And if you feel like to buy one of those 한복, let me know by contacting me through my email: tira_sari30@yahoo.com. Have a nice dreaming of having one of marvellous Hanboks!
The Beauty of 한복 (Hanbok)
If you're a big fan of Korean Drama, especially the classic one like Dong Yi, I bet you're familiar with Korean female traditional outfit called 한복 (read Hanbok). Well, in a wonderful time in Fall, I once took a strool and had a window shopping in Hanbok store. Not only was I allowed to take a picture of each Hanbok, but also I was allowed to put on a marvellous hanbok! It was awesome since not everyone has that kinda lucky chance. Here are some photographs of Hanbok in that store:
Korea Selatan Di Mata Si Katro
Bagi seseorang yang ditakdirkan menjadi warga negara maju seperti banyak negara di benua Eropa atau beberapa negara di benua Asia, seperti Jepang dan Korea Selatan, hal-hal yang mereka lalui tiap harinya mungkin tidak dianggap sesuatu yang "ajaib". Namun bagi saya seorang yang lahir dan besar di negara berkembang seperti Indonesia, tinggal untuk beberapa bulan di negara maju seperti Korea Selatan, melewati hari-hari yang dipenuhi dengan "kemajuan dan keberadaban" yang ditawarkan warga dan pemerintah di negara ini adalah suatu "keajaiban".
Meminjam istilah host sekaligus komedian Tukul Arwana, panggillah saya katro atau ndeso atau kampungan. Namun banyak hal yang menurut warga asli sini biasa saja tapi tidak bagi saya; bagi saya hal-hal tersebut adalah suatu keajaiban sampai saya berfikir "koq bisa ada orang yang bikin ini atau itu, ngelakuin ini atau itu dll". Pokoknya semua serba menakjubkan bagi saya yang lahir dan besar di negara yang teman saya sebut sebagai "Planet of the apes" sangking hampir semua warganya tidak pernah bertindak layaknya seorang "manusia" yang memiliki akal bertindak, ya ambillah contoh kecil yaitu mengantri. Di negara kita tercinta, mengantri bukanlah berbaris dari depan ke belakang akan tetapi dari samping kanan dan kiri. Weirdo? Indeed. Sampai-sampai dosen saya yang pernah tinggal lama di Autralia pernah menjadi "korban" antrian yang aneh namun biasa ini karena ia telah terbiasa mengantri dengan normal yaitu berbaris dari depan ke belakang. Walhasil, pengantri yang taat seperi dia akan dikalahkan oleh semua warga yang mengantri dengan brutal. Di Indonesia susah kalau mau taat, karena kita harus melawan jutaan orang yang tak taat. Alhasil, dari pada kita jadi korban seperti dosen saya tadi, mending ikutan aturan main mereka yang dominannya tidak taat. Mau gimana lagi? #deep sigh.
Meminjam istilah host sekaligus komedian Tukul Arwana, panggillah saya katro atau ndeso atau kampungan. Namun banyak hal yang menurut warga asli sini biasa saja tapi tidak bagi saya; bagi saya hal-hal tersebut adalah suatu keajaiban sampai saya berfikir "koq bisa ada orang yang bikin ini atau itu, ngelakuin ini atau itu dll". Pokoknya semua serba menakjubkan bagi saya yang lahir dan besar di negara yang teman saya sebut sebagai "Planet of the apes" sangking hampir semua warganya tidak pernah bertindak layaknya seorang "manusia" yang memiliki akal bertindak, ya ambillah contoh kecil yaitu mengantri. Di negara kita tercinta, mengantri bukanlah berbaris dari depan ke belakang akan tetapi dari samping kanan dan kiri. Weirdo? Indeed. Sampai-sampai dosen saya yang pernah tinggal lama di Autralia pernah menjadi "korban" antrian yang aneh namun biasa ini karena ia telah terbiasa mengantri dengan normal yaitu berbaris dari depan ke belakang. Walhasil, pengantri yang taat seperi dia akan dikalahkan oleh semua warga yang mengantri dengan brutal. Di Indonesia susah kalau mau taat, karena kita harus melawan jutaan orang yang tak taat. Alhasil, dari pada kita jadi korban seperti dosen saya tadi, mending ikutan aturan main mereka yang dominannya tidak taat. Mau gimana lagi? #deep sigh.
Banyak hal-hal yang ajaib bagi saya si katro dari Indoensia ini, diantaranya adalah:
- Mesin Jualan: mesin jajanan, minuman, sampai kebutuhan perempuan seperti sstttt pembalut. Mesin ini bisa di temukan diantaranya di sudut gedung kampus dan sudut dekat toilet subway station. Buat saya semua ini ajaib, karena selain di Bandung tidak pernah ditemukan satu pun mesin jajanan seperti itu, mesin-mesin ini juga menawarkan keefektifan dan kenyamanan instant shopping. Efektif karena kita bisa langsung memilih jajanan atau minuman yang kita ingin di satu display dan efektif karena uang yang disisipkan ke dalam mesin akan langsung "memberikan" kembalian kita dalam beberapa detik. How quick! Nyaman sebab kita tidak usah merasa khawatir dengan cashier (kalau cashier-nya anak muda sih biasanya ramah-ramah, tapi kalau cashier-nya ajumma alias ibu-ibu itu loh yang juteekk ny minta ampun kalo kita lama nongkrongin milih-milih barang belanjaan) yang menunggu kita membayar atau paling tidak nyaman ketika kita tidak jadi membeli. Kita cuma mau liat-liat barang yang di pampang di display aja juga boleh. No body cares! and the most important thing is no body gets mad when you decide not to buy anything!
- Water dispenser: di Negeri Ginseng ini pemerintahnya tidak pelit sama air minum. Yups! Kita bisa banyak menemukan water dispenser di beberapa tempat umum, dan gratis tis tis. Di gedung kampus, biasanya dekat toilet, di super market, bisanya dekat elevator. Dan uniknya lagi, gelas buat minumnya pun di sediakan dan lagi-lagi gratis. Anehnya gelas gratis ini tidak seperti gelas yang biasa kita temukan di Bandung dan sekitarnya, gelas ini terbuat dari kertas. Yeah, seperti kertas buat nulis, dilipat-lipat dan menjadi bentuk seperti ini:
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| gelas kertas kampus CBNU |
- Kran air minum gratis: lagi-lagi air minum adalah hal yang penting di Korea Selatan. Pemerintahnya sangatlah concerned tentang ketersediaan air minum bersih bagi warganya, mungkin karena air minum adalah hal yang vital bagi manusia selain mungkin bagi negara maju ini, air minum adalah hal yang murah jadi pemerintah membagikannya dengan cuma-cuma. Dan perkiraan saya yang lain adalah mungkin karena orang sini terutama orang tua seperti ajossi dan ajumma nya paling doyan jogging, running, exercising dan hiking. Hmmm aneh ya, yang hobi olah raga itu orang tua loh! Katanya anak muda nya lebih suka minum-minum soju dari pada olah raga. Coba bandingkan sama warga kita, orang tua olah raga? sangat bisa dihitung jari, anak muda olah raga? lumayan lah kalau kita pergi ke beberapa tempat pusat olah raga, seperti gelora bung karno di Jakarta, atau gasibu di bandung, tapi mereka lebih berolahraga untuk rekreasi. Ya kan? Itu sih pengalaman saya. hehe. Saya lebih suka pergi ke pusat olah raga untuk jajan-jajan dan window shopping! Olah raga yang aneehh. Kalau pun olah raga sesungguhnya, saya pernah rutin senam aerobik di dekat rumah di Bandung. Seru, berkeringat, dan bersemangat karena dentuman dangdut koplo yang di pilih teh Iis sang intruktur. hihi.
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| Kran air minum (lagi-lagi) gratis |
- Seperangkat alat gym gratis di lapangan olah raga: seperti yang telah tadi saya singgung, orang sini terutama orang tuanya sangat hobi olah raga. Jadi tidak salah pemerintahnya menyediakan seperangkat alat olah raga yang disebut K-Power (perhatian, bukan K-Pop ya) ini di beberapa lapangan olah raga atau malah di atas bukit sekalipun kita bisa menemukan alat-alat gym ini.
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| gaya dulu ah, bukan olah raga dulu ah. |
- Subway alias kereta bawah tanah yang canggih: sejak kecil saya sudah suka nonton film Hollywood dimana ceritanya kadang ada setting subwaynya. Dulu sampai sekarang sebenarnya saya masih takjub dengan negara maju yang peradabannya sangat jauuuuh di depan negara berkembang seperti negara kita. Bagaimana ya orang bisa bangun stasion kereta bawah tanah yang begitu luas, lebar, dan dengan kualitas kereta yang diatas rata-rata kereta patas kita. Dan bersihnya itu loh nggak ketulungan, nggak ada satu sampah pun berserakan di lantai stasion kereta bawah tanah di Korea Selatan ini. Mantaps.
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| Salah satu elevator stasion kereta bawah tanah yang curam |
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| Ajumma yang tertidur di kursi khusus lansia, ibu hamil, ibu menyusui, dan ataupun disable people |
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| Monitor pengumuman datangnya kereta |
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| Suasana di dalam kereta bawah tanah |
- Pasar tradisional/ 시장 (sijang) yang bersih: nggak usah malu atau takut muntah-muntah kalau kita mau berbelanja sayur, ikan dkk di pasar tradisional sini karena ngebayangin pasar induk Gede Bage atau pasar Ujung Berung yang bau dan bentuknya bikin mata dan hidung kita trauma. Di sini pasar tradisional benar-benar ditata sedemikian rupa sehingga tidak ada bau tidak sedap atau tanah yang becek kotor sehabis hujan. Yang bisa kita cium hanyalah wangi daging yang dipanggang, wangi berbagai jenis gorengan yang dijajakan, wangi 두부 (dubu) atau tahu yang baru diangkat dari mesin cetaknya, juga wangi sayur mayur dan buah-buahan yang segar. Berbelanja menjadi menyenangkan tidak kalah dengan berbelanja di super market.
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| Lapak seafood beserta sang model eh sang empunya |
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| Beragam ikan teri dan kim/rumput laut kering |
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| Sayur mayur ala Korea |
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| Pasar yang kinclong |
Well, I guess that's all for now. Mungkin segitu dulu yang sekarang saya ingat hal-hal di Korea Selatan terutama di tempat saya sekarang tinggal bersama suami yang bikin saya takjub. Once again, I must admit that I am a Katro person who admires all seems-to-be magical things in this so-called developed country. Hope oneday Indonesia can be like this too, aamiin.
Manjadda wajadda is the key to success
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| An inspiring novel especially for pesantren graduates like me |
If you do not feel like watching domestic ordinary movies most of them telling about teenage lovers, family conflict, (sorry to say) sex comedy, or horror yet vulgar casts, you might not want to miss this hilariously inspiring movie telling about the power of determination and perseverance; Negeri 5 Menara (five towers land). You will feel no regret watching this movie since there is a myriad of advantages you could take after moments of shedding tears, lauging out loud, feeling touched, getting motivated and especially for me and those who used to study in an Islamic boarding school will be having heartfelt and vivid memories of spending precious adolescent times in pesantren.
This movie is one of a kind considering the setting is pondok pesantren called Pondok Madani (abbreviated as PM). I think most Indonesian movie lovers are not that familiar with Islamic boarding school because there is only a few of producers or directors who are interested in making that kind of movie (before this movie was released, there are some pesantren setting movies such as Sang Pencerah and Dalam Mihrab Cinta). Fortunately, for other alumnus of Islamic boarding school, this movie really represents their deepest thought about making the wildest dreams come true including going to a prominent university and going abroad regardless people’s assumption concerning the flaws they had because of studying Islamic values inpesantren would hinder them to get that dream.
The battle of exhibiting who can pursue the greatest dream to study in ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung) between Alif and his best pal, Randai, had dragged him to fight with his parents’ decision of sending him to PM. Randai, other people, even Alif himself thought it was impossible for a pesantren graduate to pursue such dream in the result of pesantren lack of science knowledge and social subjects. Alif assumed it would be a very ordinary dream if he finished studying from PM and later he ended up as a religion teacher or a preacher. That is why he and his best buddies, Raja, Said, Dulmajid, Atang and Baso, called Sohibul Menara decided to have extraordinary dreams instead. Besides it occured to them to have special talents and he similarly was gifted a linguitic potential that led him to be an excellent journalist one day.
Alif’s parents were portrayed as wise and attentive parents. Eventhough he was againts his parents’ decision of sending him to PM, their parents were able to tame his stubborness by making him understand of their hope that PM could make him good at Islamic values and a decent muslim. This disagreement was overcome with tender, caring and love communication between parents and their son, especially his father. They were able to go through it withoung getting into a fight and hating each other due to the proper communication; his father told him exactly what their dream about him was, what kind of person that they expected him to become, and eventually he could comprehend it and granted what his parents wished. This kind of parental guidance and communication that every child needs; to be understood what goal and dream he or she wants to achieve and to understand what his or her parents wish them to achieve in life. By having an open communication, their either slight or bold distintive vision will eventually meet in a solution agreed by both sides like what happened to Alif and his parents.
Vividly, the values were taught to him and other santri in PM, made them realize that they must live their life to the fullest. There is a value says that the greatest man is someone who gives most beneficial things to others. This makes them always willing to help one another. They did not mind lending money when their friends need it. Nor did they mind sharing foods with roomates. Even when it came to someone’s biggest problem such as deciding to quit the study because he must take care of his sick grandmother, they cared for him and tried to find another alternative to choose though he finally had to quit it. This kind of solid friendship or what-so-called brotherhood is probably merely found in pesantren surroundings since the living togetherness in pesantren forms its own warmest athmosphere among its residents. This movie obviously depicts that people who spent their youth in pesantren were thought to be the kindest man not the one that our media recently exposed them in a very deceptive way; telling our society that they are terorrists.
Spending youth in PM was not as horrible as Alif imagined before. The strict rules, stern teachers, disciplined and tight schedule always frightened him and made him unwilling to settel down. Only his accidental fraternity with Sohibul Menara that motivated him to bear and fit in PM and all its regulations. Along with his best friends, Alif learned how to live independently; doing chores by himself, being responsible for all decisions, studying all nights to pass the exam, coping the situation of being broke (running out of allowance) and many of others. Being independent does not mean that they did not help each other out during hard times. It is because they also were taught that the best human being is the one who gives more benefits to others. They shared the predicament they faced, they helped finding out the solution, they helped each other lending some money to those who more needy, as yougsters they even helped each other violating the school rules. The memorable moments Alif spent with his best friends in PM are delighfully described in the movie; the fun, the amusing events, the jokes, and so on.
Religious, decent, devout and inspiring teachers (usually called Ustad, arabic term) had turned Alif and all of his friends to have faith that santri (pesantren students) like themselves had the same capability and opportunity as modern students did. They spreaded the magical and charming principle of manjadda wajadda (those who are determined will surely succeed). This saying was injected everyday to the santri(students). They were on fire to do all school works not only because of their responsibility to the school but also as the worship they did to Lord. Every deed they conducted was based on lillahita’ala (seeking Lord’s willing). Many Islamic principles were taught to them in the hope that they would become both a great muslim and a great dream pursuer. In other words, they were expected not only to succeed in life but also succeed in afterlife.
Finally, this movie is absolutely worth watching for everyone especially those who desire to get something more than a joy and entertaiment, something is a invaluable life lesson. This movie offers beyong that, to be precise, it gives us the spirit of perseverance and dreams. Keeping faith in God’s Greatness and believing in ourselves as well as having our parents’ and friends’ supports also prayers are most likely the menu for our success. And for me this movie is so special for it brings back my memory to my precious moments spending my adolescence to study in pesantren.
A Heavenly Waffle
Today is Monday, April 16th 2012, when I tasted the most scrumptious waffle on earth \^.^/. I will never let this memory go of my mind since it blew my mind instead. Good Lord...is every word my friend, Witha, and I murmured while enjoying the waffle.
This afternoon was supposed to be the day we hunted for some blossoming cherry blossom flowers, but rather we found it disappointing that some of their petals were gone by the wind. It was not that perfect timing to capture near those kinds of fallen flower trees. Thus, we decided just to take a stroll by the side of the road and look for some well-known Korean snacks, one of them is Odeng. Then we let ourselves have some, actually I only ate one Odeng and my friend had more than one, Odengs. When we nearly finished our Odeng, her Odengs actually again, kkkkk, it just crossed my mind about waffle, my favourite dessert, even though not so many waffles I have ever tasted, I asked if she also knew about the waffle shop or whatsoever near the vicinity. And she said that she has her own favourite waffle vendor which is absolutely incredibly yummy. Well, since I still remember that the waffle shop I once had a crush on when I took a walk with my hubby is near the Odeng vendor, then I firstly showed her where it was. Voila! She finally remembered that IT is also the waffle cafe that she adores. My my, what a coincidence! Since she had been there before with her buddies, she really recommended that we turn our failed-cherry blossom-hunting to enjoying the waffle in that cafe. I was broke at that time so that I couldn't risk the budget for the rest of this month over some bites of what-so-called yummy waffle. Then she offered a help to lend me some money, yes I agreed then.
Finally, we ended up in a front corner of the elegant, retro, trendy, jazzy, cozy, naturalist cafe, which unfortunately I forgot its name.
She directly ordered ice cream waffle vanilla and strawberry flavour. The waiter, which is also the owner of the cafe, we realized it because of his face sticker sticked on the cover of the menu, it is so neat!, said " 여덟 분" means eight minutes to wait for the waffle.
After taking some pictures of it, we passionately grabbed the fork and stabbed the waffle and hopped it into our wildly drooling mouth. WOW! It was just like heaven. We looked at each other and laughed. We grabbed some of it over and over again while laughing. We ridiculously knew what we laugh about, it was just too perfect not to have a big laugh. It simply showed that we really do adore this waffle. Gosh! We enjoyed every little bite of it. We were truly blessed this afternoon. We were overwhelmed with gratitude and bliss. Subhanalloh, Alhamdulillah, Laailaahaillalloh, Allohuakbar.
And after finishing our last bite of Heavenly Waffle, she came to the cashier that was again the owner of the cafe. He indeed has multitalents. Another good thing about this cafe was he could speak "Selamat pagi, selamat siang". Wow! Isn't that awesome? My friend who happens to be able to speak Korean well, asked him how he knew Bahasa. He said that back then he had had an Indonesian chingu and they were pretty close. Atta boy! Not only he is good looking but also multitalented as well as is able to speak a little Bahasa.
Then when we left and said goodbye, he again spoke Bahasa "Selamat malam". So adorable he is.
In brief, this cafe is highly recommended if one day you have a chance to go to Cheongju. And would you mind telling me if you decided to hang out in this cafe? For I do not mind escorting you go there and having some free-charged heavenly waffle :).
This afternoon was supposed to be the day we hunted for some blossoming cherry blossom flowers, but rather we found it disappointing that some of their petals were gone by the wind. It was not that perfect timing to capture near those kinds of fallen flower trees. Thus, we decided just to take a stroll by the side of the road and look for some well-known Korean snacks, one of them is Odeng. Then we let ourselves have some, actually I only ate one Odeng and my friend had more than one, Odengs. When we nearly finished our Odeng, her Odengs actually again, kkkkk, it just crossed my mind about waffle, my favourite dessert, even though not so many waffles I have ever tasted, I asked if she also knew about the waffle shop or whatsoever near the vicinity. And she said that she has her own favourite waffle vendor which is absolutely incredibly yummy. Well, since I still remember that the waffle shop I once had a crush on when I took a walk with my hubby is near the Odeng vendor, then I firstly showed her where it was. Voila! She finally remembered that IT is also the waffle cafe that she adores. My my, what a coincidence! Since she had been there before with her buddies, she really recommended that we turn our failed-cherry blossom-hunting to enjoying the waffle in that cafe. I was broke at that time so that I couldn't risk the budget for the rest of this month over some bites of what-so-called yummy waffle. Then she offered a help to lend me some money, yes I agreed then.
Finally, we ended up in a front corner of the elegant, retro, trendy, jazzy, cozy, naturalist cafe, which unfortunately I forgot its name.
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| time flies so fast when you sit there |
Yes, we waited for no waste. In fact, it was a heavenly waffle that we waited for 여덟 분 . Due to its tantalizing appearance, we grabbed our camera to shoot its perfect shape. Here is one of our most memorable waffle we ever eat...
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| left angle |
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| right angle |
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| my name is Heavenly Waffle |
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| just like heaven |
And after finishing our last bite of Heavenly Waffle, she came to the cashier that was again the owner of the cafe. He indeed has multitalents. Another good thing about this cafe was he could speak "Selamat pagi, selamat siang". Wow! Isn't that awesome? My friend who happens to be able to speak Korean well, asked him how he knew Bahasa. He said that back then he had had an Indonesian chingu and they were pretty close. Atta boy! Not only he is good looking but also multitalented as well as is able to speak a little Bahasa.
Then when we left and said goodbye, he again spoke Bahasa "Selamat malam". So adorable he is.
In brief, this cafe is highly recommended if one day you have a chance to go to Cheongju. And would you mind telling me if you decided to hang out in this cafe? For I do not mind escorting you go there and having some free-charged heavenly waffle :).
Spring Cheongju
On Tuesday, April 10 2012, I was totally excited to witness the perfect symphony of Lord's creatures. There were birds singing, tweeting, and bees were buzzing, sucking each 벚꽃 (potcot, cherry blossom flower), and 벚꽃 petals were dancing, falling down from its tree. For others, it might not be that special, yet for me it was one of spectacular moments in my life. And it would be very greedy if I merely kept the pictures of its perfection all by myself. The following days, I spent a peaceful yet alone bike trip to the vicinity near sijang (traditional market) and a small river. Well, enjoy the picturesque moments!
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| Magnolia Stellata |
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| me and her |
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| just white and pure |
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| fallen 벚꽃 petals |
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| Magnolia Soulangeana Nigra |
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| me and 벚꽃 |
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| river view |
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| sunset 벚꽃 |
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| mid day 벚꽃 |
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| morning 벚꽃 |
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| feeding frenzy in a pristine pond |
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| a pristine pond |
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| what a beauty |
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| just perfect |
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| white 벚꽃 |
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| Geulis in action |
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| close up 벚꽃 |
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| 벚꽃 tree in front of Physics building |
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| Big Magnolia Stellata |
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| Korean Rhododenron |
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| 벚꽃 in action |
Helping Angels
My life has always been filled with joys but somehow I sometimes find it difficult settling down and getting rid of the boredom. It is six months since I got married, being a housewife, taking care of my husband, managing our finance, managing the house, running some errands, and for entertaining myself I downloaded many movies including a very long episode of Desperate Housewives.
In last few weeks, I have felt my life was a bit rough. I just could not stand listening to his whining about how hard it was to go through the monetary crisis that happens to us lately. It seems that I am a burden. I am desperate literally. I keep asking myself the following questions, would it be better if I go back to my home country and let him face the predicament all by himself? I have been listening to his story in coping with the tough time in lab, in lectures, in writing a paper. Can I just walk away and pretend that I do not take his venting into consideration? Will I do that even he himself asks me to do so? Will I be strong to be apart from him?
In a blizzard of confusion deciding what to choose, staying or leaving, I happened to chat with my lil siter. It was yesterday when I finally told her all my feelings and thoughts about being lonely all day long so that I wish to call it a day and go home for a little while. On the other hand, I can't help thinking what I would do if I am away from him while no one is taking care of him; making his fave meals or snacks, rubbing his back while feeling pain, serving a hot cup of tea while having a flatulence and many of others.
This deep yet humble discussion made me realize that she would support whatever my decision would be; going home with all consequences or hanging on my recent circumstance with all its conqesuences also. Then we came to a final conclusion that it would be way too complicated if I were away from him, since he is now my home whereas as Sponge Bob said there is no place like home.
What a such relieving result that finally came up to my mind. And it always Alloh sends me a helping angel; this time transformed as my sister.
The following night, while waiting for him to come home, it occured to me that I had a quite long conversation with a college buddy whom I actually had never talked to then but considering about some assignment we had had that time. She initiated the talk asking about the job I had before getting married. Afterwards, we exchanged information about it. Until I happened to compliment her achievement of graduating from Master Degree. Unexpectedly, she did not take it as a compliment but rather she started to sound envious about me and those who had a working experience compared to her unexperience in working at any institutions nor companies.
Immediately, she talked about her anxiety (read Galauness) about it and her strong feeling about marriage. She wished that she would find a job and a man to marry too in no time. She said she always had feeling of restlessness thinking about her problems. I tried to comfort her by saying that everyone and I had the exact experience facing the crisis time. I then shared the way I overcome it by having a distracted activities such as doing hobbies; knitting, movie watching, excercising, taking care a pet and so on. Until one day when I was contented doing those activities, Alloh decided that it was the time for me to move on to the next level in my life, which is a marriage.
In a few seconds later, I was fully aware that my recent anxiety about staying or going back to my home country, or about the financial crisis, or my regret of having not taken a Master Degree, is not worth whining at all. I now realize that there are many of my friends are not yet married, nor worked, nor even had a chance to go abroad accompanying a spouse. Once again, Alloh has always sent me a helping angel; now is transformed as an old friend.
So, no matter how hard this life you face, remember that a helping angel sent to you anywhere, what you have to do is take a close and good look in order to find your helping angel.
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| just can't stop watchin it! |
In a blizzard of confusion deciding what to choose, staying or leaving, I happened to chat with my lil siter. It was yesterday when I finally told her all my feelings and thoughts about being lonely all day long so that I wish to call it a day and go home for a little while. On the other hand, I can't help thinking what I would do if I am away from him while no one is taking care of him; making his fave meals or snacks, rubbing his back while feeling pain, serving a hot cup of tea while having a flatulence and many of others.
This deep yet humble discussion made me realize that she would support whatever my decision would be; going home with all consequences or hanging on my recent circumstance with all its conqesuences also. Then we came to a final conclusion that it would be way too complicated if I were away from him, since he is now my home whereas as Sponge Bob said there is no place like home.
What a such relieving result that finally came up to my mind. And it always Alloh sends me a helping angel; this time transformed as my sister.
The following night, while waiting for him to come home, it occured to me that I had a quite long conversation with a college buddy whom I actually had never talked to then but considering about some assignment we had had that time. She initiated the talk asking about the job I had before getting married. Afterwards, we exchanged information about it. Until I happened to compliment her achievement of graduating from Master Degree. Unexpectedly, she did not take it as a compliment but rather she started to sound envious about me and those who had a working experience compared to her unexperience in working at any institutions nor companies.
Immediately, she talked about her anxiety (read Galauness) about it and her strong feeling about marriage. She wished that she would find a job and a man to marry too in no time. She said she always had feeling of restlessness thinking about her problems. I tried to comfort her by saying that everyone and I had the exact experience facing the crisis time. I then shared the way I overcome it by having a distracted activities such as doing hobbies; knitting, movie watching, excercising, taking care a pet and so on. Until one day when I was contented doing those activities, Alloh decided that it was the time for me to move on to the next level in my life, which is a marriage.
In a few seconds later, I was fully aware that my recent anxiety about staying or going back to my home country, or about the financial crisis, or my regret of having not taken a Master Degree, is not worth whining at all. I now realize that there are many of my friends are not yet married, nor worked, nor even had a chance to go abroad accompanying a spouse. Once again, Alloh has always sent me a helping angel; now is transformed as an old friend.
So, no matter how hard this life you face, remember that a helping angel sent to you anywhere, what you have to do is take a close and good look in order to find your helping angel.
