Life Back Home So Far

This is just a quick update since I’m still trapped in the slum of writer’s block *wails* So warning: this post contains of crappy writing and basically has no point. Not that my post usually has any points, but this one in particular, lack any kind of point. At all. You’ve probably figured that out already by my rambling in this first paragraph.

So I’ve been back to Jakarta for more than a month already. I left Japan at August 13th and arrived at Jakarta the day after. Because of some administrative thing, I have to move out from the dorm at August 10th and stayed at Ci Lyta’s house for 2 nights. I was so confident that I could carry my suitcase alone, but in the end I called Mbak Dani in despair for help. Despite the sudden notice, she was able to come and help. Thanks so much, Mbak! I don’t know how was I supposed to carry those on train without you >___< Also, thanks Ci Lyta for allowing me to stay and even helping me carry the luggage to the shuttle bus place.

Dear Jakarta…

 

Dear Jakarta (dan sekitarnya. Sampaikan salamku buat teman-teman kecilmu: Bekasi dkk.),

Kira-kira setahun yang lalu, sebelum aku berangkat ke negeri orang itu, ayahku bercerita tentang pengalamannya ke sana belasan tahun yang lalu. Katanya, bahkan saat itu, teknologi yang digunakan di sana sudah membuatnya terkagum-kagum, dan dia menjamin aku juga pasti nantinya akan merasakan hal yang sama.

Namun, ketika aku menginjakkan kakiku di negeri sakura itu, kamu tahu apa yang pertama kali membuatku terngaga?

So I Used My Non-Existent Social Skill in A Lab Party…

Well, hello! Been a long time since I posted anything, and I haven’t finish posting about the Beijing Trip yet (it’s just too long. I’ll do it after this). I wasn’t “busy” like I have so much thing to do that I barely able to breathe. Well, I was busier than usual but it was more that I had some deadlines to meet and I got busy being depressed about that. The first step of me finishing anything was to overcome the initial panic, which sometimes can last more than one day. That’s why I hadn’t had the mood to write anything. Even this will only be a short post to urge myself to start writing again (hope it works!).

Some of new students has come to my lab, so there was a welcome party yesterday for them. Despite it was being super expensive in my current financial “situation” (haven’t got my scholarship for last month because some kind of system about change of academic year I don’t really understand, so they’re going to give us double next month but meanwhile I have to keep myself alive with that money I had left. I’m not exaggerating that I haven’t checked my account since last month because I’m afraid I’m going to cry seeing how little I have left. End of rant.), I decided to go because that was the only chance I got to socialize with my lab mates. No one talked much when we’re in the lab (well, at least I didn’t because of the language barrier) but from two other parties I’ve attended since I’m here, they do talk much in parties. The party was held in a nice place near the campus, and actually for the food and the drink we got, it’s not that expensive.

Beijing Tour: Day 4 (+ Happy Easter!)

Was taking a break with blogging because I was bored of writing. I mean, these entries are really long and believe it or not, I actually have things to do besides spending all my time on the internet like nothing else matters. I know, surprising right?

Anyway.

Our fourth day in Beijing was the final day of the workshop, where together with 12 students of Tsinghua University we had to perform our modified play in front of some audiences, which includes some students with high Japanese level from the Japanese language major and some other students from other departments. The performance was after lunchtime, so in the morning we had a breakfast at the hotel, where I stole 2 yogurt (I didn’t took 13 because I expected someone to take some too; a correct prediction because Sam had 12) from the buffet because all of the students will eat the yogurt with me (or at least show them to the audience around them). Besides the yogurt, some of us also stole some breads because we won’t probably have time for lunch. We met up later and walked to the university together, and met up with the student later to remember what we’re supposed to do at which point. Everything went perfectly well.

That is, until I messed up.

Beijing Tour: Day 3

As I mentioned before, in our third day in Beijing, we didn’t have any official university stuffs to do before 5, and we only promised to meet in the hotel at 4 to do some quick discussion on what we should do that day, so we have all of the day before that for ourselves. Chou, Tetsuya, Inkeri, Rali, and I decided to see the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and we promised to meet up at the hotel lobby at 8.30. Rali and I went down for breakfast around 8 and ate a lot to prevent sudden hunger when we’re sightseeing (on the side notes, I was really glad that I didn’t have to eat yogurt that day). We ended up going from the hotel just a little bit before 9, and walk to one of the subway station near our hotel.

Beijing Tour: Day 2

After getting to know Beijing a little bit in our first day, on the second day we finally had to do the main purpose of us going to China: holding a workshop. The rehearsal wasn’t until 13.30, but in the morning there was planned to be a campus tour from eleven. That’s why, we woke up early to have breakfast at 9 so we would have time to change to our “costume”. Our play basically is about a meeting in a multinational company called “Tops” discussing a new product. There would be the Chinese representatives (Yan, Usagi, Tetsuya), the Japanese representatives (Shige, Nino, Chou), the American representatives (Inkeri and Rali), and the Finnish branch representative (me). Because it was a business meeting, of course our costume consisted of shirt and formal pants/skirts. I eat like a 5 years-old, if you know what I mean, so I decided it safer to go to breakfast earlier with my casual clothes and change to my shirt later.

Beijing Tour: Day 1

If I am to follow my unhealthy obsession with sequence, the next thing I should blog about after Kakuda Homestay is my 6 days trip to Kansai and its surrounding using Seisshun 18Kippu 2 weeks ago. However, after thinking about it for some time, I decided to write about my trip to Beijing just a week ago because: 1) It was only 5 days; 2) It needs less detail than the Kansai trip because: a) in this trip I actually spent some time to stop for sleep and meals instead of walking all day long and eating onigiri inside trains as meals; b) I did less sightseeing so there would be less details about how I saw a nice scenery and start thinking about how insignificant my life is comparing to the rest of the universe (although, there would always be something like that. I did say less).