Our Town

In my university days, we got to do one English play on our third year of studies. The play was chosen by the drama lecturer (I suppose) and we had to "audition" to get the parts. Those of us who weren't chosen to be in the play would help out in other ways, such as being involved as make-up artists or helping out with the stage. 

That year, 1999, the chosen play was "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. In the audition we only had to say certain English sentences in front of our lecturers. Guess which part I landed? One of the dead!!! I'm seriousss...I only had to stay still and have this deathly make-up on and among with my other friends who played the dead, we only had a few lines to say ha ha ha ha ha...

The whole experience was very interesting, though. We rehearsed without using any props or lighting, even though the stage was already built during the last few rehearsals. Nowadays in our university there is a spanking new, real theatre-like room for this purpose, but back then during our days, the stage was really simple.

What I didn't expect, though, was how glaring and powerful the lighting would be. I had teary eyes and I never knew that such powerful lighting could feel THAT hot. But I couldn't really wipe my eyes because I played the dead - so I wasn't supposed to move a muscle he he...But anyway, we all had fun. We invited people to watch - they had to pay a small sum of money for the tickets.

Anyway, here's a pic of me and the others with our stage make-up on. Guess which one I am? I know the pic isn't that clear 'coz it's scanned from a regular photo and the photo itself isn't that clear.

Oh yeah, before I forget...I'd like to share my blogger friend's book. I've always admired her writings and she's been a dear friend to me. I've just bought her e-book through Kindle store. Mind you, I don't have a real Kindle reader, but you can download a free Kindle reader for PC and there are always free books to download in the site and so far I've downloaded at least a dozen books. I still prefer real books compared to e-books, but in terms of space, having e-books is handy 'coz they don't clutter the house ha ha...

Anyway, here's the trailer of her e-book entitled "First Light" by Michelle Frost. If you're interested, you can also buy it in a regular book form through amazon. I've only started reading a few pages but I'm absorbed already!!! :-D As a matter of fact, after publishing this, I'm gonna go back to reading it he he...can't wait to find out what's going to happen!!!! :-D

How My Parents Raised Us: Education

My parents were never too strict with us when it comes to education. However, they expected us to finish school in a normal period of time since it was costly for them to pay for our education. My Mom kept on saying to us when we were little, "You don't have to get an 8 or 9 for your school reports. As long as you get a 6, then it's fine."

Mind you that in Indo at that time, "blue" marks (safe marks) started from 6 and the highest mark was 9 for school reports of each subject. "Red" marks started from 5 and below. The schools would make the students stay in the same grade if they get red marks for certain subjects, for example Mathematics. However, if the student only got one 5 for a subject that wasn't too crucial, then the school would let him/her go to the upper grade.

One of my closest friends told me that she used to be scared if she went home with a test mark less than 8, since her mother expected her to get high marks all the time. In elementary schools at that time, every one of our test had to be signed by one of our parents to make sure that the parents knew our marks.

I must admit that if I remember correctly, twice I faked my parents' signature since I got bad marks for the tests HI HI HI HI HI HI...

In Junior High School and High School, we didn't have to get our parents' signature for our individual tests, but of course they wanted one of their signatures in our school reports. Reports came either quarterly or every half a year.

In Indonesia, it's "easier" to find a good job in a big company if your university GPA is high enough. Usually recruiting companies ask for a 2,75 GPA (the highest GPA is 4,00 and it means that you ALWAYS get an A for each subject). Some international companies even ask for a 3,00 GPA (meaning that at least your average mark is a B for each subject). You CAN be recruited still even if your GPA is lower than they require as long as you know the boss he he he...

Of course GPA doesn't count much if you want to open your own business. The only problem if you want to open your business is finding the fund to do so he he he...And if you are into doing marketing in some companies (like the insurance company where my Dad worked), then you don't need to worry about your GPA.

Speaking of education, I don't know how it works here in Finland. Everything is SO different from Indonesia. For example: Over here it's a normal thing to do a job training and get some money from the government, whereas in Indonesia it's not possible to do that UNLESS you're accepted as an employee first.

glitter-graphics.com

Back to my parents...I always remember the story that my Mom tells me about my brother. Mom kept on telling us, "I don't like lies. I don't want to be lied to. As long as you're honest with me, I won't be angry, okay?"

That promise "backfired" one day when my brother came to Mom and said, "Mom, don't be angry, okay? I want to tell you something."

Mom said, "Okay, I promise I won't be angry. What is it?"

My brother admitted, "I've got 4 for a test. Here it is."

HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...My Mom COULD NOT be angry since she had promised not to, right? Of course she was surprised, but she calmed herself down and said, "Okay, then that means you need to study even better for the next test. If you can get a good mark for the next test, then your average mark will still be blue instead of red."

One thing I admire about my Mom is how well she understands us. She knows that my brother is "slower" than me in learning things. I think mainly it's because he gets distracted more easily than me. Everybody has different ways of learning things and I'm quite a focused person, so I get things done faster than him.

My parents didn't force my brother to get into a "strict" High School since they knew it would only make him stressed out. So he went to a less strict school and he BLOSSOMED there!!! He found teachers who believed in him and that drove him to study hard!!! ;-D

Additional info: I was sometimes lazy to go to school, so sometimes I told them that I wanted to skip school and I only needed to type the letter of absence myself and ask for their signature to give to the school the next day (they always let me do it) HI HI HI HI HI...But usually I only took a "day off" from school during the semester or year since I didn't want to miss too much as I would have to catch up on everything later on.

I'm really GRATEFUL for my parents for their understanding, support, and hard work for getting us through university. They never forced us to choose a certain direction. I know I haven't always been an easy daughter to deal with (stubborn me!!!) but I can always count on them. I owe them EVERYTHING!!!

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Note to self: I should write them an email to thank them personally. :-)))

Dad's Antics

I want to write about something that was on my mind a few days ago, but now it's all a blur. All I want to write now is about Dad.

You all know that I'm such a HUGE sleepyhead, right? Even my hubby knows it ha ha ha...well, during my Junior High School till university days, it was Dad's "duty" to wake me up. I did have an alarm, mind you, but I'd turn it off and go right back to sleep hi hi hi hi...It was Dad's duty since Mom had already gone to the traditional market to sell food at around 5 am already. So in the mornings Dad would take her to the traditional market first, then he'd take my brother and me to school.

In High School, my parents finally bought my brother a motorcycle, so Dad only needed to take me to the university and I'd go home by public transit. Well, I still remember clearly every morning Dad would shout at me to wake up. Once. Twice. Thrice. Four times. Sometimes he got fed up since all I did was replied, "Mmmmhhhh..." and then I'd roll around to the side and fell back to sleep HI HI HI HI HI HI HI...Then he'd shouted, "Oh, you're impossible to wake up. I'll stop waking you up then."

But he kept on waking me up anyway he he he he...I wrote an email to my parents yesterday to tell them about the full-time Finnish course and suddenly I remembered about this. So I said sorry to Dad about it and I told him that I always remembered that he always escorted me to the university (he worked as an insurance agent, so he could go to the office any time he wanted to, unless if there was a specific meeting at an appointed time) and even the security guards at the parking lot knew him because his face became so familiar to them he he he he...

I remember my Dad's antics when he was young. He loved telling us about the story while laughing out loud so gleefully. One time they were having dinner and my Dad's younger sister went someplace in the middle of dinner. She took off her glasses and put them on the table. When she got back to the dinner table, she got the shock of her life since her glasses had changed into...BRAS!!! Yeah, my Dad switched the glasses with her bras. Naughty Dad!!! ;-D

Another thing that you should know about my Dad is that he's a chess fan. He LOVES playing chess. If he finds a suitable opponent, he'll forget about eating and resting. He can play chess for HOURS he he he he...During his younger days, he used to join some local competitions. I don't know if he had ever won or not, but we have one picture of him during one of those local competitions years back. It's not a regional competition, though. It's more like a district competition (where he lived back then) he he he...

Dad taught us the basic chess moves when we were kids, then he would sometimes play against us by forfeiting two of his pawns, for example the Queen and the Horse. I don't remember anymore whether he let us win or not he he he...but after a while, I started playing against my brother and usually I won since I was, after all, 2 years older than him...so I could think of the strategy better than he could. We were just elementary school students by then hi hi hi hi hi hi...

I remember when I was a kid that he used to visit his chess pal and he would play us a VHS video (usually Popeye the Sailor Man) while he and my Dad played chess for hours!!! I still remember it so vividly. These days Dad doesn't play chess a lot anymore. Maybe I need to buy him some type of easy chess hand-held game to play hmmm...'coz he can't use the computer anymore. The game has to be something easy to play and turn on like Sudoku hand-held game. I should go browse for it hmmmm...If anyone knows about such a game, do tell me he he he...

Now my mind's blank again...let me just eat and then blog-hop then he he he...

How My Parents Raised Us: Curfew

Let me carry on the journey to my past for a while. This topic, curfew, is an interesting one for me he he he...Why? You'll see!!!

Back in our days when we still studied at the Elementary School, we never went out just with our friends to the malls or anywhere else. So we just went to school, play with our friends there, and went back home. We spent time during the weekends with our parents.

Starting Junior High School, I began to go out to the movies and malls with my friends. My parents allowed me to go anywhere by public transit at the end of 6th grade. They always told me to be careful of pickpockets, too he he he he...In Junior High School none of my friends could drive, of course, so we went anywhere by public transit. We mostly went to the movies almost every week hi hi hi hi hi...

My parents never set any strict curfew for us as long as we told them when we would come home and with whom we were going out with. Since my friends had visited my house every once in a while, my parents knew already who they were, so they trusted me. But since we were all girls, we never went out too late at night, since after all we had to go home by public transit and it wasn't safe to go back home too late by public transit. So if I remember correctly, by 7 pm we were already home during the weekends.

In Junior High School (I was around 13-14 years old) I also started being a bit more active at church, so that meant on certain days I went home pretty late sometimes (around 9.30 pm or 10 pm). My parents knew where I was going and one of the guys would always take me home by motorcycle safely, so they let me go home late. Just as long as I told them when I would probably go home (for example: around 10 pm), then it would be fine with them. I've always been enjoying my freedom and I've never had to argue with my parents about my curfew.

They even let me spend a night or two in one of my closest friends' place during High School since they knew who she was and they trusted us. I remember that the parents of one of us were strict enough not to let her spend some nights with us, so she couldn't join us. It was a pity 'coz in that friend's house where we spent some nights in, she had no parents at home, so we could do anything we wanted to do (basically just talking and eating popcorn and watching something, nothing dangerous).

Anyway, one time in High School a bunch of students (without any teacher involved) organized their own trip to Pangandaran Beach and my parents let me go with them, as well. *grin* My Mom even urged me to go (I asked her if I should go or not). Why? Because she said that this time would never happen again and she was right. After we graduated, we went our separate ways and especially after we started having full-time jobs, we couldn't organize such a thing. It was too hard to find a good schedule for each and every one of us. BRAVO for my Mom!!!! ;-D

When we were at university, my friends started driving their own cars, so we started going home later naturally. Even then my parents didn't set a curfew for me as long as I told them that I would go home late (I didn't even have to state when I'd be home since by then I had my own keys). I'd just tell them not to wait for me since I'd bring my keys. Oh, I was enjoying my dayssss tremendously!!! My closest friends and I had no boyfriends still back then, so we had so many girls' night out. We went to try different restos and cafes and just hung out together and talk. Sometimes when we didn't know where to go, we'd just drive around the city at nights. Splendid!!!

Some of us also tried going to a disco to enjoy live music. Then we'd get home REALLY late (like 2 or 3 am). We didn't drink alcohol, of course. We just enjoyed the live music and we just wanted to know what those places were like. My parents didn't mind that, either, since after all I always told them where I went and whom I was with.

Funny thing is that my brother's 2 years younger than me and he's a homebody. Even though he's ridden his own motorcycle since High School, he always got back home not later than 9 pm (most of the time he's home already by 7 or 8 pm). He just prefers being home rather than going out till late at night. This habit of his made my parents WORRIED whenever he wasn't home after 9 pm, can you believe it? Sometimes I'd get a bit jealous whenever Dad or Mom wondered aloud, "Where is he? It's late already, but he's not home yet. Go and call him!"

I'd be thinking to myself, "Oh, please!!! It's not even 11 pm yet and I'm the GIRL here, not him! He'd know how to take care of himself! How come you didn't frantic and call me whenever I wasn't home by this time?" (But on second thoughts, I love the fact that they didn't check up on me anyway HE HE HE HE HE HE...)

Yes...funnily enough, they never called me whenever I went out to find out when I'd be coming home, whereas sometimes they'd ask me to call my brother whenever he came home later than "usual" he he he he...

So how about you? Did you have a curfew when you were growing up? Did you ever sneak out of the house? C'mon, spill, spill!!! HE HE HE HE HE...

My Birth Month

This is going to be another rambling post as I'm not super inspired right now, but there've been some things on my mind that I'd love to write, as well he he he...

1. When I woke up this morning, it was half white again. It's been snowing on and off since this morning. When the larger snowflakes fall down in rapid succession, it makes me feel as though the sky has shed some dandruff hi hi hi hi...Yeah, I know it's a yucky analogy, but it DOES make me feel that way ha ha ha...I think snow is MARVELLOUS!!!! Though my Brit friend said that maybe after I had lived here for a while, I'd get sick and tired of snow HE HE HE HE...God, PLEASE let me keep this enthusiasm all my life, I'm BEGGING YOU!!! ^__________________^

2. Frasypoo's story entitled "Teenage Angst" took me back in time. Ever since I started going to school, everybody kept on giving me this "clever girl" title. My neighbours, my schoolmates' parents, my relatives. I don't know what it is about me that gives off that kind of aura. For me, personally, it's a burden. Especially when one or two teachers decided to focus on me for some reason. They expected MORE from me. I always felt bad whenever they had that kind of expectation from me, especially if other students realized the teacher's attention. NOOOOOOOOO!!! I HATE being in the spotlight!!! I always wanna get rid of all those bright lights away from me...awaaayyyyy he he he...

However, I don't mind at all being considered a "bookworm" (most of my life it's been one of my nicknames). I love misleading people (well, not on purpose, 'coz basically they misled themselves by judging a book from its cover he he he he...).

In Junior High School, that particular school had one special system for us. There were about 6 classes per grade (so there'd be for example classes 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F) and there would be around 40 kids per classroom. Yeah, lots of students indeed!!! That particular school ranked the kids from one to 240 and grouped them according to their ranks on the last semester of each grade. So, if your rank is 30 at the end of the second semester of the first grade, then you'll probably be grouped in the first classroom, along with the other "clever" kids. If your rank is 230, then you'll probably be grouped in the last classroom. Everybody knew this at that school. The first grade I belonged to the second classroom, whereas on the second and third grade, I belonged to the first classroom. So what? Just because I got good grades doesn't mean that I know EVERYTHING about ANYTHING, right?

Good thing about this kind of grouping is that everybody in my classroom was considered "bookworms" by other students in other classrooms, so we were fine being "bookworms". That helped us a lot when we went to High School and university. My closest friends and I didn't mind being an "unpopular" group. Mind you that in our schools back then there weren't really a distinct separation, though. So don't imagine a scene from any Hollywood teenage movies he he he...Since we had to wear uniforms, so there was no fashion competition nor competition about "who's got laid already?". Teenage pregnancy was and still is a taboo in my country. So we're "safe" at least in those departments, though my friend says that there are more free sex happening in High Schools in Indonesia these days then back in our days.

Anyway, I just wanna say that I don't mind being considered a bookworm. One funny incident happened in university and I would NEVER forget that. My campus friends and I decided to flunk out of skip out a certain class back then and one girl who belonged to the same class as we were, upon seeing us leave the building towards the parking lot, screamed, "What? You're not going to come to class, Amel? Hey, people, Amel is flunking out of skipping out the class!" She made it into such a big deal that I couldn't help laughing he he he he... (side note: LS has just made me realize that I'd mixed up the skipping out with flunking out. THANKS A LOT, LS, for the correction!!!)

Well, I did flunk skip out a few classes with my campus friends 'coz the classes weren't that important, but we never did it too often 'coz after all, we couldn't be absent for more than 25% of the whole semester. Otherwise they wouldn't let us have the exams he he he...

I guess for me, I prefer being underestimated to being overestimated. I just don't like the feeling of being crushed by someone's expectation of me. I do like getting confirmations that I've been doing something right or well, but I've experienced some teachers or lecturers focusing too much on me that it made me feel totally uncomfortable. It stifled me!!! Let me be free from that burden, please he he he he he...Gladly now I'm done with my studies. ;-D

How about you? What do you feel or react when you're underestimated or when you're being overestimated? Any specific experiences?

3. Here are two prewedding pics that my brother sent me the other day he he he...He's got a new haircut and his girlfriend's also dyed her hair he he he...The pics are small 'coz he resized them. He's still using a modem so if he sends too many BIG pics, it's gonna cost a lot for him (esp. the phone bill!!!).

I can't wait for next March when my friend comes back home to Indonesia. I've asked my brother to burn his prewedding and wedding CD/video for me and then give them to my friend so that she can send them to me from Germany HE HE HE HE HE...It's cheaper and safer that way! ;-D YIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAA!!!!

Letter Girl

Just found out that there won't be any Finnish classes today and tomorrow. Our teacher's on sick leave. Two of her wisdom teeth had just been removed this morning. OUCH!!! So I have time to write this post he he he...

I don't know why but I've always been interested in writing letters ever since I was a kid. Back then there was no internet yet, so letters were still pretty big. When I was in Elementary School, I had a good friend. Unfortunately we had different classes after a few years, so then I started writing letters to her. Her aunt'd pick her up from school and my Mom'd pick me up from school, so we exchanged letters through them he he he...As usual, they'd come before school was over so they had time to talk and to exchange our letters. I don't remember much about this as I didn't keep the letters. I think mostly they were just written on a piece of paper he he...

On the second grade in Junior High School, I sat next to an outgoing, funny girl. She started writing letters to me. We'd give the letter to each other but we'd only read it when we were home. We shared stories of our crushes and all that he he he he...It was SO MUCH FUN! She'd fold the letters in a certain way and I'd follow her steps he he he...We stopped writing each other when we went to different classes on the third grade. Now she's married and she has two kids already.

On the third grade in Junior High School, I sat next to another girl. We started exchanging letters as well. This time it continued until we got to High School. We went to different High Schools, but the building was the same. I went to the morning school, whereas she went to the afternoon one, so I'd wait for her to come to school to exchange the letters and then I'd go home whereas she started her school day.

We became pretty close because of those letters. Turned out that we had a crush on the same boy at school in Junior High!!! HA HA HA HA...So funny! She also shared some private stories that she had never told anyone else. It feels GOOD to be trusted that way. We also shared stories of our love life along High School. She started working right after graduation as she went to a vocational school. I went to the university afterward, but over the years we still kept in touch via snail mails. The frequency was dwindling, but we still kept in touch. And then we started talking to each other on the phone again. She's now married to an evangelist.

At the university, I met a sensitive girl. She started writing letters to me, so we exchanged letters every once in a while, even though we met a lot and we talked a lot in real life and also over the phone. We still keep in touch via emails.

1999 was the year when I had SO MANY emailpals. I wanted to improve my written English, so I asked my Dad to upgrade the computer and buy me a modem he he he...It was SO SLOW back then to get online. How time flies!!! Anyway, it seems that my entire life's filled with letters or emails. No wonder I LOVE blogging.

Actually a couple of years back I tried to make my own homepage and posted some of my poems and someone said to me, "Hey, it seems that you'll like blogging." Back then I didn't understand the concept of blogging, but now what she said makes SO MUCH SENSE to me. Oh yeah, to those of you who don't know, I used to write so many poems, but I think lately I've lost the knack to write good poems. It seems that nowadays I'm more in tune with essays. Back then I loved writing poems 'coz I could hide my true feelings in poetry (for fear of my journal being read by somebody else). These days I don't feel that need anymore.

Oh well...just a rambling post about the importance of writing in my life he he he...