AUSTIN LOVES INDONESIA

I have been wanting to write a reflection on the event, or simply a recount. But, hmmm I think I've sharing this to several people that now, I don't feel like writing it down and telling it for another time :) But, let me assure you that I am truly thankful for the experience and I do feel the love shining radiantly for Indonesia as well as for Austinites themselves. And I'm also so very very thankful for the bazaar committee members who had been busting the behinds off and working relentlessly. I was moved by your hardwork and I love y'all!!!

Since, just like I said, I am too lazy too write what I suspected to be dozens of paragraphs of bazaar moments, I'm just gonna display some pictures and put captions on them. Enjoy!!!

Nerissa, Sachi, Wiwin and Carissa hanging out the night before bazaar and playing with the rubber "rope". They are making it for the short presentation on traditional Indonesian games.

Audi and I lifting one of the 15 tables used for booths. Yeaaaap... I think we all lost a tiny bit of weight and gain a little muscle that night.

After Nicole spent hours on the making the banner, and some more time to put up the banner twice (it sort of fell down when we slept), it's finally up!!! Bravo to Nicole!!

Kak Ima, Mellisa and I manning the ticketing booth. "It's one dollar for one ticket, meals are about 7 to 8 dollars, and please take the brochure!!"

Some of the band members having some posing-for-a-picture time! Sam the singer, Peter on drums, Victor on bass, Ryan on bass, Mandy and Sachi as singers, Aldo on guitar and keyboard, and Reza on saxophone.

Some more band members on action: Sammy, Nia, Kezia and Grace as singers, Arie on guitar, Astra on bass, Peter on drums, Samuel and Kat on keyboard.

The dynamic duo aka MCs for the day: Lia and Carissa!! Lia was somehow looking sleepy, Carissa looking ready for the camera and I was simply looking somewhere else.

Shake your body to the music of poco-poco and 'makanenak'

The Saman dancers caught in the act: Chang, Mellisa A, Mellisa I, Nicole, Adrian, Ingrid, Ima, Elly, Hanfung. Not in pic : Kak Rini. They practiced til their knees hurt.

The fantastic fashion show. All costumes are specially "imported" from Houston. Vara, Rino, Elly, Setra, JJ, Jeffry, Lisa, Bryna, Winny, Ryan, Dhanny, Kosasih, Wiwin, and Cory looking fabolous as models.

Austin Cell's booth selling lontong sayur!!

Permias' es buah

IFGF's meal booth. Sold easily til the last box.

Left group: counting money. Right group: counting tickets.



The whole committee: Yovita, Wiwin, Vicky, Nicole, Aldo, Lisa,Lisa, Carissa, Lydia, Audi, Engelina, me, Ima, Melissa I. Plus Dhanny and Lusi. Not in picture: Reza and Yuliana.

I know that I've said this many times but I can't resist to sayit one more time: Thank you Austin for loving Indonesia!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Happy turkey day! Happy Black Friday! Happy gluttony day! Have some rest, eat lots of food, share some laughter, be thankful for a lot of things, enjoy the break, and eat some more!!!

I have really enjoyed the past three days, although my sleeping cycle is disrupted now. Blame silly, addictive board games and midnight shopping! And now I've got 2 days more. I promise myself that I'll use those two days to catch up with school and finish up all unfinished business, like doing laundry (which I really really hate), sending some emails, cleaning up my room and filing papers. I WILL DO THOSE! (tekadku bulat!)

I'm happy and so so thankful for Thanksgiving break!!!

At Pluckers, Today

Lisa: Vid, gw boleh bayar lo pake cek ga?
Saya: Ga mau ah, gw suka males masukin cek. Lo dulu banget pernah bayar gw 8 dollar pake cek, sampe sekarang belum gw cairin.

--Saya pun merogoh2 dompet mengeluarkan cek tersebut.

Dani: Eh, kalo cek disimpen kelamaan, ga bisa dicairin loh. Kayanya batesnya 90 hari deh...
Saya: Haaah... masak sih... (langsung mengecek tanggal pembuatan cek)... Gilaa ini udah dari bulan Juli... Ga bisa dicairin lagi dong...
Lisa: Mana liat???
Saya: Yaah Lis, ga bisa dicairin nih... Berarti lo utang gw 8 dollar dong...
Lisa: Aaaaah... ga mau ah... (sambil terus melihat cek) Eeeeh eh, ini tulisannya bukan bulan Juli, tapi bulan September... Hahahaha...

--Ternyata saya salah lihat, tanggal saya kirain bulan. Lisa dengan senang mengembalikan cek.

Saya: Lah, jadi sampe kapan nih bisa dicairin... Huuu gw males nyairin cek...
Vicky: Sampe 7 December tu Vid...
Saya: Eeeeeeh... tunggu.... ini tahunnya 2006!!!! Muahahahahaha... (tertawa bahagia sambil mengembalikan cek ke Lisa lagi).

Hihihihi sori Lis....

A Week Before Bazaar

I'm so excited for the coming ICC Bazaar 07: Austin <3 Indonesia!!

And last week was my second hell week, filled with 4 tests. The first hell week came about a month ago where I had 5 tests; that's like a test for each of my classes. So when I knew that my second midterm has "only" 4 tests in a week, I was ironically quite happy and relieved about it.

But this second midterm is quite interesting. My Transport Phenomena class was the one that gets a week for itself and it was on Haloween Eve. So, my professor was nonchalantly saying that he'll give bonus points for those who came in costumes. He's quite a joker so I didn't take it seriously. But, maaan, serious he was. About a third of the class came in costumes. So there you go, witch, magician, racer, softball player, bee, cat, elf, giraffe; what do they have in common? All were doing transport exam that night. Hahaha it was quite a scene, with the giraffe frantically punching his TI-83 and trying to do some differential stuff. And last week with the 4 tests was actually not thaaaat bad, except for Thursday, where I had a Numerical Method test at 8 AM and had a stomach ache in the middle of the test. I hate it when it happens. And I had biochem engineering test at 930 AM, and it was truly truly bad; one of the worst exams ever. And after those 2, I had to litterally cram for Electronics test that was on Friday. But I crammed well! Hah! In you face, darn electronics!

Ow, happy birthday to Ingrid!!!! She's my roomie and she celebrated her 22nd bday yesterday! O my gosh... she's really 22... It's a bit hard to believe coz 22 sounds really old. Not saying that she doesn't look mature or anything coz she does, but it's just.... a bit weird somehow... hahaha Happy Bday, Ing!!! I know you'll be a really good teacher and a great role model for your students!!!

OK. I gotta go bathe... It's a glorious weekend, worry-free, peaceful, happiness-filled weekend. I'm gonna enjoy every second of it. I'm gonna take revenge and do whatever I want. I have aaaalll the time in the world...

Ready Set Go!!!

Yakk tiba2 saja, saya ingin menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia lagi. Belakangan mood saya suka naik turun, ga jelas memang. Di bilang gara2 datang bulan, kayanya engga juga, soalnya kalau diperhatikan suasana hati saya bener2 ga bisa ditebak. Kadang bisa hepi2 sendiri, kepengen loncat2 ato senyum terus. Tapi kalo jeleknya lagi keluar, sungguh, saya aja sebel ngeliat diri sendiri, apa lagi orang lain yang ngeliat. Apa saya lagi puber kedua? Kok rasanya terlalu dini untuk dapet the sequel of puberty... Makanya saya ga kaget kalo misalnya cowo2 itu bilang, cewe susah dimengerti, karena...kadang2... saya akui itu memang bener...

Tapi, sekarang saya mulai belajar untuk ga bergantung pada perasaan. Soalnya, perasaan saya suka salah. Tambahan lagi, merasa2 itu bikin pusing aja, mending yang pasti2 aja deh. Mengutip kata2 papi saya ketika suatu hari beliau saya curhatin, "Kamu jadi orang harus cuek! Kaya papi gini lo, cuek2 aja!" Waktu itu saya iya2kan saja 'petuah' si papi. Padahal dalam hati, "Ah papi mah emang gitu... bebek aja kalah cuek." Tapi setelah dipikir2 lagi, bener juga ya. Susah deh kalo setiap tugas/responsibility/relationship/kejadian betul2 dipikirkan secara serius.

Contoh kecilnya aja deh, misalnya dapet nilai jelek... saya mesti berusaha cuek.. ya udah kan, mau diapain lagi, lain kali ya usaha lagi lah. Atau dalam berorganisasi terus ada cekcok, ya emang udah resikonya begitu, kan ga semua orang pikirannya sama atau chemistrynya nyambung. Atau misalnya, saya nyenggol mobil orang, yaaah siapa suruh ga liat2... ya tinggal ganti rugi terus lanjut kerja yang rajin biar dapet duit lagi... Gitu deh...pokoknya cuek2 aja lah... Wong superman yang hebat dan terkenal aja cukup cuek untuk terbang kesana kemari dengan celana dalam di luar.. Masak saya ga bisa...

Mengutip blognya Bebeth...

"Life is still gonna continue, with lizards trying to reproduce and pretty butterflies getting brutally murdered, even if my party only had awful performances and lousy food. And you know, when your problems suddenly look smaller than the blown-up version you usually picture them to be, everything will be magically easier to handle."

Gitu deeeeehhh...