And then I arrived in Amsterdam in the next day. A lusty city--some even called it as the new Babylon--as scary and crazy as it sounded, I kind of liked this city. I usually hated big and crowded cities. After living peacefully in Ann Arbor, I got a little addicted over small yet convenient town. Well, someday even when I ought to live in a big city, I hope I would get a quiet apartment or house though.
The highlight of the city was when I found the bench of my favorite movie: The Fault in Our Stars. Cheesy, right? I knew! Believe me I knew! While everyone else got excited over Anne Frank's house or other sightseeing places, I forced my friend to find this bloody bench. After walking for miles, whe found it! And gosh, it was so great to read "Some infinities are greater than other infinities" written in the bench.
I sat there alongside with several giggly girls waiting for me to move. Yes girls, I know I am not as young as you but I hella loved this movie too! So please excuse my fangirling moment!
After we left that place, I thought I wanted to have my own version of Gus too! Well, you could say that some wishes did come true immediately. I found him in the Dam Museum. Yes, Gus who played as a conductor of a fake orchestra or did a moon walk like a faux Michael Jackson. And yes, he performed in the great main hall of the Museum while everyone else were quietly reading all the explanations. He made me laugh so hard, I did not care anymore. Ah a fine day indeed! Too bad, I was too shy and he was too polite to really give that little moment a 'go'. But well, some memories were better be only a memory. Ah! And a rebound to be healed was never be my option.
Also in Amsterdam, I found a girl who experienced the same situation--a broken heart situation. I felt so lucky that I met her. Why? Because I could help her to heal herself while healing myself in the process. Maybe I was already healed but helping people did make you stronger and braver--for if it's possible, you would not let anyone suffered the way you did. If I could make her feel better with my experience then why should I stop there?
Oh boys. I hope they are growing up and starting to stop taking women (who happened to love them like a fool) for granted... Yes, we are often being taken for granted but then maybe that was why they were not with us, because we deserved to be treated way way way better than that.
Funny how love can change you... to be better or worse.
In this case, I chose to be better. Yes! I still love beautifully and forgive easily. The difference was I now knew my value more--no more measuring it by how much he cared about me. Oh come on! If he stops being so caring then it doesn't mean you are not good enough girl, it is just simply mean that he is not the one...for now or for ever.
We deserve to be queen for the worthy king, not even a prince charming. A king who willingly slays a dragon and happily combines his empire with ours. Yes, do not build an empire together! You must have your empire established first, that is why I call ourselves as queens not princesses. For we are no longer a kid. Chin up, woman!
Now you know why something was changing when I departed from Amsterdam. It was a huge deal... because I could feel how this place 'helped' me in a very unique way.
Should I label Netherlands as my favorite country in Europe?
Oh wait until I described Austria, Czech Republic and finally...France.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Not An Ambitious Traveler (1)
Europe. Never knew I would finally step on this continent. Guess you can never underestimate the power of dream and effort or in my case... impulsiveness. Started from falling for a quiet small city in Germany: Hannover. I met my lovely cousin (but I will refer her as my sister nonetheless) and lived with her and my brother in law for a week.
It felt so magical when I traveled and pretended to be a local there, rather than being a mere visitor--despite of the language barrier though. Somehow I wish this world only spoke one language. But well, every single mother tongue speaker would always want the same thing whenever they were being a non-native-speaker abroad.
In Hannover, I also met my friend from Ann Arbor. It was so unreal when he stood in front of my sister's apartment. It was also fascinating when I witnessed his life in his hometown. A life 'before' and maybe would soon to be 'after' Ann Arbor. Seeing him in his atmosphere--so glad that I had the chance to do that. Especially to feel the genuine welcome gesture vibrated around me when I was introduced to his dear friends. They even kind enough to overcome the language barrier. It made me feel like an insider--for that I forever felt grateful for. Yes, being an outsider because of language barrier was sucks. Trust me I had been 'trained' so hard to face that kind of situation.
After Germany, I continued my trip to a very familiar country called the Netherlands. I referred it as 'familiar' because of the strong relation between Netherlands and Indonesia. I formerly did not want to visit this country. However, since the foundation of this trip was impulsiveness then I decided to visit my dear friend in Netherlands anyway. It turned out to be the funniest experience one!
I would always remember the gloomy weather that blanketed a city. A city called Leiden. A city where Edward Cullen should live (LOL) because sunny day was always count as a bonus.It was cloudy and soft showering almost everyday. The canals were so beautiful there nevertheless.
Leiden also kept many phenomenal histories. Started from the Einstein cafe--a cafe where Einstein found his famous E = mc2 formula. This lovely town was also the home of the oldest university in Netherlands--where a lot of Indonesian heroes and Dutch royals studied.
I also would always remember the night where I danced around with my good friend like no one was watching. It was just me and him and our favorite songs. In case you were wondering, they were XO by Beyonce and Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande. It was sooooo much fun! We wish our close friends in Indonesia were joining us though.
Yes, a perfect dance in the middle of the night! Until we both happily collapsed in the end. Go go go Arians! Oh and he also the one who persuaded me to continue my second Master or even Phd there. Hmmm... interesting thought, wasn't it?
And there was Den Haag. A city that soon became my new obsession after DC. I think I always have a soft spot for governmental cities. They made me feel at ease and secure.
You know what epic? I also celebrated Indonesia 70th Independence Day there. Yes, we celebrated the freedom from Dutch Colonial in their own land. I knew it's been a while, and maybe we're already forgotten all of those black histories but well, one could not help herself but said 'In your face!' privately. Yes, I said it privately because we wouldn't want to upset them, would we?
Luckily, we also met a very generous and talk-active Madame. Her grandpa was a hero for our freedom. Hence, she took all the independence ceremony by heart. Oh I also wanted to share my a little about how I almost cried when I sang "Indonesia Raya"--it's been a while indeed. Ah Indonesia, whatever your flaws are, deep down I still wanted to be your game changer.
Going back to the kind Madame, She gave us a lot of lessons about being an international person. She criticized a lot about what was happening not only in Indonesia, but also in any other places. She was so smart and also married with a UN officer--yes, she had been living from country to country. She was also so humble, it amazed me. She spoke what she thought. I felt that there was no pretentiousness and falsity in her bones.
Further story about Den Haag: the governmental buildings were awesome. My friend told me even the Prime Minister was walking around in the parliament's yard and were so approachable. There was no tight security upheld in there--no sense of arrogance at all. You could walk around the palace's grounds without any scary security officers closed by. Yes, they got a lot of cameras here and there but please, it was more than okay to just walked around and took pictures.
Ah I thought it was the pleasure of living in a country where public officers were really realizing their truly place as public servants.
It felt so magical when I traveled and pretended to be a local there, rather than being a mere visitor--despite of the language barrier though. Somehow I wish this world only spoke one language. But well, every single mother tongue speaker would always want the same thing whenever they were being a non-native-speaker abroad.
In Hannover, I also met my friend from Ann Arbor. It was so unreal when he stood in front of my sister's apartment. It was also fascinating when I witnessed his life in his hometown. A life 'before' and maybe would soon to be 'after' Ann Arbor. Seeing him in his atmosphere--so glad that I had the chance to do that. Especially to feel the genuine welcome gesture vibrated around me when I was introduced to his dear friends. They even kind enough to overcome the language barrier. It made me feel like an insider--for that I forever felt grateful for. Yes, being an outsider because of language barrier was sucks. Trust me I had been 'trained' so hard to face that kind of situation.
After Germany, I continued my trip to a very familiar country called the Netherlands. I referred it as 'familiar' because of the strong relation between Netherlands and Indonesia. I formerly did not want to visit this country. However, since the foundation of this trip was impulsiveness then I decided to visit my dear friend in Netherlands anyway. It turned out to be the funniest experience one!
I would always remember the gloomy weather that blanketed a city. A city called Leiden. A city where Edward Cullen should live (LOL) because sunny day was always count as a bonus.It was cloudy and soft showering almost everyday. The canals were so beautiful there nevertheless.
Leiden also kept many phenomenal histories. Started from the Einstein cafe--a cafe where Einstein found his famous E = mc2 formula. This lovely town was also the home of the oldest university in Netherlands--where a lot of Indonesian heroes and Dutch royals studied.
I also would always remember the night where I danced around with my good friend like no one was watching. It was just me and him and our favorite songs. In case you were wondering, they were XO by Beyonce and Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande. It was sooooo much fun! We wish our close friends in Indonesia were joining us though.
Yes, a perfect dance in the middle of the night! Until we both happily collapsed in the end. Go go go Arians! Oh and he also the one who persuaded me to continue my second Master or even Phd there. Hmmm... interesting thought, wasn't it?
And there was Den Haag. A city that soon became my new obsession after DC. I think I always have a soft spot for governmental cities. They made me feel at ease and secure.
You know what epic? I also celebrated Indonesia 70th Independence Day there. Yes, we celebrated the freedom from Dutch Colonial in their own land. I knew it's been a while, and maybe we're already forgotten all of those black histories but well, one could not help herself but said 'In your face!' privately. Yes, I said it privately because we wouldn't want to upset them, would we?
Luckily, we also met a very generous and talk-active Madame. Her grandpa was a hero for our freedom. Hence, she took all the independence ceremony by heart. Oh I also wanted to share my a little about how I almost cried when I sang "Indonesia Raya"--it's been a while indeed. Ah Indonesia, whatever your flaws are, deep down I still wanted to be your game changer.
Going back to the kind Madame, She gave us a lot of lessons about being an international person. She criticized a lot about what was happening not only in Indonesia, but also in any other places. She was so smart and also married with a UN officer--yes, she had been living from country to country. She was also so humble, it amazed me. She spoke what she thought. I felt that there was no pretentiousness and falsity in her bones.
Further story about Den Haag: the governmental buildings were awesome. My friend told me even the Prime Minister was walking around in the parliament's yard and were so approachable. There was no tight security upheld in there--no sense of arrogance at all. You could walk around the palace's grounds without any scary security officers closed by. Yes, they got a lot of cameras here and there but please, it was more than okay to just walked around and took pictures.
Ah I thought it was the pleasure of living in a country where public officers were really realizing their truly place as public servants.
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