Deutschland, There I'll Go!

Germany is my dream. I didn’t expect before that ultimately I would love and dream about this country. Once, I hated this country because my sister loves it ‘too much’ that she always talked about it every second and honestly it bothered me a lot. But then I studied in Language stream of my high school, I got German lessons there and I was pretty good at it so I like it. Later on I moved onto University and I accidentally go to German studies. Why accidentally? I’ve written about it before. The more I study German, the more I love this country and want to go there. Moreover, I got some German friends and that makes me really want to go there someday (before 20 ;p hahahaha).

Niklas: Aku pasti kembali. Jadi, sampai jumpa, or maybe one day in Germany!

Reza: Kita ketemu di Jerman ya, Zakia!

Philo: See you in Germany!

Henrik: Kapan kamu ke Jerman?

Zakia: Secepatnya, aku akan dapat sertifikat ZiDS pada semester IV. Jadi, dua tahun lagi.

But, something has disappointed me. I am only allowed to join the ZiDS (Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache) tesingt after I finish my 5^th semester so it means it will be more than two years from now and it sucks. But hey, I would not just give up, sometimes we just have to break the rule and I will make an effort to join the ZiDS testing within these two years. I absobloodylutely need the certificate, das ist das unbedingte Erfordernis to apply Sommerkursstipendien. Why Sommerkursstipendien? Because I don’t have much money to bring myself to Germany, so I have to think smart to get a free way for getting there haha.

So, which city do I want to visit in Germany? All Cities! But here are the dreaming-german-cities of mine.

First is Konstanz or in English: Constance. Konstanz is a city which lies on the border of Germany and Switzerland. Das liegt am Bodensee, der groβte See in Deutschland. I am interested to come to Konstanz because my friend Henrik comes from Konstanz and some friends of mine, Mb Nurul and Mas Ade have been there too. Mb Nurul ist ebenfals noch eine Studentin an der Deutschabteilung UNY wie ich und mas Ade war auch Student hier aber er hat schon drei Jahren in Konstanz gestudiert. I knew them from Henrik, they met in Germany. Mas Ade was Henrik’s tandem partner and mb Nurul is mas Ade’s friend. Earth is narrow, isn’t it? Hahaha. Before I met them, I didn’t know that there is a city by the name of Konstanz in Germany and after I got know, I become pretty interested.

Also, Konstanz ist sehr nah von der Schweiz. Von Konstanz zu der Scwheiz braucht man nur etwa 30 Minuten laufen oder man kann auch mit dem Fahrrad fahren, sagte mein Freund. Konstanz ist eine Altstadt. Dort gibt es noch sehr viele alte Gebäude, alte Turme, Pubs, Malls, usw. Der See ist sehr groβ. Im sommer kommen die Leute zum badegehen, sich sonnen, usw. Die Alpen ist ebenfals nah von Konstanz. Das sind sehr attraktiv und sehr schön. I love its old buildings; they look pretty beautiful and nice. I really want to go to Konstanz, not only for travelling but maybe also to stay for awhile or for taking Sommerkurs oder for my Master Degree an der HTWG Konstanz by taking Deutsch für Tourismus.  Es gibt noch viele Möglichkeiten.

Bodensee

Die zweite ist Greifswald, die im Norden liegt. I think Greifswald ist auch sehr schön. I think it is kinda old city, where there are a lot of old beautiful building and das ist sehr attraktiv. It also lies next to Baltic Sea so it would be wonderful. Honestly, I don’t know much about this city, but I am really interested to go there to participate in Greifswald International Students Festival. Das ist ein Fest, where students aus der ganzen Welt meet and exchange their experience and culture from their own country. I am pretty sure it would be awesome to be a part of the festival. That’s why I applied for this festival. Ich bereitete sehr gut vor to apply for participating in GrIStuF 2012. Oh, a little about GrIStuF, it has been held 5 times: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2010. GrIStuF 2012 is “FACE to FACE: Paving the Way for a Non-Violent Society”. There we can join a workshop, culture festival, and a lot of interesting activities. There are about 629 applicants who apply to participate in GrIStuF 2012, and the 150 selected applicants will be announced on March, 1^st so my heart is shaking right now waiting for the announcement. I really hope I am one of the 150 selected applicants, I will be pretty thankful. There was a problem with my application, my birthday date accidentally changed into December, 30 2011 while it should be October, 30 1993. But thankfully Mr. Daniel Last has changed it after I worked really hard to get connected with the staff of GrIStuF 2012 and hopefully this is a good sign that I will be selected to become one of the participants. Amien…

The 3^rd is Berlin, the capital city. Berlin is very multicultural; it is the center of European arts. The old buildings, the architecture, die Museuminsel, the home operas, the festivals, the Sony Center, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Schönhauser Allee, everything. I really want to see Iskandar Widjaja plays in Schauspielhaus there (Iskandar Widjaja was born and grew up in Berlin), and also Radiopilot, my favorite german music band (thanks Wendy for telling me about this band). I got a book about Berlin; it’s pretty big and expensive. There you can find everything about Berlin. Something interesting about Berlin is the Love Parade, hahahaha but don’t worry I, I don’t expect to take part in the festival. I also want to go to Christmas Market –I think it is Gendarmenmarkt- in Berlin and taste some Baumküche. Ummm what else? Ja, Berlin is interesting. Philo suggested me to choose Berlin if I want to take a Sommerkurs because Berlin ist sehr billig und international, but don’t go to München because München ist sehr teuer. Mb Nurul sagte aber, “Don’t go to Berlin! Go to München!” Hey, wer is dann richtig? Ummm, but I believe Philo, because he used to live in Landshut, it’s next to München and he has ever lived, studied, and worked either in München or Berlin so he must know which one is better.

But of course I will still go to München for a visit. I want to go to Oktoberfest where ladies wear Drindl skirt, German’s traditional clothe. I also want to go to Allianz Arena to watch the football match. Pssstt, I told lie when my lecturers asked me why I decided to take German studies. I said that I like Bastian Schweinsteiger, er is ein Fuβballspieler von Bayern München, and I really want to see him so I study German hahaha. But it was a good reason, right? Well, if I got a chance to see him, I will still be very happy because I can tell it to my sister and she will be jealous hahahaha ;p.

The next city is Heidelberg. Das ist ebenfals eine Altstadt. My lecturer told me a lot about this city. Dort gibt es eine alte Brücke; die sehr attraktiv ist; der Fluβ ist sehr schön, und die Altstadt ist sehr romantisch. Dort gibt es auch ein altes Schloβ, das im Tal liegt. Heidelberg belongs to Baden-Württemberg Bundesland, dem Konstanz auch zu gehört aber Heidelberg ist weit von Konstanz denke ich. Heidelberg liegt im Norden von Baden-Württemberg wohingegen Konstanz ganz im Süden liegt. The other city in Baden-Württemberg which I want to visit is Baden Baden. I have been dreaming about Baden Baden since I was in senior high school because my teacher said that one of language stream’s students was in Baden Baden for au-pair and it was really nice. It is also sehr nah von Frankreich (I was obsessed about French that time).

The last city is Hamburg. Niklas lives there and that’s why I also want to go there. Niklas is half-Indonesian, I knew him from my sister. Uni Hamburgs offers Austronesistisch (similar with Austronesia Studies I think) and students there often hold an Indonesian event and it interests me so much. Hamburg has the biggest harbor in Germany, and actually I don’t really like it. I don’t like industrial city but I think Hamburg ist anders. Hamburg ist schön denke ich.

Well, I don’t know when I can go to Germany, within these two years hoffe ich, before 20. Hopefully, Amien. Drück mir die Daumen!

Why I Really Want To Travel (Jordan)

Hmmm well my friend Alex just posted about his dreaming places he wants to visit and now it’s time to tell about mine. But before I tell you about it all, you have to know who and what have inspired me to travel around the world (I am pretty sure I will).

The first traveler I met was Wienfried aus Regensburg, Deutschland. In the same day, I also met Mathieu. Il vient de Français. If you read wallposts or comments on his facebook wall, hmmm it is all about travelling. I think Ethiopia is the best. Hey, I am in Africa now. Hey, I just came back from LA. Hey, I will go to Africa, what do you think? Advice? Hey, I just moved to Paris… bla bla bla. I am envy hahaha. And the first Canadian traveler I met was Chris. He is very, very kind and friendly. We listened to the music together, played hacky sack together, he also sent me hacky sacks, und wichtig ist we still keep in touch till now. Hey, do you know? There is only one store which sells the best quality hacky sack in his city and he made time for buying me those hacky sacks, hmmm hopefully I can send something good to him someday. Chris has been to more than 40 countries now -that’s impressive- and his first destination was United States, because it’s next to Canada hahaha but he went to Great Britain in the age of 19, so I really want to go to Germany before 20 hahaha, hoffentlich klappt das!

The first travelling show I watch is Jelajah. I also watch Jejak Petualang, and the best host in Indonesian travelling show to me is Riyani Djangkaru and you know what? It’s a she! Klasse, oder? She’s a woman, and she hosts a travelling show around Indonesia. The best episode of hers was Komodo Islands (Part 2). It was just incredible because her show is very real and she hosts it interestingly. I also like the Kupang Episode where she did Kupang Cave Diving. Ambon Episode was also outstanding. Oh yeah I love her show.

I also watch international travelling show such as An Amazing Adventure of a Nobody, By Any Means, Long Way Down, Ultimate Travelers, Word Travelers, Endurance Traveler, Exploring the Vines, Ship Diaries, Cycling Home from Siberia, Don’t Tell My Mother, and many more. All of them you can watch in National Geographic Adventure. One of my favorites is Earth Tripping by Ethan Zone. He was the winner of something haha I forgot it, but it was a travelling competition or something. My favorite episodes are when he visited Mexico and Argentina. New York Episode war auch gut. Alles gut haha.

But, the first and the best international travelling show I’ve ever watched is DEPARTURES. You do know how I love this show. The first episode I watched was North Korea (Part 2). It was heart-touching when Justin, Scott (hosts) and Andre (cameraman) were visiting a Kindergarten (I guess) and Justin wore a Panda hat to make the children laugh but no one laughs so war er sehr, sehr verzweifelt, it was pretty funny hahahaha. Many, many people and I love this show very much. You can read people’s comments in Departures’s facebook group; they said how they love this show.

We love it very much because it is real, honest, inspiring, and also hosted and documented by GREAT MEN. Yeah, Justin Lukach, Scott Wilson, and Andre Dupuis are “Three Musketeers of Travelling”. They have their own special personality, they are pretty different, but they complete each other. Justin is funny and humorous. He loves animals so much and he made this show more alive. Hey, here is a funny dialog between Justin and Scott: Where have you been? We are looking for you, you didn’t help us. I saw a goat, I was chasing a goat. Hahaha Justin is just pretty funny, while Scott is motherlike hahaha. Yes, he just is. Remember what Justin said in Canadian Episode? Scott is like the big bear takes care of everything. I am like bad girl, running around, getting the honey. Hahaha :D And about Andre, I don’t know much about Andre but he is definitely a good cameramen. His shots are always marvelous. Unfortunately, Justin is no longer travelling with Scott and Andre. Scott and Andre are doing a new travelling Show titled Descending and I heard that it has been running since last January in Canada, and Justin is doing his own project in Las Vegas, city he used to live in. Both shows are awesome, and thank God they still support each others.

My favorite episode is ummmm all episodes if I could say, haha but Sri Lanka is the best I think. Nuwara Eliya, Sigiria, the beach, all of those is awesome! Do you remember when Justin, Scott, and Andre dancing together in the jungle with loco people there? The music guys, the music, and Scott’s words just made me always cry when watching this episode. Also, do you know the backsound of its promo, the lyric is about: I was like you when I was wondering. We see many world senses then. Yeah at least it’s all that I could here. And Scott’s words: this all trip is about now and never, so it’s now or never. Those words also inspire me so much. I become pretty sure that someday I can reach out my dream to conquer this world hahahahahahaha. Now it’s time to tell you about my dreaming places. I will not tell it all by once, but one by one and I think this time I want to talk about Jordan.

Jordan is a middle-east country. Honestly, I don’t really know why I really want to go there but I am interested to go to Jordan –tidak lain tidak bukan- because of Departures. I think Jordan is the first country which Andre, Scott, and Justin have visited in Departures after Canada, their own country. Princess Kate Middleton William and her family have also lived there for 7 years.

Well, Jordan is just gorgeous. It has Petra, the most awesome building –or maybe not building- in the world. You can see how massive it is, but can you imagine how to build it, in that century? By the way idk in which century it was built hahaha, I’ll find out don’t worry. Seeing and thinking about this building just makes me speechless. It is just… unthinkable hahaha. Jordan also has a wonderful dessert. I have never been in dessert because there is no dessert in Indonesia so it is really interesting to me.

Petra, Jordan

Jerash, Jordan

Desert-Road-Oasis,Arid Land, Jordan

Dead Sea, Jordan

Petra, Jordan Taken from Nationalgeographic.com

Ancient Petra City, Jordan

Amman, Jordan

Ich will Uni

It had been 6 days und ich war noch krank. Not really actually, but das war sehr, sehr heiβ dass ich dann  schlaff würde. Meine Schwester ging zur Uni so war ich allein zu Hause. Ich bleibte bei ihr während ich krank war. Yesterday, I actually felt already better so möchtete ich eigentlich schon gern nach Hause gehen, aber meine Schwester didn’t let me go home on foot. She thought that I wouldn’t make it and I thought so. So, I decided to stay.

I woke up very early in the morning, um 4 weil ich sehr durstig war and needed to grab some water to drink. I turned up the lamp und meine Schwester würde wach because of the light, im sorry. Nous avez bavardé dann weil wir nicht wiederschlaffen könnten and after that räumten wir das Schlaffzimmer, das sehr, sehr unordentlich sein auf. Danach ging meine Schwester baden und ich, kochte ich etwas zum Frühstuck: Gemüsensalat mit Erdnussoβe und Ei. Haha du weiβt doch schon den Name des Essens.

My sister left at 9 and I, had nothing to do but suddenly I heard something ridiculous. It was our neighbor doing his hobby: singing too loud that make anybody who hears dying. Oh my god, I swear her voice was just like huft idk, mine is better I promise. She sings like that every day and she doesn’t realize that her voice might bother somebody else. Ich hatte wieder Kopfschmerz because of that so I went sleeping and put a pillow over my head. When my sister came, she lmao seeing me, not because I slept in ridiculous position, but because she knew why I slept like that. Sssshh, don’t tell our neighbor, ok!

It was already 13.00 and my sister should auswiedergehen. Home alone wieder. Hmmm what to do? Sleeping, haha. But then I got a ring, wer ruft mich an? It was Novi! I was so excited because my classmate called. Hallo, Nov? Hallo Zakia. Kamu udah sembuh? Belum e, eh udah sih… tapi belom kuat pulang aja. Masih lemes. Ooh.. udah periksa ke dokter? Belum hahaha. Tadi Frau Lia nanyain kamu, kamu sakit apa kok pusing sampe seminggu, terus disuruh ke dokter? Iyadeh Nov, besok ya (I was lying here, I am not going haha) Iya, temen-temen di kelas udah kangen sama kamu (this touched my heart soo much). Wuaaaahhhh aku juga kangen sama kaliaaaan, aku besok pasti kuliah Nov! aku tadi mau kuliah tapi belom boleh sama meine Eltern sama kakakku. Iya, tapi kalo belom sembuh gak usah dipaksain ya (so heart-touching)… Iya, makasih ya Nov...

After I got the call, I felt so excited and I said to myself tomorrow I gotta go zur Uni! I gotta meet my classmates, I miss them! So here I am. I am so happy um meine Freunde zu wiedertreffen. I love them all. I love them all. Ja, I love them all.

nice

You know? I cancelled my plan to go attending Iskandar Widjaja concert in Solo. Was??!! Ja, genau. I have 2 reasons why I didn’t go and thank God there was a right pay for it.

I have actually prepared myself to go to Solo. I would go with Binta and my sister mit dem zug am 28. Januar um 2 Uhr. I left my house at 8 and arrived in jogja at 12. After that I had to go to my sister’s house and it needed about 40 minutes walking. No way, I will be there at 12.40 and I only had 20 minutes to prepare myself before leaving for Solo. Ja, weil es eine Stunde vom Haus der meinen Scwhester zum Bahnhof brachte, so müssten wir um 1 Uhr abfahren. Nein, das geht nicht! Ich schickte Binta ein sms dann, ich sagte dass wir besser um 4 uhr abfahren. Binta agreed. Gut!

My sister and I had made a plan to travel around Solo. Am Sonntag wollten wir eigentlich zu den Kasunanan und Mangkunegaran Kraton. We had searched the location and how to get to the kratons in internet. We had packed all of our stuff, bought anything that might be needed and I have dressed myself very well. But then something smashed my brain hardly: where will I do my pray? Wir wollten im Haus der Binta’s kusine übernachtet and you know they are Christian so it would be hard to do our pray in her house. We should respect her belief.  Hey hey, it’s a big thing to me. I could not compromise with this thing. We thought really hard and considered anything about it. Finally, we got an idea! I texted mb Eri and asked to spend the night in her friend’s house with her. Kling kling kling, time kept running and she didn’t reply yet. She replied my message at 5, too late. Because…

Hey, my phone cell blinked! I got a message! Take a look! Oww, it was from my other friend. He asked me to go to Taman Budaya Yogyakarta with him. Then I remembered something, on Sunday he would move over to Bali. Omg, it means Saturday was his last day in jogja. I should accept it, I did. But then, he texted me: did you get the ticket for yourself? Was? Nein, natürlich. Ich hab nicht zum TBY fahren geplannt. Aber ich glaubte dass ich kann die karte bekommen. I texted my friends and I got the ticket, oh na, the TICKETS. I got 2, one from Zein and the other one from Cory. Thaaaanksss!

It was 5.20 and the concert in TBY would begin um 7 uhr. Oh no, I needed 40 minutes to walk back to my house. I walked as fast as I could. I was waste. I arrived at home at 6.10, pretty fast eh? But, I didn’t bring my room’s key with me! Alright, I decided to take a bath first, and then I would borrow the other key to the house-owner. When I was bathing, my friend texted me: aku berangkat 15 menit lagi. Wow no, I should hurry. Wait, “when I was bathing?” haha yeah, I brought my phone into the bathroom with me, it was emergency you know! Hahaha. I bathed really quickly, and then I borrowed the key. Was für ein Chaos! The door couldn’t be unlocked. Hey it was already 6.30. Komm komm komm! Hmmm, it didn’t work. Keine Panik, because I brought some clothes so I could change. Fortunately… I left home after I did my pray, I waited for him for awhile and finally he came. And how cool it was, wir führen um 6.55 uhr ab while the concert would begin um 7.

My friend drove really fast and we reached the concert. There, Zein had been waiting for us to give the tickets. Yay, we made it! Hahaha. We met his friends at TBY and his friends were sooo surprised seeing he was caming with me. I understand that. Hahaha

Actually, we arrived there late, but the concert began much later than us. It should begin at 7, but it began at 8 instead. We talked a lot while waiting, but it was still boring and made us sleepy. JAM KARET! The concert finally begun, two opening-performers performed too long that we became more and more sleepy. I wanted to see UweKaa! But wufff, it was already 9.—and we were preeettttyyyy sleepy. We decided to go home, without seeing UweKaa. It didn’t matter because the point is: the farewell. Farewell? NA, he changed his plan. He would not move to Bali on Sunday, but on Monday. Was? Ja genau, he said that he needed one more day in jogja.

Later on, we arrived at my house. We talked a little bit, he asked me about my room’s key and I said: don’t worry, it will be ok, I’ll make it work! Hahaha Kamu yakin? Ja, it’s ok. Then, he asked me: was machst du morgen? Umm, nothing. I want to visit my friends tomorrow, wenn du zeit hast, kannst du mitkommen. Ja, habe ich. Tapi aku belum punya rencana untuk itu. Dann schick mir ein sms. Ja, will ich.

The next day, he texted me. He invited me to his house, farewell party! I really wanted to go, but idk how to go there. Then he asked his friend to pick me up, so I could go. And you know what? There was a beer party. Don’t worry, he respects me, he didn’t offer me any beers, hahahaha. It was only me and mas Ade who didn’t drink beer. However, it was fun! We cooked together, talked a lot, lernten sich kennen with his other friends, and the time has come. We should wrench away. I was so sad. I am so sad. He is a good friend. It was really hard to say good bye to him. Anyway, it was a nice farewell party. Hopefully, I can meet him again in der zukunft. We were pretty sure, we will, because he said: aku pasti kembali. I am waiting for you then.