Oleh-oleh dari Prambanan (2)

UNDERSIZED T-SHIRTS
 
Going to SF Annual Gathering also means getting exclusive t-shirts for free. Scholars have even been receiving school bag starting last year. Anyway, we're supposed to wear the t-shirts for several programmes, i.e. team games and gala dinner on day 2, and social trip on day 3. For male scholars (and female scholars who don't wear head scarf), it means lighter luggage on the way to the venue. Pas moi. Since none of the t-shirts were long-sleeves, I still had to bring long-sleeve shirts to be worn underneath the SF t-shirts (*sigh).
 
I don't mean to show lack of appreciation for the t-shirts. They are of good fabrics and neutral colors. But those t-shirts never fit me perfectly. Last year they were oversized. This year it was the opposite. And I wish we'd get long-sleeve t-shirts, at least for the outdoor activity. That way I could still use the t-shirt even after the annual gathering was over. Last year I gave away several of the t-shirts to some (male) relations because they (it's the t-shirts I'm talking about, of course) would be of little use for me. Where else would I wear them if not inside the house? This year I've been meaning to give away t-shirts again, but they are the kind of t-shirts that fit only for women. Kaos adik, you know. Well, I guess I'd give them to my family's housekeeper. Lucky you, Mbak Sarminah. 
 
HAUNTING HYMN
 
Three days have passed since I got home from Annual Gathering, but I could still hear clearly SF's theme song "Spread Our Wings" buzzing in my ears over and over again. Thanks to SF crew who had played the song repeatedly during Annual Gathering, now I could barely think of another song to hum when I'm doing my works. "SF's trying to brainwash us," my fellow scholars said. Yeah, a successful one.
 
It's not a bad idea actually to sing it over and over again, since the lyrics are inspiring. The song is hard to catch the first time we hear it. But once you get good grasp of it, it'll stick to your head and won't wear off. It creeps into your soul and it haaauuuunnnttsss you, hahahahaha (*udah gila, hehehe)! Go check the words below and you'll understand what I've been raving about. Enjoy.
 
Spread Our Wings 
(Sampoerna Foundation Theme)
 
I can dream the impossible
I fear not the obstacles
For if I believe in me
I can make it possible
 
I'll shine my light for all to see
For a gem can't be polished without friction
Nor a man perfected without trials
 
We all take different paths in life
But no matter where I go
I will feel safe knowing that
We're all together in this journey
 
For we are one big family
There'll always be time for sharing
and caring for each other
even when we are far apart
 
Chorus:
Like an eagle we spread our wings
Soaring high in the sky of dreams
Always strive to be the very best
And help others to soar as high
 
We remember the start
We will go through the journey
We will reach the goals
Let's lend our hands to our brothers and sisters
Let's make a brighter tomorrow for others
Make their impossible dreams possible
For when we believe, when we are together
We can make a difference

Oleh-oleh dari Prambanan (1)

ANNUAL GATHERING 
 
Hi!
Been wondering where I've been for the past 2 weeks? Hm, busy, busy, busy! First, I got my thesis to work on. Next, I had to prepare myself for several activities held by Sampoerna Foundation (SF), one of which was the 3rd Sampoerna Foundation Annual Gathering 2004.
 
Each year, SF invites its scholars and alumni from all over Indonesia and abroad to a special gathering. It's special, because it's no easy job contacting almost 200 persons and gathering them in one place. On the part of the scholars and alumni, the event is a special one because it's the only time that we can really get to know scholars/alumni from other regions (to meet them in person, more precisely). Moreover, it's time for fun (I hate to mention that it is also time for lectures of social responsibility, team and leadership, blabla), because we chance to play team games during the three-day event. Winning is not important since it is the togetherness, the laughter and all the fun we can find that matter most.
 
This year, the Annual Gathering was held in Prambanan camping complex, on 23-25 July. Yup, it's the Prambanan temple I'm talking about. One thing for sure, this year's Annual Gathering is a whole lot different from last years' because this year we slept in a ... tent. Well, not exactly a tent. It was a complex of small houses made of bamboo, which were called 'omah'. We cannot exactly call them 'houses' because I could barely stand straight in that 'omah'. Plus, we used sleeping bags in exchange for beds. I don't mean to complain or anything, but for a person who has been to the previous annual gatherings, in which we stayed in cottages (Anyer, 2002) and hotel rooms (Lido Lakes, 2003), I might as well call the Annual Gathering 2004 'modest'.
 
The good thing was that food and beverages were lavish. Imagine, two coffee breaks a day, plus one more during the night, and of course, breakfast-lunch-dinner were served. We ate not one kind of lauk, but three! Another good thing was I had a good time laughing almost to tears there. My fellow scholars and alumni were extremely, hilariously funny. Well, I think we were all ready to have a good time that nobody put on groovy face and everyone was ever ready to please others. A pal who is known as a complaint maker seemed to enjoy the time spent there (I could judge by the zero complaint the person made, as far as I knew, and the happy face that lingered on the person's face up to the last day of the event). Here's a scholar's testimonial of the event, as a prove: 

Wuaahhhhh...... akhirnya sampe lagi Jakarta..... tp tau ngak seh..(baca: gaya ABG..hehe..) pas masuk kamar kost2-an perasaan kayanya ada yang ilang... rame2... ngumpul bareng temen2 baru... omah... sleeping bag... makanan yg siap sedia.. plus Enuaaakkk banget.... makan tinggal makan... minum tinggal minum.... semuanya itu udah ngak ada lagi..... yang ada VCD warna merah.. langsung aja di puter.. dan hey.... perasaan itu baru aja.. emang bener itu baru aja terjadi..... hebatttt.... ngak nyangka dapet pelayanan yg gitu profesional banget dari SF ama Rakata, DSA.... secara pribadi saya merasa bangga dan seneng banget bisa kumpul di AG kemarin.... semuanya saya alamin bener2 asik.... workshopnya bagus buat ngasah "kapak" saya biar bisa nebang pohon lebih banyak lagi.....

One thing that got in my way during the three-day fun: My sore cough that hasn't ended although it's been two weeks already...

A Hazy Sentiment

 
Blue... Grey...
They all look the same to me
Not that I'm color blind
But they're the only colors I know these days
 
But then again, I don't think I should say that
Or they'll say I'm lack of appreciation to ﷲ ...

What Matters is ... Who You're With

Dawson Creek's back on TV! Satu hal yang gue seneng dari Dawson Creek (DC) adalah serial ini bercerita tentang beragam wisdom kehidupan. Nggak semua pesan yang disampein di DC gue suka sih, karena ada aja yang nggak sesuai dengan nilai-nilai yang gue pegang. Nggak heran lah, karena itu film buatan Amrik. Tapi ada juga nilai-nilai wisdom yang buat gue mengena banget.

Seperti DC seri Rabu ini. Salah satu bagian film nyeritain tentang Pacey yang baru aja dapet pekerjaan di resto. Padahal dia mati-matian bilang ke semua orang kalau dia itu mestinya kerja di atas kapal/yacht. Tapi tuntutan perut bikin Pacey yang lagi gak berlayar harus segera dapat pekerjaan. Untungnya kakaknya datang dan nyuruh dia ke resto tempat temennya kerja.

Meskipun awalnya nolak, akhirnya Pacey mau juga kerja di resto. Itu juga dia ngeyel dulu gak mau kerja jadi pencuci piring dan cuma mau jadi tukang potong ikan, seperti salah satu kerjaannya kalau lagi berlayar. Pas dia mau pulang dari resto itu, dia sempetin diri ngobrol-ngobrol sama salah satu kru resto, sambil menatap matahari terbenam nun di ufuk barat sana (di film ketauan banget kalau sunsetnya itu tempelan dari, tauk deh, Animal Planet kali).

"Sebulan yang lalu, gue lagi ngeliatin sunset kayak gini di Karibia. Sekarang gue di sini," Pacey ngeluh ke temen kerjanya yang baru. Ketahuan banget dia masih kurang sreg kerja di resto (baca: di daratan).

"Elo mesti belajar menyukai tempat ini, Pak, karena in the end, what matters most is who you're with, not where you are," si cewe teman barunya Pacey tadi nyahut.

Das! Dalem banget omongan tuh cewek! Dan itu emang yang selama ini gue yakini. Gue selalu suka hang out with my friends, spending time with them. Gak peduli mau jalan ke mana, asal jalannya bareng temen, gue akan sangat enjoy acara jalan-jalan itu. You might think this one's silly, tapi gue pernah ama temen-temen kuliah S1 gue jalan-jalan ke ...

Bunderan HI!

Yap! Yang lebih konyol lagi, kita foto-foto di sana kayak turis kesasar, hehehe. Dari pengalaman inilah, gue makin yakin bahwa gak peduli kita berada di mana, asal kita ada di sana dengan teman kita atau orang yang kita sayangi, itu udah cukup.

Tapi yah, gak semua orang berpendapat sama. Ada satu ex-temen kantor gue yang cerita, waktu dia traveling ke Eropa sama cewenya, dia cuma mau foto-foto di tempat-tempat yang bagus, misalnya monumen, gedung, atau patung. 'Ck, sayang banget,' gue langsung mikir gitu. Kalau gue jadi dia, gue akan cuek aja foto-foto di tempat manapun yang kita singgahi, mau itu cuma sebuah halte bis atau resto, kek. Yang penting kan momen gue ama temen gue ada bersama di tempat itu yang perlu diabadikan, bukan tempat yang jadi latar belakangnya, because what matters most is who you're with, not where you are.

Me Versus Motor Cycles

Kalo lagi nyetir di jalan, empat hal yang paling gue benci adalah:
1. sepeda motor
2. sepeda motor
3. bis/bajaj
4. bajaj/bis

Biasanya orang paling benci ama bajaj karena "hanya Tuhan dan supir bajaj yang tahu ke mana berikutnya bajaj itu mengarah", gitu kata banyak orang. Not me. Di jalan yang sering gue lalui, bajaj bisa dibilang gak ada. Yang ada tuh sepeda motor, sepeda motor, sepeda motor, baru abis itu bis, bis, bis. The problem with motor cycles adalah kemampuan kendaraan beroda dua itu nyelip-nyelip di antara barisan kendaraan roda empat. I truly despise motor cycles because it seems to me all motor cyclists assume that the road belongs to them and them only, that other vehicles besides motorcycle simply do not exist! Hhh!!! Tapi gue gak sampe menerapkan salah satu teori dalam Murphy's Law sih, yang bilang, "You never really really learn how to swear until you learn how to drive". Paling tampang gue aja yang keliatan betenya, hehehe.

Sebenernya, pas pertama-tama gue (mulai bisa) nyetir, gue masih berbaik hati berpikir kalo para pengendara sepeda motor itu just as civilized as car drivers. Jadi kalo mau ambil jalan ya lihat apa di belakangnya ada mobil atau kendaraan lain, nggak sembarang selonong boy/girl gitu. Waa, sangkaan gue salah! Malah gue dikasitau kalo orang-orang yang naik motor ya selalu berpikiran bahwa pengendara mobil akan ngalah sama mereka. Yikes!
Alhasil, gue sering 'notol' motor, hehehe. Ada pengendara motor yang melotot ngeliatin gue, sementara gue dengan cueknya cuma melambai-lambaikan tangan nyuruh dia maju. Ada juga yang nggak memperpanjang masalah dan langsung jalan - mungkin takut dia yang disalahin. Yah, gitulah perang gue dengan sepeda motor. Korbannya? Adik gue dong, karena mobilnya gue pake untuk extreme action, hehehe :P

Note: Blabla tentang teori Murphy's Law diambil dari novel "Cintapuccino" karya Icha Rahmanti (a novel that will soon be a hot gossip topic, I dare say).

Bersikap Baik dan Berhati Baik: Beda

 Pas baca komik "Parfait Tic!" part 2-nya Nagamu Nanaji, gue 'kesenggol' 1 kalimat yang diucapin tokoh Daiya dalam komik itu: "Jangan samakan, dong, kebaikan hati dengan hanya sekedar bersikap baik". Selintas sih dua istilah itu ga ada bedanya, ya gak? Tapi setelah gue pikir-pikir, wah, emang beda ya.

Say, pas elo lagi feeling good, ga ada beban, elo bisa enteng aja kasih duduk ama orang lain di bis yg penuh sesek. Tapi coba kalo elo lagi beteeeee dan capekkkk berats, terus elo harus nunggu bis di bawah sengatan matahari. Pas dapet bis, bisnya udah kayak tas gue yang segala macam barang masuk. Tapi untunglah gak berapa lama ada orang yang mau turun dan dia udah ngasih sinyal ke elo untuk ambil tempat duduk dia begitu dia berdiri. Phew! Akhirnya, luck is coming your way! Tapi... what the ...!!! Ibu-ibu yang berdiri agak di belakang tau-tau nyerobot dan ngambil kursi yang mestinya bakal jadi kursi yang bakal elo dudukin!! Talking about wanting to scream at the top of your sore lung at that exact very moment! :P

Jadi apa yang sebenernya mau gue omongin ya? Hehehe. Maksud gue, dari ilustrasi di atas, antara "bersikap baik" dan "baik hati" jadi kelihatan bedanya. Orang yang "baik hati" akan bersikap sama meski hujan melanda, badai menerpa, gempa mengguncang, gunung meletus, dan ... nasib terburuk dari yang terburuk menimpa dia. "Bersikap baik" adalah perilaku (behavior); "baik hati" adalah attitude. Dan attitude definitely lasts longer than behavior. Mark my words...