My Little Adventure

Job seeking IS really an adventure

2009-12-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, i haven't posted anything for almost a month. The reason is... i'm having another adventure which is... job seeking! Yay!

I'm a workaholic, and seriously think that career is part of my identity. Actually, being jobless really scares me to death. To do something means self actualization for me. It makes me smarter, wiser, stronger. And to stay at home, doing almost nothing, really drives me nuts.

But thanks God... i only experience the process for one month after my arrival :)
(if it take more than that, probably i'll have nerve breakdown :p)

My internship ended on November 14th, and exactly on that day, still in Beijing, i received an e-mail from detik.com told me that i'm invited for an interview on Monday, November 16th.

I was so happy. So, there i went. I passed the user interview, had my first psycho-test, then had my medical check up and HRD interview. I'll start my first job on Monday, December 21st 2009... wish me luck, everyone! ^_^

I'll be the Community Development Officer, so i guess i'll learn a lot from it. More adventures to experience... yay! i'll seriously do my best on this...

Anyway, i'll keep my promise. I'll write more about China. I'm preparing the writings offline since i'm using my parents internet connection now, and they have the quota for this.

I'm also trying to send my report about Beijing to a girl magazine, so hopefully they haven't had the report about this before and they'll publish my report! (finger crossed) Wish me luck again!

Finally, home...

2009-11-18T03:45:00.000-08:00

Yep! my internship lasted on the 14th of November 2009
It was kinda sad that i have to go home and leave my friends, school, students... really, what an experience! after two months, everything there started to feel like home for me,, hehe.

I went to the airport with airport shuttle bus (ji zhang ba shi). I recommend this bus, since it's pretty comfortable (kayak prima jasa gt deh), heads straight to the airport in 45 minutes, and only costs you for 16Y. Like this! ^_^

Thanks a lot to Mr. Wang who had taken us to the shuttle bus at 5am in the morning. You're just the best Wang Lao Shi! :D

I arrived in the airport (terminal 2 for Malaysia Airlines) then checked in. For your information, there's no airport tax charged in Beijing International Airport. Huh, i shouldn't have prepared money for that. I could have used the money to buy some other things for me >:D hehehehh

Anyway, i arrived in Jakarta at 7pm. I miss Indonesia! I miss my family! I miss my boyfriend n friends! But i also already miss my friends in Beijing, huhu :(

Now that my internship is over, and one of my biggest dream has fulfilled, i need to say thanks to some people...

My parents... who always support and trust my dream, no matter how crazy and impossible it looks like, the opportunities come because they say "yes" to all my plans! :D

My lil' sista... who helped me with some stuffs while i'm in Beijing, and who always be a good "trash bin" hahahahh

My trainee friends... thanx for the great friendship and memories. You all are so inspiring! i learned a lot from you guys!

AIESEC Indonesia... Jennilie Orlanda, Marlissa Dessy, Yuniandri Ikramina, all OGX team and other guys for the help and support until "match" SPIRIT!

AIESEC UIBE... thanx for the help and service while we're in Beijing :)

Beijing no.9 High School, Mr. Wang, all the teachers, fabulous students... for the hospitality, help, learning, and all the stuffs that make the internship worth it

All my friends, thanx for all the support and prayer ;D

M. Surya Prasetyo, for always be my best friend and for teaching me to be unselfish, xoxo

I still have some stuffs that i want to share about my internship in Beijing, China. I'll post them after this post. Sorry for the lateness and all the disorganized stuff, but i hope you'll enjoy them! ;D

Cheers!

I Eat Donkey!

2009-11-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

Well, i didn't really plan to. But that day, Martyna and I missed the lunch due to sleepover. After the English Club, we went to a small restaurant near our school, because previously we saw some of our students eat there.

We wanted to eat noodles, and it turned out that the restaurant served noodles. It's my habit in China to always ask the waiter before i order;
"Zhi shi shenme rou?" (what meat is this?) since i don't eat pork

The waiter told me something, and pointed to this picture that was hung on the wall:

(he says, "my meat is the tastiest!")

...
Yep, it was a Donkey Meat Restaurant

I expected beef, chicken, or something basic like that, but i was also curious how donkey would taste like. It was only 6Y so, we ordered 2 bowls of spicy donkey noodles.

About 10 minutes later, the donkey noodles came. Ta- daaaaaa!!

(huge portion of spicy donkey noodles)

Donkey meat was kinda red, not as delicate as beef, but for my surprise, it tasted okay. It didn't have special smell like sheep meat, so i enjoyed it quite much. I'll think twice to eat it one more time. I just think that donkey is too cute to be eaten. It reminds me to Pinokio, hehehe.

There's a lot of Donkey Restaurant in Beijing. They sell all part of Donkey; meat, inside organs, until eye balls and donkey's "special treasure". This "special treasure" would cost you about 200Y per dish.

(tetep diabisin, laper sih waktu itu ;p)

Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan)

2009-11-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

Temple of Heaven is one of the most beautiful place i've visited in Beijing. I went there in 23rd September 2009, when it was still sunny and warm in Beijing. Temple of Heaven located in Chongwen District, and you need to take subway line 5 to Tiantandongmen station.

You need to pay 35Y to get it, and too bad they don't have discount for foreign students. But it was worth it. Temple of Heaven is a really beautiful place, built in a really huge area, and well preserved. Also, it's one of the most important temple in Beijing, and was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

I'll give you more scientific way to explain Temple of Heaven, taken from Wikipedia:

The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Empe ror in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the east (日坛), the Temple of Earth in the north (地坛), and the Temple of Moon in the west (月坛). The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor.

In 1914, Yuan Shih-kai, then President of the Republic of China, performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China.

The Temple grounds covers 2.73 km² of parkland, and comprises three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building, 32 metres in diameter and 38 metres tall, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and resembles it, but is smaller. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances. The Imperial Vault is connected to the Hall of Prayer by the Vermilion Steps Bridge, a 360 meter long raised walkway that slowly ascends from the Vault to the Hall of Prayer.

The Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛) is the altar proper, located south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. It was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740.

Ow yep, you're not allowed to get into the temples, because those considered sacred places. They put a barrier in front of the door of the temple and place some guards there. You can take picture from the opened door, and this is how it's inside the temple;

There are also some interesting things in the temple, such as;

The 70 year old door. This door was built for Qian Long Emperor whose health was falling when he reached the age of 70 year old in 1779. The door was made to make him able to reach the ceremony hall easily. Qian Long ordered only his successor who has reached the age of 70 can use this door. But no Emperor after him reach the age.

Firewood stove. They burned the firewood to worship the heaven during the ancient ceremony.

And many more! haha,, ;D

Seems like Temple of Heaven is a popular place for old people in Beijing. Because i saw a lot of them, did various activities here, like karaoke, play traditional music instrument, exercising, create calligraphy, etc.

You need the whole day to explore Temple of Heaven, and i suggest that you come in a really sunny day, since this temple will show it's most beauty that time. There was a huge area of park with old trees, and it's a really nice place to just sit and relax.

There were some souvenir shops inside the temple area, and i suggest not to buy the souvenirs there, because they're kinda overpriced. I will tell you in another post which places that you need to go to get good souvenirs.

So, i think, Temple of Heaven is a must-visited place. Make sure you go there if you visit Beijing! :D

Foods in Beijing

2009-11-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of interesting Chinese foods that you must try in Beijing. Well, actually, China is a good place of culinary lover since Chinese foods are so famous world wide.

I'm soo picky about food. It's not that i only eat certain types of food, because i'm definitely eat everything, but i only consider few types of food to be called "delicious".

I tried quite various kinds of Chinese foods here, so i can give you some must-try foods in Beijing. I've been thinking seriously to make this list, since they should be really good ones. So, here are they; Bon apetite!

Hotpot. It's really popular in Beijing, especially in winter. The concept is that you put meats, vegetables, tofu, etc, into a big pot with a boiling seasoned water inside and gas stove underneath. The aim is to make the food always warm. Please put attention to only choose hotpot in a fancy restaurant :p, i don't mean to be lavish, but i've eaten hotpot in a small restaurant (cost 35Y per person, located in Shaoyaouju), and it was disgusting. The soup was tasteless, so were the meat, vegetables, and other stuff. The sauces tasted awful. But then, i went to a fancy hotpot restaurant (cost more than 300Y for 4 people, treated by Mr. Wang ;D) and it was amazing. They put a lot of delicious mushroom and herbs into the soup so it had rich flavor, and was really delicious. The meats and vegetables were fresh, the sauces were great. Plus, they served it with delicious dumplings, stuffed buns, soy milk, and durian cake as desert. It was just amazing (apalagi gratis, mak nyuuss!)
Roasted Duck. For sure... Beijing Duck is really famous, world wide. Actually, until this note is written, i haven't been tasted a Beijing Roasted duck heheheheu. Well, it's so expensive for me. The whole part of the duck may cost you 200- 300Y. But still, i put it on the list since it's really famous. You can find many roasted duck restaurant all around Beijing. Have a try!
Dumpling. Or jiao zi. If you manage to find good, fresh, dumpling, it would be heavenly! Moreover, dumpling is the traditional food of Chinese. They used to make it at home during some festivals. I had dumpling stuffed with duck meat in a duck restaurant near Temple of Heaven, and it was really good (it's good if it's still juicy inside). Dumplings are not expensive. I paid about 26Y for a portion of really good, fresh dumpling.
Caramelized Fruit. Probably, if i have a chance, i'll start to sell this in Jl. Dago hehehe. Caramelized fruit is my favorite snack. They put various fruits in a long stick, usually grapes, oranges, mulberry, banana, kiwi, strawberry, apple, but sometimes they also put cherry tomatoes. You can find it sold by sreet vendors all around Beijing for 2-4Y, yum!
Insects. Well, i mean, when and where again you will try barbequed insects? you can find it in Wangfujing Food Street. They sell scorpions, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and many more. The basic taste of the insects is crunchy, and a little bit juicy for scorpion. They might look disgusting, but they don't have really annoying taste, just give it a try! The price starts from 20Y per stick.

To try new foods is always a huge interesting part of traveling. Just free your self a little bit and let your appetite decide. The best cure for bad mood is tasty food. But also aware of food poisoning, make sure that you don't have any allergy of certain food and always bring medicine for stomachache and food poisoning with you.

Enjoy! :D

Beijing no.9 High School

2009-11-06T03:01:00.000-08:00

ESD trainees were divided into several different schools in which they're gonna teach about Sustainable Development, and arrange some other activities.

Jarek, Viola and Nguyet were sent to Da Lian
Frank and Mira went to Xi'an
Carey went to Hadian (something) International School (aduh maap lupa, tar gw tanya lg >.<) Putu, Ky, Fani and Dom went to Camford Royal High School Slava, Martyna and Me went to Beijing no.9 High School I'm so proud with my school, i love it really much. First, because it was built in a really huge area (it might be weird, but i always like school with huge yards ;p), second, it has really cool facilities such as indoor-olympic-size swimming pool, acrobat class, indoor basketball courts (about 6), football yard, and so on, third, people are extremely nice here, especially Mr. Wang, our supervisor, they are so friendly and helpful, fourth, it's one of the best high school in Beijing with a lot of achievements.

(front side of Beijing no.9 High School)

Built in 1946, Beijing no.9 High School is a key high school as well as exemplary high school in Beijing. Covering an area of 57.000 square meters and floor space of 30.000 square meters, Beijing no.9 High School is well designed with an attractive layout and possesses the advanced teaching facilities. It consists of a teaching building, a lab building, a library, a gymnasium, two dining halls as well as a standard playground with 400m racetracks, which provide modern learning environments for the students here. 70% of the teachers in the school hold a Master's degree. In the aspect of students, large quantities of students are admitted to the key universities every year and the admission rate of the graduates maintains the level of 100%.

(classrooms building)

(the students)

Concept
The school is always for the development of students and teachers, trying to promote democracy and always put people's right in the first place.

Objectives
We are trying our best to build the school to be renowned one domestically and abroad with high quality and specialty

Goal
We are educating our students to be physically and psychologically healthy, helping them master special skills and ability so that they can develop in an all around way.

(The library)

(the dorm)

The gymnasium has all kinds of advanced equipment. The library can hold 500 people, where students can search and read on line. In addition, all the classrooms are equipped with such fasilities as a liquid crystal display projector, a computer connected to internet, and so on. The dorminotories are tidy and bright, each of which has an air conditioner.

(the gymnasium)

(indoor swimming pool)

(sport yard)

(Text taken from Promotion Book of Beijing no.9 High School)

(Me and the school sport yard)

60th Anniversary of Chinese Republic

2009-11-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Umm,, i'm sorry, i should've written about this huge event earlier.

But anyway, i'm such a lucky person to be in Beijing and witness this anniversary. It was held in the 1st of October 2009, and they've prepared this celebration since months before. They need a lot of time, because this celebration is a way for Chinese people to give the proof to their elder people that China has grown into a huge country. Also, because this celebration included the army forces, artists (singers, dancers, acrobatic players, martial art players, etc), athletes, important people from the government (including China President, Hu Jin Tao, himself).

(Chinese flags were everywhere)

As we all know, Beijing was the host of Olympic Games 2008. It was huge, rite? and for Chinese people, this 60th celebration is even more important than the Olympic Games. Because, it's about their country, their pride, achievements, and identity. They were really devoted for this event. Since September 2009, i've seen a lot of Chinese people, young and old, wearing red cloth in their sleeves, helped to maintain the security. They are the Chinese Volunteer, and yep, they're not paid for this. They were just proud to do this for their country. For this case, i have to say that i admire their nationalism and loyalty to their country.

(They secured and sterilized the roads)

Day October 1st 2009, they had a celebration in Tian'anmen Square. The army forces marched and there were internal events for the govermental and military officers. They closed many subway stations and big roads around Tian'anmen, since they needed to move big equipments for the big celebration party in Tian'anmen at night.

The night celebration was closed for public. Only important people from the government, army, education institution, former soldiers, teacher and some other (lucky) representatives can join the celebration. It was broadcasted widely on TV, so most Chinese people stayed at home with their family and watched TV. The celebration was totally awesome. You can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOxGc0Ye7mw

But i didn't want to stay at home and watch TV! they had fireworks party, for God sake! and it was the biggest fireworks party in China history, and the biggest in the world at the moment. Since i'm soooooo into fireworks, i managed to go out at night with Putu, Ky, Martyna and Coby to see the fireworks. We found a pretty good place near Beijing Railway Station where a lot of people also gathered to watch the fireworks.

(Ky, me and Putu watched the fireworks)

It was great to be the witness of something historical. The fireworks were great, Chinese people really had invented some cool shaped fireworks. I saw some shapes that i never seen before. I just love fireworks a ton! I also felt the excitement of people. They were shouting something like, "Great man Mao!", they were really appreciate their hero and always remember him.

(the situation in which we watched the fireworks)

Here are some fireworks that i saw (pictures taken by Martyna):

How to Survive Winter (for tropical people :D)

2009-11-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

Yippieeee!! it's winter in Beijing!
...
brr.

Heheu, it's my first winter. Like i've told you before, i had my first snow. But, winter is not just about cute stuff like snow, it's also about 0 until -4 degree celcius of temperature, and yet they still haven't turn on the heater until this note is written.

(my school during winter)

For me, winter is also about survival heheu. For the first time of my life, i feel so damn cold. While writing this note, i sit under my blanket and coat. Actually, people's rate of tolerance to cold weather is really vary; depends on environment, health condition, (probably) body mass, etc.

But, i'm a petite girl with not so many flesh attached to my bones, plus, i spent almost all my last 4 years in Jatinangor, which daily average temperature is about 27 degree celcius. And now, i'm experiencing under 5, 0, until -4 degree celcius. Well, in Indonesia, i only find this kind of temperature inside my fridge.

But, i can tell you how to survive this freezing temperature, first, here are some fashion tips;

(my winter style)

Wear multiple clothes under your coat. I used to wear tank-top, t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, sweater, jacket/blazer, and finally winter coat. Only with this kind of combination, i can feel a bit warm. Ow yeah,, make sure you have really thick winter coat with you.
Wear double scarf. I recommend one of them made from wool. Just to make it fashionable, try to match both scarfs with your coat. They sell cute scarfs for only 10Y- 20Y in shopping places. Such a fun.
Wear tights/ legging under your jeans/ throusers. Believe me, it helps a lot.
Own a pair of glove. Choose ones with a layer inside, cause it'll be warmer.
Own a pair of boot. I suggest the material is from leather or any other hard material, because they won't absorb water. Mine is velvet and i still have some water inside my boots when it's really wet.
Own a hat. It's really cold when your ears are exposed. They sell various hats here, my favorite is beanie because it's warm and fashionable. If you don't like hat, you can use the hood in your coat.
Wear socks, anywhere, anytime, except for bathroom for sure.
Recommendation from my friends; head, hands, and feets are parts of your body that will lose the body temperature easiest. So, make sure all of them are covered.

(say BRRRR)

And any other tips...

Take subway; it will be a lot warmer inside the subway,, hehehe
Eat, eat a lot! especially carbs. Carbs produce energy and energy produce body heat
Drink a lot of water to hydrate yourself, because your skin will be really dry during this time
Don't take shower with cold water, u'll freeze at the time
Keep coffee, tea, or chocolate in your room. So, you always ready everytime you need hot drinks! :D
Avoid parks; it will be super freakin cold there
Be careful when you step on ice caps on the ground. I slipped once last week and i still have some bruises in my a** >.<

So, that's all from me! i enjoy this winter since it's a part of my adventure, and i'm glad that i'm given the opportunity to experience this :D

AIESEC GIP Testimony

2009-11-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

I was asked to make a testimony about my internship in Beijing, China, as the part of AIESEC Global Internship Program's promotion. Momon, the current VP Comm of AIESEC LC Bandung said that they're gonna make a poster of me :D (yeah, i'm THAT famous lol)

So, here's my testimony:
"It was September 2009, when i took Development Traineeship and joined the "Education for Sustainable Development" Program also known as "Hello China" Project in Beijing, China, for two months. It was the biggest project in China, and i was so proud and happy to be part of it.

It was just great. Development Traineeship is a really good way to develop your creativity and proactiveness. I was working in Beijing no.9 Middle School, educated the students about sustainable development and arranged some English activities for them. Every week, me and my friends developed creative ways to campaign the issue in such fun way.

The whole team of this project consisted of 13 people from 8 countries. I was working in the same school with two girls from Russia and Poland. Working in such international environment helped me to develop my horizons and soft skills in communication; trained me to have broad international mind and to be tolerant and flexible.

AIESEC GIP has helped me to develop not only my professional skills but also my personal skills. I found more about my self during this internship and i thank AIESEC for that. To know more about my experience you can check my blog in www.meandmylittleadventure.blogspot.com"

Keep Holding On

2009-11-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

"Keep Holding On"
by: Avril Lavigne

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No I won't give in

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late, this could all disappear
Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend
I'll fight and defend
Yeah, yeah

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Hear me when I say, when I say I believe
Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

La da da da
La da da da
La da da da da da da da da

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Keep holding on
Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

My Trainee Friends

2009-11-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

(ESD training)

This autumn, we have 13 trainees working for Sustainable Development issue. These 13 trainees come from 8 different countries. We attended the same training in the 4 first days in B&B Inn, Shaoyaouju District.

I really like all my trainee friends. I can simply say that we are so different, but we get along really well. We made friends, and really enjoyed spending the time together. For me, they are really inspiring people. I can just learn something for each of them, too bad that some of them have to go other city for internship and i can't meet them again.

But I can introduce you to my friends ^_^ here are they;

(le-ri: Frank, Slava, Fany, Ky, Putu, Dominic, Martyna, Mira, Me)

The picture was made in a restaurant near the Beijing Zoo. I don't know the name of the restaurant since it was written in Chinese, but the foods are great and pretty cheap.

Okay, start from left side...

Frank Bosman: He's from Netherlands. He is working in Xi'an, that's why I don't see him a lot. But once he was coming to Beijing and we went to the zoo together.
Slava: She's from Russia and she's working in the same school as me, Beijing no.9 Middle School. She's pretty, sexy, fashionable, really nice, and she's a great dancer... but sorry guys, she's married :D. She has Chinese grand-grand father and she really loves to shop.
Fany: She's Indonesian. She's from Jakarta but she is now studying in Malang. She was working in Beijing Royal Camford School. She finished her internship earlier and now she has already returned to Indonesia.
Ky: Her full name is Tu Manh Ky and she comes from Vietnam. She has really unique accent and she's pretty quiet. She is working in Beijing Royal Camford School.
Putu: She also comes from Bandung Indonesia. We took the same flight and we're gossiping about everything :D. She's working in Beijing Royal Camford School. She's an accountant and this internship is actually a time for her to have fun before she start her job.
Dominic: Or Ho Joon Jang. For me, it seems like he has 3 nationalities; Korean, American, and Japanese. He's studying in Waseda University, Japan, grown in US, but he's actually a Korean. Eventough he's Asian, his English is flawless. He works together with Putu.
Martyna: She's my roomate in Beijing no.9 Middle School. She studies Philosophy and Politics, and she's really smart and nice. She has broad knowledge about world's important events and people. She's interested at Chinese culture and art. She also speaks Chinese.
Mira: She comes from Germany, and she was working in Xi'an. She finished her internship earlier because she needs to take a test in her university. She had bad experience in Beijing when somebody exchange her 100Y money into fake one, poor Mira :(
Well, that's me ;D

I have some other friends...

(le-ri: Aaron, Dom, Carey, Michelle, Me, Martyna, Chris)

The picture was taken in bar 9.9 in Sanlitun. Sanlitun is a bar street where you can find various bars, clubs, etc. It's the place where the foreigners gather and have fun.

Okay, start from the left side...

Aaron: He lives in Australia, but he's actually Malaysian, so he can speak some words similar as Indonesian. He attended the training but actually he's doing the Education Traineeship, because he teachs English and he's paid for that. He's an AIESECer.
Dom again
Carey: She comes from Canada and she's working in the same school as Aaron. Carey is really pretty and sweet. She had pretty tight schedule with her school but finally she managed to arrange some payment with such schedule.
Michelle: She's a funky mama :D Michelle comes from Canada and she's teaching in the same school with Aaron and Carey.
Me again
Martyna again
Chris: He comes from US and he has already returned to US. Chris is really nice and friendly. He wanted to be called "Mr. Ganteng" but always ended up call himself "Mr. Gentong" wkwkwk >.<

(le-ri: me, Putu, Jarek, Viola)

Jarek: He comes from Poland and i only meet him during the training because he was working in Da Lian. He's Viola's boyfriend.
Viola: She comes from Poland and she was also working in Da Lian with Jarek. Viola and Jarek have been together for 7 years and they're probably the cutest couple i ever met.

(le-ri: Me, Nguyet, Putu, Carey)

Nguyet: She comes from Vietnam and she was an English teacher in Vietnam. She was working in Da Lian.

Owkay,, actually, i made quite a lot of friend here but i don't have their pictures. Maybe i will tell you about them in other note.

I really learn a lot from my friends here. My impression about them are; nice, open minded and educated. Really, most of my friends are really smart; they read a lot of book and have their own statements about world issues and so on. Also, i used to think that my English is pretty good, but my friends, they speak perfect English, eventough for some of them English is not native language. I'm encouraged to fix my English here. Now, I can use grammar better than before.

To work in such hetero environment like this train me to be open minded and flexible; as well as be strict to my own personal limit. The most obvious character of my friends is that they really have big curiosity, they dare themselves to learn and try new things, and they always try to find proper information about everything. That's awesome for me.

All i can say when you need to mingle in such international environment, you have to be extrovert, open minded but also culturally sensitive. Remember that each of you come from different places and have different culture. What's good and funny for you could be different for them. It's really a huge fun to be the part of this team, i learn a lot, and i really like them :D

The Miraculous Snow

2009-11-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

Normally, snow falls in China in December.

So, i didn't really hope that i would see the snow in Beijing, even though now is atumn- winter season. But honestly, i really wanted to see the snow. I've seen it only in TV and it was always pretty and interesting. I've never seen real snow in my life.

It was the 29th on October when Slava said to me, "Hey you know? you will see the snow. It'll be snowy two days later". I was so excited, but some people told me that this is too early for snow, and probably there will be only a little bit snow, and it'll melt rapidly. So, still, i didn't really hope.

But in the 1st of November, after Halloween Party, i felt so cold. I check the yard from the window, and it was all white! yet the snow was falling quite hard. It was so beautiful, just amazing, as i always thought. From now on, snow is one of my favorite things.

When we were out for lunch (Me, Martyna, Slava, Putu, Ky, Michelle, Dom, Aaron and Dennis), there was a lot of snow on the street. We threw snow balls to each other, and i touched the snow; it was really delicate and nice. Snow is awesome.

I felt pretty bad the night before this "snowy day". I thought about some other things; my failed trial, how the world seems not working in a proper way for me, how i feel to be treated unfairly by fate, some bad things that i think i don't deserve... and so on.

I felt a message sent to me through this snow. It was like a present for me, not to be sad, not to lose the hope, because if God intend, anything, even something that you think impossible, will happen anyway. Because logically, i won't be able to see this snow, but suddenly it comes in the beginning of November in Beijing, it was kinda weird for everyone.

I felt like the snow was sent specially to me ;p. I'm having pretty bad time and i'm pretty sad, but i'm not gonna give up. If God able to send this snow miraculosly to Beijing while i'm here, God must also be able to grant my little simple wish. I shouldn't stop believing.

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

(Creepy Jack O' Lantern)

I never had a Halloween Party before. It's not something popular in Indonesia. But we got the invitation to celebrate Halloween at Aaron's house. It was pretty interesting for me; because i haven't been in a Halloween party, or a House party. Again i say, both of them are not popular in my country.

It was October 31st evening when i finally decide my Halloween costume. I had a dress and black tights, then i found a mouse-ear headband. So, i would be Minnie Mouse. It was easy, simple, and obvious. Plus, this headband only cost me 8Y, i found it in Pingguoyuan.

(A widow, walking dead (?), 70s girl, and Minnie Mouse)

When we arrived at Aaron's there was a lot of people that i don't know. Most of them foreigners, they come from different countries, and they were in Beijing for internship as well. For my surprise, some people dressed really seriously; i met a SWAT guy, a really scary corpse bride, a hot mama, and so on. Our friend, Michelle, who stayed in the same house with Aaron, decorated the house pretty nicely. Well, at least they had some pumpkin lanterns, cute fake spiders, and so on.

(Bathroom party)

I'm not sure... but maybe there were more than 30 people attended the party. What i like from house party is that it's a really good way to know people. When you're mingling and having fun, it's really easy to open up and create relations. I also learned that some people would be really weird when they're drunk, or high. Thankfully, they had a lot of juice and soft drinks, so, it was still great for me.

(She's creepy, isn't she?)

I had quite a lot of fun. They had pretty nice music to dance, i met a lot of new people, learned something, and finally found a couch and thick blanket to sleep when i already tired. I shared the couch and blanket with Martyna and Slava.

Sure there were stuffs that i like and dislike about partying, but as long as you're being open minded, and realizing your limit, you will survive and learn something anyway.

(me and my costume :D)

Silk Market

2009-11-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Well, my most important advice is; Don't go here if you're not ready to bargain like crazy.

Silk Market probably the most famous shopping spot in Beijing- for tourists. Because, if you join a holiday trip to Beijing, Silk Market will be on the list of destinations. I concluded that since i found a lot of tourism bus in front of Silk Market. Most customer in Silk Market are foreigners, they really come from all over the world; you can hear various language spoken here.

(it kinda reminds me of Pasar Baru though,,)

To get here, we can take Subway Line 1 to Yong An Li Station. Take Exit C, then you will reach the basement of Silk Market. The basement was for bags and shoes. There was a lot of cute bags, and every seller in every store would try to approach you and say, "Hey, hey... beautiful lady, Gucci... Lois Vuitton... Dolce and Gabbana?" yep, this Silk Market was really a heaven for fake branded stuffs. I'm not into fake branded stuffs, so i wasn't put so much attention. But despite that, you can find a lot of cute bag with really good material here. The seller could speak English pretty well, so it would make everything easier for you.

If you're obviously a foreigner, the seller will give you riddiculously high price. Martyna tried to buy a bag (it was indeed really cute, the leather was genuine, the model was so fashion, and they had various colors and brands-yep brands, awesome huh? XD) and the seller tried to sell it for 400Y. That was insane! they seriously thought that foreigners always have a ton of money, maybe own an IT company, and so on. They should have considered a foreigner like me, huh.

So, we bargained like crazy. She gave the price unshamefully, so we bargained the same way. A little act will do; put a face like you really want it, but say that it's too expensive for you ("Tai gui"= too expensive) and tell the seller that you're just a student and you don't have that much money with you ("Wo shi xuesheng,, mei you hen duo qian"= i'm a student, i don't have a lot of money). Actually, it's much better if you bargain in Chinese; they will be happier and give you the real price more easily. If it's getting hard, pretend that you don't want it anymore and leave, because the seller will chase you and give you lower price. (Indonesian bargaining tactics are really successful here. I'm so happy that i live with Kings, BTC and Pasar Baru my whole life hahaha).

Well, finally we got the bag for 65Y. Ha-ha. Yep, we're good at it.

(Be persistent then you will get it :D)

The ground floor was for clothes. If i'm not mistaken, there were 4 floors in Silk Market. Actually, i think that many clothes in Silk Market are better than other shopping areas in Beijing, especially if you need to buy clothes for old ladies. I managed to find some sweaters and cardigans for my grannies and my mom. Still, just bargain like crazy. If they tell you "100% cashmeer,, blah blah" well, you just need to bargain for the price that makes sense for you. Don't start to bargain from 1/2 of the starting price, try from 1/6. You might have a little quarrel with the seller, but that's the art of bargaining, rite? i strongly suggest you to come here in the evening, because the seller are already pretty tired and they don't have that much energy to quarrel with you. Again, they were really tricky, they made a price tag in every clothes, showing a really high price in dollar. These price tags might intimidate you, but we paid 35Y for a sweater that had 89$ on the price tag.

So, just bargain like crazy.

They have various stuffs in Silk Market. Any kinds of cloth, bags, shoes, and souvenirs. My favorite souvenir here are notebook and glasses case with really chinese clothing. If you want something with fixed price, since bargaining can be mentally tiring sometimes, you can go to a underground area in front of Silk Market, which aligned with the Yong An Li Subway Exit A. They sell many kinds of souvenir for 10Y each.

They also have some cafes and import stores here in Yong An Li. It's a kind of tourist center in Beijing, beside Sanlitun and Guamao. So, you can guess that the stuffs were overpriced here.

(The cafes)

But after all, it's a pretty cool place; for a bargainholic, not shopaholic.

It was not swine flu, but still...

2009-10-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

I was a bit ill few days ago. I had flu. It wasn't swine flu, thank God, but i was pretty worry that i searched for the symptoms of swine flu in the internet. It was said like this:

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of the 2009 "swine flu" H1N1 virus are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The 2009 outbreak has shown an increased percentage of patients reporting diarrhea and vomiting."
(Wikipedia again)

Ok, i had quite temperature, sore throat, runny nose and low blood pressure. But i didn't have cough, headache, body aches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea or vomiting. So, i conclude that I HAD NO SWINE FLU. Pff. I still have runny nose and low blood pressure now though.

Actually, it began when i eat a weird snack that i bought in a small supermarket near my school. It was prawn snack; and tasted more like salt with chips than chips with salt. I can't put the picture of that god-damn-nasty-snack here cause i'm afraid to be sued, but i can tell you that the container is red, with a picture of prawn on it. Humph.

The next day after i ate that snack, i had a sore throat. I thought i would be recover soon so i just ignored it. But that day, i went to a lot of place, drank milk shake at 10pm, danced a lot, and had ice cream at 5am in the morning. Please remember that now is autumn- early winter in Beijing, so it was sooo cold for me.

So, then, i was ill. I didn't bring any medicine from Indonesia except some tablets for diarrhea that my mother put inside my bag. I used to have really good antibody, so i thought i would not get ill and i dont need to bring medicine with me. That was a REALLY BAD idea.

The girls, Martyna and Slava are really sweet. They gave me medicine from Russia and Polland. I took Strepsills Intensive, Grypolek and Oepbekc and took a rest for two days and i felt much better. Thanx a lot, girls! :D

(they work! :D)

So, if you're going abroad, i highly suggest you to bring some medicines from your country. If you feel lazy to bring a lot of medicine with you, make sure these 1st aid stuffs are in your luggage:

Flu/ cold medicine. Some stuffs with parachetamol will do. For Indonesian, it could be Panadol, Bodrex, etc.
Cough syrup/ sore throat medicine. If you feel troubled to bring cough syrup with you, make sure you bring Strepsills, FG Tchrosis, or something like that.
Inhaller. Runny nose is really, really annoying. Inhaller may help you a lot.
Diarrhea medicine. There's a lot of food poisoning case happens to foreigners.
Vitamin C. It's important to maintain your condition during recovery.
Cajuput Oil (minyak kayu putih maksut gw... hehe). It always helps.
Band-aid

But the most important thing is that always aware to your condition. Always have scarf, gloves, coat and boots when you feel cold. Stay in bed if you don't feel well. When you have flu, you're really sensitive to other viruses and something worse can happen to you if you're being reckless.

The best medicine for flu is to lay in bed and sleep! ;D

Tian'anmen Square

2009-10-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Actually, Tian'anmen Square is the first tourist destination that i visit in Beijing. I visited it the second day of my stay in Beijing. Well, i should've posted something about this special square earlier, but i had no intention to do it, until now,, heheheu,, i've told you that i'm an impulsive writer.

(front gate of Tian'anmen square. There's a picture of Chairman Mao)

But anyway, Tian'anmen Square is surely a must-visited place in Beijing, since a lot of important event happens here, the latest event was the celebration of 60th anniversary of Republic of China. To reach Tian'anmen Square, you got to take subway line 1. This square has two stations; Tian'anmen East and Tian'anmen West. There's no charge to get into Tian'anmen Square.

China government put extra attention to this square. They have a lot of soldier and security volunteer in this place. Don't try to take picture together with the soldiers eventough some of them might be cute >:D because they will not allow you to do that. But candid photo will do, though... hehehe.

(left-right: me, Carey, Nguyet, Putu and Ky)

Here are some words that can describe Tian'anmen square historically, i borrowed it from Mr. Wikipedia;

"The Tian’anmen Gate was first built in 1417 in the Ming Dynasty. During the demise of the Ming Dynasty, heavy fighting between Li Zicheng and the early Qing emperors damaged (or perhaps destroyed) the gate. The Tian'anmen square was originally designed and built in Beijing in 1651. It was enlarged to its present size (four times its original size) and cemented over in 1958.

(some people say the design resembles to the Red Square in Russia)

British and French troops who invaded Beijing in 1860 pitched camp near the gate and briefly considered burning the gate and the entire Forbidden City down. They decided ultimately to spare the palace and to burn instead the emperor's Old Summer Palace. The Qing emperor eventually agreed to let the foreign powers establish headquarters in the area. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 the siege badly damaged the office complexes and several ministries were burnt down. In the conflict's denouement, the area became a space for foreign troops to assemble their armies and horses. It was cleared in due course to produce the beginning of what is now known as the Tiananmen Square."

Tian'anmen square is connected with other tourist destinations such as Beihai Park, also known as Sun Yat Sen Park (entrance 3Y, 1,5Y if you have student card) and also Forbidden City (entrance 60Y). If you plan to visit Tian'anmen square, be prepare for the crowd. A lot of domestic and foreign tourist gather here to see the historical square.

In my first time, i went to Tian'anmen square with Putu, Fany, Nguyet, Ky and Carey. Remember to save your friend's number because it's really easy for you to accidentally get separated here. There was something funny when we tried to buy water here. We told the seller that we want cold water, and she gave us... freezing water. Seriously, it was solid ice inside the bottle. Wkwkwk,, we could just wait until the ice melted and we could drink the water.

(It was really ice inside the bottle wkwk >.<)

Tian'anmen square consists of some squares devided by some gates. The whole area is really huge, placed right in the middle of Beijing.

There were also some pedicabs inside the square. I don't recommend this, since the driver would charge you really high if you're a foreigner. There was also a souvenir shop inside the square, but the stuffs were pretty overpriced.

There was a lot of Chinese people from another city. Some of them really interested to foreigners and would talk to you so friendly, in Chinese, for sure. Well, could be in English if you're lucky though.

(This beautiful lake is also part of the square)

If you come to Tian'anmen square early in the morning or at 5 in the evening, you can see the flag ceremony. In my second visit to Tian'anmen square, i saw the flag-lowering ceremony. The soldiers were strictly asked people to move from the center of the gate, so they had enough space to line up, create formation and move to the other side of the road to put off the flag. They even closed the road for this routine ceremony.

(the ceremony. it's also pretty famous)

That's all from me, make sure you visit Tian'anmen square if you come to Beijing. It's always worth to check! :D

Chong zhi dian hua ka

2009-10-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

*Subtitle: refill the phone card

I had a pretty emotional morning when i tried to refill the credit of my Chinese phone number, hehehe. I bought 30Y credit of China Mobile and I was so frustrated because this card of Chine Mobile didn't have a SMS system to refill the credit. The instruction written in the card was only;

Dial 13800138000 and follow the voice instruction to recharge your China Mobile account
Call from China Mobile's service or any fixed-line service to recharge your local account
etc... (msi ad 3 poin lg males nulisny gw,, irrelevant tpny dgn crta da,, hehehh)

(troublesome card)

So i did, i dialed 13800138000 and tried to follow the instruction. Of course the intruction was given in 2 languages; Chinese in English, but... the operator spoke with a really strong accented voice. It was sound like Chinese for me >.<>

Dial 13800138000

Dial "2" for English assistance

Dial "2" to recharge your account

Dial "1" and insert the numbers written in your phone card

Dial "#" to confirm

Type "Ye" then send to 10086 to check if your credit has been added

You can buy phone cards in the magazine stalls that can be easily found in Beijing. To ask for it, you can say,
"Ni you mei you dian hua ka?" (Do you have phone card?)

This type of provider is kinda unique (read: capitalyst ;p) for me. Because, if you run out of credit, you can't even accept a short message nor a call. Totally unreachable. But they will inform you if you only have 10Y left in your credit.

Lama Temple

2009-10-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

It was Tuesday, 2oth of October 2009 when i went to Lama Temple.
Lama Temple is located in Yonghegong Dajie, you can take Subway line 2 and stop in Yonghegong Lama Temple station. You can take EXIT C cause it'll be the most convenient to get into the temple.

Lama Temple is a Buddhist Temple with Tibetan influence. The monks are pretty different with Shaolin Monks, because they wear red cloak, and they don't practice the martial arts heheu. I'm not an expert on this matter, so i borrowed this definition of Tibetan Buddhist from Wikipedia;

"Tibetan Buddhismis the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan and India (Arunachal, Pradesh, Ladakh, and Sikkim). It is also practiced in Mongolia and parts of Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva) and Northeast China"

On my way to Lama Temple, i passed a lot of store that sells incense, flowers, charms, and other stuffs that people usually use to pray in the temple. Well, i think incense can be pretty good for aroma therapy as well, so these Yonghegong Dajie stores are worth so check.

You need to pay 25Y to get into Lama Temple. It's for a ticket and one CD. Too bad that they don't have student discount there. But anyway, Lama Temple is a nice place for me.

(i'm sorry, but it was taken from the internet... hehe)

My visit to Lama Temple began with an accident. I was so gladly taking some pictures when suddenly my camera gave me a warning about "out of memory". That was strange, because i always remember to transfer the pictures from the MMC to my laptop. I checked it out, then i found out that i forgot to put the MMC inside the camera. Crappy shit.

(This lion is practically everywhere. People believe he brings good luck)

It was good that i have Martyna and she had a really good SLR with her. So, i took my time to go around Lama Temple. Actually, i managed to take pictures with some monks. I will upload it here as soon as i get a cable data.

(the bigger your wish, the more incense you need to use)

Ok, the first temple in Lama Temple is the Matreeya Temple. Matreeya is the Buddha of Future. He has a smiley face and big belly and always looks happy and optimistic. People burned incense in front of his temple and prayed for wealth, examination, happy marriage and that kind of stuff related with future. We're not allowed to burn incense inside his temple, nor to take pictures of him. The statue of Matreeya is guided by "Four Deffenders of Buddha", their statue were massive, they looked like warriors with scary faces.

Then, I found a statue with a lot of coin on it. I thought that we can make a wish on this statue, so i prepared a coin, and gave Martyna a coin as well. But then we found out that we're not allowed to throw coin on this. I don't understand why there was a lot of coin there. Maybe we can only throw coins in certain occations.

(don't throw coin on it, pals...)

There were many kinds of temple for many kinds of Buddhist Gods. There was also the temple of Kwan Im, the Goddess of Mercy. A Chinese girl told me that this is the most popular temple. I guess i know why,, heheh.

I think the most interesting part of Lama Temple is the massive statue of Matreeya, which is written in the Guiness Book of Record. The statue is 80 meters tall above the ground, and constructed about 8 meters deep under the ground. It was made from a single trunk of wood. It's so amazing, the statue is just beautiful. Actually, it's not allowed to take pictures inside the temple, but i managed to find a picture of Matreeya from the internet. I really want to show it to you.

(The Guinnes Book of Records written Matreeya)

I also went to the Jie Tai Art Exhibition Room. In this Exhibiton Room, there was a three-stories marble stage made in 6th century to welcome the Panchen Lama who came from Tibet. There were also some Buddhist God statues and explanations about Buddhism. These are few things that i learned in there;

Guru is the way to call someone who create the doctrin of this Buddhism way
Buddha means conciousness; the purpose is to get the full awareness of yourself. There are three kinds of Buddha; The Past Buddha, The Current Buddha and The Future Buddha
Devi means wisdom; she appears in the form 16 years old girl maiden
Sarmadani is the idea of controlling what you say, do, and think
Bodhisattva means enlightment
Dharmapala is the idea of protecting Dharma (the good deeds)

(Well, i don't have plan to change my belief, it's just for knowledge, u know ;p)
Too bad, we're not allowed to take pictures in this room either.

(candid pict of me taken by Martyna, i'll soon upload my pict with the monks)

I met a lot of foreigners here. I believe they also think that Lama Temple is a great tourist destination. I just hope they can provide a guide book/ broschure so we can learn about the history and art of Tibetan Buddhism more.

1st Meeting of Our English Club

2009-10-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yeay! so, finally Beijing no.9 High School has a English Club, or a English Corner... whatever, it's just the same.

There were some challenges that we had in our way to make the first meeting in Monday, 19 October 2009. First challenge, we didn't know yet where we can do this club, because the school had not tell us the place. But some of Martyna's students sent her an email where will the club take place, so she just told them to gather in front of the school gate.

Second challenge, suddenly in Monday afternoon, Wang Lao Shi told us that it's better to start the club on Wednesday, because they need to report any kind of gathering and meeting due to the issue of H5N1. Hehe,, that was a bit funny for me. But we told him that we've already told the students about this club, so we have to do it today. So, he gave us a meeting room to do this activity.

(the 6 first club members)

And finally, we managed to hold the first meeting of our English Corner in Monday (19-10-09) at 12.45 until 13.40. There were 6 students who attended this club, but we think that it was a good start, since we didn't give proper announcement about the place. Moreover, we like a small class. We can give more quality in fewer quantity.

The first meeting is only about introduction, but we made them make a long introduction so that they have to say long sentences and use more complicated phrases. The method was that we divided them into pairs, an then each of them had to introduce themselves as their friend. It was just a simple one.

("My name is Candy...")

I had quite fun. And i will prepare the next meeting (Wednesday, 21 October 2009) more seriously. We asked them to prepare a topic that they like to be told during the club, because we will learn about Public Speaking. Meanwhile, i will make a poster to announce everyone about the next meeting.

Anyway, these are our 6 first club members:

Michael
Sam
Candy
Maria
Li Sa Tong
She wrote her name in Chinese characters so i can't read it >.<

I hope we will see them again in our next meeting, and also some more club members! Cheers!

Remember Their Name

2009-10-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

I always find it's pretty hard to remember people's name, even in Indonesia. There was one situation when i handle the press hosting in an event.

(an important-faced, senior journalist approached. I stood up immediately, set up a professional PR gesture, smiled widely, and greeted him so warmly because i felt that i know him pretty well)
Me: (shake his hand) "Mr. Agam... how are you? wow, it's been a long time! been busy?"
Him: "Umm... actually, I'm Kuncoro"
Me: "........"

Now, can you imagine when i have to remember Chinese names? well, more than 200 Chinese names?

But i have to do it, anyway. Because i found out that, your students will pay more attention to you, and feel closer to you, if you remember their name. Because for them, it's an appreciation if you remember them and call them by their name. Of course it's really hard to remember them all, but start to remember those who most active first.

(each of them wants to be recognized...)

Still, it's hard for me. So, i made a strategy. I asked them to write down their name in my notes, those who most active, for sure. Some of them have English name, and it makes everything easier for me. So, here's my note:

Class I-1
Cindy: long hair, sweet face, her English is not really good but she's so passionate and cheerful
Michelle: she just had her English name, really friendly
(they like to come to my room and talk with me, Martyna and Slava)

Class I-5
Chu Wen Yi: tall, pretty, friendly, she asked me if i can sell my batik blouse to her. She gave me a bracelet in our first meeting and showed me how to write my name in Chinese characters

(she said it's to protect me ^_^)

Scarlett: Sweet, active, intelligent, she sang for me in our first meeting. She asked me to come to her baptist ceremony and become a witness or something haha.
Denise: I'm impressed by this young girl. She told me that she wants to go to Canada for college, but her family isn't rich. So, she needs to find a scholarship, but she has to speak English well for that. She can't afford an English course, so she asked me to teach her English. She has that quality of knowing exactly what she wants and also how to get it. I don't know whether she'll achieve Canada or not, but she will achieve a lot of great thing with that kind of personality. She sent me a sweet letter and i will keep it. I really wish the best for her.
Cai Chen: The guy with glasses who's not really active but speaks English pretty well.
Zhang Xu: Haha,, he's the man! he's the funniest guy in the class. The whole class put attention everytime he speaks and makes jokes. He helped me a lot to get the class attention. He's also really friendly and active. Eventhough his English isn't that good, he always try to speak and seek for new words in his dictionary.
Yin Cheng Xuan: Korean student. He can't speak English or Chinese really well, but he always greet me and try to speak with me.

Class I-9
Gu Ming: (Secara fisik mengingatkan gw pada tokoh A Kiong di Laskar Pelangi >.<) kind of attention seeker who requires extra treatment. But if he got the attention he needs, he will be really kind and helpful.
Liu Chuang: One of the class cool gangster. His hand was fractured in our first meeting (not by me, for sure). He can't really speak nor understand English. But recently he was becoming really proactive and nice.
Tao Yun: He doesn't look like Chinese at all. He looks like Indonesian-Western mixed born. He speaks pretty good English and really friendly.
Guo Wei: A nice little gentleman who always help me with the computer.

Class I-10
Jeff: A cute, intelligent young man ;p he sang for me so beautifully in our second meeting ("nothing's gonna change my love for you..."). He's also really active during the class and he speaks English pretty well. Slava was right, he makes us think, "Damn, i wish i'm 7 years younger..." wkwkwkwk >:D
Belinda: A sweet girl that wants me to go to Badachu park with her
Betty: The girl with glasses, a bit shy but her English is good

Sally: She gave me a heart shaped origami with "We love you, teacher!" written on it. Aaaawww,, how sweet is that??

(I love you guys, too! :D)

And finally, this gentleman... he's also from Class I-10. He wanted to take picture with me. I can't remember his Chinese name, so he asked me to give him an English name. Wow, that's an honor to give someone a name. I have to think seriously about it. By the way, this is him:

So, i'm thinking about the name of some cool guys...
Bruce (from Bruce Willis)
Brad (from Brad Pitt)
Ashton (from Ashton Kutcher)
Johny (from Johny Depp)
Hugh (from Hugh Jackman)
Antonio (from Antonio Banderas)
Clint (from Clint Eastwood)
Stephen (from Stephen Spielberg)
Robert (from Robert Langdon- come to fiction)

So... can anyone give me an idea for this guy's name? his future is depend on us!
*untungny gak perlu bubur merah- bubur putih bwt kesempatan ini.. wkwk

I'm a Teacher! >.<

2009-10-16T01:58:00.000-07:00

"Tuhan tahu, tapi menunggu"
(Leo Tolstoy)

Really, be careful with what you do, and with what you say
Because, karma does exist! Huahahaha >:D

My mother is a teacher, and i always tell her that i never want to be a teacher, or lecturer. I think those two profession require really high competence and patience. Well, it happens that i don't really have the 2nd requirement.

Moreover, i don't want to be a teacher because i'm afraid of karma hehehehe. Really, i was a bad student. I was always being so mean to the young, new teachers. Together with my friends, i teased them, and really intended to piss them off. I thought it was fun. I talked a lot during the lesson, played card, took pictures, ate, and slept. I really did, i've told you i was a bad student :p

(Me in highschool. This picture is taken during lesson and i was half- sleeping)

Since i believe in karma, i don't want to be a teacher. I don't want to meet a student like me. It would be a nightmare >.<

But through ESD Program, life brought me into Beijing no.9 High School and made me a teacher! I mean, how funny is that?? I was terrified that i would meet "another version of me" here. Being a teacher is challenging. But you know what? i like it. I have to teach 4 classes of 1st Grade High School students (aged between 15-16 years old) per week. This is my schedule:

Friday, 10.15- 11.00 Class I-1
Friday, 11.10- 11.55 Class I-5
Friday, 13.30- 14.15 Class I-10
Friday, 14.25- 15.10 Class I-9
(in average, each class has 52 students)

(One of my class. I finished the lesson too early so i took my time to have some fun ;p)

I have to teach them Sustainable Development, which is something pretty new and hard for their age. I have to do it in English, which is not their, nor my, native language. That's the 1st challenge. The 2nd challenge is that i'm a foreign teacher, i don't really understand their language, and they know that i don't have any authority to give them score. The 3rd challenge is that, i'm a petite girl with small voice, they thought i was 18 *sigh.

So, i try to be their friend. I love it, so do they (well, hope so... >.<)

There's a lot of thing that you can learn from being a teacher. I can tell you some of it:

Punctuality. It's a shame here if the teacher come late. So i train my self to be in the class 5 minutes before the lesson (it's hard... late is almost my habit wkwk).
Preparation. It's quite challenging to make them interested on what you're explaining, so you have to make sure that you design an interactive class, prepare a good presentation, translate some difficult words for them, etc.
Creativity. They will get bored with you as the time goes by. So, you have to prepare different strategies each week to maintain their interest in the topic.
Flexibility. I just realize that each class has different personality, habit and culture. I have to treat them differently in each class. Well, duh.
Patience. I don't have to explain more about this.

Actually, i find out that i learn more things from the students than they do from me. It's actually me who have 4 lessons to learn each week. They are my teachers. They make me think and evaluate my self every time. They push me to develop my self, to give better lesson each week, to be as creative as i can, to be tough and determined, and so on. I'm sure i will still learn a lot of things from them.

So, i love to be a teacher. I learn a lot from this experience. It's sometimes frustrating and tiring, but this job pulls me out of comfort zone, and i like it. I feel it because of my wonderful students. Some of them are really sweet, friendly and clever, some of them act like me when i was in their age XD. I will tell you about them in another post.

At last, be nice to your teachers and lecturers. Don't make any mess with them. You don't know what will happen to you in the future. Huahahahaha >:D

(Me and Beijing no.9 Middle School. You might not see it clearly, but that's me)

Beijing no.9 High School English Corner

2009-10-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

I really like my school, Beijing no.9 High School.

People are super nice and friendly, the environment is great, the facilities are good. That's why i want to make a contribution for them. I want to do something more to help them, so do my trainees friend, Martyna and Slava.

We proposed a English Club to our school, and i submitted the proposal to our supervisor, Wang Lao Shi, last week. The proposal is like this:

English Public Speaking Club

Current condition:

English is widely needed nowadays. Students show high appreciation on it, and really interested to learn more about it. There are many students who really try to speak English well, and they need a platform in which they can practice English speaking actively, with correct pronunciation.

Objectives:

1. To boost students self confidence in speaking English

2. To give students a platform to speak English actively

3. To teach students how to pronounce English correctly

4. To give students platform to learn new words and use them actively

Activities:

1. Story telling

2. Simple presentation (Informative)

3. Simple presentation (educative)

4. Simple presentation (persuasive)

5. Simple presentation (to entertain)

6. Vocabulary learning

Method:

1. Practice

2. Trial and error

3. Evaluation

Schedule:

1 class/ week

(negotiable)

But it happened that Wang Lao Shi hadn't read it yet. So today, he asked three of us to meet him and an English teacher as a translator in the teacher office, in 3rd floor. So, there we went.

Finally, i could ask them if it's possible for us to make this English Club. We explained roughly about the club's purpose and what we will do there. For my surprise, they instantly say, "yes". We managed to arrange an English Corner, 3 times a week, (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) from 12.40 until 13.45. They will ask the ban zhu ren (coordinator teacher) in every class to inform this new club to the students.

I was so happy that i finally i can have more experience in working in this school. More experience= more development, rite?. Martyna, Slava and I will discuss about the material that we will give during the club activity, it will be improvised from the one i've made. We really determined to give the students a really good activity. So, Monday next week, will be our first meeting of the club! Wish us luck! ;D

The important thing that i want to tell is, if you're a trainee, you gotta be proactive. If you feel like you need something more to do, just propose the activity to the place you're working at. If you think you can do something good for them, just tell them. It's your development, so be responsible to it.

I will seriously prepare for this English Corner. I will give them my best. And I will tell you about our first meeting in another post. For now, i'm soo happy that we can do this club! :D

I like Xidan!

2009-10-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, i will tell you about one of my fav place in Beijing. It's Xidan street!
Practically, i like a place where i can find many different things in one place. Xidan is a place like this. Let's list what Xidan has:

Beijing Book Building. It's known as the biggest book store in Asia. It's a 6 stories building with almost all kinds of book provided. Most of them are in Chinese, for sure, but i'm amazed that i could find some art books with pictures of famous paintings on it. I could also find a bilingual Dale Carnegie book for 25Y (and bought it). International books are in the B1 floor, but too bad i couldn't find a small Collins English-Chinese dictionary for me there. Owyah, this bookstore has the complete collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Hans Christian Anderson's, Hemingway's,, etc... all in English version, and all so cheap!
Street vendors. You can find a lot of street vendors in Xidan street selling many kinds of interesting foods. Chicken kebab, many kinds of barbeque, noodles, caramelized fruits, baked corn, you name it! All people just enjoying it in the sidewalk, and that was interesting for me. And, oh, seriously, don't eat that orange colored food seen in the picture. Tastes soooo awful!
Fruitime. Oh my... this stall sells many kinds of heavenly drink. If i have enough money, i will buy the franchise right and sell it in Indonesia. Oh, yes, sure i will. You can find many Fruitime stall in Beijing, they are pretty obvious because of the green color that they use. They sell milkshake, coffee, milk tea, green tea, smoothies, chocolate, juice, etc! the price range is between 3-5Y. My favorite is richaroma chocolate and hazelnut coffee. You got to visit this stall when you're in Beijing!
Cheap stores. Shopping time! First, try 77th Street, then, go to Xidan Cultural Square... but actually, you will find a lot of store in Xidan that sell cute clothes for 19-39Y! We also found boots for 60Y, bags for 35Y, and so on... You can even bargain in some stores. How good is that??
Stylish people. I think Xidan is also Beijing youth's fav place. Because i saw a lot of them there, dressed really fashionably. I saw a lot of girl mixed cropped jacket, skinny jeans and boots. Also hot pants, tights and scarf. Cardigans, legging, and animal printed bags. All in a really cute way! (I think they are really stylish. Well, except the one with the white shirt and grey throusers. Maap blur, maklum candid)

I was so happy when I sat in the sidewalk of this street, had Richaroma Chocolate from Fruitime, had survived from my financial crisis, and planned to try some foods sold by the street vendors. Oh man, i love this street!

Hari buka puasa ;D (Muti goes to the bank)

2009-10-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

It was the 1st of October when suddenly i realized that i only got 240Y left in my wallet. Crap.

I still had some dollars with me, but i didn't like that i've spent almost 1300Y before my first month. I started to think what have i bought... what places i've been visited... umm...

The conclusion was that, i only got 140Y to live until the 14th of October, because i would use the other 100Y to pay for the Great Wall trip. Remember everyone, it was the 1st of October. Then i had to spend only 140Y for 14 days. I need to use not more than 10Y per day. (Oh, 1-8 Oct was the National Holiday, and the school didn't serve the food during the holiday. Double crap).

Well, actually, i managed to survive during MY financial crisis. I will give you the tips in another post. There was unexpected thing happened when my yi-ka-dong was out of credit, so I needed to refill it. I needed to pay 20Y for this. Okay, plan changed. I will save it until 12th of October. Humph.

October 12th 2009

I did it, everyone! i survived! i even still had some yuan in my wallet. But i seriously needed to go to the bank and exchange some money. So there i went. I went to Xidan because i knew there's a lot of bank there. I chose EXIT B, because it was written that Bank of Communications is somewhere nearby.

I asked two polices where the bank is, and they pointed to the wrong direction. Then i went to the Xidan street. I was going around the block while i only needed to walk few metres to reach the bank!. But it was blessing in disguise. Xidan street is now one of my favorit place in Beijing. There's a lot of interesting thing there. I will tell you in another post.

Ok, i managed to find the bank. The Bank of Communications. I've practiced some conversations that i can use to exchange money in the bank. Thank you for www.nciku.com!

Here are some phrases and words that you can use for this occation:
"Wo yao huan qian" (I want to exchange money)
"Meiyuan huancheng renminbi" (dollar to yuan)
hu jiao= passport
huilu= exchange rate

I highly recommend Bank of Communications. The employee are so nice and helpful. I didn't have long queue, and they didn't need a long process to echange my money. Huff,, now that i have money, i breath again. It feels like i was breaking the fast, heheheu. Owyah, Bank of Communications is located beside Beijing Books Building. It's pretty easy to find.

(Sbenerny pgn foto2 di dlm bankny, tp takut dtangkep... heheheu)

Beijing Subway

2009-10-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

I really love Beijing Subway, yes i do!

I always feel convenient enough with angkot, DAMRI bus, BABON bus, ojek, and all kinds of transportation that i used to take in Indonesia. But to live in Beijing, i need more sophisticated and comfortable transportation, unless i'll get lost. Because Beijing is super huge city, and believe me, you don't want to get lost in Beijing.

Maybe for some people, Beijing subway is not really comfortable, since there always be a lot of people using it. But i have to say, I like the system. And the arrangement is easy even for foreigner like me. A foreigner who doesn't even have subway in her country (Pak SBY, mari qta bkin subway yuuk...).

I can tell you how easy to use it...
First, here is the map of Beijing Subway:

Easy, huh? the lines connect almost all areas in Beijing. They always prepare this kind of map in every subway station, and they will give it to you for free. All you need to do is ask,
"Ni you mei you ditie ditu ma?" (Do you have subway station map?)

Ok, if you need to take subway in Beijing, here are the things that you need to do:

Find the closest subway station from your area. You can ask, "Ditie, zai nar?" (where's subway station?). It's pretty easy to be found, since it always has this kind of sign:
After you get in to the station, you need to buy the ticket. It will costs you 2Y for one way ticket. But if you intent to stay for quite long time in Beijing, i highly suggest you to buy this yi-ka-dong (subscription card). You can find it in big subway station, like Pingguoyuan, Guamao, Nanlishilu, Wanfujing, etc. It'll costs you 50Y. 30Y for the credit and 20Y for deposit. You can also use it to pay the bus (it'll be cheaper). You just need to wipe it into the ticket machine to use it. It look like this:
Then, you just need to get into the train. Remember that the seats are reserved for seniors, children, pregnant women, the sick and the disable.
If you need to check the stations you've passed, there's a subway line map available inside the train. Some of them are new ones with the light. It's so comfortable for you to check. But there will be also some notofication about the station that u're arriving.

Sometimes, we have to stand for quite long time in the train, but if you can sit, it's pretty comfortable inside. This is the inside of the train:

Always say "Lao jia" (Excuse me) if you want to get off and there's a person in front of you... bon voyage! :D

Training ESD Program

2009-10-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

To be eligible trainees, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) trainees were given preparation training delivered by AIESEC, Plan International and Roots and Shoots. This training held in the 11th of September until the 14th of September 2009. The training took place in B&B inn Shaoyauju Branch, where 13 trainees from 8 countries gathered and learned how to be a good trainer.

First session of the training was about the ESD Program itself; it’s aim, objective, history, and it’s method to create an impact. This session was delivered by Jose Carlos Feliciano (MCVP Project AIESEC Mainland of China), Monica (Former OCP of “Hello China” Project) etc.

The second session was delivered by Adam Lane, member of Plan International and also one of the people who first established ESD Program. Trainees learned deeper about various issues related to Sustainable Development and how to conduct a class due to the issues.

Trainees also learned about the characteristics and habit of the Chinese students, and some practical tips to be a good presenter in front of them. Moreover, there was a session delivered by Roots and Shoots, an international NGO that gave the trainee more knowledge about environmental issue.

The best thing about the training was that the trainees from 6 different countries could gather and knew each other. We shared a lot of thing and experienced working in an international environment. I started to realize that each of us has different point of view and all we could do to solve the problem was by being open minded and tolerant. We faced some communication challenges because of different accents that we had, but we managed to get along very well. We cooperated to discuss the problem given and did class activities actively. I can say that it was a really nice start for our internship. We were quite sad that the training ended and we need to go to different schools (we went to a club and had a good bye party in the last day of the training ;p)

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Program

2009-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

The largest project thorough China…

With more than 2 years of experience…

Includes more than 30 international trainees from all over the world…

Create impact in more than 25 schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Xi’an, etc…

Develop a sustainable environment for a sustainable world!

What is Sustainable Development?

“a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserv

ing the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations”

(Bruntland Commission in wikipedia)

Why do this issue in China?

· China is the most developing country in the world, at the moment

· China citizen is 60% of the world citizen

· Sustainable China will give big impact for sustainable world

ESD Program in China

Program Description:

Trainees from all over the world cooperate to spread the understanding and inspire action of sustainable development thorough Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Dalian, and other big cities in China. They teach the issue correlated with sustainable development in some middle and high schools in China, in creative designed class, upon an international working environment.

Plan International and other NGOs in China support the trainees by giving proper knowledge related to the Sustainable Development issue. Trainees receive integrated training given by the NGOs and AIESEC before they start to work with the project.

Track Record:

Round I (Spring 2007)

Held in Shanghai and Beijing. Totally 1,800 students from 6 high schools and 10 international trainees involved.

Round II (Autumn 2007)

Held in Beijing. Totally 1,000 students from 3 high schools and 4 international trainees involved.

Round III (Spring 2008)

Held in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Xian. Approximately 3000 students from 11 high schools and (?) international trainees involved.

Round IV (Autumn 2008)

Held in Beijing, Shanghai and Xian. Totally 2200 students from 6 high schools and 10 international trainees are involved.

What do they say?

“We must protect our earth, if we don't protect it, animals will die and flowers will die too. When animals and flowers die we can't stay at earth. But scientist says: 'there isn't any ball like the earth around 200 kilometers'. So we only have one earth. She is our mother. Let's take care of our mother earth”

“I think English classes are very interesting. We learn about global warming, human activity. Some people have no water.”

AND NOW…

Autumn 2009

Round V

Held in Beijing, Dalian, and Xian…

With 6 middle and high schools participated…

13 international trainees from Poland, Germany, Holland, Korea, Indonesia, Canada, Russia, Australia and Vietnam

How can we make impact?

What have we learned?

What are our challenges?

How much have we’ve been developed?

Hear our stories…

See our experience…

Keep follow up!

Departure

2009-09-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

Ini adalah kali pertama gw pergi keluar negeri dan harus bener2 mikir sendiri soal ngurus2 administrasi di airport. I'm a bit nervous, takut ada apa2 yang bikin gw gak bisa pergi aja. But actually, it's pretty easy and simple, I can give you some tips..

1. Gw naik Malaysia Airlines k Beijing, transit di KL and I really recommend this. I take the promo ticket, economy class, and it only costs me 417 USD for 2 ways ticket, mesennya sebulan sebelumnya. Sebenernya bisa 402 USD kalo mesennya online. Kantornya ada di Jl. Sunda, belakang Pasar Kosambi. Bisa tanya nomer telponnya ke 108.
2. MA departurenya di Gate 2D, depart untuk penerbangan internasional harus 2 jam sebelum keberangkatan yah... cek juga di check in board harus check in di loket berapa
3. Selalu sedia uang rupiah utk airport tax dll. I have to pay Rp.150.000,- for the airport tax
4. Maximum load bwt bawaan 20 kg. 30an kg boleh tapi utk kepentingan sekolah, exchange, dll, dan harus nunjukin surat undangan dllnya
5. I don't have to pay for the fiskal since I have NPWP. Utk dapet fiskal, tgl bawa paspor dan kartu NPWP ke loket fiskal. Udah gitu, langsuung deeh... bisa masuk ke gate bwt ke departure room.
6. Put your passport, ticket, NPWP, ID card, Invitation Letter, Contact Number, dll di satu tempat. Jadinya gampang ditemuinnya. Soalnya, di pesawat bakal sering ngeluarin passport bwt ngisi2 form dll
7. Perjalanan ke Cina makan waktu 6 jam, jadi mending bawa bacaan. Anyway, there are some cool book stores in KL Airport,, worth to check

I hope that may help,cheers!

CONFIDENTIAL

2009-09-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

FOR NOW PICTURES ARE NOT AVAILABLE, BECAUSE BLOGGER IS BLOCKED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT
I WILL FIND A WAY TO UPLOAD SOME COOL PICTURES. YES, I CERTAINLY WILL.
THANX FOR VTUNNEL FOR MAKING ME GO THIS FAR, APPRECIATE IT A LOT.

PICTURES WILL SOON AVAILABLE.

PROMISE,
MUTHIE

10 Sept 09 part II (Beijing... wo lai le)

2009-09-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

(Gw n Putu foto2 d koridor hotel bak org Indonesia udik pada umumnya)

Putu and I arrived in Beijing International Airport at 3.05 PM which is faster than it’s scheduled. During our landing, we watched video about health-security check, that if we seem to be sick, we’ll gonna be quarantined, and if we’re not getting better, we will be sent home. Okay, I’m glad that I was feeling so fine. We had our temperature checked, because Chinese Government seems to be really afraid that we are bringing something harmful for their citizen.

We didn’t have any problem. We are being picked by an AIESECer named Stella, she brought a paper with “AIESEC” written on it. We also met Nguyet (it’s read Nguit), our first trainee friend, she came from Vietnam, and she will be working in Da Lian.

Our hotel named the B&B Inn. It was really close from the UIBE and it was pretty cool. The room is nice and clean, the officers are nice and helpful, even though they can’t speak English well. Anyway, after several hours we’re picked by Sara Chung and one other AIESECer and then we met another trainees. They are Slava from Russia, and Carey from Canada. We went to a barbeque restaurant where they sell meats, bread, vegetables, all turned into barbeque.

Sebenernya sih menurut gw gak terlalu enak nih makanannya. Gak berasa kalo dibanding makanan Indonesia. Bumbunya kayak cuma minyak wijen, garem, sama apaaa gitu. Gak jelas deh. Pokoknya gak enak rasanya, heheu. Nama restorannya gw gak tw, bis pake tulisan Cina, pokoknya deket UIBE. Tapi emang murah sih, satu tusuk Cuma 1- 3 Yuan. Ow yah… I definitely don’t eat pork. Jenis dagingnya banyak kok, ada ayam, sapi, domba, trus ada juga yg aneh2 kayak kepompong ulet sutra.

Nah, ternyata yah… Chinese people makannya banyak banget booo… qta ber Sembilan belas lah… mesennya nggak tau berapa ratus tusuk. Pokoknya perasaan gw banyaaaaaaakkk bgt dah. But I only paid for 11 Yuan, soalnya ½ nya dibayarin ma MC. Hehehuuu lumayan.

Nah, terusan… they serve really hot water. Almost boiling water. It’s actually because the weather is cold outside, so it must be comfortable for them to drink hot water. Okay, that’s an idea…

After dinner, we went to the National Stadium, it's where the last Olympic games are held. We took the subway, which is i really like the most. The system is so easy and sophisticated, that even if the officers can't speak English so we can't really ask them, we won't get lost anyway.

(Ki-ka: Gw, Dom, Putu, Fani, Slava)

The Olympic Stadium is located near Beichen East Rd, we only have to change 2 times of subway (Gw lupa, naik yang tujuannya kemana n line berapa, maklum msi cengok ngeliatin subway hahahah).

What can I say about Olympic Stadium... um... it's a really nice place to take pictures. There are so many The building construction is really great. Chinese government really put a lot of effort to build and maintain it.

We went to the National Stadium with an AIESECer named Joey, and he's so tight with schedule >.<
But anyway... we did make cool pictures and have fun. Thanx Joey...

(ini si Joey)

10 Sept 09 part I (I haven't even depart, but my adventure is already begin)

2009-09-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Gw punya habit yang jelek belakangan ini, habit yang bikin stress doang sebenernya, but I cant really help to have it anyway. Habit itu adalah… iri. Dan gak sabar juga sebenernya. Kenapa gw sampe bisa punya bad feelings kayak gitu… I have a good reason.

I have big passion about my future. I really think seriously, maybe a bit obsessed, about two things, which are:
1. Live financially independent
2. Make my parents proud

Saat ini, gw ngerasa susah banget mewujudkan 2 hal itu and it stress me a lot. Gw iri sama siapapun yang udah bisa ngelakuin itu sekarang. Iri banget! Belakangan gw mikir kalau iri berarti gak bersyukur, karena everyone’s got their own luck, dan sebenernya gw gak boleh iri sama apa yg didapetin sama orang lain, karena gw punya rejeki sendiri. Okay, then I started to feel a bit relax.

Tapiiii… di Bandara Soekarno- Hatta, menjelang berancut ke Beijing gw ketemu cobaan pertama yang bikin gw goyah bwt gak iri sama orang lain. Ceritanya gini…

Gw ketemu tmen SMA gw, Mr. Tunggul Bhirawa yang berasal dari Kudus dan juga baru lulus, dy dari ITB tapinya. Tunggul is one of my smartest friends, dan waktu kelas 1 SMA dy lah yang banyak ngajarin gw Fisika n Matematika (it’s not working, though, I’m an exact dummy). Oke, kira- kira udah 4 taunlah gw gak ktemu Tunggul, sejak lulus SMA. Nah, Tunggul ternyata mau ke Taiwan karena dapet beasiswa S2 di Chang Gong University. Kita ternyata naik flight yang sama bwt transit di KL. After 4 years… qta ketemu lagi waktu mw bareng- bareng ke luar negeri, what a coincidence kan?
No, I believe there’s no such thing as coincidence. God is telling me something.

Tunggul dianter sama keluarga, tmen- tmen, n surprise… his fiancée, Lina. Jadi mereka baru aja tunangan gitu minggu kemaren, setelah 4 taun pacaran. Ah yes, they do have their real engagement rings, so cute… Ngerti kan kenapa gw iri?
Graduate + Scholarship + Engagement = WHAT A LIFE, KAAAAANNN??
Tunggul officially has everything that I want to have right now.

Congrats yhaaa Tunggul n Linaa!! Semoga diberkahi Allah dan bisa lanjut jadi keluarga yang sakinah, mawahdah dan warahmah, amin!
I really envy you guys
Oh, I mean I really really really envy you guys
Well, I mean I really really really really really envy you guys
*mulai lebay heheheu…

Pernah denger teori kalau hidup manusia itu dibagi jadi 3 aspek? Education, Career, Love. Katanya, gak mungkin seseorang bisa sukses di ketiganya dalam satu waktu. Nah, Tunggul mematahkan hukum itu. He’s successful in every aspect of his life… salut banget! Nah, ngerti kan kenapa gw iri? Hahahah…

But well, I believe that if Tunggul can do it, then I can do it too.
Jadi… kesimpulan dari cerita ini adalah…
1. Gw tetep gak boleh iri, seheboh apapun keadaan orang yg gw temuin
2. Good things happen to good people

Jadi sekarang… Gw akan lakukan yang terbaik yang bisa gw lakukan detik ini, bwt dapetin karir yang baik; yang gw mau, dan dapet pasangan yang baik juga. Hahahah… yeah dude, that life-partner matter is a really serious matter for me.

Well ok… that’s only a little muse, I’ll write again later
Cheers!
Next Destination: Erasmus Mundus
Insya Allah… 

China… one of my dreamlands

2009-09-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have many dreams, one of them is being in places that I want to be. I don’t have any specific reason why I want to visit those places, but to state them as my dreamlands gives me energy to find any way possible to reach them. I mean, in my own way, with my own occasion, not a family trip, vacation, etc.

My first dreamland is Singapore. Haha… so close actually, but Singapore became my dreamland because I really wanted to see the Merlion. I went there in 2006, in AIESEC National Leadership Development Seminar (NLDS).

Ok, Singapore done. Then I dreamed bigger. I wanna go to China. The reason is I really want to visit The Great Wall. That’s a random reason actually. The specific reason is that China is the most developing country in the world, at the moment, and I adore Chinese’s working culture really much. I want to learn from them, including their language.

Again, AIESEC gave me opportunity. This time through AIESEC Global Internship Program (GIP). A program that will help you become an intern in some companies/ NGO abroad so that you can have experience working in a real international environment.

If you wanna know more about AIESEC and AIESEC GIP, you can visit www.aiesec.org or www.aiesecbandung.blogspot.com

For me it’s clear that AIESEC help me quite much to reach my dreams. At least, to give me the self confidence that I can actually dream it, and accomplish it somehow. I think, that’s the most important thing.

Finally, I want to thank AIESEC, and especially AIESEC Bandung, EB team 08/09, Dessy and Yuni- the OGX VPs, Jennilie Orlanda, my family- for unlimited support they always give me, and all my friends- also for their support.

Oh yeah, also for Andrea Hirata, who has noted this powerful quote:

“Bermimpilah, karena Tuhan akan memeluk mimpi- mimpi itu” – Arai

Life is an adventure, enjoy it