able to eat vegetables.

If I'm not an exchange student, I won't see snow.

If I'm not an exchange student, I'm not gonna study for this semester exam. I don't actually care about it. However well I do all the exams, I still have to do my senior year when I get back to my country. The thing is: I AM AN EXCHANGE STUDENT. Everything I do represent my country. I can't bear if people think all Indonesian are stupid just because I don't study and then fail my exams. I just can't.

Another this is : JUST SHUT THE H*LL UP AND STUDY FOR YOUR EXAM!!!!

*sedang gila*

Semester Exam

2009-01-13T04:22:00.003+07:00

Well well, I'm a loser.

I'm supposed to freaking study but I just can't help. Since this laptop came to my hand, I could barely study. Hoho... I know that's totally my own fault but once again, I just can't help.

Just like now.

I'm supposed to study Calculus for tomorrow's exam :p

Actually, I'm not really in the mood to, so I'm just gonna write about semester exam in American school.

We have 2 exams for each day. The first day, we have 7th and 1st period class (which are Public Speaking and Systems of the Earth for me) exam. Second day we have 2nd and 3rd period class exam (calculus and Music Theory). On the 3rd day we have 4th & 5th period class (AP US Government & Band), and on the 4th day (which is the last day), we have 6th and 8th period class (I have Advanced ESL in 6th period and Study Hall for 8th period).

Today is the first day of the exam.

And I went to school with Emily, my friend next door, because Emma and Mukee both don't have any test for 7th period so they can come late to school for their 1 st period exam. For my Public Speaking class, we have to give awards to our friend in the same class, and give impromptu speech for accepting the award. It was pretty fun. We just made up some weird and random award like the Most-Non-Racist-Student, the Most-Pessimistic, the Most-Asian, etc etc. I got the Most-Influential award from Josh, which is pretty good. I mean, it's not that hard for me to talk about the award :p So today is the last day for Public Speaking class, because Public Speaking is a semester class. For next semester I'm taking Argumentation & Debate class. I like being in this Public Speaking class, although there were too many theories and researches, but I just like the people here..

Next test I had was Systems of the earth. We had 135 freaking questions that we need to answer. But they weren't as hard as I thought. Here is the thing about exam in American school: in most of the class, the teacher usually gave you a small piece of paper and you can write ANYTHING on it. Yep. ANYTHING. It's like "kertas contekan" in Indonesia (ya know what I mean) but in here, it is legal as long as the teacher gave consent. Like in this Systems of the earth class. We can write anything on that sheet Mr. Watkins gave us, and that really makes life more easy. Hahaa...

Tomorrow I have Calculus exam. That class is so damn easy if compared to my damn math class in Indonesia. As well as Systems of the earth class, we are allowed to write formula, examples etc in a small piece of paper. So basically, I'm ready. I have my note already. After Calculus, I have Music Theory exam. We can't have "kertas contekan" for this class obviously. We're gonna have a test on ear training, which is really freakin hard. I hope I'm not gonna fail this class (I have A so far), and we're going to start composing our own song in the beginning of 2nd semester, I guess...

On the 3rd day I have AP US Government exam! This is,, once again, my HARDEST CLASS. I still need to do that review sheet to get extra credit. It's a "DUH". Darn. I like the teacher of this class, but it's just still hard, even for Americans. After that I'll be having Band exam! Emma said usually bandies don't have any exam, but since our teacher for Symphonic Band is Mr. Chesser, he's going to give us test : we have to play certain part on the new song, and we have to do rythmic dictation. As for me, percussionist,, I have to play 2 different parts of 2 different instruments: bells, and snare drum. I have no problem with bells, and although I had learn the basic of snare, I just don't like snare. So,I'll just try as hard not to fail *pathetic :(

The last day of exam, I just have ESL test. I have study hall on 8th period so I can just go home. Actually after ESL Kelly and I are gonna go to IHOP to eat pancakes, celebrating the end of this exam week. We have shool off on Friday so it helps, but I still have to go to school at 6 PM to play for pep band. And we have Monday off too X)

Looking forward to PASS THIS DAMN WEEK.

Cheers.

Christmas and My Birthday

2009-01-06T08:02:00.007+07:00

Well well. Ini postingan sangat2 telat tapi yasudahlah ya.

Karna rumah hostfam gw masih berantakan pas tanggal 25 alias pas hari H nya Christmas, jadi kita ber-Christmas-ria-nya telat,, jadi diundur ampe tanggal 31 (rumah gw lagi dipasang lantai baru jadi rusuh gitu lahh..). Pas tanggal 25, kita pergi ke rumah orangtuanya hostdad gw buat Christmas dinner. (Orangtuanya hostdad gw. Jadi statusnya hostgrandpa & hostgrandma gw? Asa aneh. Teuing ah :p) Mereka juga yang ngebawa gw & Mukee ke gereja semalem sebelumnya, soalnya keluarga gw ga beragama gitu. Kacau lahh.. Well, yaudah deh. Makan2 aja di sana. Terus bagi2 Christmas presents dehh. Gw sama Mukee juga dikasihh! Si hadiah2nya itu dimasukin ke "kaos kaki" super gede, biasa lah ciri khas Natal. Isinya : kaos 2, slipper, scrapbook, buku, etc etc. Hehee... Siangnya pas Christmas, ga ngapa2in. Di tengah "semangat" winter break, gw baca novel, ngerjain PR, tidur siang, makan, tidur, makan. Gitu we. Ga ada yang special siangnya mah. Mana salju ga turun pula! I was expecting a damn White Christmas but it was not, apparently :(

Lanjut.

Tanggal 28.. Ga ngapa2in. Cuman malemnya ngehias Christmas tree!!

Nahh.

Tanggal 29. My 17th birthday.

Paginya gw bangun siang (lah?). Terus turun nyari makan sama mau make telpon buat nelpon mama, papa, Adla sama Azel. Tiba2 ada yang teriak ngagetin "Happy Birthdayy!!" yang ternyata adalah mom and Bill (FYI, tu nama hostdad gw. Gw manggil dia "Bill" soalnya Emma hostsister gw yang seumur manggil dia nama doang. Emma tu anak tirinya Bill soalnya mom cerai sama ayahnya Emma. Gara2 si Emma jadi we gw sama Mukee manggil hostdad kita "Bill". hahaaa... FYI yang ga penting). And it turned up mom & Bill teriak "Happy Birthday!" ke gw tiap 1 jam sekali selama hari itu :p Gw nelpon keluarga gw di Indonesia lamaaaa banget. 1 stengah jam ampe 2 jam-an gitu kali ya. Udah gitu gw ber-riweuh-ria pas Mukee, Zena, Hannah, Sabrina dan Liz ngucapin selamat ulang taun. halahh.

Mom nanya di mana gw mau have dinner. Ya gw bilang aja gw pengen ke Indonesian restaurant (pas Mukee ulangtaun, kita ke restoran Thailand). Berangkat deh kita tanpa Emma (soalnya Emma di Pittsburg lagi ke rumah ayahnya) ke Taste of Bali, restoran Indonesia di deket Walmart. Pas parkir di sana taunya kita dapet ZONK. RESTORANNYA TUTUP!!! Hahaahaaa... terima kasih sekalii... Di hari gw genap berumur 17 tahun dimana gw udah membayangkan mau makan opor, rendang, masakan2 Indonesia lain, bisa2nya si restoran ini tutup!! yah,, it can't be helped. Setelah upaya sia2 Bill ngegedor2 pintu restoran, jadinya kita cari tempat makan lain dehh. Gw yang nentuin. Karna gw kangen sama nasi, ya gw bilang aja mending ke restoran Cina. Pergilah kita ke sanaa... Pas baru masuk mom casually bilang gitu ke pelayannya kalo gw ulang taun. Pas kita lagi di tengah2 menikmati makanan, tiba2 some random waiter & waitress ngedatengin gw sambil ngebawa beberapa potong kue plus lilin. Dan gw baru nyadar lagu2 Cina yang dipasang udah diganti sama lagu Happy Birthday. Si pelayan2 ini, plus Zena dan hannah juga, nyanyi happy Birthday buat gw. Diliatin orang2! Maluu...

Selesai makan, hostmom gw ngasih gw kado. Yang pertama, selimut listrik gitu. Honestly biasa aja sihh. I mean, cuman selimut gituhh.. Yang keduaa.. JENG JENG. Biola!! Tapi ga beli sih,, hostfam gw nyewain biola gitu buat gw soalnya mereka denger gw kangen sama Petroushka (itu nama biola gw di Indonesia). Ahahaa... Alhamdulillah banget. Timingnya pas. Di kelas Music Theory gw harus meng-compose lagu dan gw udah memutuskan untuk bikin lagu buat string quartet, in which at least gw harus punya biola buat bikin lagunya. Hahaa.. Ditambah lagi Mukee juga ngasih gw pernak pernik dari Thailand gituu :)

Dari restoran Cina, kita pulang. terus rencananya mau pergi lagi, mau nonton film ke bioskop (tapi ga jadi soalnya pada males. Heu). Di rumah, orangtuanya Bill udah nunggu kita. Mereka ngasih gw hadiah jugaa, sweater. Gw sama Mukee sama Zena stay up late, berusaha bikin video bodor buat dimasukin ke Youtube ;)

Tanggal 30nya biasa aja. Emma pulang. Malemnya kita ke bioskop nonton Cihuahua..

Tanggal 31.

Gw dan Mukee dibangunkan oleh suara orang ngegedor2 pintu kamar sambil bilang "HO HO HO HO".

SANTA!!!!

Ngga lah ya.

Yaudah terpaksa deh bangun. Cuci muka, gosok gigi (FYI, orang2 di sini mandinya malem, jadi paginya ga mandi lagi. Tadinya gw, yang biasanya di Indonesia mandi minimal 2 kali sehari, jiji banget sama kebiasaan ini. Tapi lama2 jadi biasa dan ngikutin jugaa :p) terus disuruh Bill nunggu di tangga, jangan turun dulu. Pas udah dikasih aba2, baru kita turun semua. Ke family room. terus pas gw ngeliat ke sofa..

Ada Santa!!!

Santanya naro hadiah di bawa christmas tree trus ketiduran di sofa!!!!

Ummm.... Probably not.

Si random Santa ini (sok2) bangun terus bilang "Ho HO HO!! Merry Christmas!!" ke hannah & Sabrina yang bengong.

"Hey, that's Emma!"

Itu kata Sabrina.

hahahaa.. Apparently yes. Si Emma sok2 jadi santa gituhh. Gila gw ngakak guling2an! Huahahaa... Bodor abis. Udah gitu kita disuruh keliling terus nyari "kaos kaki" kita (mom ngebeliin kaos kaki buat gw & Mukee, with our name on it!). Dan ketemulah si "spot" gw dan Mukee. Dengan hadaih2 buat kita di sana, tepatnya di sofa di deket fireplace. Tapi kok...??

Halah.

Ada 2 laptop di sofa yang ini. Yang satu di deket kaos kaki betuliskan nama gw, yang satu lagi dispotnya Mukee...

TA TAAAA!!

Gw ngeliat ke "spot"nya hadiah buat Emma. Ada 1 laptop juga di sana.

Jadi jadii.

Kami dapet laptop masing2 1! Hahaa... Bukan cuman itu. Di dalm si kaos kaki ada berbagai macam coklat! Sama di samping laptop ada hiasan Santa gitu jugaa. Ditambah lagi hadiah2 di bawah christmas tree yang belum gw buka. Gw dapet pjamas, Ohio State sweat shirt, gloves, scarfs, sama hiasan dari kaca yang gambarnya Cinderella's castle dari Disney. Dan "trip to Disney" juga ter-include sebagai hadiah natal. So, mulai sekarang gw bisa OL semau2 gw. Hehehee...

Jadi begitulahh. Pengalaman natal pertama (dan terakhir) gw. Oia, pas tanggal 31 salju turun! White Christmas dehh ;)

Gingerbread House

2008-12-30T23:42:00.004+07:00

A few days ago, I made my first gingerbread house! The idea is from the story of Hansel & Gretel, in which the witch has a house made from chocolates and candies, and of course, mine is NOT that big. I thought it's easy to make but it's relatively hard, especially when you have to put the roof on, and try not to damage the whole building!!

Christmas

2008-12-26T03:04:00.001+07:00

Kemaren Christmas Eve. Gw ke gereja. Make jilbab (iyalah). Diliatin orang! Gw denger ada yang ngegosipin gw. Kata mereka : kok ada muslim sih di gereja? Hahaa.. Bodor lah. Hari ini Christmas. Dan GA ADA SALJU. Anjrit banget ga sih. Gw kira tiap hari natal PASTI turun salju! Well, tapi tetep deh, Met Natalan :) Merry Christmas! :)

Trip to Disneyworld!

2008-12-22T06:54:00.009+07:00

Jadi, minggu lalu gw dan hostfam gw ke Disney World Florida! Kita berangkat hari Jum'atnya, dan gw & Mukee nge-skip sekolah selama seminggu penuh, sekaligus nge-skip konser pertama Symphonic band, menyebabkan "huru-hara" di antara para percussionist, karna Jason juga ternyata ga bisa main di konser, karna dia juga liburan ke Texas, sementara gw dan Jason mainin part yang sama (mallets percussion), which means harus ada percussionist lain yang maini part gw. Jadilah Mick harus meninggalkan triangle kesayangannya dan main glockenspiel, dan Olivia juga meninggalkan cymbalsnya dan mainin vibraphone di beberapa lagu. Heu...

Berangkat Jum'at malem, naik mobil, soalnya kita ke sananya banyakan. Hostparents gw, gw, Mukee, Hannah, Liz, Sabrina, Karina (temennya Zena), sama Zena. Sembilan orang naik mobil. Emma naik pesawat karena dia ga bisa bolos hari Senin soalnya dia ada kerjaan, jadinya dia nyusul hari Senin malem. Gw nyampe di Florida hari Sabtu sore. Trus istirahat. Tepar, sakit pantat, whatever, setelah duduk berjam2 di mobil. Cape lah pokoknya... Kita tinggal di condo gitu, lumayan deket dari Disney.

Mulai ke Disneynya hari Minggu. Disneyworld punya 4 parks. Kita ke Magic Kingdom dulu. Di Magic Kingdom mah lebih buat anak kecil sih, tapi ridesnya banyak yang asik juga,, terutama segala macem roller coaster di sana... Rame lah. Tapi para princesses bikin gw serem juga. Anak2 kecil kayak Hannah & Sabrina para ribut pengen foto sama Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Tigger, Pooh etc. Tapi para putri palsu ini bener2 kaya freak lah. Gimana ya di-describe nya? Mereka sok2 lemah lembut dan manis kayak putri tapi keliatan jelas kalau mereka tu acting, jadi bikin gw geleuh gitu lah. Ngga banget deh. Hari pertama gw udah cape banget setengah mampus. Tapi gw udah ngeliat awesome places, terutama Cinderella castle pas malem2. Keren lah.

Hari kedua kita ke Epcot. Di sana ada bangunan dari 11 negara (yang jelas ga ada Indonesia). Canada, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Morocco, Norway, Mexico, USA, France, Italy. Di Morocco, ada salah satu random people, petugas gitu, nanya kalo gw tu orang Indonesia. Gw kaget lah. I mean, kok dia tau gw dari Indonesia? Gw ga make pin Indonesia ata batik atau apapun yang bikin gw keliatan sebagai orang Indonesia. Pas gw nanya kok dia tau? Katany keliatan dari muka gw. Trus dia ngomong "Apa kabar?", "Namanya siapa?", dan "Terima kasih" make Bahasa Indonesia! Apperently si random people ini bukan orang Indonesia, soalnya kedengeran aksennya aneh. Dia bilang dia orang Morocco, tapi banyak temennya dari Indonesia, jadi dia tau aja kalo gw orang Indonesia. Well...

Di Epcot banyak makanan enak2! Sama banyak bangunan unik dari negara2 lain... Sama ridesnya juga keren2!

Hari ketiga ke Animal Kingdom. Kata Bill baunya kayak kebun binatang and ternyata bener. Namanya juga "Animal" Kingdom. Dibilang kayak kebun binatang iya juga sih. Katemu babirusa (asli Indonesia). Hahaa.. Gw translate aja, babi = pig, rusa = deer dan keluarga gw takjub *ga penting*. Di Animal Kingdom ini hari ketiga gw dan hari pertamanya Emma (dia baru dateng kemaren malem). Favorit gw di Animal Kingdom tu Primeval Whirl, coaster tapi muter2 gitu. Gw agak kecewa juga kita ga sempet ride Everest, tapi yasudahlah... Makin kesini kaki gw makin sakit! Kecapean karna jalan nonstop dari magi ampe malem...

Hari keempat kita balik ke Magic Kingdom lagi, dengan tekad "menghabiskan" (tepatnya "menyelesaikan") semua attractions yang belum sempet dinaikin pas hari pertama. Karna hari ini lebih santai, ada beberapa rides yang kita naikin 2-3 kali, misalnya Pirates of Carribean, sama Splash Mountain. Hari kelima ke Epcot lagi. Bener lah Epcot bener2 bisa bikin orang jadi gendut! Banyak makanan enak! Kita juga nyelesein Epcot di hari kelima...

Hari terakhir kita ke Hollywood studio. Tepatnya, mom, Liz, Hannah & Sabrina ke Magic Kingdom (again) dan kami, big girls plus hostdad gw. Hollywood studio tu park yang terkecil of all parks, tapi tetep aja kecil teh gede. Kita ke Tower of Terror ampe 2 kali. Sebenernya hampi 3 kali, tapi Karina bilang dia akan muntah kalo kita naik itu lagi. terus kita ride Rock n Roller coaster! Itu ride terfavorit gw lah. Cepet banget! Dan upside-down pula...

Besoknya kita pulang. Gw diantara seneng sama sedih... Gw masi pengen hang out di sana tapi kaki gw sakitnya udah ga tahan! Hampir ga bisa jalan lagi *lebay mode : ON*. Oh well..

Di sinilah gw sekarang. Di tangah dinginnya Ohio (di Florida panas!), harus ngeberesin segala macem assignments padahal ini winter break, kompensasi dari bolos sekolah seminggu... :p

Santa!

2008-12-09T01:38:00.001+07:00

Sehari sebelum Idul Adha, foto sama Santa! X)

Another Quick Update : Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T07:41:00.002+07:00

Umm. Thanksgiving.

Konon, dulu saat pilgrims, orang2 British yang escape dari UK karna rajanya maksa mereka masuk Christianity "tipe baru" pertama datang ke North America naik kapal Mayflower yang saat itu kecepatannya hanya 2 miles/hour, mereka disambut orang2 Indian di sana. Para pilgrims ini dibantuin Indian, diajarin gimana caranya bercocok tanam segala mecem. Dan setelah berhasil melewati winter pertama, saat pertama kalinya mereka manuai hasil tani mereka saat musim semi (halah), mereka mengadakan "makan2 besar" bareng2. Semuanya ikut : pilgrims, sama Indian juga. Sejak zaman Presiden Lincoln, jadilah hari Kamis minggu ketiga bulan November itu Thanksgiving. (thanks to Mr. Wrigley, guru Advanced Placement US Government for the explanation about Thanksgiving! Heheh..)

Basically, Thanksgiving tu dimana semua anggota keluarga kumpul bareng, dan dinner di hari itu pasti special. Biasanya sih turkey. Hehee..

Well, same here, same everywhere all over USA deh. Kita makan2 gitu di rumah gw (maksudnya rumah hostfam gw). Gw, hostsisters gw, hostparents gw, orangtuanya hostfam gw, sodaranya hostfam gw, banyakan lah pokonya. Total 15 orang gitu di sini. Hehee.. Makan turkey! (pastinya...) Dan gw (sama Mukee juga) dikenalin gitu ke semuanyaa :) Rame lah.

Tapii, ga selamanya pilgrims "hidup berdamingan dengan tenang dan damai" dengan Indian.. Ke sininya mereka malah bunuh2an each other. Well...

Pecussionist : a Sad Story

2008-11-23T22:03:00.004+07:00

Hmm.

Dibilang "a sad story" juga ngga sih.

Mungkin tepatnya "the nature of percussionist" kali ya.

Jadi giini,,

Marching band season udah beres (cuman pas fall doang), jadi ke sininya kita ada concert band. Dann, sebelum bisa main di concert band, harus diaudisi dulu. Gw ga bisa main instrumen band lainnya. Gw (apparently) ga bisa main woodwind instrument atau brass instrument, dan di concert band ga ada violin (iyalah, kalo ada violin berarti namanya "orkestra"). Instrumen yang bisa gw mainin cuman keyboads : marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, chimes, which means, gw harus audisi as a percussionist.

Now, problem.

Kalo orang2 section lain, Mukee misalnya. Dia audisi buat clarinet, yaudah ditesnya clarinet doang (iyalah). Emma audisi alto saxophone ya ditesnya saxophone doang.

Dan gw.

"Percussionist".

Bukan "keyboardist".

Which means, gw harus tryout di SEMUA percussion instrument.

Hahahaa..

GILO.

Berarti gw harus tryout di marimba (marimba mah gapapa), tympani, and snare drum! Gw belum pernah nyentuh tympani sama snare drum seumur idup gw, dan waktu yang dikasih cuman 1 mnggu buat menguasai lagu buat audisinya! Parahnya lagi, hasil audisi ini berpengarauh sama nilai band! Kemaren 1st quarter gw dapet A di band, dan gw gamau dapet F buat 2nd quarter. Jadi, gw minta latian snare sama tympani tiap hari ke Mr. Lewis. Untung dia mau ngajarin.

Oh well, akhirnya mau ga mau harus diaudisi juga di 3 instrumen itu. Ditambah sama tes scale di Gb Major, D natural minor, D harmonic minor, sama D melodic minor (untung gw ngambil Music Theory). Dan hasilnya juga udah keluar. Gw ended up si Symphonic Band, ngalahin kira2 20 percussionist lainnya jadi mereka berakhir di ensemble. Hehee.. Maap boasting. :p

Nahh, ceritanya belum selesai. Sekarang gw udah di symphonic nih, tapi begitu ngeliat part gw, pengen nangis.

GAMPANG banget gila.

Bosen gw maininnya juga. Cuman gitu2 doang. Gw main glockenspiel untuk lagu pertama, trus main vibraphone untuk lagi kedua. Dan di lagu ketiga gw ga main 87 measures! Mainnya di measure ke 88 dan cuman selama kira2 20 measures, trus lagunya tamat!

Gw ngomong ke Mr Lewis soal ini. Gw nanya aja kok peranan percussionist di symphonic band ga sebesar waktu di marching band si? Katanya emang gitu. Mr. Lewis malah katanya pernah istirahat selama 200 measures trus main cuman 2 measures. Sedih banget ga sih... Dia juga bilang percussionist mungkin emang ga terlalu main banyak, tapi begitu masuk partnya, langsung ngasih efek signifikan sama lagunya, which means peranan percussionist juga penting...

Masumi-chan (Nodame Cantabie), maaf gw sering ngeremehin! Sekarang kita senasib! *gila*

Marching Band Banquet

2008-11-16T05:23:00.003+07:00

Setiap sport club sama performing art class (a. k. a. Marching Band) yang seasonnya udah selesai pasti diakhiri sama Banquet. Practically, kita dateng ke cafe sekolah yang udah dihias2 gitu, trus ngundang orangtua, trus makan2 sambil ngeliat slideshow. Well, singkatnya mah gitu.

Senin lalu, 10 November 2008 kita ada marching band banquet. Kita duduk per-section, gw bareng2 sama pit, Mukee sama clarinets, Emma sama baritones. Pertamanya mah sambutan2 gitu.. Bosen lah pokoknya. Trus ngambil makanan. Trus Mr. Gray, our band director, manggil anak2 bandnya satu2. Dimulai dari kelas tertinggi, seniors. Trus junior. Trus sophomore, baru freshmen. Kita dikasih lencana gitu satu2, tapi lencananya beda2 tiap angkatan. Gw, emma, sama Mukee junior, tapi di-list anggotanya gw senior. Oh well, I'm half-senior and half-junior. habisnya kalo diliat dari keas,, I'm taking senior classes. Well, whatever. Tapi pas dipanggil gw dipanggil sebagai junior. Bingung kan?

Anyway, di Dublin Scioto Marching Band, anggotanya paling banyak juniors. Jadi kita ngejejer gitu di depan. Saking banyaknya, ga cukup 1 baris. Jadi gw bareng2 sama Kaitlin nyumput gitu di belakang barisan,, ampe tiba2 semua kepala ngeliat ke gw dan pada neriakin mana gw. Ternyata, Mr Gray nyuruh gw dan Mukee buat maju ke depan.

Gitu deh. Mr Gray ngumumin ke semua orang kalo gw dan Mukee tu exchange student. Dia juga bilang kalo gw di"lempar" ke Band Camp begitu gw nyampe di Columbus. Katanya, awalnya dia sama band coaches lain awalnya khawatir gitu, kalo gw & Mukee akan mess up the whole band, since neither one of us had been in marching band before,, tapi ternyata ngga. Ternyata Mukee and I (menurut Mr gray) had done a really good job in Marching Band, and everyone will miss us next year. Dia juga ngasitau semua orang kalo gw kedinginan pas band camp, sementara semua orang kepanasan. Pas kita balik ke tempat duduk, temen2 gw (terutama orang2 pit) pad neriakin nama gw gitu. Huhuu.. Sedih gw ngebayangin taun depan gw ga akan ada di sini...

Being in marching band, seriously, not always fun. Kadang2 gw bingung sendiri kenapa gw di band,, terutama kalo kita lagi perform malem2, dingin pula, ngantuk, etc etc. Tapi sekarang, pas ga ada lagi marching, ga ke lapangan, ga usah tampil pas game, ga ada latian tiap hari pulang sekolah,, rasanya ada yang "ilang" aja...

Balik lagi ke teori "appreciation" kali ya :p

UNA International Festival & Bowling!

2008-11-09T17:40:00.004+07:00

Hari ini ada International Festival gitu di downtown Columbus. Ini salah satu agenda "jalan2 bareng"nya Peg Bell, local coordinator gw. So, kita ke sana. Mom, Emma, Mukee, Zena, Hannah, gw. Dan seperti biasa, kita ketemu sama anak2 exchange student di Columbus. Kita muter2 festivalnya. Kalo menurut email dari Peg, katanya akan ada lebih dari 80 stand negara2. In fact, gw cuman liat beberapa negara,, well, ga terlalu beberapa banget juga sih, but still, not as much as I expected. Gw ended up jalan keliling2 sama Mukee,, kita kepisah dari Emma. Oh well, gw & Mukee jalan keliling2, nge-stamp "passport" (boongan) kita, nyari2 makanan.. Dan berusaha nyari stand Indonesia sama Thailand.

Kita udah nyampe di stand terakhir, yang paling ujung. Dan itu bukan stand Indonesia. Atau Thailand. Well, kecewa gw. Gw padahal udah siap2 mau ngomong bahasa Indonesia, latian. Bahasa Indonesia gw jelek abis sekarang, apalagi buat converstion.

Nah,, tiba2 ada yang nepuk bahu gw.

Pas gw ngebalik, gw kaget mampus.

Si Ivan.

Yep, Ivan.

AFS-YES 2008/2009 Angkatan 51

Chapter Malang

Exchange student

ORANG INDONESIA!!!

Gila sumpah da gw kaget banget! Ga nyangka bisa ketemu sesama AFSer Indonesia! Dan si Ivan juga tampang kaget gitu.

Respon pertama gw,, gw berusaha ngomong "Kenapa lu di sini?" dengan "Why are you here?" dalam waktu yang bersamaan.

Ended up si Ivan kebingungan ngedenger bahasa gw yang campur aduk.

Setelah otak gw bekerja lebih keras (dan gw memutuskan untung ngomong bahasa Indonesia), gw bisa berkomunikasi dengan si Ivan.

My Bahasa sucks. Seriously.

Aneh banget ngedenger diri gw sendiri ngomong bahasa indonesia ke orang lain.

Dan, gw memperkenalkan Mukee ke Ivan dan sebaliknya.

Again, lidah gw ribet, bingung mau ngomong pake bahasa apa.

Gw berusaha ngenalin si Ivan ke Mukee make bahasa indonesia, dan ngenalin Mukee ke Ivan make bahasa Inggris.

Tuh kan ngaco.

Akhirnya gw make bahasa internasional jugaa. Bingung sih.

Si Ivan juga di Ohio (obviously). Kita sempet ngobrol (make bahasa indonesia) bentar, dan si Ivan masih medok. Hehehee..

Full of exticement, gw cerita sama hostmom gw kalo gw ketemu si Ivan. Dia juga kesenengan gitu. That's kinda funny, ya know. Ketemu temen exchange student dari negara dan program yang sama, di International Festival...

Anyway, saatnya pulaang.

Peg bikin plan kita mau makan2 di Spaghetti Warehouse, tapi dia reserve tempatnya masih kira2 1 setangah jam lagi. Jadii, dia ngajak kita jalan ke state house.

I mean, literally JALAN.

FYI, udaranya DINGIN banget, entah berapa derajat. Gw cuman make kaos, jeans sama jaket. Dan gw ga bawa coat. Dan gw even ga laper (makan2 di festival udah bikin gw kekenyangan).

Well, dan mom juga kecapean. Tadi malem dia kerja ga tidur semaleman.

Akhirnya pulang deh. Gw juga gamau jalan ga pake coat. Hehee..

Anyway.

Perjalanan hari ini belum berakhir.

Minggu lalu ulang taun Katherine. Dan kita ngerayainnya hari ini.

Bowling!

Jam 6an kita ke rumah Katherine, makan pizza. Ngegosip dulu, makan2, minum soda etc. Trus main bowling dehh. Si Mukee menang. Gw runner up. Casey 2nd runner up. Trus Emma, Hailey, sama Katherine di posisi paling bawah. Hehee. Rame banget lah! Trus kita ke Walmart bentar, beli minum..

Pulangnya ke rumah Katherine lagi. Sekarang makan cake! Hohohoo.. (Ga heran gw tambah gendut). Trus main2 sama anjngnya Katherine. Lucuu! Altho gw ga berani megang..

Well. What a day.. Nyampe rumah jam 1 malem :)

GPA

2008-11-04T22:06:00.001+07:00

Current GPA for the 1st quarter : 3,901.

Heheee.. =D

Halloween!

2008-11-02T21:26:00.002+07:00

31 Oktober : salah satu hari yang paling ditunggu2 anak2 Amerika. Make kostum ke sekolah, beli coklat sebanyak2nya, ngedekor rumah biar keliatan serem, masang jack o'lantern...

HALLOWEEN!!

Hehee..

Jadii, hari Kamis pulang sekolah tanggal 30 Oktober, kita belanja kostum buat Halloween. Malemnya kita pergi trick or treat! Jadi gini, rumah gw tu di Dublin. Di Dublin anak2 pergi trick or treatnya malem sebelum hari H Halloween. Jadii, malem Jumatnya gw, Mukee, Hannah, Emma, Zena, Sabrina,, ditemenin sama Liz & hostdad, keliling2 neighborhood; semuanya make kostum. Ngebel & ngetok2 pintu rumah orang yang bahkan ga kita kenal, teriak "TRICK OR TREAT!", trus dapet permen sama coklat dehh. Hohohoo. Cukup gampang kann? Tapi ada time limitationnya. Kita cuman bisa trick or treat dari jam 6-8 PM. Sepanjang trotoar, BANYAK banget anak2 lain yang make kostum aneh2..

Nahh, besoknya kan Halloween tu. Students di-encourage sama sekolah buat dressed up make kostum! hahaa.. Yaudah deh. Besoknya, gw make kostum witch ke sekolah, Mukee make jubah Harry Potter, Emma jadi manusia basketball setengah Reese's. Dan di sekolah juga, obviously, banyak yang make kostum jugaa, altho ga semuanya.. Dann, Jumat tu ada rekaman band; kita mainin Synchronicity, trus latihan band yang terakhir, jadi jam 4 juga udah selesai. Pulang dari sekolah langsung ke rumah Kaitlin, squad leadernya clarinet. Bikin cookies! Hehee.. Habis ituu,, guess what? Trick or treat lagii!! Hahaa... Jadi gini, kalo di Dublin trick or treatnya malem sebelum Halloween. Tapi kalo di Columbus trick or treatnya pas malem Halloween (walaupun sebenernya Dublin tu bagian dari Columbus), dan orangtuanya hostdad gw rumahnya di Columbus. Jadi kami trick or treatnya dua malem! hahaa.. Dan sekarang gw kaya kebanjiran coklat sama permen gitu di sinii X)

Kita ngomongin tantang Halloween di Public Speaking Class. Temen2 sekelas gw pada shock gitu pas tau kalo ini tu halloween pertama gw. Hehee..

Well, the cool thing about Halloween is that kita bisa seenaknya ngegedor2 rumah orang yang ga kita kenal, trus orangnya ga marah, malah ngasih coklat sama permen.. Dan semua orangtua yakin kalo permen yang dikasih ke anak2 mereka tu ga ada yang beracun. Padahal peraturannya kan harusnya JANGAN TERIMA PERMEN DARI STRANGER. Oh well.. Exception kali yaa..

Happy Halloween, everyone! XD

to "Share"

2008-10-28T08:37:00.002+07:00

Have you ever been "forced" to share something you don't actually wanna share?

Well, that is what I'm (and most presumably Marsha) feeling right now. It is hard to share; especially when it goes to people: your best friends; people whom you respect so much; people whom you trust; people who teach you things; people who practice debate together with you; people whom you go karaoke with; people whom you think they are your family; people who give you suggestion and listen to your problem.

Probably this is one of the reason why some-people-in-particular call me a spoiled baby. Well, I can hardly deny that.

Anyone who wanna point out and say I am retarded; please.

Life : a Comparison

2008-10-27T01:50:00.003+07:00

Saya bukan orang yang mudah puas atas apa yang saya dapat. Saya selalu melihat ke atas. Saya selalu mengutuk diri saya sendiri : kenapa saya tidak bisa mendapatkan lebih? Indeed, ini membuat saya jarang bersyukur. Yes people, I know this is extremely not good. Tapi sekarang saya sudah lebih bisa menghargai apa yang saya dapat, because of the following:

Sejak dikenalkan pada facebook, saya jadi jarang buka friendster. Semua temen2 sekolah di sini punyanya fb, bukan fs. Buka friendster paling cuman bales2in komen orang and that's it. So, minggu kemarin saya iseng buka2 fs temen2 lain. Saya juga buka fsnya AFS-YES 2008/2009 (angkatan saya). Dan di sana saya baca komen2 mereka; rata2 pada cerita tentang hidup mereka di USA. We all have our own problem with our new school and hostfamily. I have my own problem as well. But apparently some of them have bigger problem than I do.

Ada yang udah pindah2 hostfam 4-5 kali dalam 2 bulan ini. Ada yang berasalah sama hostfamnya, minta pindah hostfam sama Local Coordinatornya tapi malah disuruh sabar dulu. Ada yang hostfamnya punya anjing biadab banget. Ada yang hostfamnya pelit, ga pernah ngajak exchange studentnya kemana2 jadi dia selama ini stay di kotanya (yang sebenernya bukan "kota"). Ada yang hostfamnya pergi entah kemana berminggu2, jadi dia harus stay sama Local Coordinatornya. Ada yang hostfamnya suka lupa beli makanan, jadi kalau kehabisan exchange studentnya harus beli sendiri. Ada yang hostmomnya alergi wangi2an, jadi ga dibolehin make parfum, lotion etc. Ada yang punya hostsister rese banget. Ada yang pengen masuk klub tapi ga bisa soalnya mahal dan ga dibayarin hostfamnya.

Sementara saya. Saya sejak pertama dateng ga pernah pindah hostfam. Hostmom saya cukup baik, walaupun bulan2 kemaren sempet bermasalah tapi dia cukup care. Hostdad saya bodornya setengah mampus, jago main piano pula. Hostsister saya, Emma, sama sekali bukan tipe cewe2 amerika rese. Mukee, exchange student dari Thailand, enak diajak ngobrol sama curhat. Zena pinter, suka ngajakin main piano bareng. Hannah, walaupun suka rese, anaknya sebenernya lucu. Saya ga punya anjing. Di rumah saya ga pernah kehabisan makanan. Saya bahkan di Marching Band, main marimba, masuk band tanpa audisi. Sejauh ini saya udah dibawa ke Chicago sama Put in Bay. Bahkan nanti tanggal 11 Desember saya akan menge-skip sekolah dan akan dibawa hostfam saya ke Florida; ke Disneyland; and stay there for approximately 10 days.

Saya tahu semuanya pasti punya masalah. Tapi saya ga pernah menyangka kalau temen2 saya punya masalah yang benar2 lebih berat daripada masalah saya. So far, I kept whining : Why don't I go to NY? Why don't I have a debate club in my school? Why don't I have hostbrother? Dan "why don't"2 lainnyaa..

As a conclusion, saya harus introspeksi. Saya harus benar2 lebih menghargai apa yang sudah saya dapat. Di negara2 bagian Amerika lain, teman2 saya memiliki hidup yang lebih sulit daripada saya.

Just Quick Update

2008-10-24T17:03:00.001+07:00

Well, just another quick update about my life.

It's been 2 months.

It's been JUST 2 months.

Berat gw naik 7 pounds.

Homecoming Dance!

2008-10-13T00:15:00.002+07:00

Hari Sabtu kemaren, ada acara Homecoming dance di sekolah. Basically katanya mah homecoming dance tu kita nari2 geje gtu lah. Tapii, cewe2nya harus make dress gtu. Gw kan gamau, ga bisa, dan ga akan make dress,, jadi agak bingung juga ni. Gw nanya si BJ, katanya dia ke homecoming make kebaya! (gw udah pernah nulis tentang ini belum sih? Asa udah.) Akhirnya gw memutuskan untuk make rok sama baju batik gtu. Hehe..

Kita dateng per-group gtu. Gw dateng bareng a bunch of Emma's friends. Kita ke rumah temennya Emma dulu, makan2. Trus di sana kita riweuh ber-dandan ria, keketawaan ga jelas. Selesai dandan segala macem, kita fofotoan ampe hampir 1 jam. Finally, kita berangkat juga. Homecoming dancenya di cafetorium sekolah yang disulap jadi tempat strategis buat headbang dan nari2 lompat2,, sriusan. Begitu pertama dateng ke sana, gw berusaha banget buat ga shock ngeliat dress yang dipake orang. pendek2 dan terbuka gtu (obviously lah). Yaudah deh. Kita dateng jam setengah 9, dan nari2 lompat2 gtu 2 jam non-stop. Mukee nyerah, kecapean. Setelah 2 jam yang gila, kita istirahat dulu, trus nari2 lagi X) Hahahaa.. Ketemu banyak orang banget di sana. banyak temen baru deh. Jam 11an, acaranya selesai.

Kita ga langsung pulang. Kita ke Kroger (supermarket) dulu, borong es krim sama pop corn, rent horror movie,, trus ke rumah Cassie. Di rumah Cassie kita makan2 deh, sambil nonton film. Kira2 jam 2 subuh kita pulang, soalnya Emma kerja jam 10 paginya. Tidurnya kira2 jam 3 subuh gtu,, dengan kaki yang rasanya mau potong. Iyalah, secara semingguan ini gw marching tiap hari (biasanya maen marimba doang, ga marching), hari Jumat apalagi, cape banget habis game. Ditambah lagi ini, lompat2 nari pas homecoming. Hff.. My poor feet. Jadi deh hari ini, Minggu,, hari tenang dan damai, istirahat sehariaaan.. Tepar!

Homecoming Game!

2008-10-12T18:04:00.003+07:00

Jum'at kemarin ada homecoming game di Scioto. Tapi karena minggu ini homecoming week, jadi kami (Marching Band) bikin formasi baru buat pre-game. Biasanya kita masuk lapangan, mainin lagu nasionalnya USA yang judulnya sprankle banner something (lupa!), trus bikin dua line sambil mainin fight song. I'm not good at describing visual, pokoknya minggu ini kita bikin formasi yang beda. Buat pre-game ga ada marimba & xylophone, jadi anak2 pit (termasuk gw) megang cymbals. Kita main lagu You Dropped a Bomb on Me. Enakeun loh lagunya. hehe.. Trus at the and of the show kita bikin formasi buat nulis "DUBLIN" gede2. Gw kebagian berdiri di huruf Bnya, Mukee di huruf D, Emma di L. Hahaa.. Sayang deh ngga bisa liat. Keren loh X)

Nahh,, sebelum game, seperti biasa anak2 band dinner per section. Pit juga dinner bareng, dan tema conversation kali ini adalah President Election. Kita voting. Dari 10 orang, 5 orang vote for Obama, 2 for McCain, 3 orang ga peduli. Dan ujung2nya kita jadi ngomongin semua policy yang pernah dibuat (terutama American Foreign Policy). Dan gw harus bener2 nahan diri buat ga ngomong, karna gw tau kalo gw,, Egalita Irfan, junior, debater (presumably), 3rd speaker, frantic, hobi ngasih rebuttals, 2nd runner up ALSA National English Debate Championship (naon deui..), dipuji coach debate atas ke-sarkas-annya kalo ngasih rebuttals karena sarkasmenya bisa bikin rebuttals jadi convincing,, ngomong, pasti keluar segala macem argumen dan rebuttals gw tentang America, yang bisa jadi sangat offensive buat orang Amerika. Jadi gw diem sepanjang conversation, bikin argumen sama rebuttals dalem hati, ga berani ngomong, ampe Sean nanya "You dont know anything about american politics, do you?" hahahaa. Ketawa gw. "I understand everything you guys are talking about, I just dont wanna talk because I dont want to offend anyone." Nahh, penasaranlah orang2 semeja. Semuanya minta gw ngomong. jack bilang terserah mau ngomong apa juga gapapa, ga ada yang ngerasa ter-offend kok. Gw kekeuh gamau. Gw bisa jadi SANGAT2 sarkas (silakan tanya Marsha Faradina Roehimat buat konfirmasi). Finally, setelah Mick bilang kalo gw gamau ngomong juga gw harus lari 1 lap lapangan football, gw ngomong. Gw mati2an menahan diri lah. Gw dengan sangat hati2 mengemukakan gimana gw ga setuju sama policiesnya amerika, invading Iraq segala macem. Dan ga ada yang merasa ter-offend, untungnya :)

Pualng dari game kita ga langsung ke rumah. Kita mampir katanya mau makan2 gtu. Ternyata, kita mampir ke gereja gtu. Jadi kayaknya Hailey sama Katherin volunteer buat gereja, dan di sana kita makan2 pizza gratis sama ngemil2. Hehe.. Katemu banyak orang di sana. Banyak temen baru dehh.. Udahannya lari2an di aulanya, lepar2 bola. Heheu..

Next : homecoming dance!

Band Competition - Bellbrook

2008-10-05T23:34:00.003+07:00

Tadi malem nyampe rumah jam 2. CAPEnya setengah mampus. Tapi seneng banget, Dublin Scioto Marching Band Juara 1 di class 4A, dapet Best Music, Best Visual, Best Percussion (Percussion termasuk pit looh. Hehee..). Overall 2nd grand champion. Total berapa piala tuh?

Buat gw (walopun belum jadi grand champion) ini udah prestasi banget. Gw baru dapet part baru buat lagu Fields of Gold (karna Mr. Vogt mengenggap part yang selama ini gw mainin di lagu itu terlalu gampang buat gw), dan kalo DSHS Marching Band ampe dapet best percussion (which means pit nilainya bagus), berarti I've done that part well. hehe.. :)

But apparently I have a real big problem that I will be facing for the next one and a half month everytime we have to perform : udaranya DINGIN banget! Gw udah make kaos 3 lapis + jaket juga masi menggigil! Kaya tadi malem. Anak2 pit menatap gw dengan iba pas gw menyatakan kalo gw akan mati kedinginan bentar lagi. Mareka untungnya langsung bertindak cepat : Hailey sama Olivia langsung meluk gw biar anget, Mick lari nyari sarung tangan buat gw pake, Sean nepuk2 tangan gw biar anget, even si Jason yang gila juga turut prihatin. Katherine janji mau ngebawain jaket winter dia buat gw tiap kali kita ada game atau lomba malem2, katanya biar gw ga mati sebelum musim lomba selesai. Jack ngebantuin apapun yang gw lakukan : dari ngedorong marimba ampe masang & ngelepas cymbals. Pas ngangkut marimba ke truk Stephanie lari2 bawa selimut tebel buat gw pake. Hukss.. Gila gw terharu banget.

Begitu Mr. Grey (Band Directornya) ngeliat gw, dia nanya , "Egalita, are you feeling cold?" which I personally think is not a proper question, since it was really obvious that I was freezing. Pas gw bilang "YES", Mr. Grey sambil ketawa bilang kalo ini tuh belum ada apa2nya,, real definiton of "cold" tu masih bulan depan. Setelah Mr. Grey successfully menambah beban pikiran gw, gw ketemu Mr. Chesser. Dia ngeliat gw jalan dorong2 marimba sambil make selimut, dan nanya "Are you okay, Egalita?". Oh, BAGUS banget. "Oh well, yes, Mr. Chesser. Apparently I am JUST freezing." Dan Mr. Chesser mengatakan, "Wow, really? It is not even cold for me. You'd better be prepared for next month." hahaha.. GA DINGIN katanya??? Gila aja. Dann,, perjalanan mendorong marimba pun berlanjut. Terus ketemu Mr. Lewis. And, believe it or not, dia bilang, "I hope you're not feeling cold, Egalita. If you are, just wait until the next month and you will definitely feel COLD." WAW. OKE. Thank you, people. Thank you for telling me that I will be dying next month! Si Mick yang ngedorong vibraphonenya di belakang gw nepuk2 kepala gw dan bilang, "don't worry Omelet, we'll make sure that you are alive until spring." (* note : dulu Mick manggil gw "Egg" dan gw ngamuk. Sekarang dia menggil gw "Omelet" soalnya dalam omelet ada telur juga. Dang.) Dengan tatapan sedih gw bilang, "Mick, I wanna go home." Dann, dia ketawa ngakak. Padahal gw serius tu ngomongnya..

Anda2 yang yang membaca blog ini dan menganggap saya meng-exaggerate-kan kondisi tadi malem. Anda SALAH. Tadi malem temperaturnya ada lah 3-5 derajat Celcius mah. Huhuhu.. Salah satu tmen gw yang maen clarinet cerita, katanya di sini kalo winter bisa jadi ekstrim banget dinginnya. Katanya kalo kita keluar pas lagi dingin banget, kita bisa somehow ngerasain darah di dalem pembuluh darah kita BEKU. Gilo. Mau teriak aja gw.

People, doain gw. Gw gamau mati sebelum bisa maen Carmen Fantasy!

Nilai

2008-10-04T01:18:00.001+07:00

Hahaa.. Senang.

Kemarin dibagiin nilai2 untuk 1st quarter,, semacem rapot sementara gitu.. Dan hasilnyaa..

1. Public speaking : A
2. AP US Government & Politics : B
3. Systems of the Earth : B+
4. Calculus : A
5. Band : A
6. Music Theory : A
7. Advanced ESL : A

Note bahwa B di kelas Advanced Placement tu sama dengan A di kelas biasa. Jadi kesimpulannya, yang di bawah A cuman Systems of the Earth! Dang. Padahal I’m aiming higher di Systems of the earth. Sementara gw ga nyangka banget bisa dapat B (a.k.a. A) di AP US! Hohoho..

Nah, rapot sementara ini harus ditandatangan orang tua. Jadi gw kasih deh kertasnya ke hostparents gw. Dan mereka seneng banget ngeliat nilai2 gw (nilai2 Mukee & Emma ga begitu bagus sih..) Dan di kelas kalkulus mendadak banyak yang nanya2 soal2 susah sama gw. Mukee sama Emma juga jadi sering nanya2 PR (Muke ngambil kelas Algebra, Emma ngambil Precalculus). FYI, sekarang masih belajar limit dan soal2nya gampang banget lah. Susahan soal2 limit waktu kelas 2!

Di kelas Public Speaking, itu nilai berdasarkan performance speech. Di kelasnya ternyata yang dapet A cuman 2 orang. Hehe.. Jadi inget. Pas minggu lalu habis gw ngasi speech tentang Exchange student program (speechnya harus tentang diri sendiri), orang2 sekelas pada ribut nanya kalo di Indonesia gw emang ngomong pake bahasa inggris (sumpah gw boasting abis. Heheh.) Buat tes speech berikutnya harus informatif, temanya bebas. Mungkin gw mau ngomong tentang Sudan. Gw udah sering ngedebatin tentang itu jadi mungkin bisa ngomong tentang Darfur lebih lancar (jadi inget lomba2 debat yang telah lalu. Hiks...) Oia, kata guru Public Speaking gw, gw ngomoingnya udah lumayan pelan! Hehe..

Sekarang udah musim gugur. Latian marching band ke lapangan tiap hari. DINGIN sumpah da. Berangin2 gitu.. parah banget. Padahal siang jam 12an. Kemaren malah gw ampe dipinjemin jaket sama Katherine saking parahnya gw kedinginan.. Minggu ini ada lomba band lagi. Doakaan..

Kemaren habis lebaran gw nelpon orang tua gw. Mereka bilang di sini gw seneng2 aja, jangan sedih mulu. Kalo gw bermuram durja terus nanti nyesel! Well, iya juga sih. Cape sedih2 mulu.

Homesick buat gw kayaknya now and forever deh. Ga bisa ngilang! Tapi udah ada solvencynya : make myself busy!

Fierce!

Don't Quit

2008-09-30T16:36:00.002+07:00

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging
seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want
to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest,
if you must... but don't quit.

Life is queer with its twists and
turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns
And many times a failure turns
about,
When he might have won he had stuck it out,
Don't give out though
the peace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.

Often
the goal is nearer than it seems,
to faint ad faltering man...
Often the
struggler has given up
when he might have captured the victory's cup,
And
he learned too late, when night slipped down...
How close he was to the
folden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver
tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It
may be near when it seems far,
So stick to the fight when you are hardest
hit,
It is when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Yep, itu yang tertulis di halaman 19 buku National Orientation AFS.

Hari ini Idul Ftri.

Sejak insiden gw milih ke mesjid daripada band, hostmom gw jadi agak gimanaaa gitu. Tadi malem pas gw minta anterin ke mesjid buat solat Ied, dia bilang dia ga yakin bisa, soalnya dia udah bikin janji sama dokter gigi. Paniklah gw. Gw bener2 pengen ke masjid lah..

Untungnya, gw punya temen di sini. Gw nelpon Soz, dan (lagi2) dia kindly bersedia nganter dan jemput gw buat solat Ied. Gila gw terharu banget. Well, sejak dateng ke sini rasanya nangis jadi perkara mudah. Trus gw nelpon orangtua gw. Pas gw ngedenger suara mereka, ga tahan da gw pengen pulang! Selama ini Idul Fitri lewat begitu aja; gw ga pernah mengapresiasi kebersamaan sama keluarga pas Idul Fitri segitunya. Sekarang gw nyesel, berharap bisa balik ke masa lalu, biar gw bisa bareng2 keluarga gw pas hari besar..

Hari ini Idul Fitri.

Berharap bisa terbang pulang ke Indonesia sekarang ga ada gunanya, gw tau. Tapi gimanapun juga gw ga bisa ngerubah stereotype Idul Fitri di kepala gw : bareng2 keluarga besar, makan ketupat, kumpul2 sama sodara2, halal bihalal...

Hari ini Idul Fitri.

And I'm here all alone.

But one thing for sure : don't quit.

Put-in-Bay Trip!

2008-09-28T18:19:00.004+07:00

Minggu pagi, begitu pulang dari mesjid langsung berangkat lagi. Put in bay tu pulau gitu, udah deket2 Kanada sana. kita berangkat bareng2 iring2in entah barapa mobil,, yang isinya exchange students dari mana2 sama hostfamiliesnya, plus Peg, local coordinator. naik mobil 2 jam-an (gw mah tidur. Cape habis begadang) Trus naik ferry ampe ke pulaunya.

Nyampe di pulaunya kita naik bus ke tempat shopping. Trus lunch. Trus kita ke monumennya gtu.. Muter2 pulau. Pemandangan dari puncak monumennya BAGUS banget gila.

Walopun gw lagi cape banget, tapi asik jalan2 sama exchange students dari berbagai negara. DAri Turki, Thailand, Slovakia, Belanda, China, Mongol, Ceko,, banyak lah pokoknya. Belajar bahasa mereka dikit2..

Singkatnya, begitu nyampe rumah kaki gw asa mau potong. CAPE vsundh da. Dan sekarang gw ngantuuk.. Mana ada PR kalkulus sama PR AP US Government pulaa..

*yang mau liat foto2 put-in-bay,, ada di facebook sama friendster gw :)

** lagi bingung mau solat Ied dimana & gimana..

Band vs. Mosque

2008-09-28T17:49:00.002+07:00

Okay, it's been a month and a half, and problems appear, of course.

Jadi gini, hostmom gw waktu awal Ramadhan janji mau nganter gw ke mesid buat tarawih, paling ngga sekali during Ramadhan. tapi sekarang Ramadhannya udah mau tamat dan gw belum pernah sekalipun ke mesjid sejak gw dateng ke sini, hostmom gw sibuk kerja tiap malem jadi dia ga sempet nganter gw. Nahh, kan tiap lunch gw ke perpus tuh,, gw kenalan sama muslim2 lain di sekolah gw yang juga puasa, salah satunya namanya Soz, orang Irak kalo ga salah,, pake jilbab juga dia. Dia ngajakin gw ke mesjid buat tarawih hari Sabtu malem, dan nginep ampe minggu pagi! Jadi hari sabtu tu ada acara kumpul mulsim2 di sekitar Colombus buat tarawih sama ada diskusi2 gtu.. Ya iyalah gw pengen banget ikut! Lebih bagusnya lagi,, waktu gw bilang gw ga yakin gw bisa ke mesjid karna 1. ga ada yang nganter dan 2. gw gatau mesjidnya di mana,, Soz nawarin buat ngejemput gw naek mobil ke rumah hostfam gw, dan nganterin gw pulang minggu paginya ampe rumah. Sweet. Ya udah, gw minta izin ke hostmom gw dan dia happily ngizinin gw pergi. So, no problem so far.

Nah,, hari kamis malem, Soz nelpon gw. Katanya, acaranya jadinya Jumat. And guess what? Problem.

i'm in marching band, dan kita punya game tiap Jumat malem,, obligatory buat semua anak band. Berarti gw haris milih, either tampil di game ato ke mesijid. Please highlight bahwa ini tu minggu terakhir Ramadhan dan kalau gw ga ke mesjid minggu ini berarti gw ga ke masjid sama sekali dalam bulan ramadhan.. Soo,, gw memutuskan buat ngomong ke band directornya. Dia bilang, kalo mau ngasi excuse buat ga dateng band, harusnya di awal minggu gtu,, jangan ngedadak. Well,, iya sih.. Tapi gw juga baru tau kalau ada perubahan jadwal kemarennya,, jadi ya ga bisa digimana2in lagii. Dan akhirnya dia bilang kalo gw ga mau dateng ya udah ga usah dateng, tapi itu akan jadi unexcused absent,, which is not good.

Akhirnya gw bikin pros & consnya, mau dateng game ato ke mesjid? It ended up with gw pengen ke mesjid ajaa.. Soo,, pulang skul gw ngomong lagi ke Mr. grey kalo gw ga akan dateng game, tapi gw janji sama dia kalo ini akan jadi yang pertama dan terakhir kalinya gw ga dateng game. Mr grey baik sih,, jadi yaudah katanya gapapa, tapi gw harus work harder on my marimba with 4 mallads (FYI, minggu kemaren gw latian marimba pake 4 mallads ampe kulit tangan gw ngelupas!) yaudah deh,, dengan mengesampingkan segala macem awkwardness, gw ga dateng ke game. Hostmom gw juga kayaknya setengah ga setuju kalo gw bolos band ke mesjid,, tapi ya mau gimana lagii..

Malemnya, Soz dateng ngejemput ke rumah sama Rozh (kakaknya) dan bokapnya. Mesjidnya di Columbus, ga begitu jauh dari rumah. Dann,, sampailah kita di mesjid. Mesjidnya ga terlalu besar sih.. Udah lumayan banyak orang pas gw dateng. Dan,, gw solat isya + tarawih di sana, dan parah banget lah. 4 rakaat = 1 jam! Imamnya baca surat pendeknya PANJANG banget! Ckck.. Selesai solah tarawih (yang sangat2 lama), kita bikin forum gitu sama akhwat2nya. Gw ketemu orang2 dari Afghanistan yang sekolah di sini. rame lah. Trus kita diskusi mengenai lailatul Qadr, trus ngaji ampe subuh. Jam 3an solat tahajud. tus sahur rame2. makanannya disediain di sanaa.. Jadi itu tu pertama (dam mungkin terakhir) kalinya gw sahur ga sendirian! Seneng banget gw! banyak orang yang nanya2 soal Indonesia and stuffs (karna Soz udah cerita2 mengenai gw sebelum gw dateng), dan mereka baik banget..

Udah sahur, solat subuh (yang juga sangat2 lama). Trus pulang deh. Dan begitu nyampe rumah gw langsung berangkat lagi ke put-in-bay,, ada acara anak2 exchange students gtu.. Dan cerita selengkapnya mengenai put-in-Bay silakan baca postingan berikutnya :)

Friends

2008-09-20T17:54:00.002+07:00

Friends.

Ada banyak sih di sini. Emma, hostsister gw yang perhatian sama orang tapi gampang stress. Mukee, another hostsister yang rajin + rapi tapi bahasa inggrisnya ga bagus. Mick, vibraphone player, squad leader section pit yang gila tapi bisa jadi sangat bertanggung jawab in certain cases. hailey, vibraphone player, juga squad leader pit, sangat tenang dan kadang2 obsesif. Sean, drum player, sama gilanya dengan Mick, suka men-torture orang (a. k. a. gw). Jack, marimba player, salah satu orang terjago di pit. Olivia, marimba player, freshmen, anaknya lucu banget lah. Katherine, glockenspiel player, sahabatnya Emma, sangat2 talkactive. CA (Crazy Asian), marimba player, sangat jago maen pake 4 mallads. Jason, marimba player, another insane member, anak setengah jerman yang kekeuh mem-pronounce nama ge "igalita" walopun udah berkali2 dibilangin harusnya "egalita". Jamie, konduktor band, temen sekelas di AP US Government. Kaitlin, clarinet player, squad leadernya clarinet, tegas banget orangnya. Katasha, clarinet player, ngomongnya CEPET banget gila. Pasision, trumpet player, penggemar the beatles. Kelly, temen sekelas di Public speaking. Sravanti, orang india, megang flag di marching band. Jenny, flag juga, sekelas di public speaking. Masaki, cewe Jepang, main tuba di band, ga bisa mem-pronounce "butterfly". Mikika, orang Jepang juga, main clarinet, sekelas di ESL class.. Beth, flute player, kembarannya Kristin. Dan masih banyak lagi temen2 yang lain (termasuk yang gw lupa namanya)..

now, the reason kenapa gw ngomongin semua ini adalah,, kemarin Jamie ngeliat buku gw, dan di buku gw tu ada foto kels 2 ipa 8, yang ada tulisannya "jika tua nanti kita tlah hidup masing2, ingatlah hari ini". Trus dia nanya apa maksud tulisannya. yagw translate aja ke bahasa inggris. Btw, banyak anak2 band yang muji2 foto 2 ipa 8 loh :). Anyway, gw jadi kepikiran sama kata2 di foto dan ingatan gw melayang ke semua anak2 SMA 3 (halah).. dan so sudden gw ngerasa takut.

Gw takut banget kalo ntar gw udah tua gw akan ngelupain semuanya. temen2 di indonesia, temen2 gw di sini, segala macem yang gw alamin. Well, I dont have THAT much incredible experience, but I value everything I've done in my life as precious, and i just dont want to forget them all. gw bener2 GAMAU lupa sama semua orang yang gw sayangin sekarang.

Gw sendiri bingung sebenernya normal ga sih gw mikir kaya gini? "Ingatlah hari ini". susah banget buat gw, since gw super pelupa gini.. Mungkin ini alasan kenapa pas orientasi di Washington DC, kita dikasih buku gitu buat jurnal kita selama setaun, biar kita nyatet semua yang kita alamin selama hidup di USA. biar kita GA LUPA.

I'll make any effort not to forget everything. Gw sayang sama temen2 gw, now and forever. Ga bisa hidup tanpa mereka..

ingetin gw kalo gw lupa! :)

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-20T17:38:00.002+07:00

Minggu lalu Dublin & Columbus kena hurricane nyasar.

Well, sebenernya ngga juga sih. Tapi hurricane Ike yang melanda Amerika Serikat bagian selatan efeknya nyampe sini,, walaopun minggu kemaren tu Ike udah ngga masuk katagori 4 lagi.. kalo ga salah udah tinggal tropical storm deh (Hahaa.. Ini mah efek dari systems of the earth class. Heu.)

Jadi, minggu lalu, dari minggu sore ampe selasa listrik mati. Internet juga ga nyala. Soalnya pas minggu sore angin gede banget. pohon tetangga di depan rumah ampe tumbang,, dan pohon di halaman rumah juga tumbang dari tengah ke atas. Jadi,, selama 2 hari gw sahur gelap2an,, cuman pake senter juga. Ada lilin sih, tapi definitely gw GAMAU make lilin (jangan tanya kenapa). But the good thing is, sekolah libur hari Senin-Selasa. Hehe.. Dan Rabunya masuk tapi 2-hour late start gtu.. Untungnya mati listriknya cuman 2 hari. tadinya malah ada gosip kalo mati listriknya ampe seminggu! Buset dah.. tapi beberapa temen gw belum nyala lagi listriknya ampe sekarang, which is,, udah seminggu..

Nah, kata Hailey, kalo winter nanti juga kadang2 mati listrik,, dan kalo gitu sekolahnya bisa diliburin ampe 5 hari! (I might just die during winter. Sekarang aja baru masuk fall dan dinginnya kaya setan!)

Hari Selasanya ge buka puasa di restoran the Taste of Bali. heheu.. Makan nasi sama opor sama rendang (and Emma cant even pronounce them. Heu.)! Gila gw kangen banget sama masakan Indonesia!

Rutinitas

2008-09-14T17:18:00.004+07:00

Yep, rutinitas tiap hari : pagi sahur jam 5, berangkat sekolah jam 7, pas lunch ke perpus, sekolah sampe jam 2. 25, latian band jam 3.15 ampe 5.30, pulang, nyampe rumah ngerjain PR, jam 8 buka puasa, jam 10 tidur. Kalo ada lomba band atau kompetisi band, buka puasa di tengah2 gamenya.. Nyampe rumah bisa jam 1 malem kaya kemaren (FYI, game ada tiap minggu hari Jum'at sementara lomba ada hampir tiap minggu).. Begitulah perjuangan hidupkuu *naon deui*

Udah lumayan bisa meng-handle homesick nih.. Oia, Marsha sama Arum,, di kelas kalkulus gw dapet 100 udah 2x (huahahaha). Kalkulus tuh kelas senior yang sangat ditakuti orang2 karna konon katanya susah banget. Buat anak2 Indonesia mah pasti gampang :)

Contrary to calculus class, gw ngerasa agak ketinggalan di kelas AP US Government & Politics. Well, since itu kelas Advenced Placement, pelajarannya emang susah sih.. Sekarang gurunya mulai ngomongnya kaya si Norman (yang bahasa Inggrisnya teu kaharti). Harus catch up nih gw..

Banyak temen2 di sini.. terutama anak2 pit yang abnormal semua. Oia, kan tiap lunch gw ke perpus mulu,, di sana gw kenalan deh sama anak2 yang muslim & lagi pada puasa juga. terus gw nanya2 mengenai mesjid, Idul Fitri etc. Dan nant pas Idul Fitri gw mau bolos sekolah! Mau solat ke mesjid (dan hostmom gw kindly mau nganter gw ke sana).

Tau ga kmaren gw buka puasa pake apa? CENDOL SAMA ES TELER dong! Huahaha.. gw juga shock banget tiba2 makanan2 Indonesia ini nongol di meja makan! Asa bodor we, makan cendol sama es teler di USA. Wkwkwk. Ternyata hostmom gw nyari restoran Indonesia gtu,, trun gw dibeliin deh. And, gw udah ga kangen lagi sama nasi soalnya hostmom gw ngebeliin gw rice cooker gtu,, jadi gw bsa makan nasi tiap hari! Haha.. Seneng banget gw.. Bahkan hampir tiap sahur, pas gw nengok rice cookernya, udah ada nasi di situ! Dibikinin hostmom gw..

Di marching band, di lagu pertama gw main marimba, lagu kedua juga marimba (gw udah meninggalkan xylophone kecilku tersayang soalnya udah ada marimba gede yang bsa gw pake)..

Smangat!

"Hi, I'm an exchange student from Indonesia"

2008-09-07T10:16:00.003+07:00

Yep,, itu adalah kata2 sakti yang entah udah berapa ratus kali gw ucapin ke entah berapa ratus orang (yes, I love exaggerating) sejak gw dateng ke sini.. Ke guru2, temen2 baru, banyak lah. But somehow, tiap kali gw ngucapin kalimat itu, terasa banget ada beban di pundak gw,, kepercayaan yang ga bisa gw sia2in. Gw merepresentasikan entah berapa juta orang Indonesia melalui tingkah laku gw, kata2 gw. BERAT banget gila. Gw harus jadi anak baik yang memberikan impression yang baik ke semua orang,, kalo gw gagal, gw harus minta maaf sama semua orang di Indonesiaaa...

Well, karna ada title "exchange student" membayangi kemanapun gw melangkah, jadi banyak juga orang yang pengen tau lebih lanjut tentang Indonesia. Temen2 gw, misalnya,, ada yang ngabisin 30 menit buat nanya2 mengenai eksistensi McD dan fastfood companies di Indonesia.

Hari Kamis lalu gw ngebagiin semacem booklet yang dikasih kedutaan Indonesia di Washington DC ke guru2 gw. Di dalemnya ada DVD sama peta Indonesia, trus ada gambar2 baju sama rumah adat juga.. Nah, besoknya,, salah satu guru gw yang namanya Mr. Watkins, guru mata pelajaran Systems of the Earth, ternyata majang peta Indonesianya di depan kelas,, which makes me really happy :) Trus pas gw menyatakan terimakasih udah majang petanya di depan kelas, dia bilang makasih balik trus mulai bertanya2 mengenai tsunami di Indonesiaa.. Nanya2nya lama, di depan kelas pulaa..

Di kelas kalkulus, guru gw tadinya ga yakin gitu sama kemampuan gw. Tapi setelah dapet 90% di quiz pertama (salah 1 nomer,, gw ngitung 2+1 malah jadi -3. Darn) dan 80% di quiz kedua (salah gara2 masalah bahasa nih.. Gw kira intersection sama intersects tu samaa),, akhirnya sepertinya dia yakin juga kalo gw bsa ngikutin pelajaran dengan baik (halah)..

Kadang2 pertanyaannya bukan tentang Indonesia aja. Misalnya,, kemarin Mick nanya kenapa gw puasa. Sean juga nanya kenapa gw pake jilbab. Hff.. jadi beban lain adalaah,, bukan hanya harus bertingkah laku baik, gw juga harus bisa menjawab pertanyaan2 apapun tentang gw,, tentang negara asal, tentang agama, tentang APAPUN.

Yah,, gw harus belajar lebih banyak lagi nih..

*strugglingduringRamadhan.Fight!

For People Whom I Love So Much

2008-09-04T07:58:00.002+07:00

Mama, Papa, Adla, Fazel,,

Ega di sini baik2 ajaa.. Tapi somehow bulan ini bakal berat banget.. Biasanya kita sekeluarga sahur dan buka puasa bareng.. skarang Ega sahur sendirian (walopun hostfam Ega mau nunggu Ega buka puasa biar dinnernya bareng).. Sekarang homesicknya JAUH lebih parah.. ga mungkin ga nangis tapi sekarang ega udah bisa lebih dewasa nyikapinnya. Apalagi sekolahnya sibuk banget,, ditambah kegiatan marching band tiap hari pulang sekolah, sama perform marching bandnya hampir tiap minggu.. Kali ini ega ngga main xylophone, Ega main glockenspiel buat Synchronicity closer (buat Synchronicity Openernya ega main marimba). Apalagi Mr. grey lagi berusaha masukin Ega ke orkestra. kalau jadi, nanti tambah sibuk deh. Temen2nya udah lumayan banyak. emang lebih susah nyari temen di sini daripada di indonesia sih.. Tapi Ega temennya banyak kok.. Hostfam ega juga baik2 aja. jadi mama sama papa ga usah terlalu khawatirin Ega. Everything's fine :)

Relatives, tante2, om2, kakak2,,

makasih banget udah ngirim email2 yang nyemangatin ega.. terutama waktu ega lagi homesick. appreciate them so much! Ega emang butuh banget dukungan moral ni.. Hehe.. Jangan lupa doain Ega terutama buat ngadepin ramadhan nih.. :)

Marsha Faradina Roehimat,,

Gw tau gimana lu sibuk buat kelas 3. Same goes here, apparently now i'm having so many obstacles I have to pass. But as usual, just believe that everything will be allrite. Struggle for the best! Thx banget udah nyupport gw dari jauh. U're my best 1st speaker ever! Tolong monitorin newbies 3,, dan kasihtau gw mengenai competitions (yang paling deket kan phyxius ni..) sama sekalian kalo lu nganggur kirimin gw daftar motion dong.. Missing u so much, buddy!

Anak2 SMAN 3 Bandung : pami, Afifa, Ticeu, Wewe, Yoyo, tristi, Arum, Kiki, Sizi, Zahra, Ayu, Uchup; terutama smua anak2 X-3, XI IPA 8, sama XII IPA 3 2009 dan Resu!

Smangat! Udah kelas 3! Jangan YMan mulu! Heu.. Belajar yang bener, friends,, biar kalian successfully bisa masuk ITB ato kedokteran. Gw kangen banget sama kalian! Pengan maen DDR sama hang out bareng.. nanti kalo gw pulang kalian jangan jadi sombong sia! (ato malah gw yang jadi sombong? :p)

Debaters 3 : Marini, Gichie, hugo, Dian, dan para newbies,,

KALIAN GA BOLEH KALAH DI ALSA!!! Well, bukan cuman di ALSA aja sih.. Bukannya mau membebani kalian, tapi AT LEAST kalian harus berhasil menang di kompetisi2 yang kita menangin taun laluu.. Jadii,, dengerin apa kata coach, semenyakitkan apapun itu (personal experience nih.. And I'm SERIOUS.) Jadiin semuanya motivasi. kalo ada yang ga ngerti langsung tanyain aja sama coach atau ke any ITB debaters. Ayo smangaat! kalian pasti bisaa! X)

SEF ITB: Uphie, Pandu, Masyhur, Norman, William tua, Elfa, bana, Ade, Nik, Farah, Raisha, Gilang, dan newbies 2008 (walopun gw ga sempet ketemu kalian),,

Pengen karaoke sama kaliaaaaaaaaan!!! Uphie jangan kejam2 sama newbies (this refers to both newbies 3 & ITB),, at least jangan di awal2 (kalo udah di tengah kesananya silakan torture tuh anak2. heu.) kasihtau gw kalo kalian menang Worlds (amin amin amin) ato kompetisi apapun (Yes, gw gamau ketinggalan gosip di dunia perdebatan Indonesia). Buat debaters selain Uphie, gw MINTA TOLONG banget,, tolong sekali2 liatin anak2 3, sama TOLONG sparring sama merekaa... They need u guys! Heu.. Biarkanlah mereka mengintrude latian kalian (sebagaimana para pendahulu mereka a.k.a. gw dan Marsha) mengintrude latian kalian.. Hoho.. thx ya. Appreciate it :)

Last but NOT least,, temen2 AFSer seperjuangan dimanapun kalian berada,,

SEMANGAAT! jadi "duta muda bangsa" emang ga gampang,, tapi kita udah di sini.. Jadii.. We have to struggle! Pasti semuanya juga pernah mikir pengen pulang. Pasti semuanya ngerasain homesick. Pasti semuanya punya masalah masing2.. Tapi kita pasti punya solvencynya kok. We're mighty AFSer! :)

I love u all, guys.

*In certain conditions, big girls DO cry.

Spratley daughters, Mukee and I

2008-09-03T08:11:00.002+07:00

* Look at Hannah's face on Emma's butt! X)

Chicago!

2008-09-03T08:02:00.002+07:00

Hyaaa... Chicago di siang teriik...

This Weekend..

2008-09-03T06:50:00.004+07:00

Jadii.. Minggu kemaren bener2 such a LONG weekend.

Jumat kemarin gw perform band (lagi)..

Ternyata udah jadi semacem ritual gitu sebelum perform, anak2 marching band per-section HARUS makan2 dulu somewhere. So, kami anak2 pit (plus Mukee) makan2 ke tempat yang namanya noodle-something (lupaa as usual), dan ternyata ada menu Indonesian gtu. Dann rasanya BEDA vsund sama rasa "Indonesia" (get what I mean?). Setelah berhasil lolos dari usaha pembunuhan Sean (pronounce it "Shaun") selama perjalanan pergi dan pulang,, (si Sean GILA itu berusaha membunuh gw dengan sabuk pengaman. It's a "DUH".) Well,, it ended up Sean berusaha ngebunuh gw, Jason berusaha ngebunuh Mukee, Sean dan Json berusaha ngebunuh CA (Crazy Asian, also known as Jonathan), dan gw dan Mukee berusaha ngebunuh Mick. Anyway, setelah perjalanan yang TENANG, DAMAI, dan AMAN (believe you me, ga ada pertumpahan darah),, kita nyampe di skul, dan siap2 buat perform. Kali ini performnya di Scioto,, jadi gw ga usah ngangkut2 marimba and stuffs ke truk (Thank God).

Dann, anak2 pit ini pada ngakak setiap kali gw bilang "shit" ato "bloody hell". Padahal (silakan tanya Marsha atau Marini atau anak2 ITB tentang yang ini) kan biasa banget. Cuman ngomong gitu doang. Laluu.. usaha pembunuhan gw yang kedua dilakukan oleh Mr. Mick Early yang sangat2 insane dan sinting (Yes, salah satu alasan kenapa gw nulis blog ini make Bahasa Indonesia adalah biar kalau mereka baca, ga ada yang ngerti!). Mick,, dia ngajakin toss gitu tapi yang ada malah dia NAMPAR tangan gw ampe mati rasa (gw ga exaggerating!),, and the same thing goes to Emma and Mukee.. haduu..

Hari Sabtu pagi, berangkat di Chicago (yang gatau Chicago dimana silakan liat di peta).

Nyampe di sana, langsung ke Navy Pier, BELANJA. Yes, of course. Ga se-hedon gitu juga sih, tapi kan tetep aja namanay belanja. Heu. Teruus,, muter2in danau michigan ampe cape banget. Hari Minggunya apalagi. kaki gw rasanya mau potong! Tapi asik sih. hehe.. kapan lagi bsa muter2 Chicago? X)

Lunchnya Thai food. Jadi gw ketemu NASI. Sriusan lah. Gw kangen banget sama nasii!!!

Malem Minggunya ada jazz festival. Gw ga suka jazz sih, tapi si Emma freak ni sama jazz. Zena sama Emma sempet berantem. Bikin gw jadi inget sama si Adla. Huks.. ga ada temen berantem di sinii.. Dasar Adla JELEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK. HUAAAAAAAAAAAA..... Kangeeeenn..

Jadiii... Kembali ke kehidupan sekolah dengan setumpuk PR. Dan hari ini ada quiz Kalkulus mendadak. tapi soalnya gampang sih (so far).. Dan ada PR AP US Government..
Mumpung inget! Berikut adalah jadwal skul gw (tiap hari jadwalnya sama, tiap pelajaran 43 minutes or so):

1. Systems of the Earth
2. Calculus
3. Music Theory
4. Advanced Placement US Government
5. Band
6. Advanced ESL English
7. Public Speaking (Argumentation and Debate class ONLY available for 2nd semester)
8. Academic Center (and Personal Physical Fitness for my 2nd semester)

Dan (buat Afifa nih) gw lagi berusaha buat masuk kelas orkestra. Mr. Gray (Band Director) udah janji mau nyariin biola yang bsa gw pake sekaligus posisi di orkestranya. Katanya kalo ga dapet biola mau diusahain viola.. Well,, viola sounds challenging.. Heu.. Jadi kalo di sini mah marching band ato orkestra tu bukan ekskul,, tapi emang pelajaran..

Huff.. Udah masuk bulan puasaa.. Puasa sendiri di negri oraaang..

Smangat!

Kangen smua orang di Indonesia..

Update

2008-08-29T23:15:00.002+07:00

Just a quick update, I'm going to Chicago this weekend with my host family! :)

Sekolahnya ramee! Ada PR Kalkulus!

Missing Indonesia so much!

Dan hari ini mau perform marching band lagii.. Kali ini di Scioto..

Go Scioto!

Go SMAN 3 Bandung!

Go SEF ITB!

*halah..

First Show!

2008-08-23T12:26:00.002+07:00

Yep. tadi itu pertama kalinya gw tampil sama Dublin Scioto High School (DSHS) Marching Band di pertandingan American Football,, dan inilah ceritanya....

Semuanya berawal dari nyabutin rumput.

Yea, siang2 gw nyabutin rumput gtu di halaman rumah.. bareng2 mom, Mukee, Emma, Zena, sama Hannya juga. Rame lah. Gila2an gtu.. (silakan bayangin sendiri gimana caranya orang bsa gila2an sambil nyabutin rumput)...

Laluu. Hari ini kan first show gw di DSHS marching band, disuruh kumpul dulu di skul jam 4 sore, tapi anak2 pit (maksudnya para pemain marimba, xylophone, drum) pada mau kumpul dulu. Since Emma ga bsa nganter gw jam segitu (janjian sama anak2 pit jam 1.30an) karna dia ada sectional practice (she plays baritone), jadi Hailey (xylophone player) pick me (and Mukee). She drives a car, dan begitu gw masuk mobilnya langsung terdengar lagu TAKE A BOWnya Rihanna. Sempet berkaca2 gw,, teringat smua yang terjadi di Indonesia... huks... Oh, okay,, lets just skip this part.

Jadii, kita ke skul dulu biar kumpul lengkap sama smua pit. Anak2 pit ada 10 orang : gw, Hailey, Mick, Jonathan, Catherine, Olivia, Stephany, Jack, Shaun and Jason. Oia, purpose kita kumpul2 ini adalah mau lunch bareng. hehe.. Dari skul kita berbondong2 3 mobil ke tempat lunchnya (lupa nama tempatnya apa). Gw naik mobil Hailey lagi, and she drives illegally. So, the fact is, Mr. Speaker, there's a law that prohibit a driver with lisence but still under 17 (Hailey is 16) years old to drive with more than 1 non-family member. jadii, kalo dia nyetir dengan gw dam Mukee (who are NOT her family mambers) itu ga boleh by law. But well, akhirnya berangkat juga. Mick leads the way. Lewat highway,, dan TERNYATA Hailey belum pernah nyetir lewat highway. She's kinda nervous, dan gw jadi nervous jugaa.. Anyway, akhirnya kami nyampe dengan selamat. Soo, kita makan siang dengan "tenang dan damai", trus balik ke skul siap2 buat perform (performnya bukan di DSHS). Gw sama Mukee naek mobil Mick (Mick IS 17), Jonathan naik mobinya Hailey (jadi Hailey nyetirnya legal sekarang. heu.) Andddd... guess what? lagu pertama yang gw denger begitu gw naik mobil Mick adalah BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY. Oh yeah. VERY nice. tapi kali ini gw ga sempet berkaca2.. Mick tu GILA dan di mobilnya emang rame (ada gw, Mukee, Mick, Shaun, Jack). dan lagu berikutnya dimulai dengan kata2 "SHIT" yang sangat keras dan jelas, dan si "shit" itu diulang berkali2 sepanjang lagunya. tapi lagunya enakeun sia! Jadi we kita menggila gtu nari2 geje di mobil sepanjang jalan..

Bgitu nyampe skul kita langsung ngangkut2 instrumen masing2 ke lapangan trus latian,, dijemur di bawah teriknya matahari musim panas Ohio (it's hot. Finally) Ada 2 lagu yang dimainin : Synchronicity (I love this song! Selain judulnya, gw juga suka musiknya. hoho..) sama 1 lagu lagi yang gw lupa judulnya apa sebenernya ada partiturnya di kamar gw di atas tapi males ngambilnyaaa) yang jelas lagu kedua juga enakeun. Habis latian, anak2 pit pada ngangkut peralatan ke truk sementara anak2 clarinet, flute dll pada tinggal masuk bus aja.. Setelah ngangkut2, akhirnya kita masuk bus jga. Dan gw duduk dengan seorang pemain clarinet yang ternyata orang Jepang. jadinya kita ngomong2in jepang sepanjang jalan gtu..

laluuu... Tampil deh gw maen marimba. Paling depan pula. heheu.. Rame banget lah! Gw kenalan sama banyak orang banget hari ini..

Akhirnya, kta balik lagi ke skul. Mick sempet stress karna tasnya ngilang, and i notice bahwa tasnya berwarna kuning (buat pengguna tas kuning, no offense),, tapi untungnya tasnya ketemu jga..

And now, here I am, jam 2 AM, lagi makan cookies with chocolate chipsnd a glass of milk, di depan laptop.

I love u all, people.

Appreciation

2008-08-21T21:37:00.002+07:00

Beneran deh, lu baru akan ngerasa apa yang lu punya tu berharga banget saat lo harus hidup pergi dari apa yang lu punya.

Gw ga terlalu ngeh kalo keluarga gw baik banget sampe sekarang. I miss every single part of my house and family. Gw biasanya brantem sama si Adla. Gw suka bete kalo si Azel make TV buat main PS sementara gw pengan nonton. Gw sebel banget sama si mama kalo dia udah mulai cerewet & marah2. Gw suka ga ngewaro kalo papa baru pulang dari Jakarta sementara gw lagi baca2 buku.

Skarang slama setaun gw ga akan bisa ketemu mereka. Komunikasi juga dibatesin. Gw sekarang pengen banget ketemu sama kelurga gw. Gw baru nyadar betapa gw butuh banget keluarga gw.

Gw suka bete kalo belajar fisika di kelas. Gw ga suka kalo Uphie udah mulai cruelly mentorture gw dengan sangat2 heartless. Gw ga memanfaatkan waktu gw bareng2 Marsha sama Marini dengan efektif, karna gw pikir kami akan selalu bareng2 selamanya. Belakangan gw jarang dateng latian ke ITB, karna gw pikir gw masih bisa dateng nanti2. Banyak banget yang selama ini gw waste.

Iya, temen2. Ini bukan EGALITA IRFAN banget. Egalita Irfan yang kalian kenal kan (terlihat) kuat & tegar, suka ngegeja sama gila debat. Iya kan? Kadang2 gila , sadis dan psikopat. Iya, sama. Gw juga ga nyangka gw bsa sentimen gini. Gw gatau kalo gw akan homesick kaya gini. Sebelum gw berangkat ke sini, gw bilang ke semua orang (terutama keluarga gw) : "ahm ga mungkin lah Ega hoimesick2 gtu. Ega lkan kuat." Dan ternyata jadinya gini...

Yep, mulai sekarang gw akan selalu menghargai smua hal di sekitar gw. Biar gw ga nyesel.

Big girls dont cry!!!

Puasa

2008-08-19T05:53:00.001+07:00

Additional info, buat bulan Ramadhan di sini puasa deri jam setengah 6 pagi dan bukanya jam SETENGAH SEMBILAN MALEM.

Hostmom gw nanya bisa ga buka puasanya ngikutin jadwal di Indonesia (which is jam 6an)? Gw bilang ya ngaa lah. Kan waktu terbenam mataharinya bedaa.

Doakan akuuuu!!!

Besok ada orientasi buat murid baru di Scioto Hi School..

HOMESICK

2008-08-19T05:36:00.002+07:00

Okay, orang2 manggil nama gw i-ga-li-ta. Gw harus ngebenerin cara mereka manggil nama gw beberapa kali. Dan mereka semua bingung gimana caranya bilang "Irfan". halah.

Nah, supaya nyambung sama judul postingannya, gw bilang aja..

GW HOMESICK!!!!!!!!!!

PENGEN PULANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FYI, semua orang baik di sini. Hostfam, temen2, semuanya baik koq.

Gw KANGEN RUMAH!

Gw kangen sama teriakan nyokap gw yang cerewet!

Gw kangen sama bokap gw yang bijak!

Gw kangen sama Adla walopun dia suka nyebelin!

Gw kangen sama Fazel! Gw pengen meluk2 Azel!

Gw kangen Marsha! Anak2 SMA 3! Anak2 ITB! Gw pengen ketemu semuanya!!!!!

Anjisss banget ga sih.

Gw ga nyangka gw bakal homesick secepet ini..

Okay, gw ngetik ini sambil nangis. Apalagi kmaren pas gw habis baca email dari nyokap.

Aaaargh.

Gw sekamar sama Mukee. Dia bijak banget. pas gw nangis di kamar kmaren malem dia bilang kalo banyak banget pelajar yang pengen ke USA tapi ga bisa. So, since gw udah di sini, jadi gw harus kuat..

Hope so.

Yea, I'm fully aware that i have missions to be achieved.

For myself.

For my family.

For my friends.

For INDONESIA.

Semuanya, doain gw biar gw kuat. Gw gatau gimana caranya gw bsa bertahan tanpa orang2 yang gw sayangin di Indonesia selama setaun.

Hfff.

Oia, hostmom gw mau ngebeliin gw rice cooker loh. katanya bisi gw kangen nasi.

HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Sekarang si Hannah udah narik2 ngajakin maen.

Ga boleh nangis!

I'm a strong AFSer!

The Band Camp

2008-08-18T01:10:00.002+07:00

Hyaaa. dari kemaren ampe hari Sabtu aku ikut band camp.

Tadinya aku mau keluar aja, ga jadi ikut bandnya. The problem IS,, aku ga pernah ikut marching band dan ga bisa main apapun di band.

Jadi, aku dikasih marimba.

It looks pretty much the same like keyboard, tapi yang ini mah dipukul2 gtu.. Rame sia! Aku langsung bisa maen gtu.. Jadi we dipuji2 sama gurunya. heheu.. Soalnya aku langsung hafal 1 lagu di hari pertama aku dateng campnya.

Language
Semua orang yang ketemu aku dan ngobrol sama aku pasti nanya whether or not orang indonesia ngomongnya pake Bahasa Inggris. Ya aku ketawa aja sambil bilang kalo kita ngomongnya ya pake bahasa Indonesia. Mereka pada kaget gtu.. Soalnya mereka bilang bahasa Inggris aku bagus banget. heheuu.. (Yaiyalah. Kalo ga bsa ngomong bahasa inggris, gmana bsa debate??)

Friends
Aku make jilbab di sini, tapi ga ada yang ngediskriminasiin aku. Karna aku diperkenalkan secara spesial sebagai seorang exchange student, aku jadi eksis vsundh gtu.. Banyak banget yang pengen kenalan sama aku (terutama cowo2 bulenya. Wkwkwk.) Rame lah. mending dideketin cowo2 bule daripada dideketin cowo Ghana kmaren pas di Washington DC (dia ITEM, for God sake!) Dan orang2 di sini padakaget pas aku bilang aku punya facebook. Mereka kira orang indonesia pada ga kenal facebook (emang kita ga gaul apa..). mereka juga shock gtu pas mereka tau aku ga pernah liat salju..

Hostfam
Hostsister aku, Emma, BAIK banget. Dia bukan tipe cewe plastic gtu,, lebih tepatnya, dia tomboi. Di rumah ada drum, keyboard, piano, gitar, perkusi,, lengkap lah! Cuman ga aga biola aja, tapi kata emma aku bsa minjem biola ke Mr. Vogt. jadi,, sekarang aku lagi belajar drum sama Emma. hehe.. Mukee, anak Thailand,, dia rajin banget, suka bantu2 ngurus rumah gtu. jadi we aku juga ikut beberes rumah. Ga enak kan kalo diem2 aja sementara mukee beres2 mulu..

Weather
Skarang tu summer, tapi DINGIN,, sumpah da! Gw kedinginan! I wonder how winter will be..

Cant wait to ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE class.. masuk sekolah minggu depan.

kangen rumah!!!!

Adla dan Fazel, kalau kalian ngebaca ini,, JANGAN LUPAN MAININ SEMUA INSTRUMEN DI RUMAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Cheers.

Here I am...

2008-08-14T09:27:00.003+07:00

People, gw udah dengan selamat nyampe di Dublin, Ohio. Gw baru ketemu host sister gw yang paling kecil namanya Hannah dan dia lucu abis lah. Cerewet banget! I'll be going to that band camp tomorrow until Saturday. I've saw my school, and it's wonderful. I take some fun lessons. Yes, this school doesnt have any debate club, but they have ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE CLASS. Huahahahaa. Gw seneng banget lah! Ada public speaking class juga! Trus gw juga ngambli Astronomy class sama Music Theory. And P.E. And American Government as well. Trus American Foreign policy juga deh, kalo ga salah. Dan, believe it or not, I'm taking KALKULUS. Heu. Gw pengen ngambil Lacrosse tapi katanya harus ada tes fisik segala macem gtu.. Trus... apa lagi ya? Lupaa. Ntar gw kasih further infonya deh.

This is my first night. I'm kinda nervous nih. heheu..

Gw cuman bsa buka internet seminggu sekali. jadii,, ga bisa sering2. tapi gatau juga kalo gw bsa ngepost dari internet sekolah..

Agak ga enak badan nih.. mungkin karna belum biasa sama climatenya kali ya.

Doakan akuuu...

Leaving on a Jetplane..

2008-08-09T07:22:00.000+07:00

People, i'm leaving today..

I called my hostfam yesterday. By phone. Then sent an email. Soo, I'll be living in Dublin, Ohio, as I mentioned earlier,, with hostparents (mom and dad), 3 hostsisters (they actually have 4 children, but the oldest one, Liz, has been married) which are Emma (17), Zena (9) and Hannah (4). Also, there will be Mukee from Thailand. She is 16 just like me.

On the phone, my hostmom offered me to go to a marching band. She said, if I dont mind, right after she pick me on the airport, she want to immediately bring me to the marching band practice, so then I can meet everyone there. She also has prepared the marching band's uniform! (She asked me about my clothes, and I told her that I'm moslem and I wear hijab. She said she will prepare suitable uniform for me!)

I'll be going to Dublin Scioto High Scholl. It is one of the best school in Ohio (which means I HAVE to study well), and they have no debate club. Well, I can do nothing about that. But they have orchestra and lacrosse club! I've been wanting to play lacrosse since I was in elementary school, since I read Malory Tower by Enid Blyton. Heheh..

My school is 2 miles away from my house. But Emma, my host sister drive a car to school. So, we will be going to school together! Maybe with Mukee too!

I'm a bit nervous, to be honest. My hostfam must have some pre-conceive notions about me, according to my profiles I wrote to them earlier. I'm just afraid their expectiation about me is too high, and I cant reach it..

I'll be seriously missing everyone in Indonesia. According to the AFS student handbook, everyone, with on exception,, will face culture shock to begin with. And could also feel homesick at the same time. Although during orientation we have been told and prepared about this, but this is something I cant prevent nor neglect. So, just wish everything is okay there.

I'm really sorry if I cant meet some of you before I depart. And I feel sad too, because actually I cant meet and directly talk to some people-whom-I-really-want-to-meet. Anyway, please keep me updated about anything happens in Indonesia. I dont know how often I can post the blog,, it all depends on my hostfam's regulation at home. I try to make it as frequent as possible.

This could be my last post in Indonesia. Hopefully I can immediately post another story right after I arrived in Dublin. And FYI, I will have another orientation in Washington DC, so most presumably I'll arrive in Dublin, Ohio on Wednesday or after..

See you, people! Please pray for me...

Hostfam and School Info :)

2008-08-08T20:27:00.001+07:00

Dear all.
Firstly, because some of readers (if any) have some problems in reading what I’m writing (in English), so start from now on, I’ll try to write it in Bahasa. Tapi ga janji juga sih.. Most presumably bahasanya akan somehow nyampur-nyampur gitu.. Heheh.

Sooo, karna udah banyak benget fans gw yang nanya curiously tntang hostfam gw, jadi gw umumin bahwa gw udah dapet hostfam di Ohio, tepatnya di kota Dublin. Yes, this Dublin is in United States, NOT in Europe. Hostdad gw Mr. Bill Spratley, hostmom gw Mrs. Karen Spratley. Sekolah gw di Dublin Scioto High School. For further info about this school, just check http://www.city-data.com/school/dublin-scioto-high-school-oh.html or just visit their website at http://scioto.dublin.k12.oh.us.

Huaaaa… A little bit nervous. I’ll be leaving tomorrow!!

Anxiety

2008-08-06T19:46:00.003+07:00

Yes, it’s now H-3, and I feel bothered. This is now all about them, my dear partners who have helped me for years,, Petroushka, Eroica, Chorale, Cavatina and Spin.

Who are they? Let me give you a brief explanation about these "guys". Yes, apparently I love music sooooo much,, and dunno why, I just feel that all musical instruments are actually alive, and to produce a good sound of music, there must be some sort of “synchronization” between player and the instrument. That’s why I love to give names to my instruments.

Not to make anyone confused,, Petroushka is my Russian violin, Eroica is a violin from China, Chorale is my dear keyboard, Cavatina is my classical guitar, and Spin is my electric guitar.

So, the reason behind my statement about bothered-thingy above, is basically because of these guys' life for approximately one next year. It is obvious that in my house now, there is just one person who plays these instruments almost everyday, and it would be me. See? Can you imagine how will they survive for a year without no one playing them?

Well, my siblings have stated to me that they will practice music everyday. My sister, Adla, promised that she will play Chorale everyday. Yea, maybe for one first month she will (since she is now trying to play Melodies of Life. She can’t, actually). But for the next months? I don’t think so. Please note that I’m the one who teach her that freaking Melodies of Life, and once I have gone, no one will teach her as “patient” as me. Furthermore, think she will be too busy with her vocal lesson (hate to admit, but her voice is just really good. Darn.), and I’m not sure she will keep her promise. As an evidence, during yesterday’s AFS National Orientation, I didn’t go home for a week, and guess what? Nobody played Chorale and when I arrived home, Chorale did not work properly. But thank God, she is okay now.. Chorale needs to be played everyday at least half an hour to keep her “healthy”. Highlight that fact.

My brother, Fazel, played guitar. But he doesn’t practice frequently as well. Seriously, I don’t think he will play neither Cavatina nor Spin. He’s just too… lazy. Although he takes guitar lesson, actually…

Both of Adla and Fazel promised me to also play Petroushka and Eroica, but… umm… I dunno. I’m just kinda wishing if Petroushka and Eroica will be “okay” on their hands… (Violinists all over the world,, you do know what I mean, rite??)

My mother just can’t do anything (she can play nothing. Sorry, Mom..) My father plays guitar well, but he spend almost all day a week in Jakarta to go to work in Court, and go home just every weekend. Yea, it’s a “duh”.

Sooo, people… YES, I’M SO FREAKING WORRIED. Just can’t help.

SEF 3's First Practice!

2008-08-05T21:53:00.002+07:00

Well, that was just my first and last SEF 3's debate practice I can attend this year. Huhu.. But the session was pretty okay for me,, as a first practice..

There were 14 newbies (if i'm not mistaken), Marsha, Marini, Dian, and I. Gichie had things to do for LKS, Hugo came when we were about to finish, and coach, Uphie, was not in Bandung. So, we reviewed all debate-thingy (since the debate presentation last week didnt really work),, role of speaker, motion, POI,, and those basic stuffs. Then, we had casebuilding practice in groups. The motion was about abortion. I'd prefer gay marriage as the motion, actually. Hehe..

These kids (especially in my group) are smart to begin with, if you ask me. I mean, they know how to make a valid argument already. Just a little harder practice, plus some 'surprises' from our respective coach, and SMAN 3 Bandung will be the champion of ALSA E-COMP 2009 (AMIN AMIN AMIN).

I cant see these kids' improvement directly. But I know, they'll be great and dependable debaters,, especially when so many people (a.k.a. SEF ITB debaters) lend us their hands. Hopefully everyone in SEF remember to keep me updated about everything happens in Indonesian debate world. Yes, I dont wanna miss anything,, competitions results, the flow of practice sessions, gossips (debaters are gossipers! Hear2!), or anything. Hohoho..

Ganbatte, minna! *Especially my dear newbies.. Go!

National Orientation of AFS & YES 2008/2009

2008-08-04T18:35:00.004+07:00

"We are AFSer, mighty AFSer
Everywhere we go, people want
to know
Who we
are, so we tell them
If they can’t hear us, sing a
little louder! "

I’ll never forget the fourth night of orientation.

We were having some problems with returnees. BIG problems, actually. But thank God, the next day everything was fine. We sang that “we are AFSer!” song, and cried happily altogether.

This orientation had really changed my life. The way I’m thinking, the way to appreciate people, and also teach me the right way to LISTEN, which is actually an essential point in debating especially for 3rd speakers. Although this orientation was really short, only a week, but I’ve got so many experiences and new dependable friends. At that time we had 111 candidates coming from so many provinces all over Indonesia, with their own cultures dan differences.

Our talent show in Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ) was pretty much successful, not to mention about the practices. Yes, we didn’t sleep for almost 4 nights, and we tried our best not to sleep during the sessions, as the impact. Our talent show was actually sort a musical drama, and I played violin, along with 3 other violinists. Everything was really insane, the music, the story, the “suster ngesot”s, the player, the singers. But is was fun. Really.

People can say what they want, but I don’t care. I’m proud of being an AFSer, I’m proud of our talent show, and I love everyone on AFS Angkatan ke-51. Yes, maybe we were having different perceptions and were individualistic, but now, we are one and we care each other. Thank to those problems and returnees, actually.

Can’t wait to see AFS/YESer on August 8th. See you all in ambassador. :)

I Won’t be Not Missing You

2008-08-04T18:20:00.001+07:00

That’s the title of Symphony of Fierce No. 2, arranged by Egalita Irfan (FYI, Symphony No. 1 is ‘Lets Beat Them All’). No music. No lyrics. Oh, okay,, no music and no lyrics YET (maybe I’ll create it later :p)

Yes, I’m leaving on August 9th by AFS/YES Program, and I wont be not missing (gampangnya mah I will be missing) soooo many things here. My friends, X-3 2009, XI IPA 8 2009, XII IPA 3 (although I haven't even got in), SEF 3, NK 3, SEF ITB… But I’ve got life to do nih. And for bitches out there who wanna say ‘something’ about my departure, just shut up. I don’t care even if I have to be a 2010 (hopefully not), because I have something to be reached there. Hoho…

Maybe I’m not thankful enough to God for everything God gives me. Bestfriends, family, things I love to do –musics, debate, karate-, and many others. But now, as I’m departing, I have just realized that I need all these things, and it will be hard for me to leave everything.

But I’m stronger (maybe). I have trained my mind for a year (thank to someone), and I’m going no matter what.

Just want to review what I’ve done this year:

Lomba Cerdas Cermat UUD 1945 & TAP MPR (January 29th-February 1st)
Can’t believe I was the participant of this freaking competition!! One team consists of 15 members, can’t really remember who were my teammates... Hoho.. Sorry for the inconvenience. For God sake, I spent 3 nights to memorize those sections on UUD! And ended up as a semi-finalist for West Java. Huks.. (dan hampir ngeruntuhin podium pas yel2. hahahaa..)

Shuuji (Japanese Calligraphy)- Writing Competition (February 3rd)
Can’t really remember about this competition too. I was one the representatives from NK3 (Nihongo Kurabu 3) and was the champion for Shuuji Competition, while Wina was the 2nd runner up for shuuji, Peni was the champion of Rodoku (Japanese News Reading) Competition and another 1st grader (I forget her name) was the 2nd runner up for rodoku. Yes, we brought so many trophies home ;)

ALSA UNPAD English Day (February 8th-10th)
Don’t really want to talk about this one. We (Marsha, Dimas and I) were the quarterfinalist, and were having some ‘problems’ with the adjudicator. Well.. DO NOT BLAME ADJS. Yes, I know that already. Maybe this was also a result from not obeying what our respective coach said… Maybe… he sent us jinx.. No offense ya Phie.. :)

Aloysius English Debate Competition (March 6th-8th)
Runner-up. The team was Marsha, Marini and I. Also SMAN 3 Bandung dominated the top 10 best speaker (I was 2nd best speaker, sharing the same speaker score with the best speaker. It’s a ‘duh’.) After a big war, bloodshed and tears everyday (no, I’m not exaggerating nor kidding, seriously), this was a satisfying enough result, not to mention we were so messy in the final. Thanks to coaches and sparring partners from SEF ITB.

ITB Expo, Lomba DEBAT (not debate) BAHASA INDONESIA (March 22nd-23rd)
It was a LOMBA DEBAT BAHASA INDONESIA, and we were the champion. Weird, huh? Wkwkwkwk. It was so unexpected, seriously. We, debaters,, not ‘pendebat, sometimes have some difficulties to talk in Bahasa Indonesia (I refer this sentence to myself at most. Heheh.) Actually we looked for MONEY. Yes, we need money to go to ALSA E-COMP and we’d do anything to get it, including joining a Lomba Debat bahasa Indonesia. Hoho..

Widyatama English Debate Competition (April 8th-10th)
We haven’t got the money from ITB Expo at that time, while ALSA E-COMP was coming. Soo, we looked for another ‘money-producing’ competition… Which is…? Widyatama. Hehe. My team (the trio macan,, ega-marsha-marini) was the champion while ‘Tim Tangga’ was the 2nd runner-up. And mission successfully accomplished!!

ALSA National English Debate Competition (April 17th-22nd 2008)
For full story about this competition please go to http://www.cheeseandbiscuit.blogspot.com/ . Heheh. Males nge-reviewnya lagi nih.. We were the 2nd runner-up, I was 3rd best speaker, Marsha was the best speaker, and we had another SEF3’s debater dominating the top 10 best speaker. Well, the result was pretty satisfying. Although we got lost in semi. Sorry coach..

SEOM – Simulasi Konferensi ASEAN (and Debate?) UNPAS (April 29th-May 2nd)
Thought it was a REAL debate competition. Well, apparently it was not. But SMAN 3 Bandung was the champion. Sooo… ya sudahlah J

Hope SEF 3 (and SEF ITB) can achieve batter this year. For my newbies, even if we have not met yet, hope you realize soon that SEF 3’s future relies on you guys.

I’m missing everyone. Most presumably I can’t meet there before I depart. Huhu.. But thanks a lot, guys. You people have taught me sooooo many things. Especially about debate and spoiled-thingy. Heheh.

First Post!!!

2008-08-04T18:05:00.002+07:00

Holaaaa…. People,, finally I have a blog! :)

Yeaa, so many people asked me to make one, sooo here it is! Hyahahaa.. *ga pnting*

Well, maybe I’ll share some of my stories living as an average-reasonable-person. Heheh. And for you who wanna know how I’m doing, just read it here. Dunno how often I can post the stories. Just…...wait. And give comment please!