Celebrating Christmas?

My reflections on the center of Christmas

Many people celebrate Christmas around the world. Christians and others share the joy and take the chance to have warm cheers. It’s good. I do not argue on this.

So far which I may witness, we may all see the glorious of all happiness during the Christmas. But do we truly understand the meaning of Christmas?

Let’s come back to the word “Christmas”. Having this word in mind, we can clearly distinguish the word “Christ” is in Christmas. When we say “happy Christmas” it has another meaning that we have joy in this Christmas time. Therefore many of us would share the happiness by sharing warm food, normally for winter time, such as stampot (dutch potato soup), nabe (Japanese soup), sup ayam (Indonesian :p), etc.

But do we really know or extent the meaning of Christmas? This is my personal opinion. Today I was reminded that the center of Christmas is Christ. Christ has nothing to do with religion. Therefore the essence of celebrating Christmas for anyone is also valid. No doubt for this.

For some western cultures, where Christians were widespread for many centuries, celebrating Christmas is part of occasions when extended family get together. It is also in Indonesian Christians. They celebrate Christmas. Some go to church together. Some go for vacations. The others prepare food and other activities.

This is year will be the 3^rd Christmas I celebrate abroad. Away from my extended family. Is the Christmas that I have today or the last two years different with others Christmas that I had or that I will have? Coming back to my argument about Christ as the center of Christmas, then it should be the same. Why? Christ is not as our national heroes or our football idols or other charismatic people. Those people can die, can be forgotten. Of course they may have big influences to large society. But it stops there. No eternal influences.

What about Christ? He is alive. He was the one who were born in Israel more than 2000 years ago. He had been alive long long before that. He will alive eternally. We don't see his graveyard. For that reason we celebrate somebody who is different. Let's pay the tribute to Christ alone. It is more than joyfulness, warm foods, new clothes, gifts, etc. It is the time when Christ came to the Earth, or especially it is the time when Christ comes to our heart. Happy Christmas!

Disclaimer:

This article is for author's reflection only. No distribution nor copy of this article is allowed without permission of the author. Nevertheless, comments and discussions are appreciated.

Our Old Songs

Today I listen to our songs. Not old songs but songs which we used to sing together.
Songs which used to really touch my heart.

Are these songs still being played in my heart? Am I driven by the vision stated in these songs?
I don't know. Frankly speaking, I can not answer certainly as I used. I am even afraid
that I will not listen it that much in the future. So sad to say that.

I have been overwhelmed with a lot of imagination, dream, ambitions which are totally different
with I used to have. It would not be such a realistic dream for me to pursue all of these things
up to this level nor I even dared to think about it. I had just been amazed with those who achieved such level
and I admired them so much.

I remember that I was really happy to be with you all guys. Singing our songs together, chatting and praying.
Where are they now? Do not ask me. I have been away. No one watch me here.
I should take this consequence myself.

No no no....The songs remind me again. Why have I listened to this again. Can I come back to our old place? A place where we used to call it Jerusalem.
Hey, I am now at the corner of the Earth. Didn't we use to say "go to the end of the Earth"?
Now I am here. Some of use are also on the other corners. I don't know what and how are they doing there.

No no no. Why all your voices are so clear in your singing?
I miss it all know. I miss our place. I miss our community. I miss you guys.
That we used to say that only prayer could bridge us and make us one.
But it is truly difficult. To be away from you make me singing the songs alone. The voice is becoming so slow even I can't here it. I am sure that i have not followed our vision.

Today the songs are here. I increase the volume of my player. Your voices are so clear. But I have almost forgotten the songs. Not the lyrics nor the melody. But the songs in my heart are almost gone.
But since I listen once again to these songs, I recognice your songs. I can imagine your faces.
As if that you're singing in the front at our rally time.

Now I slowly remember the songs. "Let's heed the call let's kneel and pray for this faithful man today". That we can still hand in hand to pray each other as we used to.

Please pray that I will again remember the songs and get the vision.

@oubaku

Very thankful

I am very thankful for the existence of internet.
Without which I will not receive a lot of incentives and life would not be easier.

I am very thankful to my teachers.
Without them I would not have gone that far with knowledge and science. Thanks for those who have spent their time to be of worth for many individuals.

I am very thankful to my friends.
Without them I would not have cheers around. Where sorrows and joys are shared together.

I am very thankful to my parents.
The absence of their presence would have made me lost. And foremost, without them I would not exist.

I am very thankful to my spouse. Whose love and care make the distance between oceans make as if it is only a narrow aisle.

I am very thankful for love. With the existence of love, winter seems like summer and a night seems like a day.

I would be very thankful to My Creator, the Creator of all those I mention above. Without Thy care I would be nothing.

@DRS Lab

Room, a comparison between NL and JP on winter perspective

This is not an academic article. Instead, it is just my comparison of how a room has been designed to overcome winter season based on my experience between NL and JP. Winter has not fully come yet here.

But let me tell you my experience here..

"I felt the sign yesterday morning. Brrrr, so cold! It was only 5 degree but how come I was feeling very cold!"

Well, winter is coming...

Based on my observation I realized that a house (room) in NL is better isolated than a house here. Therefore a house in NL is warmer and really good in winter time. Here I felt it was already cold though winter has not fully come yet.

I heard from my Japanese colleague, winter and summer time here take longer than that of spring and autumn. In fact, spring and autumn season is the best weather in Kyoto.

Back to room comparison, in NL is on the other hand having a problem in managing summer time. Summer seems quite hot and room is not designed to be air conditioned. In Japan it has no problem. That's what they told me.

So, which one you choose, room in NL or JP :P?

Look 4 Kyoto Club

Last sunday I paid a visit to Look 4 Kyoto Club. This club, initiated by Japanese, is intended to invite foreigners to explore Kyoto City. Therefore mainly the activity is about tourism. I do not know if they have their official website.

They were really happy to meet me at first time when I arrived at Kyoto Station. I thought there would be many foreigners come to join. In fact it was only me! Hahaha, for me it was a bit funny, because with so many volunteers of Japanese from this club, it was only me as their guest.

That day we had two activities. We first visit the disaster prevention center of Kyoto City. There we experienced some simulations of disaster. This center really provides good facilities to experience how real disasters might happen. I had never felt a real earthquake before. But during the simulation I experienced a simulation of earthquake up to 7 in Japanese scale. It was nearly like Kobe earthquake. To admit, I was scared :(. We also experienced a simulation of typhoon with 32 m/s. And last simulation was "being trapped" in a burnt building.

Afternoon time we went to Otabe factory. Otabe is a traditional sweet in Kyoto. They said people bring Otabe as a special gift in Kyoto. And I learned how to make Otabe myself. Hehehe, cool! I think it was a good end after having been scared by those "disasters". Thanks Look 4 Kyoto. I hope to join next time!

@Oubaku

京都から黄檗までjitenshaでいきました

In romaji this title is read "Kyoto kara Oubaku made, jitensha de ikimasita"。This means that went from Kyoto to Oubaku with bicycle.

Yes, following my previous story down as I won a bicycle in Kyoto, I needed to ride it down to Oubaku which is almost an hour away by bus from Kyoto.
Hahaha, quite far? Yes. But then I was able to explore a route coming back to Oubaku from Kyoto. I took almost two hours riding. Of course as usual I got lost one time. A nice experience with also pain muscles afterwards.

@Oubaku

Atarashi Jitensha

I like my old bicycle. I left one at the garage of my apartment in Enschi.
That bike helped me a lot and I was really thankful for it. 35 euro was suitable price I think because it was really precious for me. It accompanied me to many places around Enschede. Even during bad weather like snow in winter time. What a faithful friend!

Now that I come here to Oubaku. To be honest, biking here is not as safety as that in NL. At first I did not want to do that. There is no special lane for bike and therefore bikers share space with the pedestrians. However it is still more convenient to ride a bike around than just to walk. Moreover, this bike was given for me on a lottery of bicycles for foreign students (ryugakusei). Luckily I won it and it did not cost me any amount of yen. A bike with a good condition, 75-80% I think. Brakes, lamp and tires are okay. So it's also a precious one. Now I can forget my old bike ;). I love my atarashi jitensha.

note:
atarashi : new
jitensha: bike

@Oubaku

Did you recognize that picture?

I found it from Google Earth and cut the picture and put it here.

A big room (at least for me), a place where I lived for almost a year.

Many memorable occasions there,

including BS, ITC friends, and of course myself ;).

Cooking, singing, chatting, hohoho!

Caiyo Dear

It only needs
a step further,
a single drop of sweat,
a short time to spend,
a little jump to pass the gap,
a nice song to cheer up,
a smile,
an action to type on keyboards.

Big reward is waiting for you.
So big big big.

It is on the other part of the ocean.
Only a step away.
So croos by and you`ll find your way to our lovely and warm castle.

I wait and pray for you eagerly.

Caiyo dear!

@Oubaku

Wakarimasen --> Wakarimashita

I many times use word wakarimasen. Why? Wakarimasen means I don`t understand. Of course this does not mean that I face a lot of problems here. However it is true that I still can not communicate and read japanese properly. Even as a basic requirement that one needs to.
Wakarimashita on the other hand means I understand. Even normally one says here Haik, Wakarimashita!

This evening I was on the way coming home. Trying to locate the price of train to Oubaku, a city I live, I could not find one because it is written in Kanji. It is a bit strange because normally they put also word in Romaji to help someone who can not read Kanji. When I was trying to locate the city`s name in Kanji, there was a madam and her son. Then I was saying to her, Oubaku desu and also with my hands trying to describe that I wanted to go to there. I said wakarimasen, trying to say I could not locate it. Hohoho, It was helpful and she pointed to the Kanji and finally I got the price of train to go to Oubaku.

Anyway, wakarimasen was useful to help me. I hope soon I would not use wakarimasen so often as I have used. Instead, I dream to use wakarimashita more often. Hopefully! Ganbatte ne!

@Oubaku

Kampai (The working spirit of Japanese?)

I am new here. Too new to know many things about people`s culture. Therefore many impressions surely can be wrong. Just a bit of sharing and therefore comments are appreciated.

As far as I am concerned I have been amazed with the habitual way of life existing here.
Working until late in the night, queing to get into the Densha (Train), reading in side the train, drinking in the weekend and so on might be a routine one has.

Nevertheless, the first time I joined my lab I was welcomed with a small lab party. A short word shouted by Sensei kicked off the party, "Kampaii!", said by him. The rest of us, including me, followed loudly saying the same word while toasting our glasses full of either beer, sake, japanese green tea, water or whatsoever. That word was also like heat that was warming up as well as being an ice breaker for all of us.

All in all, Kampai seems to be a word describing how the Japanese have a great dedicasion to they work.

Kampaii!!

@Oubaku

Watashi no Sumai Machi?

That's a bad Japanese translation may be. Machi --> City, Sumai --> home

This is a new home town for me? Yes, though might not be the last one.
It's been three weeks here and I now realize that I have started to enjoy living here.

Oubaku is a Small town at the hinterland of Kyoto. Well, not really hinterland because along the roads from Kyoto to Oubaku, a city I am living, urbanized areas exist. Oubaku has a steep topography. On the northeast of my dorm, nice and green hills are located. This good view reminds me of Bandung or Lembang. Bandung actually is comparable with Kyoto though the latter is much cleaner of course. Topographically they are the same and therefore they look similar for me.

Bandung had been a home town for me for eight years before I departed to Enschede. Bandung has many places I like to spend time for. Places for hang out, for inspiration, for sport, for study, etc are available there. Staying in Bandung for quite a long time has made me able to locate almost any place in this city. Additionally having educated at urban planning, I personally have got a lot of sense of city. I am sure that I will come back again and again to visit Bandung in the future , to gain memory, to meet friends, to sense the city.

Enschede gave me another sense that I had never felt before. Surprisingly I did not feel any home sick in Enschede nor I came back to Indonesia during my stay in Enschede. Some friends of mine felt homesick which I did not. Of course there were though times when I had through, but it was not about Enschede. So, kleurdestad! I enjoyed biking with my old bicycle, shopping to the open market, eating fish in the open market, hanging around at BS and Indonesian and other Foreign Students. 18 months in Enschede passed and gave memorable time as well as a lot of constributions. One of the most contributions is learning how to cook from ITC (International Training for Cooking), hehehe.

Here now Oubaku, Kyoto. The first two weeks I spent here were not enjoyable due to culture shocks and also language problem. They are nice but they just can't help you. Many times I asked people when I needed something in Japanese but many times I did not get what I want. A week after I arrived, I got lost because I could not locate the way to Kyoto Univ. Walking around the station and asking people just ended me up to wrong destination. What a stressful! Luckily there are friends here who helped a lot during the time. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for me because of the language problem. Once I had a problem with my temporary residence permit (syomesyo) with the officers of postal office (yubinkyoku). They took away that letter but I could not ask back because I do not know Japanese. Later I could tell them because I asked my Japanese professor to write a letter for me in Japanese and I passed the letter to the postal officer. Truly language barrier is a problem!

I decided to take Japanese course in trying to better communicate here. Finally it works! After two weeks taking the course I can now be able to read some Japanese Hiragana and Katakana which are basic letters. And during the course I have learnt some phrases to communicate in Japanese. This really helps a lot. Also friends in my laboratory here are really generous and kind. It provides me a nice way to adapt living here. Things become easier to cope when you can communicate and here they are what I am facing here.

Though a lot of things of Japanese have I not known, but nevertheless I have started loving living here. I hope to have this city for my other home town, to be watashi no Sumai Machi(my city). Some time, I hope in this near future.

DRS Lab, KU

Selamat Idul Fitri dan Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin

Buat teman-teman Planologi ITB dan keluarga, buat teman-teman ITC Indonesia, buat teman-teman ITC Indonesia, buat teman-teman PPI-Enschede (salam kuda jingkrak), buat teman-teman PPI-Kyoto dan PPI Kansai,

Selamat berbahagia merayakan hari raya Idul Fitri dan mohon maaf lahir dan batin buat salah-salah kata dan perbuatan.

Semoga bisa berkumpul bersama keluarga tercinta. Jika tidak bisa, ya selamat berbahagia juga ;)

Salam,


Saut

Eksperimen Opor Pertama

Setelah sekian lama tidak beroporia, maka besok watashi akan memasak opor lagi. Kenapa? Alasannya sederhana saja, sedang tidak ada yang memasak buat watashi. Hehehe, hopefully only for a short time.

Kembali ke opor, masaknya gampang saja. Watashi hanya perlu merebus air, memasukkan daging ayam yang tentunya dicuci dulu ya, terus biarkan mendidih. Setelah itu, bumbu opor ala indofood siap dimasukkan. Di sini belum nemu dimana jual bumbu opor ala indofood. Sepertinya nanti waktu watashi no kanai datang, perlu bawa banyak bumbu opor deh. Maklum itu kesukaannya watashi, jadi ya kanai ga papa ya agak repot sedikit.

Tadi sore watashi udah urus syomesyo (ribet ya ngomongnya) alias eligibility letter buat kanai, ditemanin oleh watashi no tomodachi. Terus karena besok itu adalah doyoubi, watashi sepertinya punya waktu untuk masak. Hobi yang lama ditinggalkan pas kembali ke kampung halaman.

Semoga rencananya berhasil. Ini nulisnya masih di lab, soalnya masih pada rame. Busyet rajin-rajin banget para tomodachi di sini. Salut deh. Psst, tapi jangan bilang-bilang ya watashi mau buat opor, nanti bisa-bisa para tomodachi menyerbu, padahal ini baru eksperimen.

Udah ah, nanti hasilnya dilaporkan lagi.

Tot zeins, sayonara, see u, sampai bertemu.

*) Watashi : aku, kanai : istri, tomodachi : teman, doyoubi : sabtu

After a long break!

Coming back with this stupid machine. Someone calls it a stupid square box. Anyway, you may call it whatever you want. Well, it was such a long break for me. Also along break that I did not have time to write anything for this blog.

Such a long break. Many things happened.
Though situations and people are different.
But in the end still coming back and sitting in front of this machine though on the other part of this small planet. Otherwise how would I write again a story for this blog. Hopefully more stories are coming. Anyway I have come to realize that I have extra words to say.

Such a long break!

Gung-Hay-Fat-Choy! Happy Chinese New Year

Saturday morning on January 28, it is a nice weather in Enschede. I suppose the chinese community will be happy with this weather. Yes, they're celebrating Chinese New Year. Though it's still cold but the sky is clear and sun light warmly falls. Not only chinese I think but also Dutch today will be happy because they really like sun light, don't they? I suppose there are many people in the centrum, enjoying the fried-fish, patat, vietnamese spring-roll and many others.

In my childhood, I had in few occasions to visit my chinese friends and was given the áng paw inside a red envelope. A five thousands rupiah (half a euro) in an envelope was good money for a child in 1990 in Indonesia. Do they still have the same way in celebrating Chinese New Year in this year? Fifteen years after 1990, how much money do they prepare ;)? Hahaha, I don't mean to use economic point of view nor make a currency convertion. Of course the most important message in this day is sharing the joy.

Yesterday I was given a chinese gift. I forgot to ask him the name of the gift but it is a bind of rope in read colour. They call it as a symbol of prosperous and unity. Alright, happy chinese new year once again my chinese fellows. Wish you all the best and success!

be strong and couregous!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) NIV

Is it a nature of man to think that difficulties seem bigger than they do? I don't mean to challenge with this statement, but I do see that many people are afraid before they face the reality. Why do people fear of meeting supervisor, are frightened to have a defence or are afraid to make a mistake? But I don't want to blame this thought because I myself face the same problem. Once I was about to drop by to a room of a proffessor, whom I had never talked before. Well I had taken deep breath first before I felt comfortable and decided to go to his room. And the situation changed totally I was meeting him because he was kind and very open for the conversation. Even he was so helpful and be of assistance for my questions.

Yesterday I was fit with the story I am telling now. I was not in a good mood to work out my preparation for presentation and thesis. The deadline is approching and I still have to make so many works. Suddenly I was reminded to some verses in Bible about dealing with fear. And thanks to "SABDA"Digital Bible that helped me to find out sentences that I was looking for. It's remarkable for me that so many prophets were given these statements by GOD. "Be strong and courageous"....., be strong and courageous". Why such words appear so many times in the Book? I think it must be related to what human has naturally, that is afraid and fear of something. This is how I see it but I think it might be true that why those words given quite often because we as humans feel something bigger than what we can do. Don't be afraid, there is God's promise to be with us and to make us feel encouraged of His presence.

the right time?

Time is a quite common used word. "What time shall we meet?", "No, I can't at 10, what if make it earlier? "Ups, sorry I must leave, I have an appoinment with some one else". Time is really important in our society. So important that society makes a saying that time is money. I myself think time relates with a 'space' which puts a gap for us before we arrive to a next step. Does it seem a philosophy? Forgive me, but I believe that's a definion of time that applies for me at the moment. Hahaha, yes I am waiting to finish my work, study, applications and many things. Time makes me impatient to wait for more time. I always ask this. Time, can you come quickly? I need you to pass me through, I can wait no more. But only a silent time that comes through and steps with it's own pace. O, Gosh...I just now realise that I need more time to do my work. Time can you please slow down. Go slower than as you normally do, please! And still you silently come and pass me as quick as you can. O time how misterious you are? Time remains it's misterious and beauty as it has it's own decision to come in a right time.

Count your blessing

One thing that I normally forget during a difficult situation is to realize how have I been lucky and blessed throughout the storybook that notes all my steps in this fragile Earth. If I come to that thought of thinking my blessing I normally become smiling and admit that yes that's true. To have friends that we can ask for help, to have a coffee break, to gain opportunity to study far from home, to have been able to live until now, to have a very kind supervisors, to have invitation for interview, to have a good score of test, to have responses from prospective professors, to receive an allowance, to get a nice flat-screen monitor, to have a wonderful girlfriend ;), to be in a bad situation, to get an abstract rejected, to get a not fortunate email, to face difficulties in thesis, to feel the cold in winter,..., etc are uncountable blessing.

Count your blessing is a sunday school song that is used to make children eager to share testimonies to others. But this too applies to everyone, doesn't it? We need to count the blessing and come to share it. Does uncountable blessing lead to uncountable testimonies? Then the time is not enough in a fellowship to give space for testimony if that happens. Hahaha, we can use blog otherwise. This is also a kind of testimony. Isn't it?

Job, Me and ITC

This morning I woke up quite early. It was still dark outside and there were few cars passing the street. After boiling the water, I took time to read my ODB and the Bible passage. The story was about Job who was in a 'game' between God and Satan. This is one of my favourite stories from Bible where some time I try to compare myself with him when I was facing difficulties. O...No, Job was much more suffering than me. Reading the Job story from Bible, I am sure that he suffered severely.

I try to look myself through what Job has suffered and how he maintained his perceptions. It's so unbelievable for me that he is still faithful to God in facing all his difficulties. I just remember how I some time hate my present condition because so much work to do for my thesis. Haha, I should be thankful while in this situation I still have many things around me and those should convince me to maintain a positive thinking, shouldn't I?

Today ITC was visited by a committee from Dutch accreditation for Higher Education in the Netherlands. And six MSc students were selected to be interviewed by the committee to answer questions about our experiences in ITC. You know what makes this situation a bit difficult? The discussion went like a defense of thesis. Gee, I was asked by the committee to explain about why I selected particular methods for my data collection and why not other methods which is more common for use. And I was a bit surprised because I had not thought that such question would appear in the meeting. Later on I found out that the man who asked was a professor in the methods that I did not use for data collection. Hahaha, that makes sense that he asked me for detail though it's not exactly inline with the purpose of the meeting. This meeting for the accreditation has seemed very crucial and fearful because it has consequences to ITC future. At least that's why I saw from many faces of people there.

So, everyone faces a problem, right?

Wow it's soooooo cold!!!

I am wondering why. This morning I am feeling really cold, though when I looked at the temperature just now, it's about 2 degrees. It's supposed to be fine for me.

Being a researcher?

I have said to myself that I wanna be a true researcher. Shall I reconsider this thought? I am really bored of my thesis. Wooooww...How to cope with this? Any idea?

Thought of Repent and Salvation

Just came across to Bible verses in Revelation 2:16-17"
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it"

There is a time when God can become angry to His people. My remembrance returns again to where I just read a story when God punished Sodom and Gomora. When God asked Elijah to kill all the Baal-Propherts. Well these all are true based on Christian belief in the Bible.

Even though sometime I think it's more difficult to believe in God in these days. Human being has achieved to a level where many things are satisfactory. Without prayer to God it seems we can find way out of our problem. However I myself certain that I can not live without believe in God, but I must say that many people around me find it's 'okay' to live without God. At least that's how it appears to me in my current condition.

This morning, as I said earlier, a verse from Revelation 2:16-17 reminded me that He has his anger. A punishment which leads to eternity if we don't believe in Him. Why that case may happen? According to the Bible, where it have been revealed to many prophets who wrote the Bible, God has a plan to establish a place, a nation where no more sin, evil thing will exist. A place where God as the Creator and us as the creation can be united and no more be separated as we do in this Earth. There actually the basic idea why human needs to repent. Believe Him or not, He does exist.

I started to believe in God wholeheartedly, in October 1996. It was the time where I firstly thought about my eternal future. What a nasty question from someone to me at that time: "Where will you go if you die now?". That question, I must admit, scared me and caused me to feel unsequre in my live during that time. I found out that I could not help myself to be satisfied by my condition. And I came across to some verses in the Bible that strenghtened me that God has his promise to save human being who believe Jesus His son.

From that time up to now, I have realized that God has secured my place in His Kingdom. A place where I would meet other believers, talk about God's mercy and grace, cheer others and share what we have experienced in the previous life. Thank You Lord for Your mercy.