Black Pepper Beef

This is the first recipe that made me so satisfied since it is really easy and doesn't take much time. Everyone can make it!
Here is the recipe:

Bahan:
350 gram daging sapi, potong sesuai selera
6 butir bawang putih, cincang
3 sdm minyak goreng
1 sdm minyak wijen
2 sdm merica hitam bubuk
100 cc air
1 bh paprika hijau dan 1 bh paprika merah, potong sesuai selera
1 butir bawang bombay, iris
garam secukupnya

Bahan rendaman daging:
3 sdm kecap manis
1 sdm kecap asin
1 sdm kecap ikan
3 sdm saus tiram
2 sdm saus tomat
1 sdt gula pasir

Cara Memasak:
Daging yang sudah dipotong-potong dimasukkan dalam bahan rendaman selama 15-20 menit.
Panaskan minyak goreng yang dicampur dengan minyak wijen, masukkan bawang putih cincang, tumis hingga harum.
Masukkan daging sapi bersama saus rendamannya, aduk hingga warnanya berubah, tambahkan air, aduk sekali-sekali hingga airnya mengering dan terlihat minyaknya, supaya daging menjadi empuk.
Masukkan merica bubuk, bawang bombay dan paprika, aduk-aduk sebentar, icip, jika kurang tambahkan garam dan gula sesuai selera.

The maid

After being confused for many months, I prayed to God to help me solve this problem, and God sent me someone who actually I still don't know...but she is a colleague at my office.
I got a lot of information from her which is really useful for me.
The problem is how to deal with house working in Jakarta without a maid.

But then me and my husband decided to live in Jakarta without a maid!
Yes....we don't wanna depend on any maid.
The solution is that Jerome will stay in a daycare in Jakarta. I will do house working as usual, just like what I have done here. I will cook, do laundry, clean up and so on and so forth.
Maybe it will be difficult in the beginning. But I believe I can make it. People is easy to be adapted to a new situation. And I believe that I am a kind of that person.
I feel so excited every time I think about it.
I just feel comfortable because we live here just the three of us. No other people. It's so convenient for us.
Therefore, I couldn't imagine if there is someone else in our place that we don't know exactly.
So I will try my best to live without a maid. I hope it will work. At least until Jerome is going on 5.

Upcoming graduation!

I can't believe that I will graduate next month!

Yes, time flies so fast.....Next month, on December 19, 2009, I will wear my cap and gown, get my certificate and gather with family and friends....oh God....I'm so excited!!!
After those tears and bloody things, after the hard work, after those sleepless nights....I made it!!!!
Thanks God for everything....I do thank you for all your graces and glory!

Now, I should start preparing all things before heading back to Indonesia....
There are so many things to do...
And then, prepare my self for the reverse culture shock! haha......

Friends

I have so many friends on my facebook. I get along well with most of them. Some are just so so. They are my childhood friends, my high school friends, my colleague friends, and so on and so forth. Some are my relatives or sibling.
I just realized that the more friends I have on facebook, the more complicated it is.
Well, it's because now I should take care more about my facebook, I should figure out any single thing. I mean, I couldn't write anything on my mind now. Since everybody can read it and think differently with me. It will be a problem.

I have an old buddy. I knew her since almost 20 years ago. It's not a short time, isn't it?
I didn't know why somebody really wanna separate us. Somebody told her about bad things and it came from me. How come? I just wonder what kind of advantage that the damn guy will get from that situation, by telling bed things to my friend? She became so upset and she suddenly decided to remove me from her mind.
I beg her to think about our good memories during our childhood to calm her down. It worked just for a while, but then she still reminded those bad news and cheap gossip. She wrote something about that on her facebook.
Ok then. It's time to quit now. I made up my mind to remove her from my friends list. It's enough. I still have my own dignity. Goodbye my friend....
I'm tired of you. Sayonara!

The itchiness

Well, after trying many soaps and lotions, the itchiness is still there :(
I even tried to apply baby oil to my body after taking shower. Still didn't work. Oh gosh....
I called my friend, and she suggested me to reveal the itchiness first. Then I took a skin medicine that I bought from Walgreen. Well, it helped though but still the itchiness stays on my body..oh God....

Itchy skin

During this fall, I felt my skin was sooooo itchy! Even I couldn't stop my self from scratching it. It's not good though. It will worsen my skin. Then I asked my friends on my facebook the solution. Then I got it. So easy.
Why I couldn't think about it before. I just had to change the soap.

Actually, I've been thinking about it but I was not sure and thought that I should finish the soap that currently I used. Then I changed my mind. So last night, we went to Walmart and I bought a moisturizer soap. It's so soft and tender. I also bought a bath therapy. It smells lavender. After arriving at home, I took a bath and I tried the bath therapy. Oh my....it's soooo nice! It didn't heal my pain directly but it made me feel so fresh! I like it!

After using the moisturizer soap, I also feel that my skin improves! Still feel the itchiness but not as much as before!
Hope it will be better....

Annoyed

These days, there are so many problems in my big family. Someone came into our life. At first, she was welcome. Later, everybody but me hates her. I don't understand why. And the more confusing is, when everybody seems hating her, they also force me to hate her. It's ridiculous. I don't know why I should hate her for no reason?
The most annoying thing is when one of my relative asked me to prevent her. I said I don't need to do that since I don't have any problem with her. Then she told my family about that with different version which totally unfair. It made my family angry and I also got angry. It's like burning a barrel of oil. I hate that.

Those problems make me couldn't concentrate in class. I couldn't catch what my professor said in class. It's definitely annoying. Damn it. What the hell. Hope this problems solved soon. May God be with me.

Fall Pictures!

Today, as I mentioned last night, I really wanna have pictures with those colorful leaves, and there you go! I got it!!!
I'm sooooo happy!!!!!

Finally, my husband didn't mind to take my pictures....

We were looking at the marching band which was practicing in front of the Assembly Hall. Then we discovered that the trees are already yellowing....it's so wonderful! I couldn't hold my self from taking pictures and then I got it!!! YAY!!!!

I discovered that my camera is pretty old and the colors are not bright anymore, so I'm considering to buy a new one..
That's why I asked my husband to take my pictures because his camera is much much better than mine...

my prayer

Dear Lord,

I really wanna have pictures in a place around Orchard Down during this Fall because my friends took pictures there last year. I couldn't make it last year because it was too cold and I was lazy. But now I do regret it. That's why I really wanna go there and take as many pictures as possible before it's too late....

My friend said that the red leaves will just hang in there for several days...oh nooo....
I should do that before the leaves fall to the ground and nothing is left on the branches...

Please Lord, listen to my prayer....

I have begged my husband to take pictures there but he refused me because he also doesn't like the cold weather. But he said that this Sunday, the weather will be nice and warm. So he promised me to take pictures on this Sunday...
I hope the red leaves will be still on the branches and it will be a very nice day to take pictures....

Thank you Lord

Slumdog Millionaire

I just watched it this afternoon. Well yeah...where have I been? It's an old movie....hahaha....

It's because I just got a DVD player from Eka who was already heading back to Indonesia. She gave it to me for free. Yay!!!

OK. Slumdog millionaire is truly a very good movie. I watched it at my apartment while my son Jerome was at school and my husband went to Champaign Library. I borrowed the DVD from that library for free last week but I just had time to watch it this afternoon.
If you want to know what that movie tells about, just google it and you will find a lot of notes about it.

I am so impressed by that movie. To see how slums society in India is just like what is going on in Indonesia, my original country. It's so sad but true. So many poverty that the government couldn't come up with it. It's too complicated, man...

I'm impressed by Jamal, the actor, who is really calm and confident. He is also really smart. Even though most of his answers were based on his true story or just a coincidence, but I believe he is such a smart guy. He can remember many things, even the things from his childhood.

I'm also impressed by Latifa, his girl friend from his childhood who became a gangster's wife. The gangster is so arrogant and has a bad temper. Oh my....it's just like me! I'm also bad tempered some times. It just remind me to be nice to my husband and my son no matter how stressful my life is. I do thank my husband for being so nice to me. He is never upset or saying something bad to me. He never does something nasty or anything that women hate. I should thank God for giving me such a wonderful husband like him.....

Jerome's progress...

Yesterday, my husband told me that Jerome's teacher at preschool said that Jerome was not cooperative.
So, I decided to pick him up from school today. We usually pick him up at 5 pm but I think we should do it earlier because I need to talk to one of his teacher.
I met Ms. Lee and asked her what was going on yesterday.

Ms. Lee said that Jerome was not cooperative. After clean up time, they have story telling time but Jerome refused to clean up the toys and even he threw the toys to the floor, laid his body on the floor which is not allowed by the teachers since they are afraid that other students will imitate his attitude. Jerome was asked to sit in a chair. He was crying but just for a while. Then everything was back to normal. But Ms. Debby was upset and looked unhappy. She told my husband that next time, if Jerome does it again, we (either me or my husband) should accompany Jerome at school to calm him.

Oh my....it was not the first time. Last month, Jerome did it for the first time. He was so angry and moody. We didn't know why. The teacher said that if he is not ready to go to school, we shouldn't force him. If it makes him come late to school, it's ok. We should make sure that he is ready for school. Otherwise, he will just make a trouble at school.
At the time, Ms. Bryan called me and asked me to pick Jerome up.
But yesterday, they didn't call me. Today, I was afraid that they would call me and asked me to pick Jerome up. I looked at my cellphone many times and listened to it carefully.
Thanks God, it didn't happen.

I hope it won't happen again in the future. Come on, Jerome....school is so much fun! You will miss it a lot after heading back to Indonesia.....

Things to do before graduation

- Sit in front of the Illini Union on a nice day
- Go ice skating at the ice arena
- Chalk the Quad
- Go to Meijer at 2 am
- Tailgate before an Illini Football Game
- Kiss your sweetheart before the eternal flame
- Play Frisbee on the Quad
- Visit Krannert Art Museum
- Order Papa Del’s
- Play in the rain
- Shoot pool in the Illini Union Recreation Room
- Rub Lincoln’s nose in Lincoln Hall
- Eat at Fat Don’s
- See a band at Canopy Club
- Skip class
- Ring the bells at Altgeld
- Go to Ebert Fest
- Sit on the Alma Mater
- Look at the Foellinger at night when the lights are on
- See a play at Krannet
- Attend a lecture that isn’t one of your own
- Goo see the Homecoming Parade
- Order Pokey Sticks at 2 in the morning on a Tuesday
- Sit at the Amphitheater outside of Krannert
- Have a cup of coffee at Espresso Royale
- Go to the Observatory
- Join the Illini Union Board
- Eat at Courier Café
- Visit Spurlock
- Loud up on free cough syrup and condoms from McKinley
- Take a nap on the couches in the Illini Union
- Eat lunch at the Illini Union Ballroom
- Go to an Illinites at the Union
- Dress up for Halloween
- Take a day trip to Curtis Orchard
- Visit Allerton
- Get Pizza at Bonnie Jean’s/Second Story/Buckees
- Buy a cookie cake at the Cookie Jar
- Have a snowball fight
- Study at the Arboretum
- Return the silverware you stole from the dining hall
- Become friends with a professor
- Visit Japan House
- See an acappella concert
- Go to a protest on the Quad

source:
www.iuboard.illinois.edu

Hmmmm.....I've just done so little....and I really wanna do all of those things...but, do I still have time?

Let me tell you what I have done so far:

- Sit in front of the Illini Union on a nice day
- Skip class
- Have a cup of coffee at Espresso Royale
- Eat lunch at the Illini Union Ballroom
- Take a day trip to Curtis Orchard
- Become friends with a professor
- Visit Japan House

see? It's too little.....:(
what should I do?

Oatmeal.....

Akhir-akhir ini, sering kali aku didera sakit kepala dan sakit punggung berkepanjangan. Yang paling menyiksa adalah sakit punggungku ini. Meski hampir tiap malam dipijitin suami tercinta, dan ditempelin salonplas, tetep aja masih senut-senut. Duh gusti...betapa ku merindukan tukang pijit murah meriah di indonesia....

Mengenai sakit kepala, aku khawatir dan curiga dengan kolesterol-ku. Soalnya tahun lalu, pernah cek darah dan ternyata kolesterol-ku 220...tinggi ya bo...mengingat batas normalnya 200..aku jadi waspada. Ditambah lagi mama dan abangku pun penderita kolesterol tinggi, aku akhirnya beranikan diri ke dokter di klinik kampus, Mc.Kinley Health Center.

Mengingat baru kali ini ke dokter, aku baru tau prosedurnya adalah sbb:
Buka websitenya, (www.mckinley.illinois.edu), login dengan password email, disitu akan disebutkan dokter siapa yg disiapkan untuk kita, lalu buat appointment, memberitahukan apa keluhan kita, dan kemudian kita akan dapat email konfirmasi.
Oya, kalau kita berniat membatalkan, harus memberitahu minimal 2 jam sebelumnya, kalau nggak, kena denda $10....lumayan ya bo...

Hari Senin kemarin (28 September 2009), aku ke Mc.Kinley diantar suamiku dan aku pun melakukan self-check in di dekat pintu masuk sebagai bagian dari prosedur klinik tsb. Setelah check in, aku naik ke lantai 2, karena ruangan dokterku di lantai 2. Setelah menunggu 10 menit, akupun dipanggil suster dan dibawa ke ruang dokter. Sebelum dokter datang, suster memintaku menimbang badan, lalu suster memeriksa tensi darah, suhu tubuh, menanyakan apakah aku punya alergi terhadap obat dll.

Lima menit kemudian, dokter pun datang dan menanyakan keluhanku. Akupun curhat ke dokter mengenai sakit kepalaku yg kuhubungkan dengan kadar kolesterol-ku tahun lalu, dan sakit punggung menahunku.
Yang mengagetkanku, ternyata kata dokter gak ada hubungan antara sakit kepala dan kolesterol!
Sakit kepala itu bisa jadi disebabkan stress dan kurang tidur. Hmmm....ini sih uda langganan.
Tapi aku tetap minta dicek kadar kolesterolku. Kata dokter, 220 itu termasuk tinggi tapi masih dalam batas aman.....well, buatku sih tetep gak aman ya.....

Aku paranoid sendiri karna abangku abis operasi jantung. Kolesterol-nya tinggi sekali dan sudah menyumbat pembuluh-pembuluh darahnya hingga harus dilakukan bypass.

Dokterpun memeriksa mataku, mencari kemungkinan pusingku disebabkan kacamataku yg kurang pas. Tapi semuanya normal-normal aja.

Setelah itu, dokter memegang bahuku, duh enaaaak banget rasanya....hehehe..
Kata bu dokter otot-otot bahuku keras sekali....(pantesan sakit banget). Menurut beliau, sakit punggung itu memang penyakit khas mahasiswa yang terlalu banyak duduk.

Yah mau gimana lagi bu dokter, tugas-tugas kuliah dan bahan kuliah yang harus dibaca naudzubillah banyaknya....

Sehari-hari aku memang menghabiskan banyak waktuku di depan komputer, karna tugas kuliah, bahan kuliah, pengumuman penting, dll semua di-posting lewat website kampus atau email.
Memahami bahan kuliahpun tidak mudah hingga bertanya pada Mbah Google adalah salah satu solusi yang tepat. Bahkan kamus pun aku menggunakan kamus online di internet. Dengan demikian, browsing tak bisa dihindari. Facebooking juga tak bisa dilewatkan sebagai pelipur lara penghapus derita ditengah-tengah tumpukan tugas yang menggunung. Hiburan satu-satunya hanya Facebook. Hehehe...

Setelah itu, aku disuruh ke lab untuk ambil darah. Inipun tak lama. Hanya menunggu 5 menit, aku dipanggil dan diambil darahku, lalu pulang. Kebetulan aku sudah sengaja puasa dari semalam sebelumnya. Hasil tes darah bisa diliat keesokan harinya di website Mc.Kinley lagi. Gampang ya...Rasanya waktu di Jakarta, butuh seminggu untuk mendapatkan hasil test darah. Selain kolesterol, dokter juga meminta dicek kadar gula darah dan ada 2 item lagi yang aku gak ngerti.

Keesokan harinya, aku cek website Mc.Kinley dan melihat hasil tes darahku....Wah, luar biasa! Kolesterol-ku cuma 160! gula darah dan 2 item lainnya itu pun semua normal! horeeeeeee.......seneeeeng banget....
Padahal tahun lalu, kolesterolku 220, dan aku udah diet keras, jaga makanan, kolesterolku cuma turun beberapa poin. Ternyata sekarang cuma 160....

Mungkin ini semua berkat aku dan keluargaku makan oatmeal (a.k.a. havermout) tiap pagi ya....
Kebiasaan ini kami mulai sejak Desember tahun lalu, waktu itu seorang teman sakit dan akhirnya memulai sarapan oatmeal tiap pagi, cukup 3 sendok makan, dicampur susu, dimasak di microwave selama 1,5 sampai 2 menit.

Akhirnya aku pun mencoba.

Awal-awal terasa berat ya...karna rasanya gak ada sama sekali. Enek juga. Tapi lama-lama terbiasa. Supaya berhasil memasukkan tiap sendok oatmeal ke mulutku, aku membayangkan manfaatnya aja. Dan bisa. Untuk anakku Jerome, kami tambahkan madu supaya ada rasa. Jerome suka sekali oatmeal.
Ternyata oatmeal itu baik sekali untuk kesehatan. Oya, selama ini aku gak ada pantangan makanan lho. Aku makan apa aja. Ya santan, daging, udang, telur, semua makanan yang sebetulnya pantang dimakan penderita kolesterol tinggi. Tapi berkat oatmeal, kadar kolesterol-ku jadi normal. Luar biasa.

Mengenai kadar gula darah, aku memang menjaga banget. Kebetulan mama dan almarhum papa-ku menderita diabetes. Berarti aku punya kemungkin 60% terkena diabetes juga, masing-masing orangtuaku memberi kemungkinan 30%. Sedari dulu, aku memang sangat membatasi gula. Aku jarang banget minum teh dengan gula. Biasanya minum teh hjiau aja. Tanpa gula tentunya. Minum kopi juga hanya dengan gula sedikiiiit aja. Kue-kue manis dan enek seperti black forest, hanya setahun sekali mungkin. Kue-kue buatanku, aku kurangi gulanya. Makan nasi juga sedikit. Karena sekali kena diabetes, seumur hidup akan menderita. Diabetes is the mother of any disease.

Olahraga aku lakukan seminggu sekali, terinspirasi dari suamiku yang rajin olahraga. Kebetulan suamiku tipe orang yang sangat menjaga kesehatan. Tidak merokok, tidak mabuk, tidak judi, tidak makan berlebihan. Salah satu faktor penyebabnya karena suamiku penderita hipertensi. Jadi harus rajin olah raga supaya tetap sehat. Olahraga udah rutin dilakukannya sejak dulu loh, bukan hanya setelah di Amerika. Suamiku juga bisa menahan diri untuk membatasi makanan yang dia tau gak baik buat kesehatannya. Mami mertuaku juga setali tiga uang. Mami bisa banget nahan gak makan makanan enak (yang cenderung gak sehat) meski orang-orang disekitarnya sangat lahap makan makanan gak sehat itu.
Kalau aku sih masih susah ya....hehehe....Sayang banget makanan enak di depan mata dilewatkan begitu aja.

So, buat temen-temen yang punya keluhan kolesterol tinggi, bolehlah mencoba sarapan oatmeal tiap pagi. Atau gak perlu nunggu kolesterol tinggi dulu kali ya....mulailah membiasakan sarapan oatmeal dari sekarang, dijamin tetep sehat!

Salam sehat!

Pelajaran Berhaga

Tinggal di luar negeri memberi banyak pengalaman dan pelajaran berharga buatku. Selama tinggal di kota kecil ini, di kota kembar Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Amerika Serikat, aku mengamati banyak hal-hal positif yang patut ditiru dan diterapkan ketika kembali ke Indonesia nanti. Berikut ini hal-hal yang merupakan hasil pengamatanku dan aku berharap mampu meneruskannya kelak:

1. Disiplin

Kedisiplinan sangat dijunjung tinggi disini -karena jika tidak disiplin maka terkena sanksi berat- antara lain kedisiplinan berkendaraan di jalan raya, dari mulai kewajiban memakai seatbelt, anak harus duduk di car seat dan bukan dipangkuan orang dewasa hingga ketentuan mematuhi batas kecepatan maksimum. Siapapun mesti mematuhi kalau tak mau lembaran hijau pupus itu (baca: US dollar) melayang dari kantongmu. Jangan pernah ngebut melebihi batas kecepatan maksimal kalau tidak mau ditilang. Kalau sampai ditilang, jangan pernah juga berniat menyogok polisi kalau tidak mau dipenjara. Seorang teman pernah ngebut melebih batas kecepatan dan ditilang polisi sebesar USD100….duh sayang banget duitnya..mendingan buat beli tas coach pas diskon….hehehe…

Dalam hal parkir, ada beberapa ketentuan yang mesti diingat, antara lain:

- Jangan pernah memarkir kendaraan tidak pada tempatnya, kalau tidak mau di-tow (diderek) dan didenda sekitar USD100….

- Jangan juga memarkir kendaraan pada tempat yang ada tanda “disabled” karna itu ditujukan bagi pengemudi yang menggunakan kursi roda kalau tidak mau didenda USD250….wow…

- Di setiap tempat parkir disediakan parking meter yang berfungsi menentukan lama waktu parkir tergantung jumlah uang yang kita bayarkan. Jadi sistemnya bayar dulu baru boleh parkir. Hari tertentu, biasanya hari minggu, parkir gratis. Pernah di hari libur yang bukan hari minggu kami parkir tanpa membayar dan berasumsi hari libur parkir gratis, ternyata ketentuan itu tak berlaku. Maka datanglah “surat cinta” yang mendenda $15 karna tak membayar parkir. Huh….

2. Saling menghargai

- Di kota kecil ini, sering kali ketika berpapasan dengan orang asing, mereka tak sungkan untuk menyapa dengan “Hi” atau “How are you doing?” yang disertai dengan senyuman hangat. Hmm….sangat menyenangkan.

- Ketika akan memasuki gedung dan melewati sebuah pintu, biasanya orang yang melewati pintu itu akan melihat ke belakang untuk memastikan apakah ada orang lain yang ingin melewati pintu itu juga. Jika ya, maka ia akan menahan pintu itu dan member jalan pada orang dibelakangnya. Demikian juga ketika kita menahan pintu dan memberi jalan pada orang di belakang kita, mereka akan dengan sungguh-sungguh mengucapkan terima kasih.

- Penampilan bukanlah hal yang utama. Hitam-putih, gendut-kerempeng, tinggi-pendek, cantik-jelek, siapapun bebas memakai pakaian apapun. Tak perlu fitness 24 jam sehari untuk mendapatkan tubuh seksi bak gitar spanyol hanya supaya terlihat cantik menarik dan menjadi pusat perhatian. Tak perlu khawatir dicela ketika memakai pakaian minim meski lemak bergelambir dimana-mana. Tak perlu harus berpakaian mewah atau mengenakan perhiasan mahal ketika berbelanja hanya supaya ingin dilayani lebih baik dari orang yang berpakaian biasa. Siapapun dengan latar belakang apapun akan dihargai dengan mendapat perlakuan yang sama.

Suatu ketika di warung kopi, tepatnya di undergraduate library U of I, aku melihat seorang kakek di kursi roda dan (maaf) berbau amat pesing, berniat membeli secangkir kopi hangat di musim dingin. Si gadis pelayan berambut pirang dan bermata biru jernih dengan sangat ramah melayani kakek pesing itu tanpa memandang hina atau menganggap remeh.

Professor yang mengajar kami pun tak berjas mahal, bersepatu mengkilat atau mengenakan jam tangan Rolex. Beberapa sangat sederhana. Ada yang bersepeda ke kampus. Ada yang terlihat seperti belum mandi sebulan. Padahal gajinya jangan ditanya. Jauh lebih besar dari gaji seorang direktur, mungkin. Tapi mereka tak harus membuktikan status sosialnya dengan penampilan wah.

- Meski peduli dengan sesama, privasi tetap dijaga. Sepasang muda mudi yang dimabuk asmara berasyik masyuk di taman tidaklah menjadi tontonan gratis bagi orang yang lalu lalang. Siapapun boleh melintas tanpa harus melotot atau memberi komentar jahil.

3. Menghargai uang

Di Indonesia, harga barang relatif murah dan terjangkau hingga umumnya orang cenderung boros dan membeli tanpa membedakan keinginan atau kebutuhan. Kalau ingin, langsung beli tanpa perduli apakah barang itu memang dibutuhkan. Disini, harga barang-barang (buat kantongku) sangatlah mahal. Akibatnya aku jadi lebih menghargai uang dan tidak menghambur-hamburkannya untuk hal yang tak perlu. Selain itu, pola hidup masyarakat disini umumnya tidak konsumtif. Mereka tidak memakai pakaian mahal, perhiasan mahal, mobil mahal, atau berganti-ganti telepon genggam.

4. Menghargai matahari

Di daerah tropis, matahari bersinar sepanjang tahun. Sedangkan di negeri empat musim, sinar matahari menjadi barang langka dan amat dinanti. Di musim dingin, matahari bersinar cerah bukan berarti udara pun hangat. Jangan terkecoh oleh silaunya sinar matahari. Setelah merasakan kejamnya musim dingin, aku jadi begitu menghargai sinar matahari dan menikmatinya ketika cuaca cerah. Itu sebabnya, di hari ketika matahari bersinar cerah, orang-orang begitu menikmatinya dengan berbaring santai di rumput sambil membaca buku, bercengkrama dengan teman atau bahkan tidur! Hmmm…hukum kelangkaan (scarcity) berlaku juga disini.

5. Rajin men-cek ramalan cuaca

Mengingat cuaca begitu mudah berubah namun masih bisa diprediksi, situs ramalan cuaca di internet atau saluran ramalan cuaca di televisi menjadi pantauan wajib di pagi hari, terutama ketika ingin beraktivitas di luar rumah. Jangan sampai salah kostum karna lupa mencari informasi ramalan cuaca hari ini.

6. Mandiri

Tinggal di luar negeri dan jauh dari keluarga dan kerabat membuat kami lebih mandiri. Kemandirian juga terbentuk karna kami tak lagi dibantu oleh para asisten domestic seperti PRT dan Baby Sitter, otomatis tugas-tugas domestic menjadi tanggung jawab aku dan suamiku. Suamiku bertugas me-laundry pakaian, mengantarku belanja kebutuhan dapur dan menemani Jerome bermain kalau aku masih di kampus, dan mengantar jemput Jerome ke sekolah.

Sedangkan tugasku, selain belajar tentunya, adalah memasak (yang awalnya tugas terberat tapi kini sangat kunikmati), membersihkan apartemen, melipat pakaian yang sudah dicuci (tanpa disetrika karna tak ada waktu, bahasa prancisnya: dang sanga), menyuapi anakku Jerome, memandikannya, menyiapkan perlengkapannya ke sekolah, menemaninya bermain, dan membacakan buku kesukaannya.

Aku juga melihat orang-orang tua bisa hidup sendiri tanpa harus ditemani. Seorang teman pernah melihat seorang nenek tua ke rumah sakit mengendarai mobil seorang diri dengan membawa infus di tangan!

7. Mempelajari budaya asing

Amerika memang negara impian banyak orang, baik untuk belajar, berbisnis atau menjadi tempat tinggal tetap. Selama kuliah disini, aku bertemu banyak suku bangsa, ras dan agama. Kebetulan teman-teman kuliahku sebagian besar dari China. Dari mereka aku belajar banyak hal, seperti cara-cara berhemat, bekerja keras dan mempelajari cara belajar yang cepat tepat dan praktis (hmmm…hal terakhir ini masih sulit dilakukan). Mereka bisa berhitung dengan cepat tanpa menggunakan kalkulator! Selain teman-teman China, aku juga berteman dengan orang-orang Turki, Korea, Italy, Taiwan, Afghanistan, Iran, Tanzania, Thailand, Peru, Republik Dominika dan tentu saja Amerika. Masing-masing memberi warna dalam hidupku. Berteman dengan banyak orang memberi banyak manfaat dan memperluas pergaulan. Ketika butuh pertolongan, mereka tak sungkan membantu.

8. Menikmati hidup

Umumnya penduduk setempat sangat menikmati hidup. Di hari yang cerah, mereka menikmati hari dengan berjalan santai tanpa terburu-buru, saling menyapa, dan menikmati kegiatan harian mereka dengan santai. Di musim liburan, biasanya mereka isi dengan jalan-jalan keluar kota. Ketika kami berlibur ke luar kota, sering kali mobil kami berpapasan dengan mobil lain yang dikemudikan seorang nenek tua, atau kakek tua, atau sepasang nenek dan kakek, dan mereka terlihat ceria tanpa beban. Liburan bukanlah kebutuhan mewah tapi kebutuhan pokok. Menjadi tua tidak berarti hanya menghabiskan sisa umur di rumah.

9. Rajin berolah raga

Disini, sekali lagi, tak perduli hitam-putih, gendut-kerempeng, tinggi-pendek, cantik-jelek, tua-muda, umumnya rajin berolah raga (meski banyak juga pria wanita bertubuh amat tambun bahkan beberapa harus menggunakan kursi roda karna tak mampu lagi menahan bobot tubuhnya). Sering kali di tempat pusat kegiatan olah raga kampus, aku melihat kakek atau nenek sepuh yang tangannya pun sudah gemetaran akibat Parkinson, tapi tetap berolah raga, cukup 15 menit sehari, tapi rutin. Luar biasa. Itu sebabnya angka harapan hidup disini lebih tinggi. Usia pensiun pun jauh lebih lama, yaitu 65 tahun, bandingkan dengan Indonesia yang hanya sampai usia 55 tahun.

Hmmmm....apa lagi yah....untuk sementara ini, segini dulu ya...tak terasa sudah jam 1 pagi dan mataku sudah berat.....to be continued ya....

Minggu pertama di Preschool

Bulan Juni kemarin, tepat 3 tahun usia Jerome anakku. Kami memutuskan saatnya Jerome masuk sekolah, karena batas usia seorang anak untuk masuk preschool di Orchard Down Preschool adalah 3 tahun.
6 bulan sebelumnya, Jerome menghabiskan hari-harinya di daycare, dan melihat perkembangannya, sepertinya lebih baik kalau Jerome ke preschool daripada meneruskan daycare-nya.

Sebelumnya, ada begitu banyak kekhawatiranku sebagai seorang ibu. Aku khawatir Jerome akan menangis terus selama lebih dari seminggu, padahal seorang teman pernah bercerita kalau si anak masih menangis lebih dari seminggu maka si anak akan dipulangkan dan dianggap belum layak sekolah.

Kekhawatiran berikutnya, pengalaman waktu di daycare, Jerome gak pernah bilang ke babysitter-nya kalau Jerome mau pup. Akhirnya selalu pup di diapers padahal selain di daycare, Jerome gak pernah lagi pake diapers, bahkan ketika jalan-jalan keluar kota. Jerome sudah mampu menahan pis atau pup-nya sampai kami menemukan rest area atau rest room. Tapi di daycare, Jerome tak pernah memberitahu babysitter-nya kalau ada keinginan untuk pup. Padahal di daycare ini, anak sudah harus toilet trained, dalam arti, minimal si anak sudah bisa memberitahu gurunya kalau dia ingin pis atau pup, jadi gak kebablasan di celana.

Dua hal tersebut adalah kekhawatiran terbesarku yang membuatku uring-uringan beberapa minggu hingga Papap bolak balik berusaha menenangkanku dan bilang semua akan baik-baik aja. Masalahnya, kalau sampai Jerome "dikeluarkan" dari preschool itu karna dianggap belum layak, maka aku harus mencari preschool lain yg jelas lebih mahal dan lebih jauh. Orchard Down Preschool ini konon kabarnya paling murah di Urbana-Champaign, biayanya USD380.00 per month + uang pendaftaran USD50.00. Biaya itu untuk kelas full-day dari senin sampai jumat, dari jam 8.30 am sampai 3.00 pm plus ada additional activity khusus bagi penghuni Orchard Down, dari jam 3.00 - 5.30 pm. Lumayan banget kan? Jerome bisa main sepuasnya dari jam 8.30 am - 5.30 pm. Biaya itu memang murah....Kami pernah survey beberapa preschool, ada yang USD800/month...glek....bisa puasa senin kemis ntar...Selain itu, Orchard Down Preschool itu benar-benar sangat dekat dengan apartemen kami, hanya sepelemparan batu. Cukup berjalan kaki 2 menit.

Tanggal 24 Agustus 2009 adalah hari pertama Fall Semester, juga hari pertama preschool karena kegiatan di preschool ini disesuaikan dengan kegiatan kampus (Orchard Down Preschool adalah preschool milik kampus dan Orchard Down adalah kompleks apartemen bagi mahasiswa yang juga properti kampus). Kebetulan kuliahku jam 5 sore, maka aku punya kesempatan untuk menemani Jerome seharian di hari pertama sekolahnya.

Hari 1
Jerome aku temani seharian dan tak beranjak sesenti pun dariku. Oh nooo...semoga ini tak berlangsung lama. Kegiatannya: cuci tangan, menyanyi (nama-nama hari), membaca buku, bermain di playground, makan siang dan tidur siang. Jerome hanya menghabiskan sepotong roti jatah makan siangnya, padahal selain itu juga disediakan chicken leg, nenas potong dan jagung pipilan plus susu. Jelas kelihatan yummy, tapi Jerome tak tertarik. Huh...sayang deh...

Ketika bermain di playground, Jerome berani sendiri tanpa menggandeng tanganku, tapi dia tetap mengawasiku dan memastikan aku masih ada disitu....

Jam tidur siang, semua anak berbaring dengan patuh di ranjang masing-masing (hmmm...sebetulnya bukan ranjang tapi semacam trampolin) dan perlahan-lahan tertidur. Ms.Debby menjaga anak-anak yang tidur siang dan Ms.Debby dengan tegas menyuruh anak untuk diam kalau ada yang berisik, dan tak boleh ada anak yang tak berbaring. Ajaib, akhirnya semua anak tertidur pulas!
Setelah Jerome tertidur, aku pun pulang ke apartemen karena belum makan siang. Aku putuskan untuk meninggalkan Jerome karena akan menjemputnya jam 3 setelah bangun. Aku dan papap menunggu di luar gedung dari jam 2.30pm, sambil berjaga-jaga kalau-kalau mendengar teriakan Jerome. Ternyata tak ada teriakan atau tangisan. Kamipun masuk dan menjemput Jerome, dan Jerome sedang asyik bermain bersama teman-teman lain! Wah ternyata dia tidak menangis meski terbangun tanpa mendapati kami di sekitarnya....

Beberapa anak masih ditemani orangtuanya seharian, seperti Clara (dari Brazil, dengan Mamanya aku langsung akrab karena bahasa inggrisnya sudah bagus banget, lumayan buat latihan menambah kosa kata).
Guru yang mengajar full-day class ada 2, Ms.Bryan dan Ms.Debby ditemani seorang asisten, Ms.Lee.

Hari 2
Kebetulan aku ada kuliah jam 10.30 sehingga tak bisa mengantar Jerome ke sekolah. Papap pun bertugas mengantar dan menemani Jerome. Kalau aku serba tak tega, maka Papap cenderung lebih tegas. Papap tak mau digandeng Jerome terus-terusan. Papap mengajarkan Jerome cuci tangan sendiri, main sendiri, kalau ada permainan yang dia ingin tau bagaimana cara memainkannya, Papap menyuruh Jerome untuk bertanya pada Ms. Debby dan Jerome pun melakukannya!
Mulai ada banyak kemajuan. Jerome tak lagi menggelayut terus ke Papap tapi mulai berani bertanya pada gurunya dan bermain bersama teman-temannya. Dia juga menghabiskan makan siangnya! Mungkin karena melihat teman-temannya makan dengan lahap, Jerome jadi ikut lahap...good boy!

Malamnya, aku harus menghadiri pertemuan orangtua, membahas segala hal mengenai preschool ini dan orangtua boleh bertanya mengenai apapun. Dari hasil pertemuan itu, guru menginformasikan hal-hal berikut:
-Setiap anak akan mendapatkan peer bulanan dan anak yang harus mengerjakan, bukan orangtuanya.
-Setiap orangtua juga harus menyiapkan 2 pasang pakaian ganti di keranjang masing-masing anak, sepasang baju lengan pendek dan celana pendek untuk cuaca panas dan sepasang baju lengan panjang dan celana panjang untuk jaga-jaga kalau cuaca tiba-tiba dingin. Selain itu juga disiapkan pakaian dalam dan kaus kaki.
-Orangtua juga dihimbau untuk menyiapkan selimut dan bantal untuk dipakai anak ketika tidur siang.
-Orangtua juga diwajibkan menyediakan camilan ringan untuk semua anak tapi hanya sekali sebulan.
-Kami diberi jadwal kegiatan anak-anak selama 1 semester, diketik di kertas kecil untuk ditempel di kulkas.
-Kegiatan preschool benar-benar disesuaikan dengan jadwal kampus. Apabila kampus tutup, misalnya hari libur, maka preschool juga tutup. Ketika cuaca sangat buruk, misalnya ada badai salju, maka kampus dan preschool juga tutup.

Selesai pertemuan, aku mendekati Ms. Sarah, salah satu pengurus, menanyakan hal-hal yang mengkhawatirkanku. Kupikir lebih baik bertanya daripada dipendam dalam hati.

Aku: "Ms. Sarah....I worry about my son, Jerome. He went to a daycare before, and the babysitter said that Jerome never talked to her, even when he wanted to go pee or poop.....I heard from my friend that in this preschool, a child should be toilet-trained and I worry that you will kick him off if he failed...."

Ms.Sarah: "Oh...don't worry about it, mommy...we will teach him how to do that....that's what we do here...."

wah....lega rasanya....jadi informasi yang mengatakan kalau anak akan dikeluarkan jika belum toilet trained itu ternyata tidak 100% benar....

Hari 3
Aku kuliah jam 5 sore lagi, jadi kali ini aku yang mengantar Jerome ke sekolah. Sampai di sekolah, Ms.Debby cerita,"yesterday Jerome was really nice....he smiled and joined the activity...he didn't cry at all"....oh senangnya....
Baru 5 menit aku menemani Jerome, Ms.Debby bilang, "Mommy....you should go home now...Jerome will be fine..." dan Ms. Debby juga bilang ke Jerome, "Jerome....mommy should go home now....ok?"
Awalnya aku ragu, tapi kuputuskan untuk patuh dan tegas, jadi akupun melepaskan tangan Jerome dan segera berlalu dari ruangan itu, tapi aku menunggu di luar sambil mendengarkan dengan seksama.
Saat itu, Clara si gadis kecil brazil sedang menjerit-jerit dan menangis keras karna ditinggal mamanya. Mamanya juga memutuskan untuk meninggalkan Clara di preschool tanpa ditemani. Terhalang oleh jeritan Clara, aku tak mampu mendengar apakah Jerome pun menangis atau tidak. Sesaat kudengar Jerome menangis, tapi tak lama. Tiba-tiba Ms.Debby berjalan ke arah toilet dengan menggandeng Jerome! Aku yang sedang berada di dekat toilet itu segera melarikan diri keluar, supaya tak terlihat Jerome. Wah ternyata Jerome sudah tidak menangis!
Maka akupun segera pulang dan menceritakan hal itu ke Papap.

Sorenya, Papap menjemput Jerome ke preschool dan bercerita kalau Jerome ternyata pup di sekolah tapi gak bilang ke Miss-nya. Jadi Jerome pup di diaper (sengaja aku masih memakaikan diaper selama Jerome di preschool, untuk menghindari kecelakaan sperti ini). Wah aku langsung sedih dan uring-uringan. Kekhawatiranku muncul lagi, sampai kapan mereka toleran terhadap keadaan itu ya...
Sepulang dari kampus, aku berpesan pada Jerome berulang-ulang, supaya kalau dia ingin pup harus bilang ke Miss-nya. Semoga Jerome mengerti....

Hari 4
Papap mengantar Jerome ke preschool dan segera meninggalkannya. Jerome tidak merengek2 atau memberontak loh...

Hari ini jadwal kami menyiapkan surat keterangan kesehatan Jerome, sayangnya kantor tempat mengurus surat itu yang ada di Orchard Down tutup, maka kami ke preschool dan menyampaikan hal itu ke gurunya. Saat itu ada Ms.Debby dan Ms.Debby bilang, "Please....don't let Jerome see you..."
Akupun bilang ke Ms.Debby supaya jangan khawatir, kami sengaja menyembunyikan diri dari pandangan Jerome. Kami lihat Jerome sedang asyik bermain di playground dan tidak menangis!

Sorenya, setelah dijemput, Ms.Lee bercerita kalau sore itu Jerome mendekati Ms.Lee dan bilang, "Ms.Lee....poop...Ms.Lee...." oh ternyata Jerome mengikuti saranku....Dia sudah berani bilang ke Miss-nya kalau ingin pup! ah senangnya....
Papap juga bercerita, ketika dijemput, Jerome sedang asyik bermain komputer, salah satu sarana yang memang disediakan preschool itu. Jerome tak terlihat rewel, malah tenang dan kelihatan sudah senang di preschool itu...wah tak disangka, cepat sekali adaptasinya....waktu pertama kali masuk daycare, perlu seminggu meninggalkan Jerome tanpa diiringi jerit tangis. Ternyata di preschool, hanya 3 hari.

Hari 5
Kami mengantar Jerome ke preschool dan dia terlihat santai dan malah sangat antusias! wah....dia benar-benar sudah beradaptasi dengan sekolahnya....senangnya hatiku....
Jadi apa yang aku khawatirkan sebelumnya, jelas tidak terbukti.
Jerome tidak menangis meski kami tak ada di sampingnya. Dia juga sudah berani berkomunikasi dengan gurunya dan berani bicara langsung ke Miss-nya kalau ingin pup. Untuk pis dia sudah bisa sendiri.

Senang hatiku karena Jerome bisa betah di sekolah barunya. Perkembangannya juga sudah terlihat, antara lain dia sudah bisa bersosialisasi, tidak hanya bermain sendiri seperti sebelumnya.
Jerome juga tidak susah tidur siang sekarang. Selain itu, tidur malam juga cepat, jam 10 sudah tidur, mungkin karna kegiatan di preschool banyak jadi dia bisa tidur pulas kalau malam karena sudah capek.
Keputusan memasukkannya ke preschool memang tepat.

Fall Semester 2009

Currently, I am taking 3 courses;

The Theory of Monetary Policy,
International Business Economics, and
Topics in International Economics: Course on Financial Crisis

Hmm...last semester, I mean on Spring, I took International Financial Economics. While on Summer, I took Monetary Theory.

So far, I have been taking 3 courses about International Economics....and I hope I will get more knowledge and deepen my thought.

I just realized that I really like any course about International Economics. For me, it is really interesting, since I have been working in a central bank for about 6 years and got along very well with the Balance of Payments which is also interesting (although sometimes confusing....LOL).

The fall semester has just begun last week and I have charged my spirit up after traveling to some states and got ready to start the new semester with new energy...

GAMBATE!

Urbana,
August 30th, 2009

WHEN GOD SEEMS DISTANT

God is real, no matter how you feel.

It is easy to worship God when things are going great in your life – when He has provided food, friends, family, health and happy situations. But circumstances are not always pleasant. How do you worship then? What do you do when God seems a million miles away?

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting Him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.

Friendships are often tested by separation and silence; you are divided by physical distance or you are unable to talk. In your friendship with God, you won’t always feel close to Him.
Philip Yancey has wisely noted, “Any relationship involves times of closeness and time of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other.” That’s when worship gets difficult.

To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation – times when it feels as if He has abandoned or forgotten you. God feels a million miles away.
Of course, God doesn't leave us. He has promised repeatedly, “I will never leave nor forsake you.” But God has not promised “you will always feel my presence.” In fact, God admits that sometimes He hides His face from us. There are times when he appears to be MIA, missing-in-action, in your life.

Floyd McClung describes it: ”You wake up one morning and all your spiritual feelings are gone. You pray but nothing happens. You rebuke the devil, but it doesn’t change anything. You go through spiritual exercises…..you have your friends pray for you…..you confess every sin you can imagine, then go around asking forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast…still nothing. You begin to wonder how long this spiritual gloom might last. Days? Weeks? Months? Will it ever end? …it feels as if your prayers simply bounce off the ceiling. In utter desperation, you cry out, “What’s the matter with me????”

The truth is, there’s nothing wrong with you! This is a normal part of the testing and maturing of your friendship with God. Every Christian goes through it at least once, and usually several times. It is painful and disconcerting, but it is absolutely vital for the development of your faith. Knowing this gave Job hope when he could not feel God’s presence in his life.

He said, “I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going. And when he has tested me like gold in a fire, he will pronounce me innocent.”

When God seems distant, you may feel that He is angry with or is disciplining you for some sin. In fact, sin does disconnect us from intimate fellowship with God. We grieve God’s spirit and quench our fellowship with him by disobedience, conflict with others, busyness, friendship with the world, and other sins.

But often this feeling of abandonment or estrangement from God has nothing to do with sin. It is a test of faith – one we all must face: will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life?

The most common mistake we make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. The look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won’t depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to God, is not worship.

God’s omnipresence and the manifestation of his presence are two different things. One is a fact; the other is often a feeling.

(to be continued)

~ Ch.14 - When God Seems Distant - The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren ~

Des Moines, Iowa
August 13, 2009

The next Tiger Woods....

Yesterday, as usual, my husband John wanted to play golf at Stone Creek. Jerome, my 3-year-old little boy, didn't want to stay at home without his daddy. So when John was ready to go, Jerome also prepared to go; wearing his own shoes by himself, took his cap and went to the door and asked his dad to be hurry...:)

John couldn't refused him and then they went together and I just stayed at home and did my favorite things: cooking and watching the food networks channel....:)

John plays golf anywhere, in the golf course area, in the backyard, or even in the living room and so does Jerome. But yesterday was Jerome's first time to play golf in a real golf course area, Stone Creek Golf Club at Urbana IL, where his daddy is a member.

John took Jerome's pictures and it made me laugh....oh my!!! he is not a baby anymore.....:)

He tried hard to hit the ball again and again and again....and finally he made it!!
He really looked like Tiger Woods, didn't he? (well, honestly I've never seen Tiger Woods playing golf, but he started playing golf when he was 3 as well)

For sure, playing golf is so exhausted....he drank a lot of water all the time after he finished it!!!

Arriving at home, he told me proudly about what he had done and showed me again how he played golf....it's awesome!
You can be whatever you want to be, baby...

Summer Course 2009

The summer course 2009 is finally over!!! yay.....

It started on June 15th and was over on August 7, just now!
Wow...can't believe it....
One of the course I took was Computable General Equilibrium Modeling....
We didn't have any exam but we got so many homeworks (2 each week) and pop quizzes (2 almost every day!).....
It was really challenging....
But finally I could enjoy it and it was fun!
It took time to do every homework.
The homeworks consisted of individual homeworks and group project homeworks.
The most difficult part was the group project homeworks since we couldn't choose who would be your team members. The professor did it. Therefore, you just accepted who were your team member.
And it was not fun at all.
You are lucky if you got cooperative friends as your team members. Unfortunately I was not that lucky. Anyway, it is over now...
I can feel my freedom now and ready to go for vacation!!!!!
YAY......

Ingatlah selalu....

Bersyukurlah dalam segala hal.
Pikirkanlah apa yang engkau miliki.
Jangan memikirkan apa yang tidak engkau miliki,
karena itu hanya akan membuatmu terus menerus cemas
dan itu tidak ada gunanya.


-dari Chicken Soup-



Urbana, 1 Agustus 2009

Jaman sekolah dulu....

Di saat sedang berjibaku dengan tugas2 kuliah sperti sekarang ini, aku jadi teringat usaha dan semangat temen2 jaman sekolah dulu...lumayan membangkitkan semangatku juga...

Purnama yang langganan juara kelas waktu SD (SD St. Antonius II Medan) dan SMP (SMP St Thomas 1 Medan)...selalu karatan di kursi juara pertama. Dulu waktu SD, kalo pelajaran belajar membaca, ibu guru selalu menyuruh Purnama untuk membaca karna Purnama yang paling lancar diantara kami semua....sementara aku waktu itu deg2an berharap untuk tidak disuruh membaca karna dengan disuruh membaca maka aku akan menjadi pusat perhatian dan itu membuatku gugup hingga akhirnya malah membuatku membaca dengan terbata-bata dan gagap...

Waktu SMA (SMAN 4 Medan), Winda karatan di bangku juara pertama. Aku ingat, Winda waktu itu menumpang di rumah saudaranya, rumah yang amat minimalis, lebih tepat disebut paviliun. Di rumah minimalis itu hanya ada 1 ruang selain kamar tidur, dan di ruang itulah segala aktivitas umum dilakukan seperti makan, belajar, nonton tivi, menerima tamu dlsb. Winda juga memanfaatkan ruang sempit itu untuk belajar sementara di sekitarnya begitu banyak distorsi, dari mulai suara tivi dan suara saudaranya yang asyik mengobrol. Tapi kendala-kendala itu tak menyurutkan semangat belajar Winda hingga dengan segala kesederhanaannya, Winda langganan jadi juara bertahan di posisi pertama dari kelas 1 sampai 3.

Di kelas 2 dan 3, aku sebangku dengan Santi Manurung....Santi juga langganan juara 2 atau juara 3, kejar-kejaran dengan Anwar. Santi sangat inspiratif..aku ingat, Santi slalu bangun subuh untuk belajar, dengan segala keterbatasan yang ada tapi dia mampu berprestasi di kelas. Santi tinggal di sebuah rumah yang dihuni bersama tulang dan abangnya, nun jauh di simalingkar. Tapi itu pun tak menyurutkan semangat belajar Santi. Aku ingat, kalau aku kesusahan, Santi dengan sangat jelas menerangkan hal-hal yang tidak kupahami hingga aku pun akhirnya mengerti. Santi selalu aku repotkan dengan pertanyaan-pertanyaan konyolku yang mungkin buat Santi mestinya anak SD juga tau....hahahaha...
Untung ada Santi, kalau tidak, mungkin aku tinggal kelas waktu SMA...hehehe...
Thanks ya San...

Ada juga Agus (Agustina Purba) yang berstatus anak kos (aku suka sekali dengan kamar kosnya di daerah Padang Bulan). Agus rajin belajar, dengan menyiapkan cemilan-cemilan yang menggugah selera, mampu menemaninya menggauli buku-buku pelajaran. Aku mencoba meniru cara belajar Agus dengan menyiapkan camilan, tapi yang terjadi adalah camilan habis tapi belajarnya tak kunjung usai...hehehe...

Di UGM (jurusan IESP), aku kembali bertemu dengan orang-orang pintar yang juga menginspirasiku untuk tekun belajar.
Ada Iing, Susi dan Nana yang IPK-nya tak pernah di bawah 3,5.
Ada Sunji yang juga sangat rajin belajar.
Ika yang rajin membuat semacam risalah di beberapa lembar kertas sehingga proses belajar jadi lebih mudah (ini yg aku tiru sekarang, biar gak perlu bawa buku tebal kemana2).
Imas dan Anis juga sangat rajin dan usahanya patut ditiru dan diacungin jempol kiri kanan atas bawah.

Ah....kenangan sekolah dulu benar-benar melekat di kepalaku hingga saat ini dan bersyukur aku dikelilingi teman-teman yang pintar dan rajin hingga mampu membangkitkan semangat belajarku...
Dari mereka-mereka ini aku belajar bahwa tak ada keberhasilan yang bisa diraih tanpa usaha dan kerja keras!

skarang waktunya ku kembali ke buku-buku pelajaran dan peer-peer...
ayo Frida...semangat!!!!



Urbana,
1 Agustus 2009

Querido Dios....

Querido Dios, por favor, danos tu milagro....

Algo malo que nos pasó.

Realmente necesitamos el milagro de Dios.

Yo necesito un milagro.

Ayúdenme por favor....

Gracias a Dios.



Urbana,
28 de Julio, 2009

Dengan bahasa cinta...

Tak ada musuh yang tak dapat ditaklukkan oleh cinta.

Tak ada penyakit yang tak dapat disembuhkan oleh kasih sayang.

Tak ada permusuhan yang tak dapat dimaafkan oleh ketulusan.

Tak ada kesulitan yang tak dapat dipecahkan oleh ketekunan.

Tak ada batu keras yang tak dapat dipecahkan oleh kesabaran.

Semua itu haruslah berasal dari hati anda.

Bicaralah dengan bahasa hati, maka akan sampai ke hati pula.

Kesuksesan bukan semata-mata betapa keras otot dan betapa tajam otak anda,

namun juga betapa lembut hati anda dalam menjalani segala sesuatunya.



sumber: tidak diketahui.



Kupersembahkan untuk semua orang yang aku kasihi...

Urbana,
27 Juli 2009

My deep condolence

On Saturday the July 25th 2009, my husband's grandma had passed away after being hospitalized for 4 days.
She will be 90 on August 17th 2009.
God love her so much for giving her a very long life.
My husband and I are really sorry that we could not come to her funeral.
We believe that she is rest in peace now.
May God bless her and the whole big family.

PS: Special thanks to Bohye, Kibona, Alex and Hyun for praying her.
God bless you all.


Urbana,
July 26th 2009.

My Mom's birthday

Today (July 17th, 2009 - in Indonesia) is my mom's birthday...
Happy Birthday, Mom...I love you so much...

Dear Lord, thank you for all the things that you have given to her...
Thank you for giving me such a wonderful mother...
and thank you for all your blessing...

She raised us with her love and kindness...
She lost her husband (my dad) 21 years ago, has been a widow when she was 42, never got married again while she had to raise 5 children...no money and jobless...
and she made it! We grew up as wonderful kids and improved our lives even though still not perfect...
We are so proud of her!

Therefore, dear Lord, please give her a long life...
give her happiness...
bless her...
keep her healthy...
and give us more opportunities to make her happy....

please Lord...I really love her so much...
I still can't make her happy...
I still have a lot of plans for her...
so please give me more time to spend together with her...

Amen

Urbana, IL
July 16th, 2009

Thought of the day

Sometimes life does not exactly happen as what we expect.
When something bad happens, keep praying to God and keep believing that He will make everything beautiful in His time....



Urbana,
July 16th, 2009

After almost a year.....

After almost a year, I can enjoy my time of being a student!
Gee! what took me so long?

At first, I was graduated from Gadjah Mada University in 1999 and I have worked for 8 years. For sure, it is not easy to change your mind set from being an employee to be a student again. While more than a half of my friends are freshmen....it is not comparable though....

Second, I came to the U.S. with my husband and son, and here, we should do anything by ourselves. Means, doing all of the house working like cooking, cloth-washing, dish-washing, cleaning, etc, something that I had never done before...(In Indonesia, it is common to have a maid(s) to help us doing house working since the wage is affordable).
Therefore, I should be able to use my time wisely; like studying, doing house working and taking care of my husband and son at the same time. Yup, it's like multitasking but not in the office :)

Third, I should be able to deal with the culture shock. Ow...it was a disaster..
Talking with other students (we are all international students) with the same weakness in speaking English was really a disaster....hahaha.....
It is like you don't understand them and they can't understand you! LOL
We came from a different background, language, country and behavior. Sometimes, we tend to explain something with our own way which is different with other country's way.....so it was totally confusing, especially when I wanted to discuss a homework or a lecture with friends.
The more I asked them, the more I got confused!

Misunderstanding was not only between international students. Sometimes when I talked with an American in a public area and he spoke very fast, I was confused and couldn't get his point...and it made me nervous...I really wanted to run away far from him! hahahaha....

Fourth, following all the lectures in English was much much challenging...yeah, you should be able to listen to the professor, write your own note (sometimes I just wrote my notes in Bahasa, not in English, which is faster to me), understand the professor's handwriting (the worse thing is you even couldn't read yours as well), read the thick text books, do a ton of home works that makes you can't sleep well every night....yes, it's true! I was sleepless and if I couldn't keep my eyes open in the class, I just laid my head on my arms while the professor was teaching....and I was not alone...some students did it.
What surprising me is the professor is never angry when he sees his student(s) sleeping in the class, and I ever found that one of them was even snoring...hahaha...

I spent my whole life in the library, studying and studying and couldn't do anything but studying. Again, it was challenging because I had to leave my son and my husband at home....It was really bad and unfair....but what else can I do? I didn't have many choices....
(Thank you so very much, my love...I will never never ever forget all of your sacrifices!)

Sometimes a friend invited me to a potluck (either dinner or lunch) or a kind of party, while the home works buried me deeply...oh my....it drove me crazy...how can I deal with all of these things??? Even 24 hours were never enough for me!
Refusing an invitation is rude, but who will do the home works???
It was really really tough, and sometimes I just skipped the invitation since the main goal of being here is study....sorry guys....

Now, after almost a year, here I am...enjoying all of the things that I get here...
I like the school, the libraries, the materials, the home works, the environment...
I adore all of my friends and the professors (I like making friends!), the foods (well, sometimes it sucks), the spring-summer-fall except the killing winter...
I love my apartment, the playgrounds, the laundry room, the bus stop, the MTD, the street, the trees, the flowers, the squirrels, the grass and so on and so forth...
Although it is flat, means no mountain no beach, but I love it!

Suddenly I realized I only have 6 more months here...well, for sure I'm gonna miss them all someday....
The main library, the Engineering Library, the Undergraduate Library, the Union, the apartment, the playground, the class rooms, the very fast internet connection, the Orchard Down, the stone creek church, the pastors, the coffee shop, the groceries (Wal-Mart, Meijer, Green Onion, Far East, Am-Ko, County Market)...
I'm gonna miss all of the tears and sorrows, the days I spent in the library (sometimes
until 5 am!), the lectures, the people, the friendship with all the Indonesian friends who stay here....
(oh...I can't stop my tears from falling now)....

I should go back to Indonesia, but a big part of my heart is left here, in Urbana-Champaign, forever.....


Time really flies so fast.....



Urbana-Champaign
July 6th, 2009

Rahasia Terbesar di Dunia

Jika aku sedih, aku akan tertawa.

Jika aku tertekan, aku akan menyanyi.

Jika aku berkelimpahan, kupikir akan masa kekuranganku yang lalu.

Jika aku miskin, kupikir kekayaan yang mendatang.

Jika aku merasa sangat berkuasa, kucoba menghentikan angin.

Jika merasa terlalu percaya, kuingat kegagalan masa laluku.

Jika merasa tidak mampu, kuingat sukses masa laluku.

Jika aku mendapat kekayaan berlimpah, kuingat mulut-mulut yang kelaparan.

Jika aku terlalu bangga kuingat saat-saat aku lemah.

Jika aku menikmati masa kejayaan, kuingat saat yang memalukan.


Source: http://www.geocities.com/samuellkamba/rahasia_terbesar_di_dunia.htm

A lesson

Many things happened in our lives.
Sometimes good, sometimes bad.
People come and go.
Sometimes you like them, sometimes not.

I got a very important lesson these days.
I just realized that nobody can be trusted.

Only Jesus.

He is the only one that I can trust.
He is the only one I can share with.
He is my savior.
He heals my pain.
He relieves my burden.
He lifts me up.

Thank you Jesus for being a very good friend of mine.

Urbana,
July 1st, 2009

Our first anniversary

Today is June 22nd 2009 and it is Firman and Laili's first wedding anniversary....
Congratulations to both of you!!!!

It reminds me of my own-first-wedding anniversary, which was on August 6th, 2006, it's about 3 years ago...
At the time, our little Jerome was almost 2 months. Me and my husband planned to go out for a romantic dinner to celebrate our first anniversary...My mom (who just came from Medan) was at my home, and also there were a baby sitter and a maid.
So, I thought it's OK to go out for a while because Jerome would be safe at home.

Me and my husband prepared ourselves for the dinner and were ready to go until, suddenly, our cute little prince Jerome, cried and being cranky....At first, I tried to tell him that we just wanted to go out for a while. I also breastfed him to make him sleeping, but it didn't work.
Then my mom and the baby sitter tried to calm him down, cradled and lulled him, and again, it didn't work.
Gosh....it took about an hour and it was almost 8 pm...You know, in Jakarta, you need at least 1 hour to reach any place.
Jerome was still crying and crying and nothing could stop him.

My husband massaged Jerome's foots but he was still crying. Then my husband said that we should stay at home with Jerome because Jerome looked unhappy if we left him alone, even though there were my mom, a baby sitter and a maid at our home.

And you know what? After Jerome heard his Dad's words, Jerome suddenly stopped crying! He looked at us happily....

Hahahahaha.....it was so funny....so it's true that he didn't want us to leave him alone...(it's also difficult to go out with him because he was just almost 2 months!)

Finally we just stayed at home, gathered with Jerome and watched him sleeping peacefully...
That moment was one of the most unforgettable moment in our marriage life...

Urbana,
June 22nd, 2009

Kritis sebagai pasien

Membaca pengalaman Ibu Prita di RSOI, saya teringat pengalaman saya sendiri 3 tahun yang lalu.
Ketika itu saya sedang hamil anak saya Jerome, sekitar 9 bulan. Suami saya mengalami demam tinggi dan memutuskan untuk ke rumah sakit. Suami saya juga sudah memutuskan untuk dirawat inap saja, apapun penyakitnya, supaya bisa beristirahat dengan total (bed rest) dan kembali fit sebagai persiapan menyambut kelahiran anak pertama kami. Dari rumah, kami sudah mempersiapkan tas berisi pakaian ganti untuk beberapa hari dan perlengkapan harian lainnya. Maka kamipun menuju salah satu rumah sakit di daerah Jakarta Selatan (nama dan tempat sengaja dirahasiakan demi menghindari tuntutan pencemaran nama baik).

Setibanya kami di bagian gawat darurat, tekanan darah suami saya diperiksa, darahnya diambil untuk dicek Hb dll. Kemudian, suami saya dibawa ke kamar untuk rawat inap dan kami memilih kamar VIP untuk kenyamanan bersama supaya keluarga bisa menemani.

Saat itu, penyakit suami saya belum diketahui dengan pasti, masih menunggu hasil tes darah. Selang beberapa jam setelah suami dan saya berada di kamar, seorang perawat datang dan bersiap-siap menyuntikkan sesuatu ke tubuh suami saya. Sebelum perawat (suster) menyuntikkan sesuatu itu, saya pun bertanya,"itu apa suster?"
Si perawat menjawab,"antibiotik, Bu...harganya sekian juta (saya lupa persisnya)"
Saya pun terkaget-kaget, kok suami saya yang belum ketahuan penyakitnya apa sudah diputuskan untuk diberi antibiotik? harganya jutaan pula....
Lalu saya bertanya lagi,"memangnya sudah ketauan sakitnya apa? Lalu kenapa antibiotiknya yang dalam bentuk suntikan? kenapa tidak yang tablet saja?"
Si suster tak mampu menjawab dengan jelas, hanya bergumam bahwa itu adalah perintah dokter.
Saya yang pada dasarnya lembut dan berkepribadian menarik, tiba-tiba tersulut emosi. Kata saya,"Wah enak aja main suntik...apa karna kami di kamar VIP trus antibiotiknya pun harus yang mahal? emangnya apa bedanya antibiotik yang suntik dengan antibiotik tablet?"
Suster:"kalau yang tablet lebih lama, Bu...harus diminum rutin 5 hari. Kalau yang suntik cukup 3 hari.."
Saya:"kami gak masalah kalo memang harus minum antibiotik 5 hari. Kenapa kami tidak diberi pilihan, kenapa kalian langsung memutuskan sendiri? Lagipula, kenapa langsung disuntik antibiotik sedangkan sakitnya aja belum ketahuan????" Saya benar-benar emosi (tapi dalam hati komat-kamit berdoa semoga tidak terjadi apa-apa dengan kehamilan saya)....
Suster: "Baik Bu, kalo Ibu tidak bersedia, Ibu harus tanda tangani surat pernyataan yang menyatakan Ibu tidak bersedia suami Ibu diberi obat atas perintah dokter"
Saya:"Oke....mana suratnya? mana?? sini biar saya tanda tangani...." sambil membuat gerakan tangan yang sedang menandatangani surat perjanjian Linggarjati.

Si suster pun berlalu dan kami menunggu hingga akhirnya dia datang lagi dengan sepucuk surat, saya baca dan saya tanda tangani. Saya tak perduli. Suami saya yang sedari tadi diam, semakin diam dan hanya pasrah tak berdaya. Mungkin dia juga takut kena semprot istrinya yang biasanya berperangai halus tiba-tiba berubah galak bagaikan Sumanto sehabis menyantap sarapan orok....

Keesokan hari, hasil tes darah menunjukkan kalau suami saya menderita demam berdarah. Hari itu, mama mertua dan tante suami saya datang dan ikut menemani di RS. Setelah diketahui bahwa suami saya ternyata mengidap demam berdarah, saya merasa "lega" telah menolak suntikan "maut" si suster karena demam berdarah disebabkan oleh virus, sedangkan antibiotik hanya bisa membunuh bakteri, bukan virus. Buat apa saya membuang uang jutaan rupiah untuk sesuatu yang jelas tidak berguna, kan?
Saat itu saya kerap berkonsultasi via sms dengan rekan kantor, Ibu Riza, yang banyak memberi informasi penting dan bermanfaat dan saya percaya dengan informasinya.

Selama dirawat di RS, tante suami saya rutin membawakan jus jambu biji setiap hari, dan setelah 3 hari, Hb darah suami saya pun kembali normal dan kami diijinkan untuk pulang.
Saya pun lega, suami kembali sehat, mama mertua dan tante ikut senang.

Demikianlah pengalaman saya saat berhubungan dengan RS yang saat ini cenderung komersil, kita sebagai pasien sebaiknya harus kritis. Saya juga mendapat banyak pengalaman dan informasi berharga, terutama setelah banyak berkonsultasi dengan Ibu Riza yang cerdas dan kritis.

Sebagai pasien, kita berhak tau obat apa yang diberikan kepada kita, kenapa dokter memberikan obat itu, dan apa efek sampingnya bagi kita.

Sebagai pasien, kita juga harus tau apakah tubuh kita mempunyai alergi terhadap obat tertentu, sebab jika ternyata alergi, akan sangat fatal akibatnya.

Sebagai pasien, kita berhak bertanya apa saja mengenai penyakit kita, dan dokter yang baik akan menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan kita dengan jelas dan lengkap, tidak terburu-buru dan tidak terkesan sok. Pernah saya punya pengalaman dengan seorang dokter, yang ketika saya bertanya tentang penyakit saya, beliau menjawab,"kalau Ibu ingin tau, Ibu kuliah kedokteran saja dulu"..waks...saya putuskan untuk tidak lagi berobat kepadanya....Kita sebagai pasien sudah membayar mahal untuk biaya bertemu dokter, mengapa kita tidak boleh tau tentang penyakit kita? Saat ini, di Jakarta, untuk berkonsultasi dengan seorang dokter spesialis, rata-rata biayanya sekitar Rp 100.000 - 150.000 dan jumlah itu tidak termasuk biaya obat. Itu sebabnya, dengan membayar biaya sebesar itu, kita berhak tau tentang penyakit kita. Supaya tidak lupa, biasanya saya menyiapkan selembar kertas dari rumah berisi daftar pertanyaan-pertanyaan saya. Saya juga menyiapkan pulpen untuk menulis jawaban dari dokter.

Sebagai pasien, kita juga sebaiknya tidak langsung membeli semua obat yang dituliskan dengan lancar oleh seorang dokter untuk dibeli. Ada baiknya kita mencari second, third, fourth atau x-th opinion jika hasil konsultasi dengan dokter meragukan. Jika ternyata second, third, fourth atau x-th opinion hasilnya berbeda-beda, kita patut waspada dan mencoba mencari informasi dari internet, dan kalau punya rejeki berlebih, sebaiknya berobat ke luar negeri, bisa ke Penang Malaysia atau Singapore.

Sebagai pasien, ketika demam, ada baiknya kita menunggu beberapa hari, jika hari ketiga masih demam, barulah kita ke dokter. Jangan terburu-buru ke dokter supaya diagnosisnya lebih akurat.

Berdasarkan pengalaman saya selama tinggal di Amerika, saya melihat bahwa seorang dokter tidak begitu saja memberi obat kepada pasien yang sakit. Pengalaman seorang teman, ketika anaknya demam dan dibawa ke dokter, dokter menyuruh mereka pulang dan berpesan supaya si anak diberi minum yang banyak, makan yang banyak, dan istirahat cukup. Tanpa obat. Tanpa opname.
Ketika seorang pasien mengeluh sakit, apapun keluhannya, RS akan melakukan pemeriksaan menyeluruh, tidak hanya bagian yang dikeluhkan pasien. Dengan demikian, dokter bisa memperoleh informasi kondisi fisik pasien dengan lengkap.

Sebagai manusia, jagalah kesehatan karena kesehatan itu mahal harganya. Ini mungkin kalimat basi, tapi sangat penting dan benar adanya. Ketika kita sakit, apapun yang kita miliki menjadi tak berguna.

Salam sehat,
frida sinurat


Urbana,
June 14th, 2009

The Cow Brain

I got an information from my pastor that the cow brain is illegal in the U.S....
Well....sounds weird since it is one of the most delicious food in Indonesia...hahahaha....
The pastor said, it is illegal since it causes many diseases, at least it is high cholesterol.
That's true and I wonder why people in Indonesia don't care about it....
So, it's time to change our life style though it is not easy...


Urbana,
May 22nd, 2009

UIUC

One day, my friend who is studying in Australia texted me,"Frida, are you studying in the U.S.? I saw your pictures on your Facebook and I wonder why all of your friends are Chinese..."

At that moment, I didn't know why....It's true that most of my friends are Chinese. In my program, Master of Science in Policy Economics (MSPE) in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), there are 45 graduate students, all of us are international students; 13 Chinese (29%), 10 Korean (22%), 7 Turkish (18%), 6 Taiwanese (13%), 2 Indonesian (4%), and the rest are 1 from Italy, 1 from Peru, 1 from Thailand, 1 from Dominican Republic, 1 from Tanzania, 1 from Iran, and 1 from Afghanistan.

Yesterday, when we went to the World Bank and heard the presentation, the presenter gave us an information that 3 countries that sent the largest number of people to study in the U.S. are India, China and Korea!
No wonder why most of my friends are Chinese! :)
That's why UIUC stands for University for Indian and University for Chinese....:)

PS: If I am not mistaken, most Indian are studying in Engineering Science, and most Chinese are studying in Social Science.


Urbana,
March 26th, 2009

The comparison of standards of living

This is still part of my course, International Financial Economics.

Usually, people will look at the country's GDP per capita to compare how poor or how rich that country is. The GDP per capita is usually in US Dollar so we can compare it between countries. As I mentioned before, according to the Balassa-Samuelson Theory, the prices of goods in rich countries are higher than that in poor countries because of the productivity of labor in rich countries is high, then their wages are higher, the production cost becomes higher and the result is the price tends to be more expensive.

Now we want to compare the GDP per capita of Indonesia and the United States. GDP per capita reflects a yearly income of a person in a country on average.
The U.S. GDP per capita in 2007 was $45,800.
Indonesia GDP per capita in 2007 was only $3,400. (source: www.indexmundi.com)
We can say that the U.S. GDP per capita is 13,47 times the GDP per capita of Indonesia.

In the class, we compared the GDP per capita between the U.S. and India which showed the U.S. GDP per capita is 59 times of India.
"Does this reflect the actual difference in standard of living between the two countries?" my professor asked us in the class, then suddenly I answered him instantaneously, "NO!".
He asked why, I replied, "it depends on the cost of living!" (actually, it was the first and maybe the last time I could think logically).
He said,"Exactly!" that made me flying to the ceiling...

I could say so because based on my experience, when I gathered with friends, we ever compared our salary and expenses in our own country. Before I came here, I thought that my scholarship would be more than enough because I just converted it to Rupiah. As time goes by, I realize that the cost of living in Indonesia much much cheaper than that in the U.S.. In Indonesia, you can buy a hamburger in Mc. Donald by 50 cents (or 5,000 Rupiahs), while in the U.S. it costs us $4 to $5. It is almost 10 times! With 50 cents, you can buy a hamburger in Mc. Donald Indonesia, but in the U.S. you need to spend $5 to buy the same thing!

I have a friend who is a rich guy from Tanzania, but in the U.S., he is poor, as poor as me. Oneday, someone asked him how much money that he got in Tanzania (He also got a scholarship from his office). He told that guy, an American guy, that his salary is around $800. That American guy was almost screaming when he said,"WHHAAAAAATTTTTT??? How could you live with that money????"
Of course it will never be enough in the U.S. but in Tanzania, with that amount of money, my friend could buy a fancy house with many rooms even though he is still single. He only needs one room to take a rest, but because he could make a lot of money in his country, he doesn't know how to waste his money. He could buy luxuries goods or anything he wants to buy. In the U.S., it means nothing.

That is why, you can not just compare the GDP per capita of your country to other country because it is not comparable. Again, it depends on the cost of living!


Urbana,
March 20th, 2009

"Why the prices of goods in poor countries are cheaper than that in developed countries"

This is a part of International Financial Economics course that I take this semester. It is really interesting to me since many Chinese products in Indonesia are banned by our government nowadays. Mostly because the contents are dangerous for health. For instance are candies, toys, foods, etc. Most people in Indonesia don't wanna buy Chinese product because we are affraid of its poor quality. It is a kind of slogan that Chinese product sucks.

Then my professor, a very smart and talented person, taught us in the class that prices of goods in poor countries are cheaper than that in developed countries. According to the Balassa-Samuelson Theory, it is because of the productivity of labor in poor countries is low, then the quality of the products is low as well. That is why the prices are cheap in poor countries.

Since I came here, I realized that everything is really expensive, even for Chinese products. Then I knew that the quality of the products is really good, and also you can return it if it is broken or you don’t like it, at most 3 months after you bought it and you’ll get your money back. It won’t happen in Indonesia! (“BARANG YANG SUDAH DIBELI TIDAK DAPAT DIKEMBALIKAN”. What the……).

Some Indonesian people who go abroad and find Indonesia’s product while shopping usually prevent themselves from buying it and turn it to other countries product. Now I know that Indonesian products or Chinese products which are sold abroad especially in developed countries usually have a good quality. So China sells their good quality products to rich countries and poor quality to poor countries. Next time while I go for shopping I won’t worry about the quality no matter where it was made.
Yeah…its time to go for shopping, guys!


Urbana,
February 27th, 2009

Invisible Woman

This is one of my weekly journal at ESL class last semester. It's fun, so enjoy it!

"Invisible Woman"

If I could be anything, I would be an invisible woman! It would be interesting, because I could do anything I want and people around me didn’t know it. I could meet a pop star that I really adore, went to people’s house or apartment and hidden myself when I met someone I hate. There would be many things I could do if I were invisible.

Sometimes, I really want to do something weird but I’m afraid that people will think that I’m crazy. For example, I really want to lay my head on Brad Pitt’s shoulder, share my life with him personally and have a romantic candle light dinner. But it sounds impossible because Brad Pitt doesn’t know me. If I were invisible, I could go to Brad Pitt’s house, laid my head on his shoulder. It would be the most unforgettable moment in my life. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to share my life with him personally nor had a romantic candle light dinner because he wouldn’t be able to see me, but it wouldn’t matter. At least I still could see him closely, touched him and even kissed him! (This is one of my wild imagination).

I like to see people’s places, especially the big and neat house or apartment. But if I don’t know the owner, maybe they will be angry if a stranger comes in to their house/apartment like a theft. If I were invisible, I could enter people’s house/apartment, or I could enter a very famous public figure’s house or apartment. I could see inside their apartment/house, used their furniture and acted as I were the owner.

Other thing that I could do if I were invisible, I could hide from a debt collector (even though I don’t have any debt with anybody now) or someone I hate. I could hide from my boss when he needed me, from a job that I didn’t like. I could hide from any moments/persons that made me feel inconvenient. I would feel free and nobody would annoy or disturb me.

In conclusion, being invisible would be very fun; knowing that you could do anything you want and people didn’t realize it. You don’t have to be worried of being caught. Just enjoy whatever you could do!


Urbana,
February 23rd, 2009

"Unfaithful" Movie Review

This was my journal on ESL (English as a Second Language) class last semester here, in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I wrote this as a weekly journal, our assignment for a semester. Here is the journal and at the end of this note is the comment from the teacher. Enjoy it!

Movie Review
“Unfaithful”

Unfaithful is a movie that is starred by Diane Lane, Richard Gere and Olivier Martinez. Richard Gere (Edward Sumner) and Diane Lane (Connie Sumner) are husband and wife. They have a son, Charlie (Erik Per Sullivan) and they live in a very big house in a suburb in New York. Their life looks so perfect until an accidental meeting happens between Connie and a very handsome Frenchman, Paul (Olivier Martinez) and they start an affair that finally makes things go bad.

The movie makes very few attempts to convince us that Connie needs the affair, because the truth is that she doesn’t need it. She is beautiful and she has a handsome husband that really loves her. She also has a cute son. They are happy and rich as well. Their life is so perfect. Just because Connie’s friend jokes with her, having an affair should be considered like taking a pottery class — it is something fun to try out. This seems making Connie approaches the affair. It’s something she’s never tried, and the idea, and the follow-through, of the affair turns her on even more than the actual affair itself. Is she in love with Paul? Actually she is not in love with Paul. She is just in love with having the affair. This is so bad.

Her husband, Edward, has a sympathetic character. But unfortunately, he made a wrong decision to be involved in a murder. He killed Paul after he finds his wife’s love affair. This is weird because a nice person will not be involved in a murder. He is a very good husband, but it reminds us that a very good husband maybe had a bad role in his past years. Nobody is perfect. Maybe he played Paul’s role in the past.

Paul, as a very charming person, is not anywhere close to be our hero. This guy is a player, the kind of man that probably has two or three women lined up to take Connie’s place as soon as she ends the affair. Paul is not in love because he already has another target in-between his afternoon sessions with Connie. He is a kind of guy that you don’t want to be your best friend, because he will take any chance to steal your girlfriend just to prove that he can. Paul is just a person who is blessed with a good looking face and he can make a friendship easily with every woman.

This is an interesting movie because it tells us that everything will be so bad if you make a love affair. In my opinion, only a fool would have an affair. In this movie, Connie begins an affair with Paul. The affair becomes hot and heavy and ends in misery and violence when Connie’s husband, Edward, finds out the affair, and on the spur of the moment, goes to introduce himself to Paul and then Edward kills Paul. Edward, as a good man, looks like so easy to kill Paul. It does not make sense because a good man who has no experience in a murder, should find difficulties in killing someone. At least you will be so nervous while doing it. But in this movie, Edward looks so calm and confident while killing Paul. On the other hand, as a drama, this movie is a thrilling drama that is not easy to forget. Diane Lane played her role totally that made her got widespread praise for her performance. This movie is good to remind us that a love affair will turn everything bad.

Then my teacher, Nisha Agha, a half Pakistan and a half Irish, wrote this:
"Are affairs common in Indonesia? In America they are very common so I think people here may be able to relate better to the characters.
I think your last sentence sums up your thoughts well."

Gosh!


Urbana,
February 20th, 2009

Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the Sand has been seen in print by people around the world over since the late 1940's. All that time no author has been credited with this immortal work, only 'Author Anonymous' has appeared at the bottom. Then I found in a website that the original author of this poem was Mary Stevenson. I really like this poem because it is so touching and inspiring me when I'm down and feeling blue and having many huge problems in my life, then after remembering this, I will feel better.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish,
sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most tiring periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have seen
only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."

Mary Stevenson


Urbana,
February 5th, 2009

frappuccino oh frappuccino...

Last night, me and my friends (Xiaowei Tian and Wayne) had dinner together at Mandarin Wok, a Chinese restaurant in Champaign. After having dinner, me and Tian wanted to buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks but Wayne didn't want to, so Tian and I went in to Starbucks coffee shop. Tian ordered a medium cup of espresso, while I was still considering what I should order, I remembered that I used to order frappuccino when I was in Indonesia. But when my order came, I was so shocked because it was an iced coffee!!! Oh my goodness!! It was 8 pm and the temperature was so cold, around -2 degree of Celsius.....then I couldn't stop laughing and laughing.....
Wayne asked me a stupid question,"is there any Starbucks in Indonesia?"
I replied,"Of course!! Don't underestimate my country!"
Then he asked,"so why did you order it?" with a silly smile in his face...
"Because my country is sooooo hot, so I used to order this....but I didn't realize that I'm in America now, and I didn't realize that now is almost winter with this killing temperature........"
hahahaha.......
So next time, before I order something, I have to make sure that my order is suitable with the temperature....!


Urbana,
November 11th, 2008

feeling blue..

I'm missing the time I shared together with my friends in Indonesia; rinda, mira, andyan, mbak riza, novi, ifah, karolina, richard, bance...oh how I miss them all now...

I remembered that everyday, during our lunch hour, from 12 am to 1 pm, me and my colleagues usually went to BDN, Plaza Indonesia, Grand Indonesia, ITC Kuningan, Tanah Abang. These are our most favorite places for shopping....

Every Friday, when the lunch hour is longer than other days, we had our lunch at Sushi Tei (most frequent visited), Chopstick, or tried new restaurants in everywhere...

Now I don't have enough time to do that...
So many homeworks and exams make me stuck in the middle of nowhere..
No time to watch TV, no time to update the news, no time to have fun!
Even I need more than 24 hours a day! What a life...
All of these tasks and assignments bury me so deeply...deeper and deeper...
It makes me frustrated...

Oh Frida...stop complaining!!! Go back to your notes and textbooks!!!
As Obama said,"YES!!! WE CAN!!!!!!" ^_^


Urbana,
November 6th, 2008

an announcement

I just realized that I haven't update this blog for so long....oh my...
Since I'm on facebook, I wrote many things as notes....
I will transfer all of my notes on facebook to this blog.
Here we go...