What I learned from "Joker"

“I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it’s a comedy” - Arthur Fleck

That poor guy. Yes, you might have guessed. I just watched the film. It is a beautifully made film yet disturbing. So disturbing that I can’t keep it for myself, I need to discuss it with somebody after the show and now the need to write it down.

After watching the film, some people said, “Bad guys are hurt good guys”. Well, bad guys are the result of bad society, consisting of bad people who tend to do bad things to other people. I mean, why the heck that rascals just hit the clown? He was just doing his job, man. Just because he was a clown doesn’t justify the bullying act. This made me realise how bad the society is, even in real life.  Imagine you are sitting in a cafe. Next to you sits another guy who looks somewhat weird. You have never seen that kind of person before. His skin is too dark. His eyes are… too small, probably. His face is too round. His nose is less pointy and a bit too big. What comes to your mind? Let’s ridicule him? Yes? You are sick. But, hey, you are not alone. They are out there, people with similar thoughts.

The next thing I realised after the film was how important the mental health is. Arthur Fleck had a condition a.k.a. mental illness. His mother was delusional. HE is delusional. He was bullied because of his condition. But he was still functional, the medication and psychiatrist kept him from falling deeper into the hole. Then, it was cut. That’s when everything went from bad to worse, I think.

My friend : “Well, he just had bad luck. Bad things happened to him all the time. He didn’t have somebody to talk to.”
Me : “If he got help, I mean the psychotherapy and the medication weren’t cut, he might still be able to stay functional. ”
My friend : “How can you stay sane when so many bad things happen to you? Plus, he is poor. It won’t make any difference. Let’s say he had money and could afford the therapy, he would still turn out to be Joker anyway.”
Me: “If he were rich, he would become Batman instead”

When you realize your life is a comedy, it's too late

We won't be taken down

It was Monday. A usual Monday in December. Cold. Cloudy.
My life has been flat for the last years, I didn't find it interesting enough to be written in the blog.

It was that Monday. I went to work in the morning. Nothing special happened except me discovering some mistakes on the experiment data. Never. trust. your. computer.
Who likes Monday, anyway?

Whoosh. Fast forward to the afternoon. After my saxophone class I went to have dinner with Mr. Neighbour at the Christmas market not far from where I live. Well, Christmas market is one of the highlights of December. It made the cold winter bearable. Glühwein and potato puffs (with apple mousse) are things you must buy from the market, at least once.

Because I planned to leave Berlin for several days and by the time I was back, the market would be closed, Mr. Neighbour suggested that we had potato puffs there.  So, our favourite place was this particular stand with a little kitsch decoration. It looked like a night club in the 70s. They also played oldies and Christmas songs, which would stay in your ears for hours after leaving the place.

With potato puffs and glühwein on the table, the Christmas in Berlin was complete. It was a normal dinner, really, until several minutes later. We heard quite disturbing sound. Boom! The light chains were moving like crazy as if somebody was pulling and waving them. I told myself, "Maybe a Christmas tree fell down". The lights of the stand across the street was out.

I continued my dinner, although the urge to find out what really happened was there. One thing I learned is that to always stay away from any incident site. We never know what would happened. Two old women behind me walked outside to find out what happened. One came back and said that a truck ran into the market. I didn't take it seriously and told Mr. Neighbour that the two women were being paranoid by associating the incident with the one that had happened in Nice, France. Sirene was heard. Police or ambulance was arriving.

We finished the dinner as if nothing happened. While waiting on the line to return the glasses and plates, one security guy came in and ordered the stand to be closed. The owner didn't like it. The security guy kind of screamed, "What the heck? Some people are dead and you still want to continue opening this stand?"

We walked out the stand. Policemen were outside, asking people to leave and setting police line. I looked around, tables were broken. One stand which sold Christmas decorations wasn't in a good shape. It didn't stand straight anymore. I just wanted to go home. I had a bad feeling. I checked the Internet. Nothing about the incident has been reported yet.

Fifteen minutes later I was home. I turned the TV on. There it was. It was claimed as terrorist attack. Ten people were dead, around 40 were injured. Berlin was in emergency state. I got a goosebumps. My days would never be the same again.

* * *

Two months after the incident. Flowers and candles are still there to remember those who lost their lives. Walking through that place gives you different feeling now. That place will always be the witness that we won't be taken down by such a terror attack.

C(h)oke Bottle

Okay, many people know, Agnes Monica aka Agnez Mo (in her way to go international she has changed her name, or at least her stage name) has launched her first single with Timbaland.

Long before the launching, there was a youtube teaser video of her performing in a club somewhere (claimed to be in the US). Well, in the video, she is dancing but barely putting the microphone before her mouth. Is that really her singing? Or? Well, you know it.

As a used-to-be fan of her when she was a child, I am not so impressed with her mature look and ambition. I mean, she is just simply a copycat mainstream singer. When Pink was popular, she tried to be like Pink: leather jacket, pink punk hair, underground video. Then came Rihanna – she is just like Rihanna wanna be. Then came Beyonce, her concert is just Beyonce-like. Even a friend of mine joked that Beyonce got the concept of the concert from her. And then Lady Gaga, and… well, you know it. Just name any prominent US Divas, she might have copied every each of them.

Inevitable, some of her news stuck in my timeline in twitter. Well, you know, she is famous. More or less, I know what she is up to from her fans aka lovers.

Several weeks ago, she tweeted that her single was at the top of a website, which happens to be the place for illegal downloading. Fine. But, you don’t have to be proud that your hardwork is pirated, right?

At the same time, I saw a tweet about another Indonesian musician, Addie MS. His album topped the iTunes chart. He was surprised, even when he got the news from Apple itself. How about our diva-wanna-be idol? She promoted herself. Of course, with the help of her “lovers”.

So, out of symphathy, I retweeted the link, mentioning her. I wanted to say, being humble never hurts. It is better than campaigning all over the world without a concrete result. Then, here comes the interesting story.

One of her fans told me that her song is not sold in iTunes Store Indonesia, but only in the US and Australia. I couldn’t compare it to Addie MS, whose album “only” charted the Store in Indonesia (although I can also find it in the US Store). Fine. I went to the US iTunes Store, searched with some keywords (including the “alay” one like Agnez Mooohhh – ah, it reminds me of a cheese advertisement). And tadaaaaaaa……. Nothing!

I later learned that her single was released last week. And as usual, her fans are screaming that her single is charting the iTunes Store in the US. Ouw, not bad. Her dream might come true. Searching in Google, what I found were some websites written by Indonesians living in the US. Maybe one of her friends who happened to let her stay at his house.  Here is the funny part of the blog:

“People here in the states may not know who she is, but Agnez Mo happens to be the most decorated pop star in Indonesia. (Feel free to go to Wikipedia and provide more info).”

Well, you count on Wikipedia to decide somebody is famous? (Go create your own page and you are famous!).

As a matter of fact, I think it is unfair if I only look for information created by “haters”. So, trying to be neutral, I went to iTunes Chart Top 100, with the hope to find her face there. At first, I was so happy that I thought I saw her face at position 3. But too bad, it was not her, it was her idol, Lady Gaga. Ah, maybe she imitated Gaga so well that I couldn’t differentiate them anymore.

So, in order to verify the news, I tweeted the link and mention her. Who knows, she might give me some insight. Then came her lover, maybe without even clicking the link, stated that the link I posted was made by haters. Hello? Tell me how this website can be a hater-made http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/. Even if they are, they won’t even sell her single  at the first place.

Well, at least, I got what I wanted: reading her fans reactions. You know, they are bunch of fanatic fans with no…. Ah, you decide.

A Tooth Fairy's Tale

When I was studying in the States, we were required to do some sort of assignments called “reflexive questions”. It consisted of several questions about activities you have done and how you felt and what benefits or loss you might conclude from the experiences. The purpose: do something, learn from it, which in the end, learn about yourself. That, plus the great possibility that I suffer from histrionic personality disorder (really, the more I think about it, the more I am sure I have a personality disorder), makes me reflect on what has just happened to me and the reason behind it.

Some of you who have known me for quite a long time – especially if we went to seafood restaurants quite often – might have seen me crushing crab shell or opening a bottle of beer or biting off a label tag with my teeth. You might have felt the pain within yourself, as if YOU yourself had done one of those things.

Well, last weekend I had toothache (again, the same tooth for probably the last three years). I knew it clearly, as it has always been, that I wasn’t fit. This particular tooth was filled when I was in the high school. And everytime I am dehydrated or about to catch a cold, it hurts, as if giving me signal that I need to pay attention to my body and health. I took it for granted. I drank a lot of water, slept or recuperated myself as soon as I noticed the signal. Good thing is: the pain went away as soon as my body was fit again.

But, this time, things are different. The pain stayed put. It dragged my gum since Thursday (or probably Wednesday) and didn’t go away until Monday, regardless what I did to reduce it. On Tuesday, I decided to see a dentist, which I believe is not anyone’s favourite thing. The dentist decided to drill a hole in that tooth so that the heat, as a side effect of inflammation on the gum, to break out from my mouth. I had to go back the next day. He couldn’t pull it out as the inflammation was still there. “Come back tomorrow and hopefully it is fit enough to be pulled,” he said.

On the next day, I was ready and so far three dentists have handled me. The newest dentist tried to pull the whole tooth. This is understandable as it takes shorter time, less work and everybody is happy. But he failed.

“I need to cut the tooth into two so that I can pull each part of the root,” he explained.

I looked at the four surgery lamps above me with the hope that they could blind all my senses. Maybe this is why people hate going to see dentist.

He finally cut it and tried one more time. I don’t need to explain how it felt like when he hold the half-tooth and made a circular movement. He couldn’t do it, either. Oh, good. Then came the second doctor, a rather cool one with ponytail. He took a look and took over the surgery. Oh, man, I bet he does weightlifting quite regularly. I even felt numb on my anaesthetized left jaw when he finally pulled out one part of the tooth.

Thanks. That helped.

The new doctor continued the work. After a little more efforts, he finally took the second part.

Oh, thank God.

“Wait, what is this part?”

Wait. What?

“There is something more. Be patient, we’ll be finishing soon,” he looked at me smiling, trying to soothe me.

After the cracking and wooshing sounds from the machine, the tooth was finally gone. And here comes the explanation.

“Your tooth has three roots, that’s unusual. As you may have known, most teeth have two roots only,” he showed me a picture of anatomy of tooth. “We didn’t see it on X-ray because the film is two-dimensional, and this one hide behind the other.”

“Another thing that makes our surgery today a little difficult is that the root is not pointy at the end as the usual root. Yours are a bit thick at the end. Imagine pulling a bended nail,” he smiled.

As a bonus, I was allowed to see my tooth before it was thrown away. I saw at least six pieces bloody calcium. 

What a tooth!

After that I kind of thought to myself: That is why, I was able to bite off those hard things. Some of them might have more than two roots. I felt grateful that I decided not to wear a brace seven years ago. Maintaining my uniqueness is more important than having the same look like others as I might be defined by my teeth.

Eternal Rivalry and The Victim

One, who is a psychology student or having interest in psychology, should know Sigmund Freud.  Well, in case you don’t know, he is (or was, I am having difficulties to decide which tenses to use) the founding father of Psychoanalysis – once one of  the popular fields in psychology. And his fundamental theory about personality is the Id, Ego and Superego. Some people, including me, have difficulties differentiating those three, which are responsible for our behavior. Some of you may argue that his theory is outdated. But believe me, if you trace deep enough through the modern psychology, you will come back to these famous three.

Okay, enough about psychology and Freud. Let’s talk about those three directors of ours. Id is the part of you, that wants to enjoy the life as pleasantly as possible. That includes all the hedonic urges in you – hunger, sex, buying expensive but unimportant things. On the other hand, there is the police of the mind – the Superego – who regulate or limit the Id so that you don’t live like animals or simply destroy yourself with those desires. So, everytime you want to do something - or behave - these two legendary rivals will fight, or I should say, negotiate. Imagine the devil-and-angel thing like in films or cartoons. The result, or the treaty, of the negotiation is the Ego, things you finally express in your behavior – smiling and say no when a stranger gives you something or nod your head in front of your parents although you didn’t agree with what they say.

And of course, there come times when your Id is so strong but your Superego is surprisingly diligent in doing its work. For example, you want to swear (name all the derogatory words, mostly marked with derog. in a dictionary) but your social values don’t allow it. One thing I find interesting is how our Ego turns out to be, accommodating the hateful feeling yet socially accepted.

Instead of saying the word that means excrement, some people say “Shoot!”, with the same intention and tone of swearing, of course. Some replace the word which means sexual intercourse with “Fudge!”. If you are following the series How I Met Your Mother, you will learn many replacements – such as surgeon for a person who hasn’t had an intercourse or witch as in wicked witch to refer to seducing, annoying behavior of a woman or sandwich as a reference to the leaves that is illegal in most part of the world. In this way, they are safe from trouble: when somebody got mad, they could say, “I didn’t say the bad words.” At the same time, their loath was expressed.

Some people go smarter. Instead of showing one forbidden finger, some show three fingers with the caption “read between the lines”. Or pretending to rub their chin or eye, but the only active finger is that particular finger – as for this one, some do it subconsciously – and here comes another theme: defense mechanism. Oops!

Remember: there will always be a negotiation between Id and Superego within you. And the result is your Ego, for example, this article (and the avoidant of some words, oh, you know what I mean).

Common Courtesy

If you are attending a meeting, a lecture or a conference in a hall, what are the common courtesies, especially regarding the noise?

Would you talk your friend sitting next to you every two minute or so?

No.

Even if you wanted to talk, would it be about the on-going lecture or mostly something totally unrelated to the topic?

Preferably regarding the topic: something I don’t understand, something I find interesting, something I want my friend to discuss with me later on.

Would you turn your phone to silent mode?

Yes. But sometimes I forgot and the host reminded the audience. It would be very embarrassing if my phone rang when the hall was silent.

If you didn’t know how, would you ask your daughter or somebody else to help out?

Good idea. My daughter might understand the gadget better than I do.

Even if that didn’t help, would you turn it off instead?

Uh, yes. I decided to attend the meeting, lecture, etc. That means I have already dedicated my time to the event. Unless something really urgent took place, other things going through my phone should wait.

Good. At least you know what the common courtesies in the meeting hall are.

Unfortunately, some Indonesians do not know these courtesies, at least in the event I was in today. Let me tell you more.

Every last Sunday of the month, there is a ‘sarasehan’ (discussion forum) at Rumah Budaya Indonesia (Indonesian Cultural Center) in Berlin. People (mostly German) who had been (or currently) living, working or studying in Indonesia are invited to share their experiences. It is a good way to learn about Indonesia, which is very rich in cultures and natural resources. And today’s topic is Makassar and I found this very interesting because as a person living in west part of Indonesia, Makassar and eastern Indonesia is as foreign as Timbuktu to me.

It started (surprisingly) on time with a guest speaker from Jakarta, a staff from Educational and Cultural Minister, proposing and asking feedback for government's plan to disseminate Indonesian Cultural Centers in several countries.

And so I was sitting quite in the middle row because the first 10 rows were occupied. Behind me sat two Indonesian women. One was in her 50-60s. Another one was in her 20s, probably her daugther. They were sitting next to the guest speaker’s assistant. As soon as the assistant left the seat, the two women started to discussed whether or not the assistant were married, whether or not she had close relationship with some prominent figures in Indonesia. They stopped when the assistant was back.

As the second speaker started to speak, the two women also started their own conversation. At the beginning it was about what the speaker was talking about. Oh, the speaker spoke German and without microphone. So, one of the women might not understand that well and need some explanation. Since my German is not good enough, I need to really listen, too.

Ten minute later, the women changed the topic: where to go on the weekend? why was A so late? what to buy for the house? Started to feel annoyed, I looked back with the hope they understood and stopped talking. Previously, a German woman had given the same look to them. They looked at me back, smiling. Good. They seemed understood my non-verbal language. Oh, I am glad I study psychology.

Two minutes later, the same thing happened again. I moved my chair a little bit forward, again, with the hope they understood I was disturbed. I wouldn’t care should they spoke some languages I didn’t understand. But I understood Indonesian and their voices were audible without me having to ‘really’ overhear them. I am a poor audible person and with the two ways of information sources, my mind found difficulties to divide the attention (although I didn’t want to know what they were talking about, but because I understood the language, my mind automatically processed the information, plus I needed extra concentration because my listening to German was not so good). Trying not to be rude, I applied every non-verbal language I could think of at that moment to tell the two women.

Ten minute later I gave up.

I decided to be a little bit assertive. I asked the two women not to talk too loud. The younger woman turned and looked at me. Her brows were raised closer, her left part of the lips were raised. Her head were raised a little bit. She rolled her eyeballs to the left, looking at me one more time. But after that, they decided not to talk and communicate using their Blackberries.

A ha!

Being assertive was not that bad at all. I got the silence for almost all the lecture until I heard a regular “triiiing” – typical BBM tone. But since it was almost at the end of the lecture and the ringtone didn’t break my attention, I could only shake my head everytime I heard the “triiiing” sound, again, with the hope they realized what they were doing.

After the lecture, I was relieved that I was finally free from the disturbance. I stood up and decided to go to toilet. I was waiting for the next person when the same woman looked at me disgustedly and furily from the line to the lunch table. It was the younger woman who sat behind me. I tried to smile but it didn’t seem to help. Everytime she had a chance, she looked at me, with the same expression. She and her family were talking to somebody working at the Embassy.

Maybe she thought she knew somebody important here and I didn’t have the right to tell them what to do in a meeting? Or who the heck was this new guy trying to tell me what to do in my territory?

Let me tell you girl, you are a representative of your country. Know the common courtesy and show a good image of an Indonesian. That will help creating good image of Indonesia abroad. Knowing somebody important in the Embassy doesn't mean you can do whatever you like. This rule applies everywhere, girl.

Okay, even if you thought my request was too direct and feel offended, hello??? How long have you been living in Berlin if you are not used to the openness and directness of Berliners? You may maintain all your values from Indonesia but if you don’t try to adapt and adjust to the new culture, believe me, you are not going anywhere.

Till we meet again.

From Paris With Love: O-esyiki

Minggu lalu saya berkesempatan mengikuti perayaan O-esyiki (upacara peringatan moksyanya Buddha Nichiren Daisyonin, upacara tahunan terpenting bagi umat Nichiren Syosyu di seluruh dunia) di kuil Shingyoji di Prancis. Berikut adalah kesan saya selama upacara dan perbandingannya dengan upacara yang diadakan di Indonesia.

18 Okt 2012 – Tiba di Paris

Berhubung hanya ada dua kuil di Eropa, yaitu di Prancis dan Spanyol, semua umat di sini “harus berkelana” ke salah satu kuil untuk mengikuti upacara yang dipimpin oleh Bhikkhu. Kemudian saya tahu dari salah satu umat Prancis bahwa Bhikkhu pimpinan kuil di Spanyol sedang sakit dan sudah kembali ke Jepang. Praktis, seluruh umat di Eropa hanya punya satu pilihan.

Saya dan seorang teman dari Medan memutuskan untuk berangkat dari Berlin menggunakan budget airline. Maklum, kami hanyalah mahasiswa dengan pendapatan pas-pasan. Perjuangan saya sendiri diwarnai dengan denda sekitar 40 Euro ketika ingin mencari tahu letak bandara. Pelajaran: kalau memang jodoh saya harus menghabiskan uang sejumlah tertentu, tidak ada cara untuk menghindarinya.

Kuil Shingyoji terletak di 25 Rue Carnot, Montreuil, Prancis. Montreuil adalah daerah pinggiran kota Paris, bejarak sekitar tujuh kilometer dari pusat kota. Kami sengaja mencari hotel yang dekat dengan kuil. Alasannya, lebih praktis dan bisa ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki sekitar 10-15 menit.

20 Okt 2012 – Upacara Ottaya

Karena acara gongyo sore diadakan pada pukul 15:00, kami pun mengarah ke kuil sekitar satu jam sebelumnya, setelah makan siang di daerah pecinan Paris. Dari statsiun terdekat, Croix de Chavaux – M9, kami harus berjalan mencari lokasi kuil. Untunglah kami punya peta di tangan dan dengan bantuan Google Map, kami berhasil menemukan kuilnya.

Melihat bentuk kuil di Prancis, gambaran saya tentang kuil agak terganggu karena kuil-kuil di Indonesia dan Jepang yang pernah saya lihat rata-rata berupa bangunan besar dengan ornamen-ornamen khas kuil seperti bentuk atap dan ukiran-ukiran. Kuil di Prancis terlihat seperti rumah penduduk lainnya: dua tingkat, berpagar dan bergarasi. Ketika melihat gambar kuil melalui Google Map, saya agak ragu sebenarnya. Tapi ketika tiba di tempat dan bertemu dengan orang-orang yang ramah dengan sapaan “Bonjour”, saya yakin bahwa kami tidak salah lokasi.

Di meja resepsionis, kami harus mendaftar ulang dan menitipkan jaket atau tas kepada penerima tamu. Umat tidak membayar untuk mengikuti upacara seperti di Indonesia, karena di sini tidak disediakan penginapan dan makanan berat. Juga tidak ada acara pertemuan atau kesenian seperti di Indonesia.

Ruangan gongyo terletak di lantai tiga. Sayang sekali, gongyo telah dimulai ketika kami tiba sehingga harus puas duduk di lantai dua dengan menonton dari televisi kecil yang disediakan.

Selesai gongyo dan sambil menunggu upacara Ottaiya pada pukul 16:30, kami pun berkenalan dan mengobrol dengan umat-umat dari negara-negara lain di Eropa. Sebuah pengalaman menarik bertemu dengan orang-orang yang percaya hukum agama Buddha di negara-negara yang didominasi agama Kristen. Kemudian saya tahu bahwa ada sekitar 200an umat dari Prancis, Austria, Belgia, Jerman, Italia, Serbia, Spanyol dan Swiss yang turut hadir dalam perayaan O-syiki kali ini.

Sekitar 15 menit sebelum upacara dimulai, panitia memberitahukan peserta untuk segera memasuki ruangan gongyo. Umat di sini agaknya lebih tertib dan teratur karena dalam sekejap, taman di belakang kuil yang tadinya ramai tiba-tiba menjadi lengang.

Saya pun naik ke atas, memasuki ruangan gongyo yang berukuran sekitar 4x10 meter. Tidak seperti di Indonesia, umat di sini berdoa dengan duduk di kursi panjang yang disusun berderet. Tiba-tiba saya teringat dengan vihara di Medan. Ruangannya cukup besar namun umatnya sering mengeluh viharanya terlalu kecil dan tidak terjaga.

Sekitar 100 orang mengikuti upacara Ottaiya. Ada yang datang sendiri, bersama pasangan atau keluarga. Melihat umat-umat yang semangat, saya jadi malu sendiri karena jarang gongyo di rumah.

Upacara harus dilakukan dua kali karena ruangan tidak cukup untuk menampung semua umat yang hadir. Karena tidak ada acara lain setelah itu, kami pun pulang sementara umat lain mengikuti upacara shift kedua.

21 Okt 2012 – Gongyo Pagi, Upacara O-esyiki dan makan siang

Gongyo pagi dimulai pukul 8:00. Karena bangun agak telat, kami harus buru-buru berjalan kaki tanpa sarapan terlebih dahulu. Untunglah kami tiba tepat waktu. Selesai gongyo, kami disuguhkan teh atau kopi.

Upacara O-esyiki shift pertama diadakan pukul 10:00. Kami mendapat shift kedua yang diadakan pada pukul 11:30. Sambil menunggu, umat berpindah ke bangunan di seberang sambil menonton video Tozan Umat Luar Negeri 2009. Karena rasa lapar yang tak tertahankan, saya memutuskan untuk keluar sambil mencari sarapan dan melihat daerah sekitar kuil dan berhenti di sebuah kedai kopi sambil mengamati kegiatan orang-orang di pasar tradisional Prancis.

Saya kembali ke kuil untuk mengikuti upacara, yang lebih kurang sama dengan upacara di Indonesia. Yang saya rindukan dari upacara di Indonesia adalah acara salam-salaman dan cipika-cipiki sembari mengucapkan “Selamat O-esyiki”. Sepertinya itu memang budaya khas Indonesia.

Selesai upacara, umat-umat berpindah ke gedung sebelah yang lebih besar untuk acara makan siang. Sepertinya gedung itu memang sering digunakan untuk acara lain seperti acara kesenian atau pemutaran film. Sambil menunggu, umat-umat bisa menonton video atau melihat galeri foto kegiatan umat Prancis. Sekali lagi, saya terkesima dengan keseriusan umat-umat di sini dalam melaksanakan hati kepercayaan.

Sekitar pukul 13:00, Y.A. Nakano, pemimpin kuil Shingyoji yang juga pernah bertugas beberapa tahun di Indonesia, memasuki ruangan. Seperti di Indonesia, umat-umat sangat antusias untuk mengobrol atau berfoto bersama. Umat-umat Indonesia yang sudah tinggal di Eropa pun tidak ketinggalan.

Salah satu hal yang menarik di sini dan tidak saya temukan di Indonesia adalah acara kan-pai atau bersulang. Setiap umat mendapat segelas kecil wine dan Y.A. Nakano membuka acara makan siang dengan memimpin kan-pai. Menu makanan juga khas Eropa: salad, keju, daging ayam, sejenis bruschetta (potongan roti dengan topping) dan cocktail snack. Acara makan siang seperti acara standing party. Umat mengambil makanan dan mengobrol sambil minum atau makan. Saya sendiri minum sekitar empat gelas kecil wine dan segelas kecil liquor sampai sedikit mabuk.

Pukul 16:30 diadakan gongyo sore dan pembagian bunga sakura kertas. Umat-umat pun pulang sembari menggenggam setangkai panjang bunga sakura berwarna merah jambu. Khas  O-esyiki. Ada beberapa umat yang ditanya warga sekitar tentang bunga tersebut dan mereka dengan senang hati menjelaskan tentang Buddhisme. Umat-umat pun kembali ke hotel atau langsung kembali ke negara masing-masing.

Selamat O-esyiki.

Foto bersama Y.A. Nakano, Vera Kusuma, Stephen dan Kirana

Urban Jazz Crossover 2012: Very Indonesia

Performers of Urban Jazz Cross Over 2012 Jakarta

As you entered the hall of Fairground (SCBD, Jakarta), you know that you are going to experience jazz in a new different way. You saw a lot of people waiting in line; the door to the concert hall wasn’t opened yet despite it was almost 7 p.m. You looked at the ticket you bought for IDR 100,000. It was written: concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Never mind, you said, it was Friday(13/7) night anyway.

Double Shots

As usual, I was sitting on a table in a coffee-chain store at a mall in Jakarta. My laptop was in front of me, a cup of half-drunk coffee stared at me, cables were around – adding a complete mess to the table.

I felt the urge to smoke a cigarette after sitting, working on my assignments for hours. I went outside to the smoking area.

Five minutes after my coming back to the table, a woman approached me. She was no more than 30 years old. She introduced herself, asking for my time. I said yes.

The Sign Is Out There

All the people in the world are equal. God created humans with the same rights, regardless of their skin color or ethnicity. Therefore, it is unbearable if someone underestimates others because they have different skin color. You have to be kind to everyone you know. You have to treat people equally.

Transjakarta Has Ladies Area in the Bus

Ladies, you are special in Jakarta!

I found this out when I stepped into the (reliable?) public transportation in Jakarta called Transjakarta this morning. As usual, river of people flew from the waiting station to the bus after waiting for a couple of minutes. Because the front part of the bus was a bit vacant (compared to the packed rear part of the bus), I walked forward and held on the rail. I never expect to get a seat in the “busway” (called this way because the bus has a special lane on the street, in short, busway). Some lucky women who got the seats looked at me. Because of my hairdo? No. As the bus went on, I looked around and read everything readable. Then my eyes stuck at a sticker on the window.“Ladie’s area” is written. (I have to admit, the people working in the company might not have good English).

Ending Is Another Beginning

Without realizing it, time has flown. I felt like we were asked to learning blogging and multimedia journalism a week ago and now this will serve as the last post for the class.

I have been involving in more news story journalism during the past two quarters, so I got a bit of overview about what journalism is about.  It is about gathering facts (information) and presenting them in a good flow of story to the public. It was more about writing a news story or brief. However, Multimedia Journalism class has brought me to another level of reporting news. Journalism is not only about written stories. There are a lot of ways to present an idea.

Let’s start with slideshows. I mean, just a couple of pictures and cutlines arranged in a comprehensive flow of story can be a powerful reporting media. Even though I was a bit confused with the regular cutlines in my slideshow, I think creating a slideshow is a doable task. People say, a picture can say 1000 words. Forget the hustle bustle of text, here are the pictures of what is happening.

Pictures also serve as descriptive tools on a narrative. I remembered a friend of mine using pictures of closed-down buildings to describe his editorial about the impact of financial crisis on small business. Should that editorial go plain narrative, I wouldn’t have felt touched. As I might going on a career as a photojournalist, this class (along with my internship and college newspaper assignments) has taught me the importance of pictures and how to produce a storytelling picture.

I have been blogging (mostly for my own life journal) for about seven years now but only recently did I learn about using blog for journalistic purpose. I read some journalistic blogs before but never really thought of using mine to serve that purpose. Hence, another new idea on developing my blog.

The last thing that I don’t really think I would go on is video reporting. It is nice to see the final product but the works do not worth the outcome. It takes too many working hours but will attract less viewership compared to the written article or slideshow. However, the class has pushed me to work with storyboard and recording video interview, which I would reluctant to do. I have had this kind of anxious talking with or interview people for my story, and plus asking permission for video recording? Too much. Nevertheless, I kind of broke through my own boundaries. To be honest, I started to enjoy interviewing people and writing stories.

Too bad that the class is about to end. But no matter what, I will carry on with the skills I learned. As I said before, I’m planning on being a photojournalist, for real!

Keep the fingers crossed.

Online News

How do you know if you have done a good job in journalism? Well, you can always evaluate yourself but it seems to me that it will be more objective to let other people judge your works.

In terms of online journalism, there is Online News Association that gives awards in 30 categories to online news outlet (from small to large sites) every year. Last year, they announced 30 outlets in 27 categories.

Al Jazeera won the breaking news, large site award for their coverage on uprising in Egypt.

Looking at the site, I kind of understand why they won. For almost all issue in the Middle East, there will always be in-depth article, video, and blog that shows journalistic values in the site. They also schedule real-time reporting on Syria, for example, which indicates the timelines of the news. When the world is looking for information on Middle East, Al Jazeera is at the right place. They understand the field better than other news outlet.

As for the coverage on uprising in Egypt, users are presented with a one-minute-forty-second video on occupy of Tahrir Square and the trial of Hosni Mubarak, former president of Egypt. Not only that, the video also shows how people react on the verdict.  What makes it more breaking news is the live blog Egypt, which is updated almost every two hours or so.

Timeliness is playing a key role in the news, especially for online (and breaking) news. So, if you decide to walk on the path, at least you know what it takes to be a good one.

Interview 1: Raw

So, here is the first interview for my final project on Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA).
There will be another video later this week.

Vblog: Story Idea on ORCA

So, there is another challenge in this Multimedia Journalism class: making a video blog.

I decided to tell you about my plan on my final project on ORCA. It is interesting to know about the activities in the program. I was there several times. I wish I could enroll in the program because I'm interested in science and it is cool to observe marine animals in a water tank.

If you want to find out more, wait until I finish my final project.

In the meantime, please enjoy my first video blog.

As A Matter of Manner

Once I saw a book called “Otak Sejuta Gigabyte” (One Million Gigabyte Brain), originally titled “The Great Memory Book” by Eric Jensen, M.A. and Karen Markowitz, M.A. It is about how to use simple memory technique to recall names, places, etc. The bottom line: how to use boost your brain to store one million gigabyte of memory.

However, the rest of the blog is not about how we can use the brain, but, rather, about how sometimes the memory can fool you.

In our social life, there are certain responses that go together – either they are to show politeness or just a mere habitual things.

For example, if people say “Thank you” to you, what will you response?

“You’re welcome” (good one!)

Or, if somebody asks you “Do you want some drink?”, the polite way to refuse is to say what?

“No, thanks.” (awesome!)

Enough for the manner lesson. Sometimes we are so used to the pairs that the brain does not really process the questions before giving a response.

Scene 1:

I was on the bus to the downtown for a grocery shopping. The bus gradually stoped. My friend and I walked on the alley towards the front door. As a matter of manner (no pun intended), my friend said, “Thank you, Sir” to the bus driver. The bus driver (and some other passengers)) laughed. What’s wrong? The bus driver was a woman!

Scene 2:

I was walking down a street going back to my apartment. Somebody on the street asked me, “do you have a cigarette?” Without consulting with the brain, my mouth threw out “No, thanks.” Ten steps away, my brain accused my responsive mouth “you should have answered, ‘No, sorry’”.

Scene 3:

Day 1: Staff at the cafetaria : “Have a great day!”

            Me: “You, too.”

Day 2: Staff at the cafetaria : “Have a good lunch!”

            Me: “You, too.”

            Three second later I told myself, “She didn’t have lunch, she was working.”

Scene 4: 

I was riding an automatic motorbike (a good friend let me ride it after my manual motorbike was sold). Everytime I slowed down or I felt that I need to accelerate the speed, my foot stepped to change the gear. I was stepping on the air as there was no gear on the bike.

Scene 5:

Stranger: "How are you doing?"

Me: (hatchoo!!!) "I'm good, thanks."

(Help!) Ideas

As we are entering the second half of the quarter, here comes the most difficult part of the class: story ideas. Not that it is hard to come out with ideas, but there are too many ideas to pick. I want to do this, I want to do that.

So, after those ideas were competing for almost a week, here are the top two:

1.     CCID (Community College for International Development) program

Focus: what is CCID? What does it do good for the U.S.? What’s the contribution to EvCC? How regular student perceived the fact that the students are funded by the Department of State?

Possible use of multimedia: interview video (Craig Lewis as program liaison, Phebe Shen as program coordinator, one of CCID students), slide show or video on CCID students activities.

2.     APSU (Asian/Pacific Islander Student Union) – one of the most active student clubs in EvCC.

Focus: what is APSU? Who are the members? What do they do?

Possible use of multimedia: interview of members, slide shows on activities, video of one of the meeting.

Those are the two that I think possible to be reported.

Please tell me which one you like the most.

Should you have any other input, please tell me on comment.

A Story of A Storyboard

Editor: “Let’s report a story using video.”

Student journalist: “It’s video reporting time. Yay!”

Editor: “Are you ready?”

Student journalist: (looking for a camera) “This camera is too big, can I use my iPhone instead?”

Editor: “Sure.”

Student journalist: “Okay. I’m ready to go out and shoot.” (standing eagerly)

Editor: “Wow, hold on. Calm down. Before you go out and shoot, let’s plan the things you should shoot and how they are shot.”

Student journalist: (sighing disappointedly) “I thought what we need is to contact the source and shoot. Isn’t that the tip: shoot, shoot and shoot?”

Editor: “It’s true. But you don’t want to waste the memory by shooting aimlessly, do you? Let’s start with making a storyboard.”

Student journalist: “Storyboard?”

Editor: “Yes. Storyboard is a sketch of how to organize the story and a list of its content.“

Student journalist: “But, I cannot draw.”

Editor: ”Not necessary. You can make a storyboard using stick figure.”

Student journalist: “Well, why bother drawing if the picture is in my head? I mean, I know what I’m doing.”

Editor: “Well, the pictures help you define the scope of the project. Storyboard will help you define the focus of the story. Once you are done you can swap the pictures for a better flow and sequence.”

Student journalist: “I see. Should I make my own box?”

Editor: “It’s up to you. You can choose any available template you want or using a software.”

Student journalist: (fishing his iPhone back to his pocket) “See you soon, video camera. Let’s make a storyboard.”

Editor: (handing sheets of paper) “Here are some tips you can use to make your own storyboard. Make sure you finish it quickly, we’re on deadline.”

Student journalist: “But, I have just learned about it.”

Editor: “No excuse. I want it in my office at 2. You hear me?”

Student journalist: “Aye, aye, Capt’n.”

Sakura-Con 2012 in einem Blick

If you like anime but miss the last Sakura-Con in Seattle, here is an overview of what happened in Washington Convention and Trade Center on April 7-9, 2012.

(The music "Wind" by Akeboshi is the ending theme of Naruto, which was the reason I followed the series)

Geography and Song

The latest issue of the Clipper discusses about meme(s), especially those that are trending in the Internet. So, what’s meme, you ask.

Basically, it is the idea that goes viral. The easiest example to think of is your friend hums a song and you start singing that song or the song plays in your mind for at least the next 30 minutes and you hate yourself of not being able to stop singing.

Personally, songs have been a powerful tool to pass a message or ideas. Long before I came to the U.S., I have learned about its geography (or at least names of cities and states) through songs.

Everytime I hear the word Long Beach, the song “Sway” plays in my mind as the advertisement of Long Beach cigarette used it as jingle.

The same thing goes to Georgia. Since I know the song (Michael Bolton version), originally popularized by Ray Charles, it’s very difficult for me to mention the word Georgia without singing “Georgia….”

“So, if we go up north, where would we end up to?” I asked my friend when we were driving to Orlando during my winter break vacation.

“Oh, Florida’s northern border is Georgia,” he said.

“I said Georgia… “ I started singing.

He laughed.

Alabama follows suit. Who doesn’t know “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd? (well, if you don’t know, start asking Uncle Google). Or try listen to “Oh Susanna” written by Stephen Foster.

Bee Gees also helped me learning about Massachusetts. Everytime I heard that word, I started singing “Feel I’m going back… to Massachusetts. Something’s telling me, I must go home…” (I’m still singing while typing this).

As for California, it came to me as a song when I watched a film by Wong Kar Wai titled “Chungking Express”. The woman character played by Faye Wong like listening to “California Dreaming” everytime she was doing her job cleaning up an apartment.

On top of all, stood Frank Sinatra with his New York, New York. When I first arrived New York, this song kept playing in my mind. I couldn’t stop singing “Start spreading the news…” for the first 30 minutes since I first step foot on the train station.

Thinking back to my origin, Indonesian songs taught me about cities, too. Kla Project expressed their admiration to Yogyakarta in a song. For sure, if you have ever visited the city, you might be fascinated by the people as described in the song.

Rita Effendi told me about Dili, a capital of Timor Leste, in her song “Januari di Kota Dili.” However, the song was made long before the country separated from Indonesia.

Kuta and Bali were already popular without needing any help from musician. But still, Andre Hehanusa’s Kuta-Bali was a great song to listen to.

So, I said Georgia… (with the hope that you will sing a part of the song).