I've Fallen in Love with This City of Million Faces

New York City, April 27th 2009

"Rainbow"

I have been thinking about homosexuality for a long time. Not that I am becoming a lesbian or something...I just want to understand how different people in the world see it. I had a wicked long email thread with my American friend about this issue. Apparently, we have a slightly different point of view about this. If someone who happens to read this post is a gay or lesbian or anybody else , don't be offended, I'm just a confused kid who is trying to understand the world ;)

So, here is how I think about homosexuality... Based on my background culture and religion, I would say that homosexuality is not "normal". I put "quotes" on it because normality is very relative, depending on people's perspective, culture, religion, and commonness. Commonness, is that a word?

Well, anyway, I say that homosexuality is not normal because I grew up in a community where homosexuality is not exposed. Frankly, I have never known any homosexual people before I came to America. Second, I grew up in a religious community. I remember that Quran mentions the indecency between two men, but I don't know exactly how are we suppose to interpret it. Click here for some more Quran quotes about homosexuality.

My friend agrees about the relativity of normality, but she said "Not normal doesn't mean it's wrong." Well, I am not sure I agree with this. I mean, what is it that make you say something is wrong? It is (again) different in different culture and custom.

I am sorry, but I think being homosexual is against the nature. I mean... men are created to be with women, water is created to overcome fire, etc etc. But, when I think about it... I realize, homosexuality comes naturally. You cannot choose who are you going to fall in love with. If you happen to fall in love with someone with the same gender, what can you do?

I was being so insensitive when I told my friend that I believe that gay people can "change" their homosexuality. My friend was outraged, I guess. She said that it's hurtful to even say that. She said that it's so hateful when people say that "straight" is normal and everyone who is not straight has to change themselves. She doesn't believe that people can truly change being gay. They can oppress and supress it until they drive themseves crazy, but someday they will act out of it. She said, "People are people, just because someone is against it, or disagrees with gay marriage, or gay people in general doesn't mean they should make them, or even tell them that they can "change". it's ridiculous to even say that"

Oooh...I got slapped in my face. When I said that, I don't mean that I want to make them change or anything. I just believe that they can. I am not a preacher or something, I have no power to tell people what to do; I dont' even want to.

I don't know...I am so sad to see how the way I think is so hurtful for other people...but what am I supposed to do? This is how I believe it...

I am probably now being so conservative, but I am trying my best to be open-minded. I know that nobody cares about my opinion or what I think about something, so I just say what I have in my mind.

So, after a long thought, I came to a personal conclusion. If someday I ever fall in love with a girl, I would try my best to fall out of love (even if people say it's impossible). But, I will never be a homophobic person. I totally respect all people regardless their point of view about everything, including homosexuality.

As I wrote on my previous post "Day of Silence", I hate people who discriminate gay or lesbian. I respect their choice and I don't want to hurt their feelings.

Well, yeah...that's a bit of my confusion..
God... please help me fathom this...

---------------------------------------------------------------

O yeah... related to the topic, I have a little story and pictures to share ;)

Last month, I had a trip with other NH exchangies to Provincetown, MA. Provincetown (P-town for instance) is a very neat and pretty town. It is not big but lovely. It's so nice just to walk downtown and go to the stores. P-town is wellknown as a big community of gay-lesbian. Yeah, it is very obvious. Beside there are many couples that you can meet, there are many gay-pride-flags being displayed in P-town stores and homes.

I found this eccentric fountain in front of a bauty salon (if I'm not mistaken). At first, I only found it interesting because of the barbies. Then, when I saw the picture I took, I noticed that there is the more interesting thing about the barbies. Can you see it? Ah, P-town is soo unique ^^

Yup, there are many many accesories with rainbow colors on it. As you can read on the picture, the rainbow is a symbol of gay pride. Oh yeah...and I bought a postcard with rainbow on it...for souvenir ;)

photo courtesy of sfPhotocraft

A picture of rainbow flag on one of P-town's store

"I Went to Boston and Now I Can't Speak"

That's how Lew put my illness into words, hahaha

Yesterday I went to Boston. During the day, my flu spread out. In the morning, the problem was only my runny nose. In the end of the day, I couldn't speak anymore. Uhmm...not really. Let's put it this way: it hurts when I speak , hahaha.

Get well soon, eki!

:D

April 17, 2009: Day of Silence

Today, in the computer lab when I asked Rachel about our semi-formal dance, she didn't answer.

Me: Oh, you can't speak? Are you sick?

Rachel: (shook her head)

Me: (Tilting my head ~ didn't understand what's going on)

Then, Rachel opened Microsoft Words and started to type up her answer.

Rachel: [I'm doing the silence protest]

Me: For what?

Rachel: [Against anti-gay people that continue to bully gays]

Me: Why? (stupid question)

Rachel: [Because at schools there are many students who were bullied by others because they're gay, but the teachers did absolutely nothing]

Me: Really? (I was thinking that she was talking about OUR school. I couldn't believe that there are many anti-gay people in our school)

Rachel: [Yes. There is one 12 years old kid who was killed because his friends always harass him. He was not even gay, but his friends thought that he was]

Me: Killed??? Are you serious?

Rachel: (shook her head) [He killed himself]

Me: ooh. Who is he? (I was still thinking that this poor kid is from our school)

Rachel: (opened some website and showed me an article about that kid)

Me: Oooh...ok!

Frankly, I am impressed by Rachel's dedication about this case. I mean, it's hard not to talk for one day. Even though it won't make a big change, at least this action can open people's eyes and even slap them in the head, just like me.

I'm not a bully, that's for sure. I hate to hurt people's feeling. However, sometimes my words can be offensive to some people, even though I didn't mean to offend them.

Sometimes, when my friends and I were fooling around, they would imitate girlish boy's gesture, then I would say, "Oh my God, You look so gay!"

That's a common joke for me, that means I say it a lot. Now I realize that what I say is not appropriate. I can imagine if a gay person hear me say that. It would probably feels like if someone was joking around me and say to his friend, "OMG, you look like an Asian!" or "Hey, you look like a Moslem!"

I would probably say, "What's wrong with that?"

Back home, my friends also say this kind of joke. They would call each other "Bencong" which means a transgender person. If a transgender person hear them saying that, they'll be hurt too.

This is not about right or wrong, because it's relative and different in every culture. This is all about respecting others.

PS: For more stories about Day of Silence, please visit:

www.dayofsilence.org/ and

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2400.html




EDITED:
I found this cool picture of Dougie Poynter (McFly)

2nd Track Meet

Yesterday I had my second track meet in Interlakes High School.
First thing I noticed: the track is awesome! hahaha (comparing to the one we have in our school ;p)
Anyway, I did 100 M and 200 M this time. My shin is waay better than last week, so, probably I can run better...and yes I could! :D
The last meet, I did 100 M in 21 seconds (soo baaad!!)
Afif said that I should make it to 15 seconds. Hahaha...it's gonna take time for me. But yesterday....I improved! I did it in 18 seconds! hahaha
3 more seconds to go!
It's too bad that Scott (my coach) didn't record my 200 M race...

anyhow, tomorrow I'll have another meet in Gilford. Hopefully I can do better.
Today, since we didn't have practice, Scott asked us to jog for 30 minutes and stretch for 20 minutes. It sounds intense for me. Moreover, the streets around my neighborhood are going up and down. Sooo...I only did 20 minutes running instead, hahaha. A lil bit cheating is ok ;)
In terms of running, tho...
A lil bit of corruption is not ok...

*what am I talking about?
~slapped in the head~

The City is Where the Heart is

With map in my hand, I'm ready to go

People walking by

Skyscrapers standing still, boasting their power

Faces in the crowd ignoring each other

The speed of the city life

Busy Bostonians

The way they keep themselves entertained

The place where people have some fun

Yes, the city is where my heart is :D

First Track Meet

If I can resume my first track meet in two words, that would be: Cold and Intimidating

COLD:

Yesterday was freaking cold. I even brought my winter jacket. It's been raining these past few days, that is why the field were wet and the field event was canceled. Thus, we only had track event. I only did 100 M because my shin still hurts. The bad news is: meet lasts 2,5 hours. We had to wait in this freezing spring weather. We snuggled up under winter jacket and blanket while we were cheering for the racer. Comfy, huh?

:D

INTIMIDATING:

the people were wicked fast!! No wonder I came out as the last one in the finish line, lol.

The next meet is gonna be next Tuesday. Hopefully, my shin is gonna be better by then :)

btw, atlit2 cowok dari skolah lain yang dateng ke track meet kmaren tuh sumpah-bikin-melting-banget! Nggak semuanya sih, ada juga yang berewokan dan berbadan subur, hahaha

:D

LAUGH :D

Laugh makes you live longer...

is that true? True or not, I don't care, I love to laugh anyway...
Like today at school...I laughed A LOT!
:D

It began in Chemistry class...
I sat with 4 other people in that class, just say they are T, J, D, and E
J was next to me and T was in front of me.
In the middle of the class, T whispered to J, but it was loud enough for me to hear what he was saying.
T (a boy) : hey J, I can see your nipples!
J (a girl) : what the heck T!!
T : hey D (a boy too), I can see her nipples!
D : *nodding*
J : Stop it!!! (grabbed a notebook and cover her chest with it)
E (a girl) : you guys are so mean!
D : Hmm...(looking at E's boobs)

HUAHAHAHAHA
Thank God I was not involved in the conversation, LOL
PS: they were jus kidding. I could not see anyone's nipples. Hahaha

In the same class, my teacher talked about how alcoholic drink affect your body and the process till you get drunk. He made up a story about party and he made himself a model of a drunk young girl who dance on table. Oh gosh...I couldn't explain exactly what he did, but it was wicked funny :p

In the next class, IMP (Interactive Math Program), the laughter continued. We were talking about artblocks that we take, and one of my friend explained how stupid his artblock is -- just watching a movie about Mother Teresa. And then, one of my other friend asked innocently, "What's the difference between Mother Teresa and Hellen Keller?"
HUAHAHAHAHA
All of us burst in laughter. After we're done laughing, we explained to him how Mother Teresa and Hellen Keller has nothing to do with each other.
My friend said, "Oh, I've always thought that Mother Teresa is blind and has a relationship with Hellen Keller. I'm glad I asked."
Oh my Gosh, that was so adorable...hahaha

In the same class, JP (my teacher) asked about one mathematical term. He always do hangman game everytime he wants us to come up with a math term. It begins with D. Here are some guesses:
My friend : Distribution
My other fried : Distributive
My other other friend : Dammit!

LMAO :D

30 DAYS of Being Stereotyped

Last night when I wanted to go to sleep after watching some cute reality show on TV, I was tempted to go through all channels to see what's on. Zip! I got on the right channel. On that channel, I saw a white man wearing an islamic dress plus the hat. It got my attention, so, instead of going to bed, I watched TV for one more hour.

This show is called 30 Days. It's basically giving someone 30 days to try something new, in this case, the show was giving a chance for a Christian man from West Virginia to live as a Moslem with Moslem host family in Michigan. That man, David, wanted to see how is it like to be a Moslem, to learn about the religion, and to prove that the stereotype is wrong.

His journey began in his home state. On his departure day, he wore an Islamic suit to the airport. He confessed that it was the first time he got stares from people. Moreover, he was stopped by the airport security, and they opened and checked his carry-on bags. Again, it was his first time.

In Michigan, he lived with young Pakistani family in an area called Dearborn. One third of the population in that city are Moslem. No wonder if there are 30 mosques in that area.

In the meantime, there was a crew who was walking on the street asking people some question. He asked people about what they have in mind when he say a word. Here are some result from different person:

"Terrorist?" --> "Moslem"

"Moslem?" --> "Terrorist"

"Islam?" --> "Scared"

not impressive...

Anyhow, during David's stay in Michigan, he learned a lot about Islam. An Imam taught him how Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are from the same root; and how Islam believe that Jesus and Abraham are prophets, but not Son of God.

He also learned about some basic custom about politeness, and also basic restriction. He had a small argument with the imam about the prohibition of alcoholic drink. David said that people think that once you drink beer than you'll get drunk rightaway, which is wrong in his opinion. He also said that by drinking alcoholic drinks you cannot harm yourself and other people; so why is it restricted?

The Imam answered that alcoholic drink is addictive; it might leads you from the first glass to the second, from the second to the third, and so on. By the time you're drunk, you don't know what you're doing and you can harm other people without knowing what you do. He also said that you can harm yourself because you break the law of God. I don't agree in that point. You can't say that it's harmful to break God's law to people who doesn't believe in your God or faith. He could have said that alcohol is dangerous for our body if it's consumed in a big amount. It is actually.

David also learned how to pray. He read a praying guide . However, he never really prayed in a correct way. He confessed, "Everytime I tried to pray in Islamic way, I always feel that I betray my religion and family. I feel like praying to another God and turning my back to my God." I think he's a very good Christian.

In the same time, there was another crew walking on the street asking people's opinion. This time it's about prayer calls or adzan. Since there are many mosque in that area, when the pray times come, there would be many praying calls baing broadcasted. The crew wanted to know how non-moslem residents response about this issue.

There is this angry-looking lady who said, "I'm pissed. Our Church's bell doesn't put words to our ears, unlike this praying calls."

They also showed a graffiti in a wall that says, "Religion is a fraud."

Hmm...

David got a chance to have a party with his new Moslem friends. He admitted that he was surprised how these people defined party. David defines party as music, people, food, and beers. But that Moslem community defines party as an activity to get together, in David's case, there was no women and beer. They were just playing basketball together, eating, and also praying.

In David's last days, he got a final project. He had to go to the street and ask people to sign a petition. I didn't get what was the petition about, but I guess it was about a promise not to stereotype certain people, not only Moslem. It was the hardest time for David because people kept reject his petition. He even had an argument with a man on the street about stereotyping people. David tried to explain how you can't stereoptype a big amount of people just because of a few people's action. That man on the street ended his argument with, "Ok, who are the terrorist today? Moslem."

However, the whole 30 days of experiencing a new life makes David have a better idea about Islam and Moslem. The people he met during his stay is far from the stereotype. Thus, in the end of the show, he said, "You can't stereotype 1.5 billion of people for an action of five."

I hope for those who still see things from one single perspective can get an enlightment about how things really are.

Courts, Lawyer, and Cold Weather

Hey, what's up people?

I'm hungry....

anyway...

I've got tons to write. Yesterday I came home at about 4 o'clock, and then I did stuff I don't remember until 10.30 pm, worked on US History homework, took a shower, and took off to my dream, so I didn't have time to write anything about what had happened on the day.

I skipped school today (yay!) because I had a field trip to NH Supreme Court with scholarship exchangies. I stayed over Mariya's house the night before because my hostmom couldn't take me to Concord in the morning. In Thursday morning, Debra (Mariya's cool host aunt) dropped us off in the supreme court. The thing is, there are 2 supreme courts in Concord, Federal Supreme Court and non-federal one. We didn't know which one we were supposed to be cuz Dolores didn't give us any clue about that. There we are, in a wicked cold morning that could stab your throat, without any shelter, and no one was coming. We asked the security guy but he didn't have any idea about the field trip we mentioned. We panicked. I insisted that we should wait a little bit more but Mariya wanted to go to her high school to call Dolore (both of us don't have cell phone). Since no one showed up, I agreed to go to the high school. It was a 15 minutes walk. It would no be bad at all if there was no freezing wind that peel your skin off. Ugh, it was terrible!

So, we called Dolores multiple times but she didn't pick it up. We assumed that she was already in the court session. Then, Mariya called her hostmom and she gave Mariya the court's phone number. I happened to call the court and ask if I can talk to Dolores. And yes I could. Hhh...I was so relieved to find out that Dolores is gonna pick us up after the session is over. But when is it exactly gonna be? She was not sure.

We were supposed to meet her in a pizzeria in front of the school, but the sign says that it is closed until 1o am. We waited inside the school and walked around the school.

At 10.05 we came back to the pizzeria but it was still closed. We waited for about 10 minutes until a man came to us and said that it opens at 11. Dammit!! Why the hell did you write that it opens at 10 when it opens at 11???

I was so pissed. I wanna come back to the school but Mariya said we'd better not because we're gonna miss Dolores otherwise.

After 15 minutes waiting in Artic, somebody (Dolores' friend) came and took us away from that condemned pizzeria. Thank God, she's the woman of the day!

Inside the court

In front of New Hampshire Supreme Court

With the judges

Well, today was pretty fun and boring in some part (in the session ;P)

If I can pick something that I learned today, I will say:

I don't wanna be a lawyer, hahaha

:D

Florida Day 13: Time to go :(

This is the last night of our vacation in Florida...
I'm so saaaaad :(
It's time to go back to snow and cloudy mood of New Hampsha...
It's time to get a back sore after shoveling snow...
It's time to go back to school (Nooooo!!!!)

By the way, I really want to go swimming for the last time in Florida...
but Zhanar is still talking to her boyfriend on skype and I don't want to go by myself.
Hiks...
T.T

this is the song of the day:
Mcfly- The Last Song

Another Awkward and Confusing Conversation

Duh, lagi-lagi aku terjebak dalam percakapan yang canggung dan membingungkan. Bukannya aku nggak suka, cuma rasanya awkward aja, apalagi kalo ngomongin sesuatu yang sensitive dengan seseorang yang punya opposite argument. Seperti malam ini...
Aku dan Zhanar jalan-jalan kayak biasanya, menikmati hari-hari terakhir di Florida. Setelah selesai keliling-keliling dan foto-foto, kita mampir ke hot tub, nyamperin Pato and Jade. Kita ngobrol-ngobrol nggak jelas di pinggir hot tub sampe akhirnya para cowok pindah ke hot tub sebelah buat nyamperin cewek-cewek berbikini. Tinggal kita berdua...
Kita ngomongin macem2 sampe akhirnya nyenggol masalah pacaran. Dia nanya gimana pacaran di Indonesia. Ya aku bilang kalo kita punya value-value yang membatasi kita dari pre-marital sex. Trus dia nanya, kalo cium bibir sama pelukan boleh nggak. Aku bilang kalo itu semua berdasarkan pada personal limitation aja. Berdasarkan agama dan budaya kita nggak seharusnya ngelakuin hal-hal yang menjurus ke adultery, nah, soal hal-hal apa sajakah yang masuk kategori itu, semuanya tergantung pada diri masing-masing. Personally, aku mikir kalo aku meluk cowok, itu nggak bakal bikin kita langsung horny dsb. For me, it's fine. Kalo di Indonesia, aku emang nggak sembarangan meluk2 cowok. Tapi, kalo disini ada temen cowok yang mau meluk, aku nggak terlalu keberatan, asal meluknya ringan-ringan aja, nggak yang serem-serem gitu. Asalkan kita tau sikon, menurutku itu nggak masalah. Lagian, arti sebuah pelukan kan berbeda di setiap budaya.
Nah, setelah ada sedikit argumen tentang mengategorikan hal-hal fisik itu baik atau enggak, dia (aku emang menghindari untuk menyebut nama) nanya lagi, gimana bisa kamu pacaran tapi nggak pernah ciuman atau pelukan?
Nah, pertanyaan ini juga pernah dilontarkan hostsisterku yang masih berumur 12 tahun.
Aku bilang...well, di Indonesia juga banyak kok anak-anak muda yang pacaran trus ciuman dan pelukan,, tapi nggak di depan publik. yang perlu digarisbawahi adalah: berdasarkan agama kita nggak seharusnya melakukan itu.
Dia nanya lagi, "ya itulah yang aku pengen tau, gimana caranya kamu bisa pacaran kalo kamu dilarang ciuman en pelukan sama agamamu. Sebenernya pacaran itu boleh nggak sih?"
Aku bilang, "Jujur aku nggak pernah denger ada hukum pasti soal pacaran yang seketat hukum nggak boleh mabok atau makan babi. Asalkan kamu jauh-jauh dari zina sih menurutku oke-oke aja. Soal ciuman dan pelukan, kamu pacaran nggak cuma buat ngedapetin kontak fisik kan?"
Dia nanya lagi, "Lha terus kamu kalo pacaran ngapain aja dong kalo nggak boleh ciuman ma pelukan ma having sex? Terus, apa bedanya dong kamu jalan bareng temen cowokmu sama jalan bareng cowokmu?"
Hmm...aku bingung deh sama cara pikir orang-orang...
"Ya beda lahh...kalo sama temen, kamu kan nggak ada feeling apa-apa...kalo sama pacar kan kamu punya perasaan sayang..."
Dia nambahin, "Tapi sayang itu kan juga bisa tumbuh kalo km pelukan...bisa gandengan tangan. Kalo kamu nggak ngapa-ngapain, gimana kamu bisa suka dan sayang?"
Aku njawab, "Ya kan kamu bisa suka dari personality-nya..."
Aku rada speechless di bagian ini... Sebelum bisa nambahin, dia nanya lagi...
"Trus, kamu kok bisa married sebelum kamu having sex sama dia?"
Nah, lo... Rasanya aku pengen tereak "YA BISA LAAAAH!!!!"
Hh...sabar...sabar...
Aku akhirnya njawab, "Ya kan kamu married karena kamu cinta sama dia, toh pas malam pertama akhirnya kamu bisa berhubungan seks juga kan."
Dia nambahin, "Gimana kalo dia nggak enak diajakin having sex?"
Jreeeeeng....
Mak Erot masi idup kan??

Dia nambahin sebelum aku bisa njawab apa-apa, "Itu kan penting banget..."
Aku bilang, "Masalah begitu kan masi bisa diperbaiki..."
Dia ketawa...
-_-!

Dia nanya lagi, "Trus kalo kamu punya pilihan antara dua cowok buat jadi suamimu, gimana milihnya dong kalo kamu nggak boleh having sex?"
"Ya kan bisa diliat dari personalitynya, penghasilannya, tampangnya, dll. Nggak mesti harus 'nyobain' dulu kan?"
Duh...sumpah deh...masa ya mau milih yang mana yang lebih gede? ckckckck
Aku nambahin, "Back home, seks itu nggak sepenting disini."

What's so wrong about this damn world? Aku-nya yang konservatif atau orang-orang yang berpikiran dangkal?

Temen-temenku di skolah pernah ngomongin siapa aja yang masi virgin, aku cuma mesem-mesem aja. Trus, waktu kita ngisi quiz di internet, ada pertanyaan "Apakah anda berniat untuk berhubungan seks sebelum menikah?", kebanyakan temenku njawab, "Berniat? Oh...sure"

Anybody can give me an answer for these whole damn things?

Florida Day 11: LMAO

Today when Florian practiced his Bahasa Indonesia for our presentation, he said "Selamat pagi bapak-bapak dan ibu-ibu" (which means 'Good morning ladies and gentlemen').
Hearing those words, Zhanar who was lying down on her bed laughed so bad. "Hihihihihi" was her naughty laugh.
We asked, "What's so funny?"
She replied, "Do you know what 'ibu' means in Russian?"
"What? What?" Florian and I asked.
She continued laughing for several minutes and added, "It's so dirty..."
"In Russian, ibu means 'I'm f*cking".....HUAHAHAHAHAHA
All of us burst in laughter.

Then, if you say Ibu Siti (which means Mrs. Siti in Indonesian), that means "I'm f*cking Siti" in Russian....
Oh, dear...
:p

Florida Day 10: There's nothing better than free stuff ;p

O yeah...we got free tickets to Busch Garden! The last time we went to Busch Gardens, we found out that we can get a free pass that is valid within 6 days. We took them and used it today. We paid 80 bucks for 2 days...good deal, huh? They also have a non-sense deal though... Their one day pass is 80 bucks but their one YEAR pass is 100 bucks! Whatt?? doesn't make sense at all. If I were a Florida resident, I would buy the year pass in the first place.
Anyway...today was pretty awesome. We went on the roller coasters, the good ones. My favorite is still the 90-degrees-straight-down Sheikra. It was just so awesome. I think I got used to the rides. The last time I went on roller coaster, I screamed so bad. But today, I didn't scream at all, I just laughed loudly (hahaha...it's different, isn't it?)

After that, we went to a water ride. We got soaked (of course). The last time I went on this ride without the boys, I didn't get wet very much, but I don't know why this time the water splashed all over us and we got wet so much. That's so unfortunate, because today is so chilly. It feels like fall in New Hampshire, haha. Speaking about chilly weather, I saw people in the amusement park wearing winter jacket...here, in Florida! Hahaha...it was chilly, but not that cold that it's necessary to wear a heavy jacket ;p
Hahaha...I was like that as well. In fall, I always wear sweatshirt when some other people just wear T-shirt :)

*Before*

*after*

so chilly.... ><

After that, Zhanar, Pato, and I took a ride of Rhino Rally. We went on this truck and get closer to the animals. I would say it was worth waiting, because the rally track is kinda unpredictable. We floated on an artificial river (pretending to be lost) and went on a bumpy road.

In the gorilla preservation.


This is the ending scene of Jungle Musical, Katonga.


Group Picture!!!

I actually still have things to write, but I'm so tired right now...
I'll catch up with the writing later...
*Have a nice sleep, eki!*

Florida Day 9: A lil bit of Childhood Nostalgia

Last night I went to bed at 2.30 after I watched Crayon Shinchan in Cartoon Network. It's strange to hear Shinchan and all the characters speak English. Moreover, they pronounce Shin like Shane. That's not cute anymore. In Indonesia, the trade mark of Shinchan is when he calls his mom with a deep voice, "Mama mama...". In English when it becomes "Mommy...mommy" in a child voice, it doesn't sound as great. I just looked up Shinchan versions in many languages from youtube. I watched the Indonesian, Malay, Spanish, French, and Hindi versions. In Malay, Hindi, and Spanish versions, Shinchan's voice sounds really like a child, a normal one. In Indonesian version, Shinchan's voice is deep and it sounds like an abnormal child, and it is so great because he is a little bit extraordinary (in a bad way). The one that always makes me laugh so bad is his voice, honestly.

Well, we cannot really decide which version is the best because it all depends on the viewers and their preferred language. I would say that the best version is the original one, which is Japanese. But, I still say that Indonesian version is really good, hahaha. It doesn't matter, anyway...

Anyway, back to Shinchan...although this anime is known as a bad effect for children because of its vulgar scenes and conversations, I still have it in my favorite cartoon list ;)
Until my junior high years, I always watched Shinchan every Sunday morning. I sometimes rent its videos. Watching it last night was kind of a nostalgia of my childhood :)
I have the opening soundtrack video of the show posted, for those who used to watch Shinchan every Sunday morning in their childhood :)
Enjoy!

Mid-Night Bike Riding

I just came back from midnight bike riding with Zhanar. It was pretty cool to have the whole street for our own, but it's kinda creepy also. I kept thinking about pocong that is hiding behind the palm trees (well, palm trees are too good for pocong, though; and if you don't know what pocong is, google it ;p)

Back home, I would never ever go biking at midnight. I don't know why the atmosphere back home is much creepier than any other place in the world. Here, I don't mind walking around at night, but back home, I get scared really easily. Oh, well....I'm such a pussy...

Florida Day 8: Lazy Day and Bad Luck

There was not much going on today. I woke up at 12 (haha) then ate a late breakfast and went online. Not long afterwards, I ate lunch (hahaha). Just a typical lazy day. At 2 o' clock, Florian came to my condo to work on our project. Oh well...
After we're done, it was like 4.30. I went biking by myself. Bad luck was on me today. On the half way of biking, the pedal fell off. I did nothing; I didn't fall down or crash or anything; it just fell off. I tried to fix it, but it kept falling off every five seconds. Oh dear...
I had no choice, so I walked my bike home which was like 20 minutes walking :(
By the way, out of the topic, my skin smells like pool water right now...
Yeah, we went to the pool for about 2 hours from 7.30 this evening. Zhanar, Florian, and I kept going up and down the hot tub while Jade and Pato went catching up with the hot chicks ;p

Florida Day 7: wow...it's been a week!

aargghh... it's a week more before I come back to the freezing New Hampsha...
Well, I love snow and all winter stuff (not including shoveling snow), but I think I will miss sun, the smell of wet lawns, and flip flops... :(

and however, it also means that I also have 7 more days to finish my project; and I'm wicked far from done. Today, I didn't learn any German because Florian didn't want to work on it. That's what is not fun about working with boys :(
Yeah...it happens a lot; for example, I had a group of 3 boys and 2 girls...and the girls ended up working on 90% of the assignment. The only good thing was: we laughed a lot ;)
Hmm...I will miss those moments... Next year when I come back to school, I will not have the same friends since all my friends are going to college. Probably I will not have the same fun. Well, 12th grade is not fun anyway. But hopefully I will have friends as good and fun as my friends right now.
^_^

btw...
I'm tired...

guet nacht!

Florida Day 6: Busch Garden = All Day Fun

Busch Gardens is basically a common theme park that is located in Tampa Bay, FL. The theme is Africa. They divided the place into regions that are named after some countries in Africa. They also have a big plain for african animals. And the greatest thing is...they have many awesome roller coaster!!! ><

In Egypt region.

Waiting for roller coaster. Oh, I look so horrible in this picture -_-!


They have 7 working roller coaster, and I took the rides ten times! My favorite roller coaster is the one in the picture. As we can see, there is a vertical track. When we were right on the edge between the vertical and horizontal track, they stopped the roller coaster. So, we were sitting there looking hudreds meter down and screaming. The next five second, we were dropped! Oh... what an awesome ride!!!


Group picture!


I like Jade's and Florian's face in this picture! lol. Jade looks like he just took a bitter drug, and Florian was like, "What the eff is wrong with you Jade?"


On the train. Looking at the animals from afar.


Girrafes!!!


Before we watched 4-D pirates movie. After that? we got wet...


Another roller coaster :)


To get out of Busch Gardens' parking lot, we have to walk maybe for 1 mile. We wanted to go to a restaurant just across the street behind this wall. Since we didn't want to walk really far, so...we just climbed the wall!


Thanks Jade! Hahaha...I know I'm heavy...


To get to this restaurant, we had to cross a very busy boulevard. When there was no car nearby, Pato shouted, "RUN!!!" and all six of us run crazily across the street. The good thing is: the food is worth fighting, lol.
What a fun day!!! ;)

Florida Day 5: continuing Schwiizertüütsch and that's about it

This is my lazy day...
All useful things I did today were just bike-riding, learning Swiss-german for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and eat. I didn't even take any picture! Yeah...that's surprising for me!
.........
.........
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ok, steak is waiting!
tschüss!