Sunday, July 12, 2015

Cowo tu maunya apa sih? Cewe tu knapa gini sih?

Kalian pernah ga sih ditanyain sama temen-temen kalian soal cowo yang (nampaknya) lagi PDKT ke temen lo?
"Eh gue kayaknya lagi dideketin sama si A deh, tp dia tarik ulur gue.. gue gimana dong?"
Atau untuk cowo,
"umm, ni cewe kok tiap gue senderin tangan gue di pundaknya mukanya langsung nyengir gede ya? padahal kan gue pegel doang"

Gue emang bisa dibilang kurang pengalaman soal dunia per-PDKT-an dan percintaan. Secara pacaran aja baru 2x itupun telat mulainya. Maklum pas masa-masa jahiliyah dulu muka ga jelas banget bentuknya, well, sampe sekarang juga sih.. Tapi gue banyak mendengar cerita dari temen-temen gue yang punya banyak masalah ketika mereka lagi deket sama cewe atau cowo. Eits, tenang, gue ga akan nulis cuma masalah cewe aja kok, tapi masalah cowo juga :D

Ketika temen-temen cewe gue curhat sama gue, kata-kata mereka selalu diawali dengan,
"Ih sebel deh! tu cowo maunya apa sih?" 
"Dia suka sama gue ga sih sebenernya?"
"Ghin, dia itu kayaknya suka nih sama gue, tapi dia ga bilang2 dan gue bingung harus gimana?!" bla bla bla. Trust me, banyak banget pertanyaan2 yang dilontarkan. phhfff..
Trus gue tanya ke mereka "kenapa lo ga tanya aja sama tu cowo apakah dia suka sama lo apa ga?" temen gue sambil muncrat ngomongnya bilang, "YA KALI GUE TANYA, GHIN! MAU DIBAWA KEMANA MUKA GUE?!"

Muke lo ya di situ-situ aja...

Nah,

Gue bingung. Kebanyakan cewe itu maunya apa sih? Mnurut gue ya kita ga bisa expect makhluk hidup, terutama yang memiliki hormon testosteron, untuk jadi mind reader. Seenak jidat lo aja gitu?

Sama aja kayak lo lagi dideketin sama cowo, tapi lo ga kasih perasaan yang sama. Lo harus ngapain? bingung kan? Di satu sisi lo gaenak untuk nolak. Jadi lo end up dengan mengirimkan sinyal-sinyal yang salah. Yang ada tu cowo malah makin gencar deketin lo dan lo malah rewel sendiri ujungnya. 

Duh, kita jadi cewe juga harus firm dong.. Kalo ga suka ya bilang ga suka, kalo suka ya lanjoot. Jangan nyiksa cowo gitu-gitu amat juga lah. Kalo lo ga bilang terus terang kalo lo ga suka, ya bilang ga suka.. Jangan malah nolak-nolak-mau.. Kan cowo juga jadi bingung.

Beda lagi sama temen-temen gue yang cowo. Nah, sebenernya cowo itu simple dan realistis menurut gue. cuman kadang juga mereka saking simpelnya, melakukan hal-hal yang menimbulkan sinyal yang salah ke mata cewe. Gue emang lagi ngomongin hal spesifik tentang ketika cowo lagi PDKT ke cewe. Menurut temen-temen gue yang cowo, kalo cowo lagi suka sama cewe, mereka akan lebih aktif dan gencar untuk PDKT. Ya iyalah namanya juga PDKT. Obvious enough, doh! Kalo cewenya ga suka ya tinggal cari lagi (walaupun ada juga cowo yang tetep semangat 45 untuk dapetin cewe itu). NAH, tapi kalo situasinya itu kebalikannya, akan lebih complicated lagi jadinya. 

Contoh, ketika si cewe naksir sama si cowo, trus si cewe mungkin akan mencoba untuk menarik perhatian si cowo kan? (emansipasi mas bro!) Gayanya jadi makin cantik, ngobrol disambung-sambungin, dll. Nanya,
"km udah makan belum?"
"Kamu lagi apa?"
"Eh, aku tadi abis nonton Game of Thrones loh, seru deh!"
Bahkan dalam beberapa case yang cukup extreme, si cewe akan bilang,
"Umm, aku kangen..."
 #eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

atau dalam bahasa Danish, ææææææææææææ
(maaf garing)

But anyway, si cowo nerima sms kayak gitu ya pasti mungkin gaakan banyak mikir dan bales aja gitu kan.. Nah! si cewe nerima balesan si cowo langsung kegirangan dong! Langsung mikir kalo ada secercah harapan untuk dapetin hati si cowo, trus berasumsi mungkin si cowo itu juga suka sama dia tapi si cowo ga bilang aja.. bla bla bla bla...

Si cowo di rumah ----------> tetep lanjut main game tanpa mikir apa-apa.

Ini loh yang gue bilang kesenjangan perasaan. Tanpa dipungkiri lagi, cewe itu probabilitas signifikansi ke-baper-an nya itu kalo diuji di SPSS adalah 0.000. Sangat signifikan. Segampang itu loh bok! Bahkan cewe abnormal kayak gue yang bisa dibilang kurang sensitif ketika di PDKT-in aja ada kemungkinan kok baper. It's normal!

Belum lagi banyak juga cowo yang sangat friendly dalam memberikan physical touch. Eits, jangan jorok dulu! Maksutnya di sini adalah sebatas hugs, rangkul temen, dll. For some guys, normal kok untuk memperlakukan cewe dengan kasih sayang walaupun ga ada perasaan apa-apa. Ya, cuma untuk sebatas comfort aja sebagai temen deket. 

TAPI, 

Barang siapa yang memperlakukan cewe dengan physical touch yang melambangkan kasih sayang, niscaya cewe tersebut akan baper!

Seriusan deh! Don't do that guys if you don't have any feeling to that girl!

Kecuali kalo lo emang pengen prospekin cewe itu untuk menjadi dekat... lebih dekat... lebih dalam...  dan lebih dalam lagi..... sama lo. Then that is the right thing to do. Let her know you like her. Make a move :)

Tapi kalo lo emang gaada niatan jadiin tu cewe jadi cewe lo, jangan sekali-sekali melakukan hal tersebut! Haram (menurut kamus gue) hukumnya. Tu cewe pasti akan bingung dan baper! Apalagi kebanyakan cewe, no offense girls, suka galau. Mungkin yang tadinya ga suka sama lo, gara-gara lo perlakukan kayak gitu ya jadi suka juga karena lo udah bikin dia comfort. Sekali lagi, itu BAHAYA!

Tapi apa yang gue omongin di atas tidak menggambarkan semua cowo dan cewe ya.. i mean, ada juga cowo dan cewe yang menganggap hal itu biasa aja. Ya contohnya gue, kalo emang gaada perasaan ya sebenernya gaada masalah untuk memperlakukan temen lo sesuai yang lo mau, tapi sekali lagi, belum tentu orang yang lo gituin akan berpikir hal yang sama, bukan?

Nah untuk para cewe, seriously, jangan terlalu mengharapkan cowo itu sebagai mind reader deh.. Kasian tau mereka itu.. Kalian ga ngebayangin apa muka mereka yang terlihat dalam dan menawan ketika menatap lo tapi sebenernya mereka lagi mikirin game apa yang harus dimainin abis ini? Sedangkan di satu sisi kalian sibuk mengirimkan telepati sinyal-sinyal ke mereka tentang apa yang harusnya mereka lakukan ke kalian? Jangan kasih mereka beban yang lebih berat lagi untuk baca pikiran kalian karena pikiran mereka sudah dipenuhi dengan scene-scene Game of Thrones episode minggu lalu.. Belum lagi tadi mereka lupa membubuhi banyak pomade di rambut mereka jadi jambulnya agak turun.

Be realistic, girls! 

Jangan berasumsi tentang apa yang ada di pikiran cowo-cowo itu. Dan juga jangan terlalu berekspektasi yang terlalu besar karena menurut gue pribadi, expectations hurts you. Kalo mereka ga sms kalian duluan, ya mungkin mereka sibuk.. Jangan posesif.. Apalagi belum pacaran tapi kok udah posesif.. Come on..

Kalo mereka emang sama sekali pasif ketika ngobrol sama kalian atau bales sms lo lama, mungkin mereka emang ga tertarik sama lo dan emang cuma pengen jadi temen aja.. Bahkan ada menurut pengakuan temen gue yang cowo (dan ga cuma satu loh ini!) yang bilang kalo mereka emang sengaja ngebales sms dari cewe itu terakhir setelah cek-cek email, ngelakuin ini itu, karena simply mereka emang ga tertarik sama tu cewe. Ughhh burn!! Lumayan annoying loh untuk mereka para cowo ketika lo suka sms-sms terlalu sering.. Kalo udah kayak gitu, mending lupain aja.. kecuali lo emang punya semangat pejuang yang pantang mundur...

Nah, untuk segelintir cewe yang abnormal seperti gue, yang kurang sensitif, cuek, dan suka ga nyadar  kalo lagi dideketin, hmmm.. gue juga bingung sih mesti gimana. mungkin dari cowo-cowo yang baca ini ada saran untuk cewe-cewe kayak gue? karena jujur kita ga bisa bedain cowo PDKT sama temen :p Kita sih gampang aja, kalo kita suka ya lanjut, kalo ga suka udah pasti nolak dari awal. 

But, Sometimes it's good to be us, karena kita jadi jarang punya ekspektasi tentang cowo. Like i said, expectation hurts! Tapi kasian juga sih untuk cowo-cowo yang mau ngedeketin lo karena jadi harus usaha ekstra keras untuk bikin lo sadar kalo dia suka sama lo, dan ujung-ujungnya give up karena bingung harus gimana lagi. Cowo pasti bingung sama lo yg ga sadar-sadar kalo lo lagi dideketin, tp ya mungkin mereka memang harus usaha ekstra aja dan mungkin harus lebih honest kali ya.. We, girls, cannot also be your mind readers, guys! So tell her that you like her! If you are lucky, then you will go into her heart. Kalo ga ya, sabar-sabar aje... Be direct and honest!

Life is as simple as it is. Capek dibikin ribet.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Round up the year

I finally managed to write something now after series of great times with great people. 2014 has been great for me especially with life. It was funny cause i remember at the beginning of January i was reading on some yearly horoscope (i know, very typical of me), and it says that i will have a great travel year, everything will change to betterment, and it's all about travelling. And i was like, sure, i'm going to Singapore right after i finished my Bachelor's thesis. But that was the start.

So i finally graduated on January, where i defended my final bachelor's thesis to three most powerful lecturer in the university, Pak Tony (Dean), Pak Deddy (Head of Rector), and Pak Urip (specialist of HR and employment). I was nervous, shaking, and so scared that i won't get my grade good enough, but it ended up happily ever after, I got A for my thesis and that means my GPA for that semester is 4 out of 4 which could not get any better, really. I'm so proud of myself and thankful of beloved people that helped me through. And then it went to February where, well, i didn't have anything, really, except for enjoyment and fresh air, and on March, i went on holiday to Singapore with my half :). It was great experience and first time for me to have holiday outside of the country in such a long time, and i felt like i really needed it. April was okay for me except that i have 4 years-anniversary with Panka, which was a record for both of us and we're proud of it :). Great and shocking news came on May where i got accepted for scholarship from Aarhus University in Denmark! yes DENMARK which is so cool. It was such a huge news for me since going to Europe was my dream, plus i also got accepted in Birmingham University, but i had to choose Aarhus with big consideration. Months after that were pretty fast for me and it was time for me to leave Indonesia on August where it was a big sad moment. I had to leave everyone that i love for two years and really, it was really hard. But i have faith that everything is gonna be alright. I finally got to start my semester in September, and i was nervous and clueless! But everything went great, i got many nice friends, i spent my time (and money) for fun things, and really, it couldn't get any better. I went to Hamburg, Germany on November for a project+holiday (hehe..) with my international friends and it was more than awesome! I still cannot believe that i have my foot on Europe right now! Awesome! Now, it is pretty cold on December, the winter is coming, the wind is even crazier, oh, i just hate the weather. But hey, i think i can survived! i got my winter boots and jacket from Panka, which i am so thankful about it, and i got friends to hang out and party with, it is just cannot get any better!


And it will come more excitement next year! 



Sunday, September 7, 2014

The Happiest Nation In The World



So it has been two weeks since the first time i came to Denmark. In the beginning, i was terrified. Yes, sounds childish and fragile, but that's just how i felt. I was afraid that i won't get any friend in the campus, I was afraid i won't understand why the teachers say in the class, afraid from getting lost, afraid of everything. But, hey you know what, this is my third day in the class, and everything went great! Love it so far! people were so nice, pretty open i can say, at least now. Well i hope this will continue til the end!

As some of you might know, Denmark is the happiest nation on earth. People smile and everything. But there are some things that we have to know about this nation. Well, at least from my perspective:

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Between Selfies and tongsis?

As i promised on previous post, here are some pictures of us. FYI, tongsis is involved :)

       -Copenhagen


Reaching our dreams




           - Our Aarhus town and University :)






Welcome to Denmark!


Hi Everyone!

So it's been sometimes since i haven't wrote anything in this blog due to several circumstances in my life (too formal, i know). But seriously, there are things going on in my life right now, maybe i've mentioned it before in previous posts (or maybe not). 

But anyway, i have been accepted to one of top 100 universities in the world, and top 50 in Europe, Aarhus University (QS World University Ranking). I, myself, with 2 other students from Universitas Bakrie got accepted in this University. Probably some of you are asking how could someone from, well, a pretty much young campus in Indonesia, got accepted in this big University, not to mention, with a full scholarship? YES, full scholarship. One word, AWESOME. 

This all started when you have intention. Intention to find yourself to have a brighter future. How so? I know, when most of you graduated from college or your Bachelor degree, you'll find yourself some, well, enjoyment, the feeling of relieves. But don't get stuck too long with that feeling, cause you still have to find a job, doing many other things, etc. At this stage, i found myself also stuck for a couple of months, working in a great place called @america (awesome place to work), until i realise, i have to aim something higher in my life, out of my comfort zone. Yes, seeing the world. I know, some of you might think it's suppose to be education. But i'd say, see the whole world is the highest aim, one of the way is through education. Lucky me, Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah SWT, i got both things at the same time, going to Europe while getting my MSc. 

So, I graduated on January 2014 from Bakrie University with very satisfying result, i must say for a lazy person as myself, with my full scholarship program granted by Bakrie Enterprises. On March i got a call from my mentor telling me that there is full scholarship program offered by a University in Denmark. And i said, sure! i'll try it. So i asked my best friend Amandari, who's also from Bakrie University, to try it. Right away, we collected every document we need for the application, big credit goes to Pak Tony (our Dean and my thesis supervisor in Bakrie Univ.) and Pak Deddy (our head of program at a time) for helping us. We made an account and submit our applications together, while at the same time we were also applying for universities in UK with LPDP scholarship program. Then two months later, on May, we got acceptance letter from Aarhus University plus the scholarship offer from the university. Also Kak Alfan, who i knew very well from Debate club in Bakrie University, also got in! Wow! We were so happy and confuse at the same time. We were thinking, "What? Denmark? Are we going to Denmark?". At same time, we also got acceptance letter from Birmingham University in UK. We didn't know what to do. It was like a dream for us. What do we have to do??

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Love is a weirdo

Yes. if i could metaphor love to a person, i could see it as a weirdo. That beautiful yet ugly face that you hate to see, but miss a lot when you don't have them. That strong but yet have a deep weakness, when it comes to a situation (of course). That easy to get but yet difficult to be understood.

Oh such a weirdo.



I've been through a lot hell of phases in my life involving this 'weirdo'. It causes so much trouble, but yet, can't leave it. 

Lots of people want it as pet, but many of them want it to be part of their lives. It comes and go in a beautiful and painful way at the same time. Oh such a weirdo...

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Do we really know everything?


It is so weird on how people made headlines about everything nowadays. I guess people are just too interested on something, huh?

Starting from this year Presidential Vote, which made a huge different, i mean really, HUGE. It has impacts including to myself who was always been to lazy to move my ass to vote, literally. But this year, something has moved me, beat my laziness, and even created some kind of eagerness to sort of like involve in a campaign of one of the candidate. Which unusually, for this year, we have only two candidates to win the presidential election. 

This year was so different, so it kinda make me feel strange in my own country. There are so many people who are usually lazy and just simply don't give a shit about governmental issue, like me, eventually care about who wins the election. Wow. This amazed me. They even begged, and some were posting some crazy shit about another candidate in hope could change other people mind on deciding who to vote. So weird. Every time i logged on to Facebook, which i barely do that in the last couple year, the timeline was full of crazy news. i mean really crazy shit. Lots of people were trying to black mailing other candidate, even though I'm pretty sure the candidate itself don't know about them. haha!  I know, people just know everything, and just assume that they were all correct. Thats the power of media! which sometimes i hate.

But people are seemed to know everything. Ok. So after all some crazy stuff about presidential elections, here it comes the Religion VS Humanity shits...

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Cukup Kaget

Cukup kaget mendengar bahwa beberapa musisi asing kelas dunia (bahkan bisa dikatakan legenda) mengeluarkan suaranya mendukung salah satu Calon Presiden. Walaupun agak miris rasanya mendengar Calon Presiden yang satunya lagi (karena melihat situasi ini) menyatakan untuk jangan memilih Capres yang didukung asing (I know right?).
Cukup kaget melihat kini, banyak orang, jutaan orang yang dulunya tidak bersuara dalam pemilihan presiden, sekarang mengeluarkan suaranya dan terang2an mendukung Calon Presidennya.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

First Post

Umm, hi!

It's the first time since forever (i know right?) i finally write again. A whole new life, i suppose, a whole new world, new title has been added to my name (finally!), and there are just lots of things going on in my life. Hhh, i wish i could tell this blog everything but i'm not sure how many pages will i spend for it. So, just gonna start from the beginning, eh?

Hello, my name is Ghina. I'm currently on my way to 24 years old now (i know, such a big deal), and i just got my Bachelor Degree on January with a completely new-riddiculously title of Bachelor, which is epic, and i'm also about to start my next journey to another continent this August leaving everything behind (yes, that'd include my family and boyfriend), and start from the beginning. 


So Hi!


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Technology; Make people together? or apart?

Kemajuan teknologi saat ini sangat pesat. Handphone membuat jarak jauh terasa dekat. Blackberry yang saat ini sedang digandrungi pun bisa membuat kita merasa ramai walaupun dikala sendiri. Tapi benarkah itu semua membuat kita satu sama lain menjadi dekat? atau mejauh?

Saya teringat kata-kata orang tua saya yang ketika sedang makan suka menyindir saya yang menaruh Balckberry saya disamping saya yang terkadang seskali melirik BB ketika lampu merah berkelap-kelip. Papa bilang, "kaya' menteri aja sih ni Ghina sibuk banget kayaknya nungguin kabar." Saya pun terkadang kesal karena saya merasa BB itu penting untuk saya yang mahasiswa ini untuk terus mendapatkan kabar atau info dari teman-teman ketika ada make up class atau berita dadakan lainnya. Namun sekarang ini saya menajdi sadar, kalau ternyata Blackberry itu hanyalah sebuah pelarian. Ya, pelarian untuk merasakan keramaian dikala sedang sendiri. Sama halnya dengan internet yang tetap membuat kita sibuk, padahal seharusnya waktu belajar.

Behind the pride


As an Indonesian, i'm very proud knowing my country is, again, becoming the host of SEA Games, the biggest sport event in South East Asia. This year, the event is held in two big cities, Palembang and Jakarta, starts from November 10th -November 22nd. Very fascinating to watch how lots of talented athletes coming and see the beauty of this country. But there's something bugs me, there are so many 'improvements' going on in this city. Starts from the restorations of the streets, until eviction of the 'sidewalk store'. It all suddenly happens just before the big event which started this week. Well they said it all because of the pride that this country try to show in front of other nations and maybe, it can be part of our tourism campaign? 




Well whatever they try to make there are two sides that we can consider, good one, or bad one. The good thing is, yes we will get the pride (hopefully) by showing that our country is capable to hold such a big and expensive event like this, and one thing is, we as the citizen, ummm, can enjoy the 'beauty' of this country. But the bad thing is, is it continuously? or it's just the euphoria of the games?

What do you say?

Monday, July 4, 2011

YES End of Stay Orientation 2011 in Washington DC







Well hello! Finally i'm glad to get a chance to write again here. i don't really know how to start now.

as in my previous blog, luckily i got selected to be a group leader for End of Stay orientation in Washington DC last week and i had a great times! As some of you might know that i had to flew by myself for 22 hours from Jakarta-Singapore-Hongkong-Chicago-Washington DC. It was a super duper long flight! it wasn't a good flight because all the turbulence and considering i was 60000 feet above, it was scary! but here i am!

I arrived on June 26th and stayed in Hilton Washington Dulles Hotel. The hotel was totally nice and i got 2 roommates, Their names is Mariam and Sajana. We became good friends and freezing almost every night!

End of Stay Orientation is basically the reorientation for all exchange students that have spent 11 months in United States and ready to go home to their home country. There were 501 or more students from all the over the world. We had 101 Indonesian students, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, South Africa, India, Kenya, Turkey, Mozambique, Egypt, Germany, plus we have Yes Abroad Students from USA that will go abroad. We had soo much fun in there and a lot of lessons and material that the students might need when they go home to their country. For group leaders, it was a long week. We barely could sleep. Most of us just sleep for 3-5 hours a day because there are just lots of stuff to do. Biggest credits go to AFS Staff who kept maintaining the flow and arrange everything. They are Nancy Levine, Bryant, Ori Behr, Katrina, and many more. All of us worked together to make this end of stay orientation happen. But, even though we were tired, seeing the kids and listen to their experiences in their states just gave the energy for us! it was great to see them excited as well, and we were glad all of them have became a leader in their community. They are the future leader.

Leading 501 students was not easy at all. We had four days to give them lessons, worked out their guide book, made them listen to the speaker, and taught them how to handle all the challenges that they will faced when they go home. Based on my experience, it was a hard time just to readjust with everything. They have been there for eleven months. It might be hard for them just to speak their native language because they spoke English for a year. They got used to American culture and American food so they might not used to their native culture anymore. They might gonna have problem with their family, schools, and communities. But they have to handle it. They have learned how to adjust with American culture a year ago, and now they have to deal with their native culture. I told my students (the group i led--> INA8) that they have to face the reality in their home country. The schools are different, the people are different, the communities are different, the languages are different, the food are different! How can they handle that? the End of Stay orientation provide all of those materials. We all know that community service is a common thing in United States and might not in their country. And we tried to bring that positive action to their own community back home. They have to bring the betterment to their community. It's the way to express love and bring happiness to their home country. I told my students not to be hesitated to do something different as long as it brings positive impact. There's nothing wrong with positive action.

Those are just some of the materials in end of stay orientation that we had last week. And also we had cultural evening night where all students had to create performance from where they from in front of all people and all students. It was a great night! They showed dances, songs, musics, and everything from their own country!
Cultural evening is the night where you can see all cultures, all countries together, support each other, dance, and sing together. It feels like there is something that tied us together and tell us that we are actually one part of the big world.
The one that made me almost cried is when Indonesian students performed on the stage, the Thailand students were standing and showing their flag (red-white-blue) and fold the blue part of their flag so the flag became Red and White and became the Indonesian flag. That was so respectful of them. i even almost cried from the whole time when i hear all students cheering the other countries that performing at that time. It was a memorable moment! No matter what color is their skin, what color is their hair, what religion that they have, they are one! We are one. I wish every single person in this world saw it, and give them better understanding of this world.

I'm so proud of them all.

Not just for them, all the staff learned a lot of things too! We made friends! I met these incredible people in the world! Mariam, Janina, Kirsten, Sean, Matthew 101, Sajana, Gill, Nat, Nancy, and all the people there that i couldn't write it all. It's glad to know that every where you go, you will always have friend from each part of the world. I even met Josh, the YES Abroad students that came to Indonesia a year ago! We were surprised when we saw each other. I know every single part of me will them a lot.

Thank you friends, thank you AFS, thank you YES :)





Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Back Home after three years

To be asked, yes i am excited. For what? because thanks to God i got accepted to go to United States for one more time (and i hope for millions time after) to be a group leader in End Of Stay YES Orientation 2011.

I am so happy and excited right now but scared inside. Let me tell you about it.

I got the announcement a month ago and i started to apply for visa, and so forth. Thanks God AFS and Mas Dudi from US Embassy Jakarta made my way easier and faster to get the visa. I got it just 2 days after i got my visa interview. isn't it great?

One thing that makes me curious is, i am going to be on the flight just by myself. Yes, just one little Indonesian girl fly to 31 hours of flight going around the world. Totally awesome -.-. I was hoping that i could go through Europe route (transit in Frankfrut) then fly to DC. The fact is, i am going through Asian route which i'm gonna go through Pacific Ocean. Right, an ocean. It's not because i'm scared to be on the plane, but i am scared to be on the top of the ocean. The fact that i cant even swim is frightened me. I am not thinking or hoping to the worst condition (definitely not!) but, you know, there is just this fear in my mind. I cant swim. And eventhough i could, the sharks will definitely gonna eat me out. so scared.

They usually sent at least couple of group leaders, but for this EOS, they are just gonna send one kid.

That is the fact that i am trying to deal in right now.

Right now, i am still trying to deal with my final exams and will be ended on Thursday. So it's a perfect holiday, isn't it?

Despite of any kind of fear that i'm dealing right now, it doesn't stop me from the willingness to meet people from all over the world in AFS End of Stay next week. and of course, my great families, John and Sherry Andrews and all my American friends! i miss them so much!

All tickets have been confirmed. I'll depart on June 25th, mama's birthday, and will be back on July 22nd to meet my Panka Gumilang <3

See you there!!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Dream, Believe, and Make It Happen



Before reading this blog, can you answer these below questions?



What are you going to do in the next 10 years?

What do you want to be in the future?

What is your dream?

After answer those questions, can you think of the answers of these questions?


Have you tell anyone about your dream?

Did people think that you're not gonna make your dream comes true?

Did people say, "Naaaa, you ain't gonna make it.. Keep dreaming!"

If you answered the questions already, let's take a look at this.

I know some of your dreams are might be out of reach (if you answered it honestly). Some of you might wanna be a President, an international soccer player, a successful businessman, a singer, an actor, or even a billionaire. Most of you also might think that you're just gonna keep it in your mind because you don't think that it's gonna happen. Probably only 1 out of 100 people in the world would think it is gonna happen in anytime in your life. Is it right?

Dream, is a very strong word. Dream, is not a thing that only stay in your head when you sleep. Dream, is not a wish. Dream is a HOPE, hope is something that you will reach. Dream is something that you BELIEVE that is going to happen in your life. You might heard about miracle. Miracle wouldn't be a miracle if it wasn't exist before.

When you have a dream, and you don't believe it, then it is NOT going to happen. It is so a simple logic of thinking. The another strong word is Believe in your dream. Like what i wrote before, people would say that you are not gonna make it. That is because people do not believe in your dream! Does what people think matters to you? Do people make your future? No! It's YOU that make your own future, not what people think of you.

For some of you that told people about your 'unachievable' dream, you probably heard people said that you are an Arrogant person. It is not arrogant! It's what we called confidence. Confidence means you trust yourself, you believe yourself. It gives you strength and make you believe that you will reach what you wanna reach. If you don't have confidence, means you don't believe in yourself, and it also means you don't believe people that close with you are going to help you to make your dream comes true. Remember, It's not only you, you have people around you, your friends, relatives, family, that will try hard to make you reach your dream.

Some of you might found some excuses (read my previous blog ; What makes us different). Some of you would think you couldn't make your dream comes true because you are not capable to make it, because you don't have enough luck to get a talent as good as anyone else. People! There is no such a thing called luck! Luck is word created by people who regret their incapability. Luck created by an thing called effort. Effort is something you created by working hard. Talent is not a luck. It is an incredible gift from God which all people were given since they were born no matter how small it is. So what do you suggest? are you keep finding your excuses or try to find your way to make your dream and 'luck' come after you?

Make it Happen, is the most important thing to reach your dream, to believe your dream, to believe in yourself. Dream and believe is important elements. But if you don't make it happen, you dream will only stuck in your head. it is not going to happen. So what's the point of dreaming and believing? Yes, you have to make it happen! You have to be optimist! Believe yourself! Believe you dream! Believe you are gonna make it! Forget about what people said about your dream! Forget about you 'unreachable' thought! Start to make your dream comes true!


Life does not come twice. If you keep waiting for a second chance, then it means you failed.

People failed because they think they failed.


Keep dreaming, keep believing, then Make sure that you have to make it happen!



P.S: this post was inspired from Dream, Believe, and Make it Happen by US Embassy

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

As the Time Goes By



11-01-11


it's January, 11th 2011. Lots of things happened since the last time i posted.
What's so special about this number? People are planning to do something special today. Me myself don't find any special thing. Still doing my job and study (ha! i wish!). I am pretty happy with my life. Lets see what else happened on the beginning of this year.

  1. A very memorable AFF event where Indonesia lost the match from Malaysia. Indonesia is the best team with no lost (before the final match). On final match against Malaysia, oh they have two matches btw, home and away. first match was in Bukit Djalil, Malaysia. I still remember at the time #Garudafightsback, #Indonesia, and #Malaysiacheatlaser became trend topics on twitter. Hilarious! On the first final match in Bukit Djalil, Malaysian supporters were awful. They throw laser on Markus (goalkeeper) of Indonesia to distract him. At the end, Indonesia lost 3-0. On the second match, we won 2-1, but we lost the trophy because of the aggregate score. But everybody knows that Indonesia is the real champion.
  2. #Nurdinturun. Nurdin Halid is the head of PSSI. Chaos happened in Belora Bung Karno when Indonesian supporters insisted to buy ticket to watch the final match between Indonesia and Malaysia in GBK. One man died, but it wasn't because of the radical queue, he died because of sickness. Indonesian supporters want Nurdin Halid to leave his position as the head of PSSI but until this time, he doesn't want to leave his seat.
  3. Gayus around the world. This legendary man is the key master to many tax corruption case. Now, he's been prosecuted as the man who's guilty in the tax case. As a prosecutor, he is supposed to be in jail. What's interesting with this guy is, he went around the world (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Macao, and Bali) to watch a tennis tournament. He uses silly wig!

Those are just some of the things that happened lately. We'll continue later!






Monday, November 29, 2010

Turkey and Pie! Finally :D


Every Thursday, Third week on November is always be a Thanksgiving day. Lots of turkey, Pumpkin pie, Dip, Mashed Potatoes with gravy sauce, yummy i know, are always be fascinating things as dinner. Oh and don't forget the stuffing!

For all of you who might don't know what stuffing is, it's a mix of bread, turkey, and some spices, all together become one. In a tradition, as my host father said, Americans usually put the stuffing in the turkey (yes, IN the turkey) and put in on the oven. Owh i still remember how it smells.. We usually eat it with mashed potatoes and gravy sauce also. Delicious!

Well, as you know, it's been three years since my last Thanksgiving in United States and two days ago me and bunch of YES Alumni got the invitation to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mr. Ambassador at his house. It was really nice (big) house with bunch of food. Mr. Ambassador and all the embassy staffs are really nice and very welcome to greet us.

After little opening speech, he sliced the turkey as a sign for us to start the dinner that located on his dining room. We were all very excited with the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and etc.
After the dinner, Mr. Ambassador and all his staffs were mingling so they could chat with all of us. This is why i love Americans, very appreciative, and very warm, warmer than Indonesian itself sometimes.



With Mba Reni



With Ted Lyng

Turkey Time!!



With Tanti and US Flag


Thank you US Embassy.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Upcoming Disasters

These days, there lots of disasters came by to this world, specifically to my country Indonesia. Sad of course. In less than 2 days, 2 disasters came in a row. 7.2 SR earthquake follow by Tsuname happened in October 26th, and not too long after that, Merapi volcano has erupted. thousands of people died.

Nature is showing no mercy for the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia this week. Coming to grips with the eruption of its most volatile volcano, Indonesia must now contend with an earthquake and tsunami that has battered its isolated Mentawai Islands region. At least 311 people have been killed in the magnitude-7.7 earthquake according to the head of West Sumatra's disaster management agency Wednesday. Another 410 people are still missing.

After all that happen, do we learn something? or just let it go and pray for the victims?

Those disasters came as a result of what we have done. Cutting trees and ignoring what we're not supposed to ignore. Don't we realize it leads toward something? the end of the earth. The mother earth is tired. Tired to hold on everything. Flood in Wasior has killed hundreds people. Why is that happen? That's because of cutting trees everywhere so the soil couldn't hold the water. But people just don't care. They give the empathy, but keep cutting the trees.
Maybe some of us think, ok it's not me that died, but don't they realize that the die comes after them?

My friends, my family, and people who i don't know. If you do care, if you do wanna save the earth, or if you do wanna save yourself, please, stop cutting trees. All the disasters that happen are only a small part of what we might heading forward. We're alive now but it can't guarantee that we're gonna alive forever. At least please save other people and our children.

Stop cutting trees, stop wasting water, stop wasting energy by turning off your electricity when you don't really use them (especially air conditioner), and use public transportation instead of driving your own car by yourself. Small things, but big deal to save the ear

One tree for one live

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

What makes us different


What makes different? education? economical life? ethnic? face? parents?Many people asked about my life. They thought that my parents earn a good money so i can be like this. But basically, people know nothing.

i grew up in a normal family, not rich, just grateful of what we have. When i was in elementary kids, my parents were a small medicine seller. We dont have much. My mom was a lecturer but she stopped and start to be a merchant, like a Minang suppose to be.lol. I went to regular school near by my house. Until 6th grade, i wanted to have a Smart Book (buku pintar). But i don't have money to buy it, nor my parents. Well they have money but they just have to reconsider everything in order to buy something cause there might be something else more important than a that book to buy. All my friends have the book, i don't. But i don't wanna ask my parents either. Cause i know what their condition were like. So i just borrowed my friend's book and start reading it.Then it continued till i my junior high. Things are getting better with our economy. My parents started to have the 2nd (small) store in different place. For a merchant, it's good cause you'll have a second 'money' from other place. But for merchant, the money is not like when you work to a company. But it's like when you're having a business. You gotta pay for check, credits, and other stuff that you have to sell back at the end. So it's basically a 'circle' money. You still have to manage everything so you wont get broke.

On junior high, i was a kinda nerd girl who didn't have a lot friends. To be honest, i sometimes got jealous with them. They could go shopping, went to the mall, watched movies whenever they like. I was actually tried to be fitted in by been someone else, which at the end, it didn't work. I started to be fake. Pretend that i had money and could buy anything. It's a shame, i know. But it was me, a 13 years old girl who tried to fit in girls click.Going to high school, it was pretty good. i started to realize that there's no use of being someone else that we don't wanted to. i started to being just myself. i wasn't smart. My family economy was settled. we're not rich, but we had enough. Being with my family makes me realize that i have to understand about the situation. Be grateful of what i have and stop pretending to be anything. it teaches me, if i wanna get something, then i have to try to get it with my own efforts. i knew my parents worked really hard to make my brother and i feel enough. For me, i don't like to ask money for my parents. I would worked if i could, but i was thinking, what can i do in this 15 years old age?

Then there was a selection to be an exchange student. Then Alhamdulillah i got the scholarship. Then my life changed after that. I got a full scholarship to go to USA. I paid nothing. Even the scholarship paid for Visa, plane tickets, and the government even gave me money every month. But of course i had job there, to tell Americans what Indonesia is and what Islam is. I did many presentations in every school in USA and they even sent me to Disney World, Florida to be in a world conference :) For a year, i didn't ask my parents to send me some money. i worked as a cleaning service in there so i could buy my own laptop without asking my parents to buy me one. All i want is just buy things with my own money, which i finally did. I bought my own laptop, my own clothes, shoes, dresses, and alhamdulillah i could sent my families some stuff. but of course my lovely host parents helped me to do that. That was my biggest happiness, to make my parents happy and proud :')

When i got back to Indonesia, everything's changed. My life changed. i became more mature and i think that i could make change. I worked as a English private teacher when i was in 3rd grade Senior High School. And Alhamdulillah i got a full scholarship again in University when i am in now and working as a course consultant in English First Pejaten.
What i want to tell you is not a story about my life. But i want to tell you that we can do everything that we wanna do. I went to a Pesantren in Pondok Cabe for doing some community service. I talked with the kids in there and they said,
"Kak, you're so lucky for being you. Look at us, we're poor, we cant do much things like you did. We don't have that much money to do that"

Then i said, "Dek, don't try to find any kind of excuses. The excuses that you just said were created because you think so. I have a friend, his mother is a tukang pecel keliling which just earned a small amount of money, it's not enough to feed him and his sisters and brothers. Because of his efforts and his brain, he got scholarship to USA with me and now he became the smartest student in his college and got another scholarship for that"
Mingling with Pesantren kids :')

YES Students doing community services in Pesantren


After Iftar with US Embassy and unprivileged children.



Appreciation after Ramadan Outreach 2010


Better World for Better Future Conference, Disney World, FL


IYAA Indonesia Conference, Jogjakarta, Indonesia



Presentation about Islam in Southern Columbia Area High School, PA, USA


Sometimes i think that people poor because they just don't have money to pay education. But in fact, it's not true. Yes we do need some money to go to school in order to have a high education. But if the person do have a willingness to be in the school and to be success, it will all come towards the goal. There are so many people in our country becoming poor because they think so. they think they can't do much because of the excuses that they create by themselves. Those excuses are just going to create boundaries in life. It will stop you from getting your dreams.
Any people with any kind of economy, ethnics, and education will get their dream if they stop to make excuses in life. I believe there's nothing we can't do (except God's will).
Pray and effort will do some much in this life.

Stop whining, stop making excuses, start working and do the best we can do while we can. If we combine those things, it will create a huge thing that coming up next in our life. We'll see.

I start on nothing, running everything. If i can, i'm sure you can too :)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Memory of 9/11


September 11th, 2001. Everybody remember that day. The day that terrorists hijacked two plains and hit it to the two gigantic building in Washington DC.Yes, people were shocked by that disaster. Many people were killed. Christians, Moslems, Jewish, any type of people that were on that building, killed.

Today, it's been nine years since the tragedy happened. The place is now called Ground Zero.
Many Americans think that the Moslem are the terrorists. Moslem did that. That thought reminds me of my exchange year on 2007-2008. When i was trying to do some presentations about Indonesia and Islam. I remember there was a friend who asked me, "Ghina, you are a moslem, are you a terrorist??" That was the strangest question i've ever heard in my life, besides people were asking why i knew Eminem, Rihanna, and Hollywood actors, simply because they thought that Indonesian don't watch TV and MTV (-. -")a. The question about terrorist wasn't like a joking question. It was a serious question. Here are the conversation..
Me: I can't eat pork and Ham because i am Moslem.
D : What?! You are a Moslem??
Me: Yea.. Why?
D : OMG, so are you a terrorist?

Me: ...

D : Isn't your religion taught you to kill people and hit people?

Me: D, Logically, If i am a terrorist, you must be dead by now. But you're alive! So you still think that i am a terrorist afterwards?
D : Umm, no.. But That's what i heard and what i see. Moslems do that..

Me: Here's the thing. I know it's not easy to believe. But i just want you to know
and i
hope you will understand and let you friends know this. Islam itself
literally means "Peace". There is no religion in this world teach their people to
kill the others. In my life, i've never been taught by anyone or anything to kill
people. So do you. In the terrorist-bombing-things, those people are just using
Moslems name as a thing to be blamed. If we remember the tragedy in Georgia
(if i'm not mistaken), was done by Christians. KKK's are Catholics/Christians.
Is it fair if we also say that those people are taught by their religion to kill other
people?
Yea. that was basically my conversation with my friend. Stereotype. That's the big word. Maybe some of us don't realize when we say, "Americans are fat." or "Padang itu pelit". Small things aren't they? But it becomes big thing when we say about big thing as in my conversation above.

My question will be, Why people can think that Moslem are terrorists? the reason is simple. Because we show them that we are. Yeah, some of you will screw around, but it's true.. Let's see what 'a community' in our country does. Radical demonstration, destroying churches, hitting people, yes, that's what they (we) showed them.

I never blame American for hating Moslem. i don't blame Moslem either. But it simply because the Americans don't know what Islam is. They just know bad things that they see. Same with us. We only see bad things that come up in front of TV without buffer it first right? Now, why don't we just show them that Islam is full of peace? Islam is the best thing in the world. Show them what we've been taught since we were kid. Show them that we, as Moslem never kill people without any reason. Show them!

Somehow i think Americans are more open-minded than some Indonesians. But it simply because some of Indonesians are just don't know either. If i can do one thing for this world, i would switch Americans to live in Indonesia and Indonesians live in America for just a month. And we'll see how it turns. I wanna see that 'radical community' in Indonesia to live in America as a Moslem major and see how it ends. I wish i could tell them how it feels to a minority as a Moslem in America. I wish i could show them how hard it is to live on people's thought about terrorist. I wish.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Story of Parkit



Somebody just sent me a message through my facebook. i know that person. i really know him.
He sent me these words and a story about "parkit" and sangkarnya. I know, he knows who's the parkit and sangkarnya.


Sang sangkar dulu memiliki seekor burung parkit di dalamnya.
Namun sekarang sang sangkar kebingungan mencari kemana burung parkit yg dahulu ada di dalamnya.
dia pikir burung parkit tersebut telah kabur mencari sangkar lain yg lebih megah daripada sangkar ini.
Sang sangkar sedih dan memutuskan untuk terus menanti sang parkit sampai dia kembali.
Walaupun pada akhirnya jika sang parkit tidak akan kembali lagi, sang sangkar tetap akan menunggu dan menunggu hingga waktu sendiri yang akan mengikis tempatnya.

Begitulah pengakuan sang sangkar.
Namun ia sebenarnya tidak sadar.. mengapa parkit kesayangannya tiba-tiba menghilang.
Ia tidak tahu, bahwa sebenarnya burung parkit yang paling dicintainya itu telah mati, dibunuh oleh dirinya sendiri.

Sang parkit tidak pernah meninggalkan sangkar yang teramat dicintainya itu.
Walaupun sang sangkar terus menghimpitnya sedemikian hebatnya.. namun tak sedikitpun ada niat dari sang parkit untuk meninggalkan sang sangkar.. apalagi untuk mencari sangkar baru yang lebih megah..
"aku sudah teramat mencintai sangkar ini. walaupun nafasku sudah sesak, aku tidak akan meninggalkannya", pikirnya.
Namun sang sangkar bahkan tidak pernah menggubris dan memperdulikan apa yang diutarakan sang parkit.
Ia terlalu sibuk mengatur peraturan untuk sang parkit.
Sang parkit tidak memperdulikan suara hatinya sendiri. dia tetap akan menaati peraturan tersebut.

Sudah berulang kali sang sangkar bahkan pernah mengusir paksa sang parkit.
Sehelai kain yang tadinya diberikan untuk melindungi sang parkit dari kedinginan pun dimintanya dengan paksa.
"Kau sudah tidak pantas lagi memakainya!", sumpah sang sangkar.
Sang parkit dengan menangis memohon kepada sang sangkar agar tidak mengusirnya. Sudah bertahun-tahun aku di dalam sangkar mu, pintanya.
Namun sang sangkar tidak mendengar melainkan terus menghimpit sang parkit yang tadinya sudah sakit,
Hingga akhirnya meninggal di dalam sangkar yang paling dicintainya itu..

Sangkar pun masih tidak sadar bahwa sang parkit terus telah mati.
Dia baru sadar setelah tubuh sang parkit yang telah kurus lunglai dibawa angin entah kemana.
Hanya meninggalkan sehelai bulu putih bekas pesakitannya.

Penyesalan akhirnya menimpa sang sangkar.
Namun ia tetap tidak sadar, bahwa ia lah yang telah membunuh sang parkit..
Sang parkit sekarang hanya bisa melihat dari balik awan..
Menangisi penyesalan yang dirasakan sang sangkar..
yang secara tak langsung suka menyakiti sang parkit dengan melihat sangkar yang amat dicintainya dahulu, meratapi kepergian sang parkit, tanpa tau kesalahannya..

That wasn't the message that he gave me. at the beginning it was. But i wrote the rest of it.