Monday 31 December 2007

Christmas gift

God has given me an incredible Christmas gift. I'm still amazed on how He has prepared me. Indeed, He makes all things beautiful in His time. Theme song: In His Time.

Saturday 22 December 2007

2007

For many, the end of the year is time to reflect and make new year's resolution.

Looking back, 2005 was the year when I learnt about loss, separation, and death, the true meaning of I'll see you again someday, if not on this earth, then in heaven. The year of 2006 was the bottom of the bottom, sort to say, the year where everything seemed to fall apart. However, it's not the end of the world. In 2007 I learnt to live, to dream, and to hope again, time to start planning my future.

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. (Hayo ... kutipan dari mana?)

Friday 21 December 2007

Holiday!

Christmas holiday has arrived ... Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you enjoy your holiday.

Tuesday 4 December 2007

Dosen Jahil

Situasi: ujian (waktu: 8.20 -- 10.50), mahasiswa pusing.

Dosen jahil: Bingung ya. Ntar saya kasih tahu jawabannya jam 12.

Mahasiswa: ???

Monday 3 December 2007

Bengkel

= Indonesian version only =

Aku jadi pengunjung setia bengkel nih. Di bulan Mei sempat seminggu 3x. Weekend kemarin kejadian lagi deh. Sabtu aku ke bengkel, buat perawatan berkala, ditolak karena antrian udah penuh. Minggu sepulang gereja aku ke sana, ditolak lagi dengan alasan yang sama. :(

Berkeluh kesahlah aku. Saya mesti ke sini hari apa sih? Sabtu penuh, Minggu penuh, hari kerja pasti ditolak juga kalau aku datang sepulang kerja. Hehe, mbaknya jadi kasihan dan menerimaku -- dengan syarat bersedia nunggu sampai sore.

Jadilah aku di sana hampir seharian. Untungnya kali ini nggak ada bapak-bapak yang mempromosikan anaknya lagi.

Thursday 29 November 2007

Nama Kue

Indonesian version only.

Sebagai orang yang nggak suka makan kue, aku nggak terlalu tahu nama-nama kue. Helena sempat tersinggung 'naluri perkueannya', waktu aku minta pencerahan, menggunakan istilah-istilah berikut untuk deskripsinya: semicircle (pastel), tabung (risoles), etc.

Akibatnya, sekarang aku sering jadi bulan-bulanannya Helena tentang dunia perkuean. Hehe, coba test dulu si Vitri tahu nggak ini namanya apa. Atau: Vit tahu nggak bedanya pukis dengan carabikang? Lha dengar carabikang aja baru sekarang, mana aku tahu bentuknya? :P

Monday 26 November 2007

Driving for two

First of all, definition. Mathematicians always come back to definition, though. ;-) This is a term I copied from an article I read years ago, meaning driving + leading the way for another car.

Last week I had the experience. Observation: it was easier when you drive an easily spotted car. :D Related to that, driving for two is much more difficult in the evening, when it's dark.

Baksos

Last week, I joined a team from our church doing 'baksos'. Let me share one funny experience.

There was one particular 5.5 years old girl. I remember her well because she spelled her name to me when I filled her registration card. Everything went well ... until 10 minutes later she came back to me, very upset. The thing is, every kid got 2 coupons: a blue one for being able to see a medical doctor for free and getting some snack; a yellow one for getting stationery. She gave her blue coupon to me (and I gave it back), thinking I lost her yellow one.

She was angrily asking me where her yellow coupon was. When I said I didn't have it, she gave her version (gave me both coupon, I only gave the blue one back). When she saw that it didn't go anywhere (namely that I don't have the coupon), she started to cry.

Yes, indeed ... a 5.5 years old girl got angry with me and then cried! To be honest, I didn't know what to do (or say). :-P The only thing I did was looking around, trying to get somebody's attention ... and I'll ask for help. Hehe, SOS!!

And you know what? In fact, the yellow coupon was ... in her bag! The cry immediately stopped when we spotted the 'lost' coupon. A teenager from our group commented: 'Capek deeh!'

Monday 19 November 2007

Be healthy, be thankful

Health is something most people take for granted. Everyday we wake up, do our routine activities, without realizing how blessed we are. It's only when we encounter sickness, do we realize how valuable our health is.

Thursday 8 November 2007

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
...
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
...
So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. -- Ecclesiates 3

Wednesday 31 October 2007

Sola ...

490 years ago, reformation 'officially' began.
Sola Fide
Sola Gratia
Sola Scriptura
Solo Christo
Soli Deo Gloria!

Thursday 4 October 2007

Depressed Equation

When I was in high school, I wanted to know whether there is a formula to find the roots of polynomial of degree more than 2 -- remember the ABC formula for quadratic polynomial. After several weeks (months?) my teacher came with a formula for cubic and quartic polynomial.

Today I search for those formulas. Reading it I came to a term 'depressed equation'. Hihi, equations can get depressed too. :-P

Wednesday 3 October 2007

What's in a name?

Shakespeare may say so. But in fact, two names that differ in one letter can be totally different, e.g. van der Pol and van der Poel. While van der Pol equation is an ordinary differential equation, van der Poel is an ijssalon in Enschede. :D

Thursday 30 August 2007

Blessings

I've been doing some thinking lately, resulting in the song Count your blessings being played inside my head (as well as my computer) most of the time.

Yes, it's a blessing to be alive, it's a blessing to have a job that I like. It's even a blessing to know what kind of job I like. It's a blessing to have wonderful parents. It's a blessing to have a brother and a sister. It's a blessing to be free to choose the life I want. It's a blessing to be able to laugh. It's a blessing to be healthy (fibromyalgia is past). It's a blessing to be able to do sport again. The list can go on ... and on ... indeed I'm counting my blessings.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

P.S. Mer wrote about her miracles, I prefer blessings.

Tuesday 14 August 2007

Nostalgia in Bandung

Two weeks in Bandung. Two weeks on Operational Research. Two 'interesting' weeks learning about characters.

Indeed Bandung has changed: its traffic, its landscape, everything. But one thing remains the same: it has a special place in my heart. Two weeks, and many flash backs. Passing landmarks, driving along the roads, visiting the university where I used to study (and noticing the huge differences).

Funny was, I kept looking around, wanting to see the familiar jacket (jaket himpunan tea'!) because to be honest, it was striking not to see them! By the end of the first week I finally saw one, but it was the only one during those two weeks!

Monday 9 July 2007

Flawed Impressions

The following is taken from ODB today.

Don’t judge too quickly what you see;
Treat lightly first impression;
Misunderstandings multiply
Without communication. —Sper

How true, yet ... communication needs two parties, doesn't it?

Thursday 5 July 2007

Keep your old passport

Having an overseas degree, I need to get my degree accredited by the Ministry of Education. One of the requirements is to show my passport -- the one I used when I studied. Problem is, as the passport has expired, I didn't really care where it is!

For those of you having overseas degree(s), I suggest you to keep ALL your old passport(s), in case one day you decide to teach in an Indonesian university.

Monday 2 July 2007

First day ...

... @ work ... in the new place.

Papers, forms, signatures ... hey, I just received my smart card. What can I do with it? Oh I know: I can use the library!

Tuesday 19 June 2007

My students

For me, the hardest thing about changing job is leaving my students behind. For a year I've been teaching a group of lovely and enthusiastic students. Teaching them was such a wonderful experience. Look at the gift they made for me.

Monday 18 June 2007

Holiday -- Tipang

I'm having a month of holiday.

In the beginning of this month, my parents and I went to North + West Sumatra. As some of you probably know, my grandfather came from North Sumatra. The thing is, he went away from home in 1914. Everybody thought this teenager was dead. Imagine their surprise when 40 years later he was on his way back, with his wife and his two oldest sons.

My father was 6 years old when his father brought him there. None of him and his siblings has ever gone to the village since.

Last year, when I was on business trip to North Sumatra, I took extra days and tried to retrace my grandfathers footstep. I found Tipang, the village where he came from, surprising the entire family. I also found our relative there, a second cousin of mine.

Was it easy to find Tipang? For our family, it was like telling an Indonesian who has never been in NL to go to Matenweg in NL (without mentioning that it is in Enschede!) ... but when I was in Balige, I found out that it was as if you happen to be in UT and asked where Matenweg is.

Tipang is situated by Lake Toba, in the non-touristic part of the lake. The scenery is very beautiful (forget Parapat).

I must confess that the road was not good though. At a certain point we had to turn around because it was not passable. Imagine turning the car in a road where its width is the same as the car's, the mountain is on your left, a cliff is on your right. :p And after it, we found 3 buffaloes on the road (yeah, lagi berkubang!).

The road condition was worse than last year. My parents were muted, praising God that their daughter was save on her adventure last year.

So, finally we reached Tipang in the afternoon. The waterfall, the rice field, the lake, they're still as beautiful as I remembered. This time, I brought my parents ... and history was made. :-)

Monday 14 May 2007

Mother's day

Yesterday's service was dedicated for mothers. As the preacher led us to remember our mothers, and singing the following song (sang by Nikita few years ago), I saw many reached for tissue.

Di Doa Ibuku Namaku Disebut

Di waktu ku masih kecil
gembira dan senang
Tiada duka ku kenal
tak kunjung mengerang

Di sore hari nan sepi
ibuku bertelut
Sujud berdoa ku dengar
namaku disebut

Reff :
Di doa ibuku
namaku disebut
Di doa ibu ku dengar
ada namaku disebut

Seringlah kini ku kenang
di masa yang berat
Di kala hidup mendesak
dan nyaris ku sesat

Melintas gambar ibuku
sewaktu bertelut
Kembali sayup ku dengar
namaku disebut

Sekarang dia telah pergi
ke rumah yang senang
Namun kasihnya padaku
selalu ku kenang

Kelak di sana kami pun
bersama bertelut
Memuji Tuhan yang dengan
namaku disebut

Tuesday 8 May 2007

Pepper Butt

Pepper butt is a term used by a friend of mine to describe people who cannot sit still -- always want to travel.

I kinda realised that the term can be applied to me. My doses of travelling had been multiplied during my stay in Europe -- wanting to see as much as I could within the limited time I had. (Though I didn't aim to get a degree in travelling like some people I know.)

Having back in Indonesia, I must adapt to working condition that only allow 12 days of leave annually. Within this 12 days I must allocate Christmas and New Year holiday with my family. It doesn't give me a lot of time left. I am currently as pepper butt as I can be.

A friend of mine reminded that I had indeed travelled around New Year -- I claimed that it doesn't count, as we were travelling mostly to the area I've known before. Later I realised that last year I had my adventure in North Sumatra, where I retraced my ancestor's path, and found my root. A physical and spiritual journey, so indeed I had travelled.

I've been planning a week of travelling next month and I want more. What can I say other than having a pepper-butt?

Thursday 19 April 2007

A friend

Seorang sahabat menaruh kasih setiap waktu, dan menjadi seorang saudara dalam kesukaran.

What pops up in your mind when somebody asks: 'what is a friend?' ? I'm sure there are many answers, many sayings about friendship. My mom often quoted, 'A friend in need is a friend indeed'.

Sometimes ago a friend of mine told me, 'When you love someone, you rebuke her when she did something wrong. If you keep in silence, it means you don't love her enough.' I knew it was right ... yet I was so frightened to do that.

So I was thankful that yesterday, an old friend frankly pointed my mistakes. It was great to have friends who care.

This thought also reminds me of somebody who was my best friend ... wherever he is, I hope the best for him.

To all my friends: Thanks for being my friends!


A FRIEND IS SOMEONE...

© Krystine Ose

A friend is someone who cares
Someone who is always there

A friend is someone special
Someone who you can tell everything

A friend is someone who will never betray you
No matter who doesn't like you

A friend is someone you can trust
Someone kind of like you


The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Back to normal world

Been spending last week in 'another world'. A world where sleeping is a luxury. A world where you have to do literary everything by yourself. And you're responsible for the others' well being -- physically as well as emotionally. Not to mention all surprises that came with it.

Phew, I'm glad to be back to normal world.

Tuesday 3 April 2007

Batu

Batu is the small town where my parents live. I used to think about it as a small town where nothing 'big' happened -- nothing that will hit the newspaper.

Eventually, last year, the most sought terrorist was shot in Batu. My perspective changed after the event.

Yesterday, another story came. There was a threat, several trucks loaded with people were heading there, and officers were ready to prevent the catastrophe. Infaders were stopped before they entered the town's premises.

Praise the Lord for His protection. Indeed, anything can happen anywhere and our only refuge is in Him.

Thursday 29 March 2007

Good posture

I've mentioned before about good posture. You may as well search the internet, there are many sites that gives this kind of information, including pictures.

The highlighted items are:
  1. Your back should be straight, you shouldn't need to lean forward to reach your keyboard/mouse/to read.
  2. Your neck should also be straight - adjust the position of your monitor if necessary.
  3. Your shoulder should be relaxed, hence your elbow should be on the desk.
  4. Your feet should be supported - adjust the height of your chair if necessary.
  5. You should be careful that your wrists aren't bent.
  6. It's better to have your keyboard and mouse next to each other.
  7. etc
The point about elbow made me noticed one thing:
In Indonesia almost all computer desks have keyboard tray - and most mice are on the desks. However, I couldn't remember seeing a single desk with keyboard tray in The Netherlands. Mostly I saw people put their computer on the corner of their L-shape desks -- but I've NEVER saw them using keyboard tray. Have you seen one?

Tuesday 27 March 2007

Fibromyalgia

I went to see a neurologist yesterday and his diagnosis was: fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is widespread pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. It was developed by bad habitual posture and worsen by lack of exercises, more common in female than male (some said the ratio is 4:1).

Improving my condition means changing into good posture, exercise, going for physiotherapy, and medicine will only support the other means.

He then sent me to a female physiotherapist and she ran a physical examination described in many websites that discusses fibromyalgia. She pressed her thumb in many spots on my body (head to toe). Surprisingly enough, though I thought my problem is on my neck, shoulder, and upper arm, I was hurt in ALL (!) spots -- yeah, head to toe! I jokingly 'begged' the doctor to stop pressing her thumb, otherwise she'll find more and more :-P

Good news is, when I mentioned my concern about this illness might hinder me from doing certain things in my career, he assured me that it will NOT. :-) I just need to diligently and continuously do all the recommended things and that's it. :-)

Monday 26 March 2007

AntiRSI

Suffering symptoms of RSI and haven't fully recovered after several weeks, I remembered a software used in NLR. It was called workpace, it reminds its user to take breaks as well as guiding him/her to do exercises in the scheduled time.

Last Friday I found a free similar program, called workrave. I installed it in the office's computer this morning and it looks fine for me.

However, as I'm privately a Macintosh-ian, I'd like to have similar program for my Mac. Browsing around, I found AntiRSI. It is a break reminder, you can plan your own break, but it doesn't have the exercise feature.

Friday 23 March 2007

RSI

I've been suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) for some time. For info about RSI see here or here.

About three years ago I got my first attack. It was 'resolved' with a new mouse and a different way of holding the mouse, plus using more shortcuts instead of mouse.

Then, few weeks ago, I got another attack. It was quite serious this time. Perhaps it's been there for sometime without my realising it ... and it became quite bad. I was treated by a physioterapist, thought it's ok ... and then, after a week, I felt the pain again. :-(

The physical pain made me think of something else: my future. If working with computers give me such pain, will I ever get a PhD? Am I physically able to do the required job for getting a PhD? I do hope to get well soon. (There is no instant cure for RSI though.)

Monday 12 March 2007

ami

It is easy to say
yet difficult to do.

Even saying it in a totally new language
is much easier than doing it!

Sunday 11 March 2007

Pearl

Few weeks ago I heard this story. It made me remember my own 'pearl', something I hold on for too long. And when I gave it up, He gave me something else. Hopefully this is a 'real' one.

Tuesday 6 March 2007

Esperanto

I started to learn Esperanto this week. It's a planned language (most languages are natural languages), sometimes considered artificial.

A notable aspect is its regularity - no exceptions. When I started to learn Dutch, I was told that the most important rule is: "There's always exceptions".

Actually, the biggest surprise was to read that Bahasa Indonesia is also considered a planned language. In a way it makes sense (we all learnt that it was rooted on Malay), but still ... when I read that Bahasa Indonesia was planned by a group of Dutch linguists ... I didn't know what to think about it. Can anyone tell me the story?

Tuesday 27 February 2007

Zai jian

Selamat jalan, Dik. Belajarlah sampai ke negeri Cina. ;-)

Friday 23 February 2007

Protractor

This article talks about an an improper use of a protractor. Interesting to notice how people can come up with such idea.

Tuesday 20 February 2007

Life = decisions + consequences

This morning, I read this during my devotional time. Two things strike me:
  1. Ruth's statement (Ruth 1: 16-17). This is a huge commitment. Sounds like a marriage commitment, can you make such a huge commitment to somebody you're not marrying? Probably she has never set foot on Israel before that journey. Yet this is her decision. Leaving everything behind, rooted from where she belongs. Interesting to notice 'your God my God'. Is it possible that she has embraced new faith? Would going back to her people mean giving up on this? Would the difficulties she would face in Israel as a widowed foreigner be far less than those she'd face in Moab as a believer? Or ... is it solely based on her love to Naomi?
  2. Choices. ODB's elaboration on life as series of choices is in line with my view. I see life as a series of decisions and their consequences. Make the best decision when you're in a crossroad. Later, when its consequence come, no need to complain, it's the consequence of your own decision.

Saturday 17 February 2007

Love (+time)

This week everybody talks about love. When talking about love, most people will talk about finding the one, the 'right' person, someone he/she wants to spend the rest of his/her life with. But how do you find that person? Could a 'right' person be a 'wrong' one when you meet her/him at the 'wrong' time? Could timing be an important aspect of love? There's a saying "The right person in the right place" ... should we change it into "The right person in the right place in the right time"?:p

Friday 2 February 2007

Flood

Rainy season has arrived. And as usual, with it comes the flood. Today
is one of the 'big' day. It's been raining all night long, and as
result, various spots in Jakarta is flooded today. Most offices as
well as many schools were closed. Many people just canceled whatever
they were planning to do and stay at home.

I myself was stucked in a traffic jam.

Cathedral

In many countries, churches are main tourist attractions - especially
in the area where Catholic is (used to be) the main religion.

Last Tuesday I visited the Cathedral of Jakarta. Of course it's not
comparable to European churches, but it certainly is more beautiful than
other Indonesian churches I've ever visited (it's one of the preserved
building in Indonesia). The pulpit was especially beautiful. I spent
some time just sit there, looked around, and pray.

But when at one point I started to notice that I could see different
types of crosses (the 'blank' cross, the gothic cross) in various
spots inside the church, I told myself: "It's time to go." (For those
who share my interest in Church history, you'll see why I think it's
time to go.)

Monday 29 January 2007

Fairytale - Nightmare - Reality

Sometime ago I posted about a fairytale that ended as a nightmare (see here).

Indres was the only one care enough to ask, yet I didn't feel like telling what it was about. (Thanks for asking, Dres). Anyway, I just want to let you know that I've decided to wake myself ... and let the nightmare stays as a nightmare. A nightmare is just a dream after all, not reality, isn't it?

Monday 15 January 2007

'Scientific knowledge' vs 'Local Wisdom'

One of the places I visited on our new year journey was Merapi.

Being there, seeing the bunker where two people were 'trapped' few
months ago. According to the people there, the bunker was built to
protect people from 'hot cloud', not from vulcanic material. Hence
when facing vulcanic material, it was not a safe place.

Fyi, last year the meteological body predicted that Merapi would be
erupted, while Mbah Maridjan, known as the 'juru kunci' -- key keeper
-- of Merapi said it would not. And it turned out that it was not
erupted.

Listening to the local people, how they explained Merapi as an unseen
kingdom, where the palace is, where the road is, etc made me wonder. As non-scientific as it might sound (I must confess: it didn't sound
scientific at all to me), isn't there wisdom behind it?

Isn't their belief a result of observations for many generations? When
they said not to build anything in a specific place (they said it's
the palace of the unseen kingdom), isn't it because they know IF
Merapi erupts, that's where the lava passes?

Should we, when studying and learning about scientific knowledge,
abandon this kind of wisdom?

Season of fruits

On new year period, I was travelling and throughout my journey I saw
trees with ripe fruits everywhere. Durians, rambutans, jackfruits,
lengkeng ... The end of the year is indeed the season of fruits.

Tuesday 9 January 2007

Digital Tsunami

Digital Tsunami ... it's a term use by Kompas to describe the
situation where many Asian countries were plugged off the internet
world as a result of Taiwan's earthquake.

The analogy it bears is striking. While the effect of Aceh's tsunami
was beyond doubt, in the digital world this one is remarkably
disastrous. The fact that both happened on 26th of December is even
more striking ...