Project 365

I had a decent day today as usual. I went to the Dutch class after skipping so many lessons. I was supposed to go to the centrum (city) with teh Rita to explore some sales, but I was stuck in doing chapters after chapters of my Dutch book. It was fun actually and I felt like I didn’t miss anything huge when I went to class.

My Dutch teacher told me something interesting today. The Dutch language for “I sit in front of the computer” is:

Ik zit achter de computer

… which literally means: I sit behind the computer (achter = behind). She said that Dutch language was the only few languages that used “behind” rather than “in front of” in this case. Cool! 😀

After the Dutch class, I had a three-hour-long meeting at the computer lab. Couldn’t believe time ran so quick! But I was glad we made a progress 🙂

Then in the evening, I was invited to Reyhan’s place to have dinner with mbak Rining and Pak Agus. We had a really interesting conversation — well, actually Pak Agus told us so many things about some failures of our education system in Indonesia and some nasty bureaucracy at one of the best universities in our country. I really wanted to share it here but I’m really tired now. Plus, I’ve got an assignment to finish. Hmm maybe next time!

Welterusten! (good night)

When you forgive, you love, and when you love, God’s light shines through you.

Ron Franz in Into the Wild movie

I spent the whole day with my friend today. We talked, cooked, watched two movies, and tried to kill the time by being lazy at home! It wasn’t bad at all — at least I have a great company :) 

Several scientific studies have demonstrated that children who learn to play a musical instrument have increased success in reading and math, improved self-esteem, better ability to work in teams, higher school-attendance rates, and a greater likelihood of graduating from high school and going on to college.

— Bill Clinton in Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World

This is very interesting, indeed!

The truth is that, I can’t play any musical instruments. I regret that I didn’t have the motivation to take any musical classes back when I was still at school. I went to an Indonesian school in Jeddah and there were no extracurricular activities available during my 9 years of studying there. Taking musical lessons in Jeddah was very expensive and I don’t think my parents could afford it. I wasn’t encouraged or pushed by my parents to do it either, so I wasn’t motivated to do it even if I had the chance.

It was in Indonesia that I got this huge chance of taking musical lessons. I went to Madania Boarding School and we were given freedom to take any lessons that we wanted; be it guitar, piano, cello, etc. We could even take two or three classes without having to pay extra (coz it’s already included in the tuition fee). But sadly to say that I didn’t take that golden chance. I took an art class instead of a music class and even then I couldn’t really enjoy it because it wasn’t my “thing”.

It’s never too late to do it actually. But I feel like I have more important things to be done rather than going to a musical class. I guess, I have to accept the fact that music is not something I’m passionate about 🙂

But I always look up to my friends who can play any musical instruments, especially piano, violin, cello, or any other “rare” instruments. Somehow I feel like these people are not only good at what they do in music, but also in academic fields! They are smart, outspoken, and critical. I don’t know why, somehow they have these similar traits. But after reading the quote I mentioned above, it is indeed true!!!

I feel that it’s okay for me not being able to play any instruments. But I’m going to encourage my children later to take the lessons and not miss that chance! 🙂

Keep knocking and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who is there.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I don’t know where this leads me to. I know I should stop, but my heart said the opposite. We’re in the same ship. Yet, we’re not heading for the same direction. One part of me wants to stay in the ship until it’s time for me to hop on to the other ship. But the other part of me wants to jump out of the ship and swim for freedom until I find a ship that can take me.

But I can’t deny the fact that this past week has been joyful. I want it to stay like this. I want the sun to shine brightly everyday. And the moon to glow; fighting the darkness. I want to feel like everyday is special.

Will you guide me ya Allah? Will you protect me? Will you give me the map to the fairest and wisest direction?

Don’t go anywhere without me.
Let nothing happen in the sky apart from me,
or on the ground, in this world or that world,
without my being in its happening.
Vision, see nothing I don’t see.
Language, say nothing.
The way the night knows itself with the moon,
be that with me. Be the rose
nearest to the thorn that I am.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I encountered this song (The Reason by Hoobastank) out of the sudden. I used to love it! I remember exactly when the first time I heard it! It was in the year of 2004 in Brisbane, Australia and I was still living in The Lodge, which was a student dormitory where I had so many beautiful memories. I was in the dining hall (either for breakfast, brunch, or dinner — I forgot) and this song was played. I immediately loved it! I asked my friend Jenny who sang this song but she didn’t know it. It turned out that this song was played in the radio over and over again so after few weeks, I got to know the name of the band.

When I heard this song again today, it reminded me of those beautiful memories I had in Brisbane with Jenny and Mayu. Miss them terribly!

Eindhoven was pretty with all the flowers blooming 🙂

A friend of mine came to Eindhoven today. He’s a Dutch whose mother is an Indonesian (yet he has a Dutch look but a little bit of Indonesian politeness/manner hehehe — he’s polite compared to normal Dutch I’d say). He has a lot of interests about Indonesia and plans to live in Indonesia after he finishes his college. He’s trying to learn Bahasa Indonesia from now on. He is a good cook!!! He cooked me a delicious nasi goreng (fried rice)! I was supposed to decide what he had to cook for the dinner but I ran out of ideas and chose nasi goreng instead; merely because I hadn’t eaten it for so long! Hehehe.

We watched movies. We talked about different things. I was surprised to know that he had an interest in Islam! And he wanted to know more about it. He told me about stuff he did in the army which he did for two years. Very interesting indeed!

Well… it was definitely a great night. I really enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you, ya Allah for today.