WHITE

and that moment finally came
opening your window
in a December morning
and see that beautiful WHITE!

and that moment finally came
wearing layers of clothing
warm socks and closed ear
and cycle through the WHITE!

and that moment finally came
my pair of eyes indulged
my heart leaped
and mesmerized with the WHITE!

and that moment adds up
to live life to the fullest
and to be 100% happy

life has so much to offer!

Senyap pagi ini...

Dalam senyap pagi ini...

Merenda hidup di tempat baru sungguh petualangan yang menarik! Tempat baru, teman baru, problematika baru, kesempatan baru.

Tidak mudah merengek dan mengeluh untuk setiap permasalahan. Tidak mudah mengekspresikan 100% beban di hati dengan bahasa asing, maka sekian persen sesak itu masih tersisa... Seringkali kubicara dengan diriku sendiri, berpijak dengan dua kaki ini.

Namun, inilah saat 'suara hati' sungguh berperan.
Suara hati, dimana Dia bersabda.

Saat kukatupkan tangan, dan kepala merunduk
Saat kupejamkan mata, dan mulai berkata
Kudengar suara hati,

...dalam senyap pagi ini.

Warm

Words are powerful. Sometimes they are indeed a manifestation of life's abstraction. Pictures are powerful. Most of the times we take pictures to freeze moments or feelings. We want to treasure them and we would like to be able to re-visit those moments and feelings in the future.

As it's getting colder (and windier) here in the Netherlands, the word WARM has become one of my favorites! Here are my (recent) three manifestations of WARM:

One. I've always loved a WARM shower. It really helps me to feel more relax and stimulates creative ideas and perspectives of life.

Two. This weekend I heard a beautiful statement from a senior man*: "We, men, are actually simple; we are looking for WARM women to share our life." It was an eye-opening statement for me; reminded me of my father's tireless persuasion to make me learn cooking. I infer somehow there's a correlation between the frequencies of being exposed to the heat of a burning stove/oven with a person's WARMth level.

Three. It's cold that afternoon, but as I looked up and saw this lovely red-ish color of sunset in the sky ... suddenly I felt WARM. It's an abstract WARMth, but it manifested in me and I would like to freeze that WARM feeling in this picture.



*Thanks to Yunita, Om Ben, and Tante Ely for their WARM welcome and inspiration this weekend in Amsterdam!!

The ‘S-es’ of Silver Steisi

It was November 8, one of the most beautiful Sunny days in Wageningen.

Morning










There was a Sweet Surprise on my door from Lieneke. A colorful writing of happy birthday with colorful balloons hanging on its side. It was another Serene Sunday mass at Aula Dei. It was a Spontaneous decision to cycle to de Bongerd and Sit facing the Sun reading Jared Diamond’s Science-novel.


Afternoon












It was another Spontaneous decision to take some pictures of the Stunning colors of autumn around Forum building. It was quite an effort to Stop those tiny drops of water from my eyes after hearing my father’s voice from the other side of the globe. It was a fun trip to the Supermarket to do food Shopping with Fenni. It was a Surprising encounter with Mariana and Miguel at the Supermarket which Somehow re-Structure their Surprise plan.


Evening












The Simple and Small dinner celebration was really Special; with Spaghetti, home-made Stampot, Slagroom, and my best friend: Fenni. Then came my other Special friends—Mariana and Miguel; with a Speculaas birthday cake and an S-shaped chocolate.


It was November 8, one of the most beautiful Sunny days in Wageningen; and it was Superb!

Ulang Tahun

In Bahasa Indonesia, Happy Birthday is "Selamat Ulang Tahun." If literally translated, Selamat Ulang Tahun is more or less "Happy Repeating the Year".

Reaching quarter century, I was wondering why "Ulang Tahun?" why "Repeating the Year?" I haven't done substantial research on it, so here's my own interpretation and a support from here.

I would say "Selamat Ulang Tahun" is not about repeating the previous year. It is a shorter way of saying "Selamat Ulang Tahun Lahir." In English, "Lahir" is "Birth". What is interesting is that, in Bahasa Indonesia, we are explicitly using the word "Ulang." In my opinion this is asking us to psychologically repeat the year of our birth. Repeat in our mind that years ago, there was a woman struggling emotionally and physically to give us to the world and the world to us. That years ago, there was or was not a man and some relatives struggling emotionally upon the moment of our existence or non-existence in this planet.

So this year, I again psychologically repeat the moment of my birth. This time, being (a bit) far away from them, I would like to repeat it and write it down.

Quarter century ago was a tough struggle for my mother, father, and some relatives. Of course I won't be able to thank them enough for such struggle. Such struggle that allows me to taste the world and countless things that life has to offer. But, I can and do LOVE them. And it is an irreversible LOVE!

Picture is taken from here.

Sedikit

(English version below)

Sama seperti sedikit garam dan gula diperlukan saat memasak,

Sedikit galau
Sedikit rindu
Sedikit pedih
Sedikit air mata

diperlukan dalam hidup.


Berapa banyak?
Secukupnya.

Bagaimana tahu kalau sudah cukup?
Cicipi.

Cicipilah hidup, apa sudah terasa galau, rindu, pedih, dan air mata? Jika sudah, hidup tidak hambar. Hidup siap disantap.


*mengenang masak perdana di Wageningen, 26 Oktober 2009
**gambar dari sini

-----

Just like you need a little bit of salt and sugar when cooking,

A little bit of anxiety
A little bit of longing
A little bit of grieve
A little bit of tears

Is needed in life.

How much?
As needed.

How do I know that it’s enough?
Taste it.

Taste the anxiety, longing, grieve, and tears. If you feel it, life is not tasteless. Then, enjoy your meal! (eet smakelijk!)

Why So Sad?

Why so sad?
Look at the beauty of life



That pinkish 'beauty of life' was taken 8 minutes ago from my window.

Well... it's simplifying the complex problems of the world by simply saying: "look at the beauty of life" But... it's nice for everyone to have the ability to cheer his/herself and be happy in this life!

What makes you happy?

Menulis (Writing)

Jika ada satu jatah permintaan ajaib, kamu mau minta apa?
Saya akan minta "fasih dan senang menulis"

Semoga itu dianggap satu permintaan ...

------------------------------------------------------

If you had a chance to ask for one magic wish, what would you ask? I would ask "to have the skills and the joy of writing"

Well, I hope that can be considered as one wish ...

Bliss

I've always wanted to write down about this.

When we are introduced to new ideas/knowledge, people like to say: "take your time and let it sink"

I vaguely remember, but I think some lecturers in my MAKS classes also said it. In MAKS program lots of the social science theories and/or concepts are a whole new ball game for the students or at least for me who did my Bachelor in a field of natural science.

So, "take your time and let it sink"
I often do that when I'm experiencing a bliss as well.


What is a bliss?
According to the Oxford dictionary, being in a bliss is to be in a state of perfect happiness, oblivious (not aware) to everything else.



To me, some bliss moments were:
watching the sunrise in Mount Bromo,
experiencing the underwater world,
reading impressive sentences in Paulo Coelho's work;

and also some simple moments like:
sitting, walking, chatting with my sister (almost) at anytime anywhere,
reading friends' comments and pictures in facebook;

and like tonight,
when Mariana and Miguel (my 2 maravilloso friends here in Wageningen) cycled along with me to my home--Asserpark


At those moments I took the time and let the bliss sink...
I smiled ... and really grateful of being alive!

Keys

Living in Wageningen has lots to do with KEYS!

It took me some times to re-configure my body coordination in dealing with the technological objects (doors and bicycle lock) via the KEYS. Here's a real illustration of finding my way inside/outside my student room.


the door to my lovely room



the door to my room corridor



the door to my bicycle-park (not car park unfortunately .. haha..)



the lock of my hero: 'Arturo-my bicycle'



and finally, the last door of my student house building



so... where can I find a key to someone's heart?? :)

Topeng

Kadang dia jenuh
dan ingin ganti topeng itu

Kadang dia letih
dan ingin buka topeng itu




Namun kadang dia takut
Akan kesendiriannya dalam topeng barunya
Akan kesendiriannya tanpa topengnya

Karena dia tak mengada tanpa topengnya
Atau… dia tak berani mengada tanpa topengnya


*Gambar Topeng Bali dari sini.

Antri

Budaya antri atau menunggu giliran sangat mendarah daging di negeri kincir angin ini.







Siang itu saya hendak menikmati es krim Cicuto Ijssalon di Schuijlensteeg, Wageningen.

Saya melakukan kesalahan karena tanpa menunggu orang di depan saya selesai melakukan pembayaran, saya sudah berkata pada pemuda di belakang konter es krim: “chocolate please.” Setelah selesai melakukan sesuatu (lupa tepatnya apa), sang pemuda di belakang konter menghampiri saya dan berkata: “you have to wait for your turn! it’s rude to just call out like that!” sambil memberikan es krim coklat kepada saya.

Saya memberikan kepingan 1 euro kepadanya sambil berkata maaf. Saya terima kepingan 10 sen dari tangannya dengan mengucap terima kasih dan menatap mata pemuda itu dengan rasa hormat.

Es krim coklat hari itu sungguh memberikan pelajaran berharga!

What a Wonderful World!

A single (still.. haha..) autumn color shot during a trip to Edam, famous for its cheese market





i see trees of green, red roses too
i see them bloom for me and you
and i think to myself, what a wonderful world!

i see skies of blue, and clouds of white
the bright blessed day, dark sacred night
and i think to myself, what a wonderful world!

the colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
are also on the faces of people going by
i see friends shaking hand, saying ‘how do you do?’
they’re really saying, i love you…

i hear babies crying, i watch them grow
they’ll learn much more than i’ll ever know
and i think to myself, what a wonderful world…
yes, i think to myself

it’s a wonderful world!!

*yes indeed, it’s a wonderful world … que mundo maravilloso!
i am enjoying my stay in the Netherlands in a non-urban setting, in Wageningen and i am learning Spanish with my maravilloso Bolivian and Columbian classmates--Mariana and Miguel!

I'm Back!

Readers, I'm back!

For the next year or two, I'll be writing it down from outside Indonesia.









I am currently in the Netherlands.
Gathering the past, struggling the present, and crafting the future through a Master course in Wageningen University.

I am enrolling in a SUPER interesting program named: MAKS... Management of Agro-Ecological Knowledge and Social Change! I promise you I'll write more about the program and my studies.

I'll write down my observations and (clumsy, happy-unhappy, success-failures) experiences of living in the other side of the planet. I am planning to do some of the writing in Bahasa Indonesia as well, with a special intention to share 'my two cents' about living abroad with my internet-savvy cousins and sister (Steva, Tama, Tiwi, Franz, Satria, Heri, Michael, Haga, Echie, Olie, Shinta, Shintya, Elen, Katy, Lona, Agi, and may be more readers...). Then, maybe they'll also routinely visit this webpage as often as they visit facebook or myspace or other educational sites (*wink* hahaha...).

So, enjoy your visit!

It is

It is a bit painful
It is going back and forth

It is the spice of life
It is somehow needed

It is what it is
It is the way it is

It was this evening …

Good Morning

It’s a shiny morning today.
I just got an orange from my next-cubicle colleague.
I just had a good laugh.

I just haven’t found the dream-kos.
Now I know why people work hard to have a HOME….
Coz everyone needs its space
Coz everyone needs a dream….

The Power of 'writing it down'

After New Year celebration I wrote down that in 2009 I would love to go to Washington D.C. either for work or with my own money (for fun) and visit my aunt and fam in Virginia.

The power of 'writing it down' came a bit fast for me. Here I am in Obama-DC. January 26 until February 6 combining work and fun. The excitement conquers the tiresome of work and the 'living my dream' reality warms up the cold-snowy-icy winter days...


Again, I prove the Alchemist "when u really really wants something the universe will conspire and help you to achieve it" and I'm thankful for living my life with this understanding: "everything happens for a reason" :)

I'm allowing life to surprise me! I'm ready!

pic from http://www.webtvwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/barack-obama-white-house.jpg

Carpe Diem!

Happy 2009!

I hope that you're 'showing up' in every single day of your life in 2009. The day is made up of 24 hours and an infinite number of moments (from "The Witch of Portobello"). I hope those moments spice up your 2009 perfectly!

Carpe Diem! Seize the day!

"Dead Poets Society"

I went into the woods because
I wanted to live deliberately.
I wanted to live deep
and suck out all the marrow of life...
to put to rout all that was not life;
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.

"Henry David Thoreau"