Recently Touring.. hehe..

halahh,, sok banget judulnya... :P

There are many calendar system in the world.

I think, all of people already know about Maya Calendar because of it's 2012 doomsday rumor.

Others maybe more familiar with Gong Xi Fa Cai's event,, an event which is identical with red, angpao, and barongsai. Gong Xi Fa Cai is one of event in Chinese Calendar.

Moslems also have special calendar,, Hijriyah Calendar, a calendar which is based on Moon Orbit and known for it's special month: Ramadhan.

And, last but not least, Masehi Calendar, common calendar used by most people in the world.

Now, I wanna tell a little things about Hijriyah Calendar. Just like Masehi calendar, Hijriyah calendar also has 12 months. They are Muharram, Safar, Rabiul Awal, Rabiul Akhir, Jumadil Awal, Jumadil Akhir, Rajab, Sya'ban, Ramadhan, Syawal, Dzulkaidah, and Dzulhijjah. Between those 12 months, there are haram months,, months when we are prohibited to do war. The haram months are as follow Dzulkaidah, Dzulhijjah, Muharram, and Rajab. Usually in these months (except in Muharram) and in Sya'ban, most Javanese do happy things: marriage.

This year, Rajab and Sya'ban is lie in June and middle of July. And during this period, every weekend is like a marriage tour for me. hehheehhee...  :)
Fourth week of Rajab     : went to Surabayaaaa... hehe..

First week of Sya'ban     : ---just stayed at home---

Second week of Sya'ban : went to Kertosono, Nganjuk
Third week of Sya'Ban   : went to my childhood's district, but still in Malang
Fourth week of Sya'ban  : went to Probolinggo

And just in case you wanna know, here are a little stories about the trips..

 I went to Kertosono with my friend's friend. "Lucky for us", it was coincide with holidays for students. So, we were like a pindang fish in the buses,, squeezed by dozens of people. We were stood up too since there wasn't an empty chair, but just for a while. In our way home, the situation was better. Since a friend accompany us to the bus station, we could get chair. We leaved Malang at about 7 a.m and arrived in Malang again at about 6 p.m.

Later, I went to Probolinggo by university bus. It was very comfy since there were a dozen of people on that bus. Unfortunately,  I got flu. I spent most of time during the trip by sleeping. But, I still be able to take some picture of Pasir Putih Beach. Here they are..

Since I wasn't stop by, sorry for the blurred photo.. :P

Well, although this beach is known as Pantai Pasir Putih, it doesn't have white sand after all. So, it sould be Pantai Pasir Hitam.. hehehhehe...

Yepp, it has a black sand...  ^^

Really like the nightfall...  :)

Going through dozens of kilometers, meeting some friends, seeing the bride and bridegroom's smile, eating so much dishes * hehhehe... :9 *,, yes, it was so much fun trip after all..

Useless

Useless is
when we wanna do something,
but the only things we can do is
doing nothing.

We just can't do anything.

And, it's sucks.
Terribly.

Ranah 3 Warna, Another A. Fuadi's Book

Have you heard about Negeri 5 Menara (N5M)?? It's one of national best seller novel, written by A. Fuadi. It's also title of film, made based on the novel. The protagonist's name of this novel is Alif. This novel tells us about Alif's life in Pondok Pesantren,, overturn common opinions about Pondok Pesantren, that Pondok Pesantren is for bad child or that Pondok Pesantren graduated will be worked in Religion field only. Well, from this novel, I conclude that those opinion are wrong. A really great novel, actually.  The point of this novel is man jadda wajada. It's an Arabis saying that means whoever do something earnestly, he will be successful. So, whatever it is, we must strive our dream. Man jadda wajada is like Alif's incantation.

Ranah 3 Warna (R3W) is N5M's sequel. While N5M tells about life in Pondok Pesantren, R3W tells us about Alif's life after he graduated from Pondok Pesantren. Alif want to continue his study to an institute. He want to become engineering, just like his idol, B. J. Habibie. Well, the story is happened in 1993 or 1994. In that time, the only way to become institute's student is by passing UMPTN. We all know that he "just" Pondok Pesantren graduated. In Pondok Pesantren, Alif also studied about chemistry, mathematics, and physic. But, unlike in regular senior high school, the portion of those subject is little. Plus, Alif didn't have senior high school's certificate, the main requirement to participate UMPTN. Remembering that being an institute's student can open an opportunity for him to achieve his other dream,, going to America,, he must figure out how to overcome those obstacle. Certainly, he must struggle in doing that.

So,, can Alif achieve his dreams,, getting senior high school's certificate, passing UMPTN, becoming institue's student, and going to America?? How can he struggle?? Is man jadda wajada enough??

Well, man jadda wajada is not enough. Alif needs another incantation: man shabara zhafira, whoever have patience, he will be fortunate. Wait a minute,, fortune?? Do you believe in fortune?? What is fortunate, actually?? Quoting this book, fortunate is the result of struggling, praying, and having profuse patience in doing something. So, it's not a free gift from Allah. It is something we must fighting for.

And, how about the novel title itself?? What is Ranah in English?? According google translate,, since I lost my dictionary in English class, I couldn't use it anymore :),,  it's sphere. It's like area, field, or sector. So, yes, this book will tell us about 3 area. What are they?? Well, it's better that you know them by yourself.  :)

p.s.:

Actually, I own this book since August 2010. But, I always feel "eman" (what is "eman" in English,, hehe..) when I wanna read this. So, it's just standing on cupboard, waiting to be read. And finally, I read this last week. Finished it on 3 days. 

And, when I'm still a college student, I meet A. Fuadi in Airlangga University on his book review (N5M),, together with my friend. Okayy, not useful information I think. But, just in case you wanna know.. ^_^v

Second Assignment of EFS Course

Long time no blogging since examination period was come. Examination means being a superintendent and correcting a stack of papers.. Kinda little busy doing that.. hehhehe.. *too many excuse.. :P

Recently, my colleagues and I take an English for Speaking course at our campus. Firstly, it didn't work well. But, after having a meeting with chief of the course, the problem is over. Well, at least until now.. hehe.. Every meeting, the lecturer give us an assignment. Usually, making a short article using verbs that we just learned about. And this is my second assignment. I tell a short story about education in Indonesia and relate it with Indonesia Mengajar. Enjoy,, and if you don't mind,, correct it. *Waiting for the lecturer' s opinion about the grammar..  :)

One of Indonesia’s objective which is can be seen at preamble of 1945’s constitution is educating Indonesian people. To support this objective, the government makes a program called “Wajib Belajar 9 Tahun”. By using this program, the government expects that at least all of Indonesian people have been educated for nine years, six years in Elementary School and three years in Junior High School. Unfortunately, as we can see in many cases, this program is not success yet. There are many factors causing that. But, I think the main factor is discrepancy happened in Indonesia.

As we know together, Indonesia is an archipelago. There are hundreds of islands separated by sea. Because of the distance, the development of each island is different. The most developed island is Java, while others, such as Maluku, Papua, and Nusa Tenggara are still under developed. Of course, this difference affects in many aspect, including the medical and transportation facilities. Because of these, most Indonesian people are not interest in working on those islands. Inevitably, educational facilities are influenced. The lack of teacher, the ramshackle buildings, and the leaky roofs are common situations the government in the under developed island must deal with.

Thus, no matter what, the discrepancy in developed and under developed islands must be vanished. The facility of under developed islands must be equalized to the one in developed area. There are many solutions generated to solve this discrepancy. One of them is a program called “Indonesia Mengajar”. This program was established by Anis Baswedan in 2009. It is intended to invite the best graduated student to become teacher in under developed islands.

I was a college student when I knew this program for the first time. When I visited the website, here, I was impressed by the phrase in the head of the website: stop criticizing the dark, let’s light the candle. I was speechless and couldn’t agree no more. I thought that instead of blaming government, it is a good chance for us to do what we can do with our abilities, whatever it is. Unfortunately, my family didn’t give their permission for me to participate in this program.

But, remembering where I work now, I am very grateful. Although not being a teacher in under developed islands, I am a teacher now. Well, a semi-assistant one. And I am happy doing this.