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Jakarta, Indonesia
a sucker for city lights.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

This I Believe

"This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. More than 90,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow"

(This following essay is my personal "This I Believe" that I submitted to my English class with Mrs. Amy Thivierge as the teacher)

I believe in trying.

Before I’m applying to my exchange students program, it took me a long time to decide whether to apply or not. I spent so much time thinking about it; all I did was busy counting the consequences, calculating chances, and wondering every possibilities. What will happen if I fail? If I get accepted and need to leave my life, am I ready for it? All those things floated in my mind for weeks until I came up with absolute decision: Why don’t I just try?

Then here I am, sitting in my room, where I can see the snow from my window and listening to my host family’s conversation out in the kitchen. Now I’m wondering what would it be if I didn’t try? I wouldn’t be here, in the United States, and met all the amazing people and got all the unbelievably great experiences. I realized that my worries before I decided are normal, but still, it shouldn’t let the fear interfere my decision.

Taking decision to finally try to do something is like the moment when you’re standing in the edge of the pool and thinking: Should I jump or not? Some people will take a moment to think, and some other will just jump. Some will refuse to jump; some will finally jump after thinking for hours. And they end up the same; just in the same pool, but only the matter of time. So why do we want to waste our time to worrying so much?

Now I realized that worrying so much isn’t worth my time. It is a part of me, it’s natural to worry about things, but I’ve learned that I will never know if I never try. Besides, chances won’t come twice; I will never know when I will get another chance to do this thing again. Failure and mistakes; I decided not to let them have too much space inside my brain. Failure and making mistakes is humane. Nothing to be ashamed for; at least I’ve tried. I took one step forward than them who didn’t try at all. The first time I made mistake is a fault, but the second time is a choice. I believe in trying.

(Feel free to check the official website; thisibelieve.org)

Cheers!

First Night Burlington!

Walaupun sangat telat, saya mengucapkan selamat tahun baru 2011 buat siapapun pengunjung blog ini :)

Oke sekarang mau cerita tentang "gimana sih taun baru di Amerika?"

Kalo taun lalu gue gegilaan sama anak-anak ke Bandung, taun ini gue "nyasar" cukup jauh (hehe) ke Burlington, VT, yang diklaim sama host family gue sebagai kota terbesar di Vermont. Sempet debat dikit apakah Burlington bisa dipanggil "city" soalnya well, emang ga gede gede banget sih. Imut malah, cuman jelas punya lebih banyak toko daripada Bennington. Jadilah setelah acara natal yang gagal di Boston (yang berakhir ngendon di rumah), kita cabs ke Burlington tanggal 30.

Oke. Selama perjalanan, gue nulis di diary pemberian Aunt Linda yang cutie abis sambil dengerin musik, dan cengar cengir kaya orang gila mengingat masa lalu. Eh terus kita berhenti di Darkin Farm, jadi kayak toko makanan gitu yg home made dibuat di tempat itu juga. Kenapa kita berhenti disitu? Karena kita mau nyobain sample!!! Haha mereka punya banyak free sample dan semuanya yummmyyyy :D kesukaan gue mungkin spicy jelly, gue ampe bolak balik kesitu :) tapi honey butter nya juga mantap aduh gue ngiler kan jadinya. Pulang dari situ nyokap beliin maple covered popcorn yang enak banget dan adiktif dan sekeluarga comot comotan sepanjang perjalanan huahaha. Lalu sebelum berhenti ke hotel, kita mampir ke toko tanaman yang cukup besar dimana gue Zoe dan Kati malah foto-foto. Terus kita cabs ke hotel yang imut sederhana tapi kamarnya besar coy. Gak mewah, tapi memadai.I got my own couch! Yay. Terus tiduran bentar, gue nulis di laptop bentar, lalu cabs untuk makan malam di sebuah restoran bernama American Flatbread. Mereka punya homemade beer dimana bokap gue adalah penggemar berat beer jadi kita kesitu deh dan sukses nunggu antrian sampe 45 menit. Keren sih sistemnya kita dikasih kayak remote bentuk pizza ada lampunya, kalo lampunya nyala berarti kita dapet tempat yay. Trus karna bosen gue Kati dan Zoe dan Dad malah main game, game dari novel Stargirl dimana kita bikin cerita tentang orang-orang disekitar kita yang sumpah kocak parah. Trus datanglah si American Flatbread yang, hmm, biasa aja sih buat gue wakaka gak special special banget. Oke. Trus abis puas makan kita jalan kaki ke deretan toko-toko. Berhenti di toko buku bekas. Trus berhenti lagi di Ben and Jerry's. Gue mesen strawberry cheesecake flavor ice cream dan nyummm enyaaak :9 alhamdulillah. Abis itu cabut pulang bobo.

Tanggal 31!
Hari terakhir di 2010. Gue bangun, mandi, sarapan, bla bla bla sampe akhirnya cabut jam 9-an. Berhasil nelpon Gori Ncek Lucky Dira. Pertama cabs ke Barnes & Noble soalnya Kati punya segudang gift card yang pengen doi pake jadi kesana deh. Selama disana gue malah baca bukunya Lauren Conrad yang Style gratisan hahaha. Lumayan dapet ilmu. Oke trus kita cabs dan ngedrop Mom buat beli "button" (wujudnya bukan kancing tapi pin) buat ikutan event bernama First Night Burlington, atraksi utama di Burlington. Jadi ada banyak event tersebar sepanjang hari sampe tengah malem, dan button nya itu semacem tiket terusan jadi tinggal nunjukin button lo. Kecuali beberapa atraksi macam sirkus dan taiko, mereka butuh tiket terpisah yang cuman $2-$3 aja. Oke, disini suasana mulai gaje soalnya bokap ngiter-ngiter nyari parkiran dan nyokap gue panik takut nyasar....eng ing eng. Tapi akhirnya berakhir baik, kita makan di foodcourt bekal yg kita bawa berupa sisa flatbread, pretzel,hummus, celery, dan beberapa random food tapi alhamdulillah tetep. Trus abis makan event pertama yang kita kunjungi adalah Show Choir! A la Glee gitu sih, mayan lah not bad. Gak amazing tapi gak jelek juga. Trus abis itu kita cabs buat nonton dance tapi gagal karna udah penuh, jadi kita jalan balik dan nongkrongin jazz music yang errr, ngebosenin haha.. Setelah dari situ, kita buru buru cabut ke tempat sirkus biar dapet tempat. DAN SIRKUSNYA KEREN COY. mantap lah, lumayan bikin nganga dan ada cowok imuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut banget di group sirkusnya haha maaf genit. Abis nonton sirkus kita balik lagi ke tempat dance dan alhamdulillah dapet tempat, walaupun dancenya sendiri biasa aja hahah. Trus kan gue sama Kati dan Mom turun ke basement mau pipis, EEEH ADA GOVERNORNYA VERMONT AJA GITULOH DIBAWAH. jadi nyokap memperkenalkan gue dan kita foto bareng dan gue dikasih kartu nama hahaha makasih :) (later on, minggu depannya doi lengser wuakaka tapi kan tetep) lalu lalu kita keluar buat nonton parade yang lumayan laaah keren. Trus makan malem di restoran yang lelet minta ampun tapi makanannya enak alhamdulillah. Trus abis dari situ kita nonton Taiko ( seni dari Jepang mukul mukul gendang) dan selama di antrian kita ngomongin cowok sambil makanin rice krispies treat hehe. Trus nonton taiko yang keren meskipun agak membosankan, trus kita ke event Sambatucada! alias dance ala Brazilian. Secara bokap gue gila dance, jadi kita stay disana. Gue sempet joget ampe capek trus akhirnya duduk diem soalnya baru nyadar lagi dapet dan joget joget hasilnya perut keram. Trus kita jalan keluar ke danau yang gue lupa namanya apa buat liat kembang api dan sayangnya hujan wooo penonton kecewa. Tapi tetep keren alhamdulilaah lagi lagi. Trus kita capek dan pulang, tidur.

HARI PERTAMA 2011!

Bangun,mandi, sarapan, pulang dan tiba dengan selamat di rumah. Liburan berakhir, ucapkan Alhamdulillah :D HAPPY NEW YEAR!

the parade

taiko performance

with (former) governor jim douglas :)

the circus. See the guy in grey shirt? THAT'S HIM!

Circus Smirkus :D


the button

strawberry cheesecake ice cream @ Ben & Jerry's

Homemade beer list

at the botanical shop

maple kettle corn :9

maaf fotonya ngacak, males nyusun hehhe :)

I'll see ya soon!