I was half-dead, but how about them?

Two days ago, I was dying! I'm telling you...track practice two days ago was killing me! Tearing my pleuras apart from my lungs, trying to blow my heart away like a grenade, and pulling off my legs and breaking the ligaments.

Okay, I was exaggerating. But still, it was the hardest practice I've ever been in. First, it was pouring and cold. Second, we had to run like a horse.

We warmed up and jogged for 20 minutes, it was not bad. But then, we had to run uphill 6 times 200 meters. Uphill! Yes, uphill.
For my friends, probably those exercises are okay. But, my friends in track team are BEASTS!!! O yeah...they are so good at that stuff. Running, jumping, throwing...and they've got good endurance too.
But for me....ahahaha...I don't need to mention how much I suffered during that 1,5 hours torment.

Anyhow, my friend's awesome strength and endurance already made me gape. But, I saw another thing that made me gape even larger.
Yes, those REAL runner!

On Monday, High Schoolers had a field trip to Boston Marathon. We just basically sat there and cheered for the runners. It sounds boring, but it wasn't. I mean, it's really cool to see those participants to run, and some of them are just really fast that could make me go "WOW" for 30 seconds.
The marathon is pretty much the same with the one we have in Indonesia. Well, I actually know only one marathon in Indonesia; Malang-Tumpang Marathon.
The Boston marathon went from a town called Popkinton to downtown Boston, which was 26 miles. Twenty miles...yeah, I could never ever ever run for twenty miles!
There are several kinds of event in this marathon; men, women, and the one that mesmerized me most -- disabled people.

I saw them there, driving their arms to spin the wheel faster and faster. When the road goes uphill, I could see them breathing so hard and pushing themselves further and further. Twenty miles is not a long road, it is a wicked long road. I was just hypnotized how they could keep on going for such a long time. You know, HOW did they gain the endurance?

Anyway, there were more 'exciting' participants in the marathon. Some of them were doing the marathon to prove their athletic ability, some of them just doing it for fun, some were doing it to attract people's attention (you'll see why), and some were doing it for charity! What a group of people!

This man was fast!

This is a charity group (I forget what did they call themcelves)

Wonder woman! I wonder if it's hot to wear that outfit for running :p

Red 'afro', I suppose? :p

Hmm...this post is kinda pointless, haha. I just want to show my appreciation upon the athletes, especially the disabled athletes. I just want to let them know (by any chance) that they're awesome! :D

PS: I'll post some more picture later, cuz I don't have it right now.

ta ta for now :)

Nangis Darah T.T

Huhuhuhu

kenapa oh kenapa???

David bakalan ngadain konser di Manchester, NH...
this is what I've been waiting for...
Tapi...
Hiks...konsernya tanggal 24 Agustus!
HUAAAAAA...

aku udah gak di NH dodol!!
*sebel sama yg bikin konser

"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

Let's Unveil the Beauty

Yerterday, I went to New England Aquarium with my hostfamily. Before we entered the aquarium, we watched a 3D movie about Underwater World in IMax. The movie was great because of its awesome effect and more importantly, the scenes took place in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australian waters. The narration that began with, "In the lands of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia..." made me more excited. The entire movie shows the beauty of the seawater world in the Coral Triangle and the Great Barrier Reef. Does it look familiar to me? Uhmm...not really.

I think Indonesia should've been more popular than it is now. Just look at what title it posseses:

1) the 4th most populous country which equals the combined population of all other South East Asian countries.

2) the world's largest archipelagic country

3) the country that has about 75% of all volcanoes in the world

4) the variety of ethnic groups in Indonesia is unparalleled anywhere else in the world (316 ethnic groups).

5) Indonesia is home of the biggest Buddhist temple in the world

6) Indonesia is home of the world's largest lizard

7) There are many more stuff but I can't remember them

The fact is, there are many people who still wondering, "Where is Indonesia?" of those who say nothing when they are asked about what they know about Indonesia.

It's not their fault that they know nothing about Indonesia.

The point is, we, as Indonesians, did not do enough to develop our country's potential. That is why nobody knows about Indonesia's potential and beauty, because we did not unveil it yet.

Now, the biggest power to develop Indonesia lays on Indosian youth's hands. It's us! This is the time to use our utmost potential to develop our country. Ten years from now, I hope we can make a change.

WE CAN DO IT!!!

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)

Straight A's

Yesterday, I got my 3rd quarter report card. The feeling of getting a report card here and back home is totally different. Back home, we have a special day after final exam when our parents come to school to receive our grades. It is such a big deal. We also have ranks in our class. I always feel nervous in that particular day. I have three ways of spending the day:

1) Watching tv at home without paying attention at what I am watching cuz I get to go pee so often.

2) Go to school and hang around with my friends while my parents are having 'bussiness' with my teacher (read: go to the bathroom together with my friends pretty often)

3) Help around with Journalistic team to give school magazines to every single class. Sometimes, my teacher ask me to put the magazine inside the file folder where our grades are kept. I like this part, cuz I get to see my grades too, hahaha.

Here, report card is not as big deal. The teachers just give the card to us in the library at lunch. If we don't show up, they will come to us and hand the card. Simple, huh?

Back home, we like to see each others grade, we compare our report cards. But here, such a thing is not common, and it's considered to be impolite if you ask someone's grades.

Anyhoo...I was so thrilled to see the first page of my report cards. It's my grade in Junior English. What did I get? A- Yaaay!!! Last quarter I only got B, so....I'm improved, ain't I? ;)

The thrilling past is...I get all A's for the rest of the subjects I take!

OHOHOHO

US History = A+

Math = A

Chemistry = A

Adv Biology = A-

This is as thrilling as last year when I got the 9th academic rank out of 280 eleventh graders in my school.

:D

Now, I feel like studying...

I wanna go home, start my senior year, and off to college as soon as possible....

GANBATTE!!!

^^9

APRIL 15th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SIZT!!!

have an awesome one!! :D

I have a present for you, but I'll give it to you when I get home, ok?

*lama amat...

hahaha

Gosip masa SMA dan Obsesi Berat

Waktu jaman-jaman kelas dua dulu, aku sering banget nggosip bareng temen-temenku. Nggosip disini bukan berarti berghibah tentang kejelekan orang lain lho. Itu mah dosa! Nggosip yang udah jadi bagian dari hari-hari kita itu (halah) adalah berbagi cerita tentang hasil observasi kita terhadap lingkungan sekitar (kok jadi kayak biologi?)

Anyhooo...contohnya nih:

Aku: Eh, ada gosip gak?

Temen 1: Ada!

Aku: Apa? Apa? (smangat membara)
Temen 1: Kmaren si X sama si Y bertengkar hebat. Kayaknya mreka mau putus deh. Trus si Y crita ke aku blablablabla....
Aku: (menyimak baik-baik)
Temen 1: Tuh kan! Pacaran nggak enak juga kan...

PS: Obrolan diatas adalah obrolan orang-orang jomblo yang ngaku-ngaku bahagia,, tp emang bahagia kok... (apaan sih?)

Anyhow, kita sering banget ngobrolin kisah-kisah cinta temen-temen di skolah. Sebenernya nggak cuma kisah-kisah cinta sih, kita juga sering ngobrolin guru-guru dan yang lebih sophisticated, cita-cita kita, hahha. Nah, anehnya, kita sendiri gak punya cerita romantis yang bisa digosipin sama orang2. Hahaha...melas amat, lol. Kadang-kadang obrolan kita langsung berubah jadi gini

Temen 1: udahan deh ngobrolin orangnya. Kamu sendiri gimana? pernah suka sm seseorang ga?
Aku: Hmm...pernah sih, tp ceritanya biasa2 aja...gak intense. Kamu?
Temen 1: Pernah sih, pas SD...
*hening*

Hahaha...ngobrolin orang emang lebih gampang.


Btw, bukannya mrasa sok penting sampe nyebar-nyebarin cerita pribadi lewat socialnetworking (padahal selama ini crita-crita pengalama pribadi mulu, haha), tapi aku emang gak pernah ngerasa gimanaaaa gitu sama seseorang. Rasa suka paling cuma lewat doang, ntar kalo udah pindah skolah, rasa sukanya pindah juga, hehehe. Berdasarkan cerita-cerita yang sering kita gosipin sih, keliatan banget kalo kisah-kisah temen-temen lain tuh intense banget. Macem-macem, colorful, kadang-kadang juga emosional. Dalam hati pengen juga sih punya pengalaman smacam itu...lumayan lah buat bahan cerita anak-cucu (lho?)


anyhooo...sebenernya ada sih satu orang yang bisa bikin aku melting sampe brasa kayak jeli (halah...)
Clue: dia imut banget, senyumnya bikin smua orang pengen senyum, rendah hati banget, lucu walaupun lagi gak ngelucu, dan yang paling penting....suaranya kayak malaikat yang lagi nyanyi sambil nabur-naburin uang ke bumi (baca: merdu dan bikin hati seneng)
So, who is this almost-perfect-and-angelic boy?

Tararaaam!

David Archuleta!!! (Runner up American Idol Season 7)

Nah, ini versinya David Archuleta yang lagi pake baju Malay pas doi ngadain konser di Malaysia. Kayak habis sunatan, ya? Tapi tetep imut sih, hihihi
*Jadi pengen nyuruh David pake blangkon sm jarik neh.. :P

Btw, ini nih performance pertamanya David yang bikin aku membeku di depan tipi sampe 10 menit setelah acara Idol selesai (lebai ah)

*melting lagi

aku obsesi ya?
~pertanyaan retoris~

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

Mimpi

Duh,, belakangan ini aku mimpi-mimpi aneh mulu...

ada yang serem, menyedihkan, ada pula yang bikin seneng...

Kemarin aku mimpi didatengin setan, aku lupa wujudnya gimana. Yang jelas, waktu bangun, aku langsung keringetan dan deg-degan banget. Hiyy...

Tiga hari yang lalu, aku juga mimpi serem. Critanya, aku udah balik ke Indonesia. Nah, setelah nyampe, aku dikabari kalo papaku meninggal dunia. Astaghfirullah...

Aku syok banget. Apalagi setelah diceritain kalo beliau meninggal dengan tragis. :(

Dalam mimpi, papa kena serangan jantung. Semua orang mikir kalo beliau udah meninggal. Akhirnya beliau segera dimakamkan.

Setelah dimakamkan, ternyata beliau hidup lagi. Orang2 nyoba menggali makam beliau, tapi semuanya udah terlambat. Beliau meninggal karena kehabisan oksigen di dalam tanah.

Duhh,,, serem banget kan mimpinya?? The freakiest dream I've ever had deh...

Semoga mimpi itu nggak bakalan jadi kenyataan...amiiin

*waktu aku nulis posting ini, aku jadi deg-degan lagi*

The second freakiest dream I've ever had is...waktu di kompleks tempat aku tinggal ada wabah pocong. Setiap malam, banyak pocong berkeliaran. Nah, ceritanya gerombolan pocong itu punya Chief gitu... Ketua RT-ku akhirnya berunding dengan Chief pocong tersebut. Si Chief pocong bilang bahwa mereka bisa meninggalkan kompleks kami kalau kami mempersembahkan sesajian tertentu. Merekapun setuju.

Malam berikutnya, ketua RT sudah mempersiapkan sesajian yang diperlukan. The thing is, mereka butuh seseorang yang bersedia untuk memberikan sesajian itu kepada para gerombolan pocong. Gak jelas juga sih kenapa pak RT nggak mau nyerahin sesajian itu.

Akhirnya, pak RT nunjuk aku deh (aneh ya?). Gak tau kenapa, dalam mimpi aku berani banget. Padahal, biasanya kalo ada sesuatu yang berhubungan dengan pocong, aku langsung keder2 nggak karuan gitu.

However, akhirnya, aku yang didampingi oleh papaku berangkat untuk mempersembahkan sesajian itu. Kami pergi ke kolong jembatan di dekat kompleks rumah. Di sana sudah ada beberapa pocong yang menunggu kedatangan kami. Aku memberanikan diri untuk mendekati mereka. Hwii...face-to-face sama pocong!

Setelah urusan selesai, aku buru-buru ngibrit soalnya nggak tahan ngeliat mukanya si pocong.

Dan, believe it or not...aku sudah dua kali dapet mimpi yang sama...

Creepy banget nggak sih?

Well, aku bukan tipe orang yang percaya sama mimpi. Tapi, bagaimanapun juga, mimpi tetep ngasi efek dalam keseharianku. Kalo malemnya mimpi buruk, seharian aku jadi rada nervous gitu. Kalo mimpinya menyenangkan, seharian aku bisa blushing terus. Haha...what a freak!

Speaking about pleasant dream, I just had one two days ago :)
Ceritanya, David Archuleta di-host di rumah hostfamily-ku! Hahaha...
Mimpinya panjang banget and it felt so real! Bangun tidur aku langung merengut, "Hiks, kok cuma mimpi sih??"

Great News!

I'm so excited right now...

My friend back home just told me that she got accepted in her favorite university. It's been a long journey for her. She is currently in Science class, but the major that she applied is in social studies field, so...it's been so hard.
I was soo happy to hear her news, I was almost screaming ;D

anyway, congratulation for Galuh who got accepted in Accounting Major of University of Indonesia!!!
I'm so happy for you!

and congratulation also for:
1. Bagus and Amik who got accepted in Medical Faculty of UNS
2. Idul and Mbak Dita who got accepted in Nanyang University, Singapore
3. Aga who got accepted in Dentistry of Gajah Mada University
4. Benny, Ardha, and Terra who got accepted in Akamigas Balongan

when most of seniors are still waiting for final exam, you are already accepted in your preferred school...
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
I'm so proud of you all!!!
:D

I want to be with you

I've been alone so many nights now
And I've been waiting for the stars to fall
I keep holding out for what I don't know
To be with you
Just to be with you

So here I am, staring at the moon tonight
Wondering how you look in this light
Maybe you're somewhere thinking about me, too
To be with you, there's nothing I wouldn't do

And I can imagine two worlds spinning apart
Come together eventually
And when we finally meet I'll know it's right
I'll be at the end of my restless road
But this journey, it was worth the fight
To be with you

Just to be holding you for the very first time
Never letting go
What I wouldn't give to feel that way

Oh, to be with you
And I can imagine two worlds spinning apart
Come together eventually

And when you're standing here in front of me
That's when I know that God does exist
'Cause he will have answered every single prayer
To be with you

--David Archuleta--


hmm...aku kangen....