Keeping up with me

Hi, you!

I am writing a post now, finally, five months after my last entry. Was I too busy to stop doing activities and write here? Hmm not really, but the facts are; last June was full of deadlines before summer holiday; July and August were spent in delightful Indonesia; September was tensed because of .. a lot of things. It is mid-October already when life is at last adjusted with Universiteit Utrecht's pace-rhythm for a moment, just before the exam period is waiting in the corner of the month. Well, my bigger problem is, finding a thesis-internship, which is not difficult but definitely not easy. I am 80% excited with all these possible developments for my near future, and the rest of it is a mixed feeling of anxiety and desperateness hahaha.

Also, still in the realm of college life, I feel like my confidence (not that I usually have enough of it) is falling free stylishly from a cliff. As everyone knows, my academic English skill is not decent at all, but I feel like it becomes worse lately than ever. I guess, the perfect combination of two comments on my research proposal that said 'your grammar is lacking' and endless days of speaking that language made me even more inferior. Last year, I realized that I got so many back-ups with group projects (there would always be a final editor before report submission) that make my shortcoming stayed off the radar. However, now, with constant individual assignments (esp. with peer review), I need the urge to proof-read my paper before clicking that send/submit button. I also signed up for premium Grammarly and new academic writing class by PPI Utrecht, all in all for my Achilles heel.

Enough with the rambling, maybe I will just spam the rest of this post with pictures. Yes, pictures always cure!

Too much pictures? Indeed! The first one is what left from the Ramadhan dinner with Utrecht Moslem group (as Andri calls it), the second is my beloved family, the 3rd and  4th pictures are typical Indonesian tourist spots, 5-6-7th are the memory of visiting amazing Disneyland and Studios!  8th is the garden of Palais Het Loo (the one full of  Late Queen Wilhemina's vibe), while the rest are just me showing off my friend and I, strutting along Hoge Veluwe  

What else can I say here? Too many stories I want to share but my limited brain capacity to write in English won't take us any further. Oh, and I am going to Schiphol today, to bid a farewell to Puti, one of my closest friend in Utrecht :'( She is finished with everything and will fly back to Indonesia for good (at least for now). I'm losing my friend one by one.

Till we meet again,

Noya

Sweet dream are made of this

Yesterday, I watched four movies in a row as addition of wake up lazily (i.e. very late) in the morning and basically laid all day long on my bed. As usual, I regretted my decision to be such a couch potato on a quite sunny (and supposed to be productive) day thus I went to sleep with a determination to do better. But then.. here I am writing a post about how useless was my life yesterday instead of working on a stack of assignments that waiting for me gracefully. But really - in all of seriousness, these two courses I have for this block are not to be played with. June - particularly after the 2nd week - might be the death of me because there are at least 5 reports, 2 presentations, and 2 exams. Ok, let have anxiety attack again, writing about this. Both of the course are actually very interesting, one is about the legal framework (what, who, and how) that govern one's water resource. Thanks to this course, I figure out that Indonesian Law of UU No. 7/2004 about Water Resource is revoked, in the name of avoiding further privatization of water management. As I dwell more into the case of water allocation in Indonesia, now I realize that my insight about many issues are actually only on par with Jon Snow get the reference? eh-eh-eh? not funny? no? The other course is a bit technical on how you can treat water to get potable grade quality yet there are several points of chemistry are involved which made it more challenging to understand -- as it is my first time to learn (basic) chemistry with English ;) There are a lot of things I can complain about but hey, it never made anything better though. In addition of all those new knowledge I got from the courses, I learned another state-of-the-art perspective last week, about circular economy where you won't talk about cradle to grave cycle of life but it should be from cradle to cradle. Sounds like sustainability? It is!

On another report, last week, Irene, Ahma, and I had the chance to join pm2am trip to Switzerland where we visited Rhine Waterfall (ahey I went to the upstream part of the most talked river on my class), Lucerne, and Zurich. Those places were magical with majestic eternal snow in Alpen range as background and both Lucerne and Zurich lake up front as far as your eyes can observe. The trip was overall worth the price, since I only had to pay 65e for transportation (back and forth), yet the long duration you have to sit in the bus without any plug nor wifi was a bit torturing ahah.

well, Switzerland is beautiful and all but sure I won't make it to live there unless I inherit enough from a Sultan

Back to the movies I watched last Friday; I was actually needed an escape from reality for a moment thus four old school movies (80s-90s) were somehow succeeded to transform the ambiance around. The thing is, I watched those four movies with a very different plot and genre, in a row which of course caused one of the drawback as I couldn't absorb all those meaning and lingering feel after. The first movie is Fast Time in Ridgemont High (1982) with its usual conflict happened in 80s high school: normal girl that never have sex wants a boyfriend-finally have sex but not a proper boyfriend-having fun anyway-get pregnant-realize she did wrong-one decent guy helps her. Young Sean Penn is looked stoned as ever ahah, he is the highlight of the show. Second, I watched Beetlejuice (1988) where you fell in love with Alec Baldwin-Geena Davis-Winona Ryder as the protagonist and loath Michael Keaton as this naughty evil bio-exorcist (guess again? yes, it is human removal service who live in a haunted house). Anyway, I never know that Baldwin was such a gentleman during that days, in addition to his hot glasses nerd character which make it perfect. You're gonna love this if you want to reminisce Tim Burton style of art. Next, Groundhog Day (1993) is (maybe) one of the pioneer movie with its lead character stuck to relive one day over and over again. It may sounds so-so nowadays but it was fresh in 90s plus Bill Murray acting was on point both as a jerk and sincere person. Lastly, I decided to try Being John Malkovich (1999) which is directed by Spike Jonze.. which made me acknowledge of the amount weird/quirky/disturbing ideas here. The title explains everything, so lets just give credits on how genius John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener (she's such a babe, bad one) here. As I already stated before, the movie is disturbing (at least for me) but hey, I dont say it was not worth to watch.

The fact that less than 24hrs will be again a monday sure bugs me for the rest of the day. But anyway, Ramadlan is coming next week and I have to fast from 3am to 10pm (fighting!). May we all have the blessing of this holy month and become a better moslem in the process *spread the love in the air*

And I would like to give a shout out to Quicksilver (X-Men version): thanks for your scene in all the latest movie, it gives me life! *eurythmics on repeat

XOXO,

Noya 

You in the trap

Hello 2016!

For some days recently, a sudden urge to write a post in this blog just appeared. Not sure why, but I guess it has something to do with my inward state (one of my besties has just married and another one was engaged yesterday), a gift I received from Hanna, and lastly the lingering feeling of my recent trip to Eastern Europe. It is not that I excessively adore the Budapest-Wien-Prague-Warszaw days yet that trip was somehow left a certain mixed feeling until now (or.. I am just being drama queen again).

Well, some of pictures above may seem like a distraction to balance what will be writen in the following. It will be a heavy too-much-feeling type of post with all the things centered around me. As usual. So what my life been up to? College? Yes ofcourse. Actually, the previous period was not that scary with all the assignment and everything. Eventhough my friend and I got 5.5 for Sustainability Science final paper but generally it went well. I am now going to start a new period, the third period which means entering 3/4 of my first year college life where up to this point I still had no idea what to do for my thesis, so classic right?  Last night, when I was actually prepared to read some material for the new course, I ended up in an online streaming website, watching Cheese in The Trap, yes that korean drama people recently hyped for. It was unintentional but it is interesting enough to make me stay awake until 5.00 AM and sleep like dead person until noon. That drama was not that special but some of the scenes are truly relatable, well because it depicts the life of Hong Seol, a 'normal' college student with her deadweight assignment. This is the first time I watched such drama that describes such rather right ambiance of a university daily struggle (compared to other makjang with focus only on the love-life). As a result, you might guess it already, I will dwell in this vibe of drama plot for a while.. imagining my days ahead with 'what if' condition. Anyway, the next course will demand such group cooperativeness (like one of Hong Seol case which ended with D as final grade *sigh) and quite big workload to investigate and analyse things, definitely make me shudder. But in the other side, I was wondering why I already complained about this kind of 'small' task when anyone else accomplished much bigger 'real' achievement as what I call 'pemuda harapan bangsa Indonesia', and here it is again, life is flowing okay but then I start searching for ripples lol. I should stop think only, need to take action instead, right?

Ok then, let me embrace the new period lightheartedly *hwaiting*

XOXO,
Noya

P.S. Today's hot topic is apparently the halftime show of 50th Super Bowl with Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. Hence, my blanket will be full of tears again tonight (ehm, maybe not tears but more like troubled feelings). Also, WINNER's Baby Baby will always be the death of me. 
P.P.S. I reread what I write above, it seems this post actually has no objectives dont you think? Hah, like I ever had one.

Tidbits of studying abroad (preface)

Around this time last year, I was bustling with preparation of my master study includes admission to the dream university (ok wait) and the most wanted scholarship (self proclaimed).

Firstly, let me apologize to my future self i.e tomorrow self: maybe you're gonna regret writing this things up in your most productive hours instead of studying for exam.

Back to the admission things. If studying abroad (w/o having financial breakdown) is one of your dream then NOW is the time to take real action and make dream comes true. Why? Because admission period for new academic year (August/fall semester) usually close on March/April of the same year. After gathering your soul and spirit, this maybe the first question that pop in your mind (a lot of my friends and acquaintances asked this one): Which one you apply first, scholarship or university; and how? My personal answer of the first question would be: up to you. I did my applications simultaneously both for scholarship and university, mostly because it was basically the same procedure. For the second questions: the mighty answer is GOOGLE IT! You have to diligently visit those websites containing information of your desired scholarship and study program. This list below is what my browser history full of a year ago:

1. http://www.lpdp.depkeu.go.id/

2. http://www.beasiswa.lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id/

3. http://www.mastersportal.eu/countries/1/netherlands.html

4. http://www.uu.nl/masters/en/water-science-and-management/admission-and-application/non-eu/ndu#quicklinks

5. http://www.ets.org/toefl

6. http://www.ielts.org/

Besides official websites of institutions those offer scholarship fund and study programs, you also need to get ready for english proficiency test. TOEFL iBT and IELTS are two of the most familiar test which you can use to enter thousands of university around the world. Afaik, TOEFL is more common if you want to study in USA/Australia while IELTS is more customary in Europe (side notes: even I applied to universities in Netherlands, I chose to take TOEFL iBT because American English is somehow more comfortable for me -oh and the test was cheaper!- just make sure what kind of the test accepted on your destined institutions). After that, you only need to focus on the struggle. Doing your best and pray! What is/are the most difficult part(s)? Personally, preparation for TOEFL iBT was so damn hard and tiring; my english is a mess (is, not was, because it is still a clusterfudge) but at least I managed to pass the limit for acceptable grade. I didn't join any TOEFL-preparation class whatsoever because of financial recces lol yet I used this illegal copy of Barron's TOEFL iBT 12th Edition. It really help much! You can always ask me if you want a copy. Another points which I found quite hard was.. writing essays and motivation letter, those are not my things, apparently. After all, if you put every efforts unto, it should paid off :)

For building the hype, maybe this time is perfect to introduce the magnificent "Sahita Sahwahita" all glorious PK-28 LPDP. PK (Persiapan Keberangkatan) is the reason why LPDP is kinda different with any other scholarship. It may sounds as formality and seems uninteresting at first but it turns out the best thing happens for you in a while (yes it was definitely tiring but all those experiences you can't buy with money were worth it). Lurk it yourself in our video below!

I am not really a person who can make such post full of motivation and clear steps of doing something right but I do hope that very-short explanation means something to help any of you. 

Lotta love,

Noya

Rubbish as usual (just from different IP address)

Hey october!

Reading this blog all over again, I realized that I always made the same mistake. Promising to write regularly then poff.. gone! That is the same bullshit I tried last march, which is more than half year ago. I guess it best if I dont make any promises because who knows in that way can turn me out into "more productive" owner here.

So what happen in these past 7 months? Well, the biggest change is now I already live in utrecht for almost two months. Crazy eh, when last year it was only all dream. Frankly, living here is not easy (duh) in a good way, it drag me out from my comfort zone. The city is quite big (number 4 of largest city in netherlands after amsterdam, rotterdam, and den haag) yet it doesnt get crowded so much thus make it much calmer. I bike 35~40 minutes to the university everyday, usually early in the morning because all my classes start at 9.00. Anyway last week was uber cold, it hit 0'C (with real feel temperature around -3'C) in the morning.. and it just mid-october; guess I wont take my bike out during winter. Nevertheless, I love living here, the city is vibrant and serene at the same time. The one thing that challenges me so much is.. ta-dah.. the campus /slash/ academic life. Not intended to bring down my beloved GFM or IPB or Indonesia education system in the general, but obviously, studying ethic here is so different. You cant just come in and sit with empty head and expect to be feed by knowledge. You cant just skip homework or copy paste your friends' answer to yours. You cant just lying around every other night and depend on one night study before exam day. Wait I make it so terrifying lol but indeed its true, but those thing are bad in a good way, right? I currently attend two course for this period (exam on oct28 and nov6, wish us luck!) which are both interesting. I expected my self to love this theoretical/opinion based course and suck at technical/mathematics one but it is the other way around. Can you believe if I get more excited now to meet numbers than words? No? Neither do I ;) And how about social life? Well, utrecht is unpopular between Indonesia student, only six of us came to Universiteit Utrecht this academic year. We hang out together during weekend (its a must! you have to prepare your mind for another weekday) and thankfully utrecht located in the middle of netherlands with busiest train station (imagine manggarai). I havent had a chance to get together with classmates yet, except for the first time during orientation day. We meet outside the class almost only for work/study group, or simply biking together when class is over. They are all really nice.. and bloody brilliant, I am such a lower outlier.

Well, my life just started here so I cant complain much (I shoudnt, right). I still have bits of my regular life back then.. watching doctor who every sunday (this season is better than last year, thankfully), going to the cinema sometimes (it's so damn expensive to watch a movie here, but I registered as a subscriber so.. yayness), having two cups of coffee a day, and hanging out to somewhere new in every chances (well.. hellooo, youre living 11000 miles away from home). Like I said million times before, being here is exciting and challenging at the same time :)

I hope to fulfill my promises to write about sawarna, gunung padang, and PK28, but not sure when and how. A lot of things going on my mind (yea you're not the only one). 

One day, I should manage to get to top of that :p

Ehm, so see you later, and good luck in life?

Het beste,

Noya 

A Journey of Healing

Hei there!

Weekend is finally here, you lot of workers *wait it is too harsh isnt it, worker? employee is better term* employee must be very happy to embrace it. Yesterday I, as temporary unemployed, was originally expecting myself to stay at home all day long but turned out I was not. Friday was started smoothly with a quite relieved heart, I was doing those translating assignment at my room when Ressa called me and asking about how cozy Bread Unit is. Recalling memories when I once or twice hanging around at that place, somehow we manage to meet there after she finished her bussiness. 2-hrs later we already inside Bread Unit bakery with Ressa sobbing herself to someone beyond her phone. Our plan to have great times at Bread Unit with well cooked bread, cup of coffee, and stable wifi connection kinda ruined bcs she is having a serious bad mood regarding her research. Initially I want to stay still and finished my tasks but she need to be rescued consoled. Then, we spent the next 10-hrs to do the sacred journey of mental healing process.

our third destination: bogor junction food court, average food yet coziest place

Why should I called yesterday journey as a mental healing?

Because it seems myself actually a bit mentally ill lately.

After finished my final assignment for bachelor degree, ofcourse gratitude is what to feel at first. Seeing 6-months back as in struggling moment with a lot of tears (of joy and sadness), a bunch of thanks just not sufficient enough for those who help around at that hardest time. The thing is, the one which came after a brief moment of happiness. Now I barely see anything for my future, even for tomorrow. Maybe not just me but some of fresh undergradute will think the same, preferably if they dont have any life goal/life road map (yes like me). How can at this age, someone still confusing about what should he/she do. Pursuing dreams? To be honest, the image of my long-lasting dream is fading away till it only a vague pieces now. I used to plan to take magister study after this one, maybe at technic/environmental major but recently my interest change into search for working experience. Where? It will be a sacred questions too, myself still being idealist (or easily stated, picky) to choose a type of work. Well, definitely doesnt help. Doing nothing will be a very waste of time. So.. Are you starting to feel angered, because I am. May be its not anger but dont you hate it when you losing your grip? Been feeling that way for a week and hopefully it didnt stay longer. Yesterday was like my first time of the week where I feel ultimately free and enjoying the time so yeah, it was a healing journey.

Thanks Ressa, for somehow managing yourself to make me relieved. You said yesterday was a bad day but a great night. You need to be free from all the burden, but I am feel lighter instead. We should do that more often or I will be mentally desperate.

XOXO
Icha