T - Break

Good Morning,
everybody feels okay? Great. Oh yeah, eventhough it's a little bit late, Happy Idul Fitri 1430 H. Forgive all the things I did and said that upset you, please.
Here we go, my Deutsch language course ended and still I can't speak properly. There's a new machine in the back of my mind that is still confused how to make a sentence. Where do I put the verb, which subject I should use, what object goes with the Nominativ, Dativ, Akkusativ... Aaaarrrggghhhh! So itchy, you know!
When I really listen to what people say - I mean, really listen - I might have caught one or two words.. I am positive they mention numbers. What numbers are those, that's another thing. So, it's like when my teacher said five sentences, telling about what do you like about the town, she went "Bla bla bla bla......zum biespiel...bla bla bla...gemacht...bla bla bla..gegangen...bla bla bla...Zentrum". Then my conclusion is...oh, she's talking about shopping, coz Zentrum is central of the city where are many shops, restaurants, supermarkets and so on. Of course, my conclusion was not always correct.
The first class was a bit light coz we got 40% English explanation, but second class is 98% Deutsch. Take it or leave it, that's it. When I asked about a meaning of a word, then my teacher would explain it in long definition - to get me understand, but it only confused me more coz the words she used to explained were the words I didn't know either! So, when she looked me in the eye and asked "Verstanden (understood)?", I was starring back, with a painful smile...Not at all.
It's easier to look up in the dictionary than ask. Really.
But, that class was actually good to improve my ability. At least I was used to listen Deutsch. So when I hear people talking, I said to myself "Hey, I know those words.. I don't know the meaning, but I know those words!"
My classmates were from my previous class and new ones. Most of the new ones had already known Deutsch better than us, I mean me. They came from Spain, Italy, Cheko, Korea, Japan and Peru. My "old" classmates come from Philippines, Kenya, Nepal, Vietnam, Guatemala and Chile. It was really a world course..hehe. You know, it is so nice to hear the way they talk in their native tone. Even when we speak Deutsch!
I wonder how I sound when I am speaking Deutsch. I am pretty sure I still have that thick Blora accent..hehe.. Actually I can pronounce like German people - rrrhhrr, khhh, sshhhyysss - but somehow I still want to keep everything clear like the way Indonesians speak (excuse). So, I am still poor in speaking. I have to practice more.
One way of practicing is going to the market or store. Just hit it. And when you reach the rock bottom - means that you don't know what to say anymore or completely lost of what the people say - then use your English. Worse case is when the people you are talking to do not speak English. Then you use your body languange.
Talking about body, I find it quite difficult to find pants on my size. These people really have long legs!! And most of ladies' shirts have wide neckline. Pretty tricky to find the right clothes. The ones available, are not wearable. The ones suitable, are not payable. Hm...so what I do is wear and wash my original clothes from home and wear again the next day. Of course in a row that people won't think I wear the same clothes everyday.
But I did buy some clothes here. Not many, just the functional ones. I want to keep my suitcase enough for going back later (oh, man, it's still two years away!). And I really try not to put many stuffs in my room coz we have to leave the apartment completely empty when we move out. Plus, I learn from my previous lesson that having many cute little things means cluttering in a way, though you don't want to admit. And it gives you more work to pack those things up. Koh Hun Bun doesn't like much of the stuffs, so I will try to adjust (and deep down I do like everything tidy and neat). But it is really hard not to get those little dolls, stuffed animals, and kids toys when you are surrounded by them. Here I find many beautiful children's stuffs and ceramic or cups/mugs/glasses...so tempting! But, then I have to order myself to behave. Come on, Noni, you've already had a lot of those things. What are thinking, becoming Mrs. Magorium??
Yeah...I am.

Okay, since the autumn course is finished, I still have some time before the lectures begin in mid October. I will continue my Deutsch course, of course (it's free anyway), so my goal to, at least, understand and speak Deutsch will be achieved. Amin. My plan during this break is....let's see...hmm... I don't have any plan yet! Oh no!
What should I do?
Going around Europe?
I am in kind of putting my seatbelt on...you know, tight!
Staying in my room?
What, am I a bear?
Writing?
Yeah, that should do it. Problem is... I don't have any idea yet!
I need a plan! Can anyone give me suggestion? Please?

Making a plan?
Yeah. That's it!

Einbisschen Uebung

Halo, Guten Tag.
Jetzt moechte ich in Deutsch schreiben. Ich habe fuer zwei Monate im Kurs gelernt und ich will einbiscchen wiederholen oder uebungen. Zuerst, entschuldigung fuer meine Fehler. Okay? Heute hat der Herbstkurs beendet. Ich habe gut gemacht, aber ich bin nicht zufrieden. Ich kann nicht schoen Deutsch sprechen! Du, am Wintersemester ich will den naeschte Kurs besuchen. Zweite mal pro woche, das ist schoen. In zwei Jahre habe ich als Deutsche gesprochen..haha. Okay, bis bald und viel Spass!

Kalt...Cold...Kaldu??

Guten Tag.

Or should I say sugeng sonten. I am now in North Uni where my campus be, inside computer room, a little bit frozen... The weather is surely cruel. I have been showered by sun shine and hot air all my life and suddenly I have to face this hillarious temperature. Dude, my body really needs adjustment.

The autumn is starting now. We still have blue sky sometimes and another time is drizzling all day. Makes you imagining how warm life is when there's hot steamy sweet potatoes in front of you..(that's why I'm stocking them - doesn't really feel like being abroad, huh? Eating rice, fried soy bean cake, krupuk...heee).

Winter is not yet coming, but I can feel it's not going to be easy for me. My brother advised me to stand near the stove or burn wood or something to get warm..haha. This is challenging. let's see how I manage this later on.

Okay, I haven't written anything for a month, what do you miss?

The Summercourse has ended with some "notes". It was fun and colorful and also created stories for some of the participants. The drama, the fiesta, the surprises. Things happened in their own term and some of them were new to me. It's very nice as ingredients.

I did pretty well in Summercourse - I mean I do start speaking Deutsch a little. A little, okay, don't hope too much. I am going to continue learning while I am here, so in the future I will be able to speak more than just buying groceries talk..

Now in level 2 in Autumncourse, the lesson is getting complicated- for me. Yeah, the grammar thing. It's like going upstairs. Panting...hehehe. Somehow my brain works hard and things got mixed up. I want to speak much but so limited word come out - those even not in order. I got confused and the person I am talking to is more confused...so fun!!

While my brain is working hard, my stomach is roaring loud. We're having fasting month starting on 22 August, so in the course I was struggling not to let the dragon inside my stomach scared everybody..hahaha... The 16 hours of fasting is certainly challenging.

I have to cook everyday - seems my cooking is improving, thanks God (two people ate my cooking and they were not poisoned). Hope when I go back to Indonesia I can serve a better meal for Koh Hun Bun. Yeah.
Okay, see you again, I have to do some "Brain Exercises" in my cellphone to distract my mind from food. Bye.

A Week Goes By Like a Blink of Eye

Good afternoon, Guten Tag to all of you.
How have you been in this week? Mine is great. My Deutsch course began on Tuesday and of course I didn't need to take the placement test. The TIF students went right to the lowest class..hehehe. The teacher is very sweet and kind, Ms. Cindy Schlicke. Very patient with us who were just "blank" everytime she spoke Deutsch. But, hey, after a week, I think we make a very good progress. From zerro to zerro point three...(Hallo, Ich heiBe Noni. Ich komme aus Indonesien. Ich wohne in Jakarta. Ich spreche Indonesisch, English und ein bisschen Deutsch). Beside those introduction, we have already learned numbers, direction, plural singular and a little about music.
Oh yeah, I remember. Next Monday we have to bring CD about music in our country, and you know what? I will bring CD of Bang Haji... "Dangdut is the music of my country". I'll show them how to do "thumb dance"...right...!
"Darah muda, darahnya para remaja...yang selalu menang sendiri, walau salah tak peduli...ii.iii.iii..."
Beside having the language course, we also join the extra activities which we have to sign up first, example: cooking, German folklore dance, speaking, creative writing, sports, movies, and international cultural night. I have joined the folklore dance (they taught us two dances which has polka moves, nice experience). We also have excursion in the weekend. Last weekend we went to Quedlinburg (a UNESCO heritage site) and Castle Falkenstein. It was really fun, especially for Photo Freak like me..hehehe.
Tomorrow night, on the cultural evening, I will perform Gambyong Pareanom dance. I have told my classmates to come to see me (really Stage Star Wannabe, huh?). Hahahaha... Well, I don't care if you think that way. I just want to introduce one of the beauties of my country (me, of course, not the dance...kidding! :)).
Well, I have to rehearse for tomorrow show. Wish me luck, Dude!

Right Riding Hood

Good morning...
I moved to my new room yesterday. See, they put me in the wrong room. I was in ATW (Albercht Thaer Weg) 12 A room 412, when actually I had to be in room 01. My friend from Nepal who was in 01 had to be in 14 B room 003, while the other friend from Philippines moved from 003 to my previous room. Fortunatelly, I only unpacked a little so it wasn't that hard to move down.
After putting my bags in my real room, I went (grocery) shopping with my friend, Ratna. She took me to Real supermarket where things were more complete and cheaper (??). She lent me her bike. That was the first time for me biking again after couple years. Oh, my legs!
One thing for sure that was different, we had to be on the right side of the road. Not familiar for me, but I could manage that.
The trip to the market was not merely trip, coz Ratna asked me to memorize the way to some places. I said "okay", but actually my mind wasn't working at all. So I forgot instantly..hahaha!
The place was big yet very simple. Not like the mals we had in our country. We had to fetch the trolley in a special place and put 1 euro coin to take it, but then after we finished and put it away, we could get out coin back.
So, we shopped and we shopped. Felt like being a new college student (I am, aren't I?). Brushes, bucket, broom, knife, food, bike lock (though I hadn't had the bike), ect. Those things were okay in the trolley, but when they had to be put in the bike's basket...that's another thing. I was like a refugee, man...hehehe. When Ratna took my picture and uploaded it to her Facebook, one of my friend started to comment, "Are you studying or selling siomay there?"
Hahahahaha...of course selling siomay!
Anyway, I was so exhausted that day. But the happiness of having my own kitchen (plus the fridge) brought the light into my life. I could start my experiment in cooking then! Haha!
I did cook in the evening.....and it was disaster!

Day One...sleep lack!

Good morning to you all.
How's your day? Mine is fine.
It's a bit cloudy here. Since yesterday the sky is covered by those white grey blanket. My coming was even welcomed by drizzle in Frankfurt airport. Good sign.
I'll tell you about my journey. It was a long one, longest I've ever had. The flight was at 15.15 from Cengkareng and reached Abu Dhabi at 20.00 local time or at 23.00 Jakarta time. After 5 hours transit, the flight continued. Started at 01.40 Abu Dhabi time and reached Frankfurt at 6.30 local time, or at 11.00 Jakarta time, so it is about 20 hours flight. Hah...
Frankfurt airport is surely a huge airport with thousands of people come and go. First thing I did after claiming my baggage was looking for train schedule. I couldn't find the schedule for Goettingen at first that I even read it three times. I sat down and thought. I had to find the train station to get information.
To get to the train station I had to walk, go up and down, follow the sign. And I had to take skyline to get there. When I got there, another walk, up and down, till I found ticket reservation. After having the ticket, going to the line was another walk, up and down (when was this going to end??). My shoulder was numb! And my arms were really tired (Michael and Geoffrey's performance - ELR). Plus I looked like refugee who hadn't taken a bath for a week. I washed my face in the rest room and put some powder on, then continue my walk to line 5.
The station was clean and cold - not talking about the weather. I really felt being in another country.
There's ICE (fast train) to Goettingen cost 60 euro and plus the reservation 4 euro (if you don't have reservation seat, the other people with reserved one can kick you out). My seat number was 77, in wages 6.
The trip was two hours and it was quite quiet.
Yes, yes. Major difference between ICE and any train in Indonesia is the sound. ICE is very smooth, almost no sound, while Indonesian trains are noisy. But somehow, sitting in a silent train, looking at the view outside, which also seemed silent, brought lonely feeling in me. I saw houses, mostly more than one story building and they were pretty similar. It's kind of...pale and cold (maybe because of the weather too). Suddenly I miss my colorful, warm Indonesia. Yes, yes...
The view was dominated by hills, houses, field, and forest. Horses on the field, tunnels, parked cars, and very little people's activities. I really wondered. Was it because of the academic holiday season? Or it was just quiet place. Ghost town...
It's good thing I had good companion. The woman sat beside me was Ms. Caroline, she's from Melbourne, Australia. She came to Hamburg to stay with her family. We spoke a lot, talking about Germany, study, her family. She's really friendly. She even offered to help me carry my baggage when I got off the train. I only brought one travelling bag, one backpack and paper bag, but they were heavy and it was pretty hard to drag the first one through the alley full of other's bags.
My companion in plane from Abu Dhabi was from Australia too. Her name was Ms. Maria, a very nice lady. She would go to Kroatia, her origin to meet her family. She had longer flight than me. Transit for 7 hours in Frankfurt before taking other one and a half hour flight to Kroatia.
I got up from my seat and took my baggage ten minutes before reaching Goettinge. Waiting near the exit door and trapped with other's baggages. When I got off, Ratna and Antje were already outside, right in front of the door. They welcomed me and helped me carry my traveling bag. Thank you, guys.

Etihad oh Etihad

Dudes...I'm freezing in here!
Transit for 5 hours in Abu Dhabi international airport really numb my cheeks! (the first temperature check available). It's been 4 hours, one hour to go and I really need to get some sleep. Man, so sleepy, but can't close my eyes due this horrible air conditioner (wait for the winter, huh?).
Okay, let me tell you a little about my half journey. My mom and dad, and of course my dear Koh Hun Bun took me to the airport. First timer for this international flight. I had to check in two hours before boarding. I brought one big travelling bag, my back pack and a little bag for important stuffs (passport, purse, cellphone). You know what's inside my travelling bag? Guess!
Yup, rice cooker, frying pan, plates, spoons, forks, mug, shoes, clothes... pretty tight bag indeed. It's a good thing that I don't have to claim baggage when transit or it will dry out my energy.
The half flight was quite fun, actually. Since this is the first time for me in the "international" plane, so I learned the stuffs around me like a first timer. Where did the cable go? What did the screen show?
Well, I had my own screen which contained things that I like such as movies and music. Old and new films, many list of album - from classic to new release...yaaaayyy! The best of all, I got to see Bang U-Khan's new movie! So happy....
And I played Jason Mraz's song, I'm Yours, several time, to remind me of Koh Hun Bun. Miss him already!
To sum up, the entertainment was great!
And about food...well, they kept serving food and drinks that I couldn't take it anymore. Delicious, man.
And they also provide earplug, socks, eye-mask, and blanket...that I hadn't used yet in the plane, but I wear the socks right now coz the temperature in boarding room is really cold.
Oh yeah, one funny thing (I think) happened when we had to pass security check in transit area. We had to take off our shoes, armwatch and belt. I was okay with the first two, but with the last one, I almost got a trouble. I am wearing too wide - waist circle - jeans, so when I took off my belt, it almost fell off! Then I had to keep it up, while my other hand taking care of the bags. I wish there was no camera around...
One more funny thing, well, it's not really funny actually, just not common for me. When I was in the rest room, the cleaning service was quite straight and tight with the people who messed the bathroom. See, if you wet the floor, you had to wipe it by your self! She directly checked the floor and if she found out that you did it, she asked you to clean it. Ha ha.
Dude, I'll be flying again soon, so I have to sign out. Thanks for accompanying me. I'll see you in Germany.

Reporting live from the floor of Abu Dhabi international airport. Noinzilla in the blog.