Don’t Leave Me Alone

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            I have a friend who is always happy and likes to do funny things to make people around her laugh. She is cheerful, smart, having a good self-confident and also friendly. All people like her personality. She is an open-minded person and she can tell you something that you never think of before and she can suddenly ask something that can make you wondering about the answer. She is full of something that I can’t describe. Her creativity, her passion to be a teacher, and her silliness makes her a very good friend to have.

            All I knew was that. Until one day I knew the fact that she has a mental illness. It is not that she is crazy or something like that. She has depression, stress, and anxiety. She has been suffering from this for 2 years. “I feel like no home,” she said to me. She became like this because her foster family left her. I asked her why her foster family left her and she started blame herself. She said they left her because she hates her father and they can’t accept that fact.

            Now, her greatest fear is to be left alone and to be ignored, to be unwanted and fear that no one can accept her existence. But, luckily, she can handle it. “You won’t see me if I can’t handle such thing. I might be dead,” she said to me. She told me that her best friends help her to get through it. They are there to support her and be there whenever she needs them. The do things together like having fun. When I ask her is she happy now, she said that she’s been through ups and downs but now she gets so much better than before.

            From her story I know that we need people who can support us through the hardest moments in our live. Because of best friend, we laugh a little harder, cry a little less, and smile a lot more.

           

A Lesson for Life

            Father is the first love for his daughter. Have you ever heard that? That’s a famous quotation that you can find easily in the internet. I really like this quotation because it is true. A father is a protector, teacher and also the love of my life. My father was a very tough man and also very discipline but he is full of love. He always gave me what I want and he always knew what is best for me even when I hate that thing. This is the story of my experience that changed me ever since that day.

            When I was in kindergarten, I always woke up in the morning with my child spirit to start my day and got ready to go to school. But one morning, when I woke up, I couldn’t feel my leg. I couldn’t move both of them. I started to crying and calling my mother. My father who came first to my room asked me why. I told him that I can’t feel my leg. I was really hoping that he would carry me and calmed me down. But it was just an expectation, what was really happened just surprised me. He pulled me from the bed and forced me to walk. I was really upset and felt desperate at that time. All I wanted was my father carry me. But he kept yelled at me and forced me to walk. That day, I can walk again and went to school. I was still angry and upset with my father that time.

            Now I realize that what my father did that time was helped me a lot. It also taught me a lesson that changed my life. I was thinking if my father carried me that time, I wouldn’t walk today. He taught me to be brave and walk with my strength. I have to try and move on and I can’t just sit down and waiting for someone to help me. I have to help my self and rise up. I have to embrace my self and love my self. This give me strength every time I remember this experience. I become a strong and an independent woman.

            My father passed away four years ago and I still can recall that day when he was helping me and I became upset of him. He taught me that not everything that I want is the best for me but everything that I need will be the best for me. He gave me what I need instead of I what I want to help me learn in this life. “You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days in your life. -Anonymous”

           

What will Happen in This Year of Dog?

            Chinese New Year has always been related with rain, but this year, the rain didn’t come to wetting the earth.

            Days before Chinese New Year, the rain didn’t stop pouring and create a flood in some parts of Jakarta. But on the Chinese New Year, the sun shines brightly and didn’t gave the chance for the rain to pour. Raining on the Chinese New Year is considered as the grace from the gods. What happen if the rain didn’t pour on the Chinese New Year? Is it the sign of bad luck?

            Actually, not only Chinese people who assume that rain is a grace but all religion in this world are also assume the same way. Water is an important element in human’s life that’s why it is depicted as the grace of God. As an agrarian country, water is also very important for Indonesian people. We live from the rice fields that need water.

            Moreover, Chinese New Year is celebrated on January or February which is the month of rainy season. Rainy season in Indonesia start on October until March. That’s why if it doesn’t rain on this season, then it will become a disaster for Indonesia because drought will hit Indonesia. However, if it is raining too much, it will bring disaster too because it will create flood.

            Even though it the rain didn’t come on the Chinese New Year, it doesn’t really matter because Chinese people still celebrating Imlek happily. The red color is everywhere coloring Jakarta’s streets and malls. Happy families are gathering to celebrate this happy day. And the most exciting is watching the dragon dancing at the malls.

            The CNY’s theme this year is Earth Dog. Dog is man's good friend who can understand the human's spirit and obey its master, whether he is wealthy or not. The Chinese regard it as an auspicious animal. If a dog happens to come to a house, it symbolizes the coming of fortune. The invincible God Erlang in Chinese legend used a loyal wolfhound to help him capture monsters.
The year of 2018 is the Zodiac Year of Birth (Ben Ming Nian) for Dog people. In general, people with Chinese zodiac Dog sign will have a year full of challenges. Their career may face changes. The financial condition will be not as good as last year. Failed investments may lead to the unbalance of income and expenses. Most of them need to make great efforts and adapt for a long time. During the Year of Dog, they may suffer from sub-healthy body condition. Even though they feel exhausted because of the high pressure from work, they should balance well their health condition and career.

From Novel to a Box Office Movie

            Who doesn’t like romance movie or novel? Girls and some boys must be in love with this kind of thing.

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Dilan 1990 is a novel by Pidi Baiq that now made into a movie. This movie release on 25 January and has been watched by over 900.000 people. The director of this movie is Fajar Bustomi who also a director for movie ‘Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan’. For this is a movie from a bestseller novel, so people’s expectation is very high.

            One of the advantage of this movie is the chemistry between Dilan (Iqbal Dhiafakhri Ramadhan) and Milea (Vanesha Prescilla) are very strong. You who have read the novel and imagine romantic scene in this movie will not be dissappointed because the character of these two Senior High School teenager who fall in love are visualized really good in Iqbal and Vanesha.

            Moreover, because Pidi Baiq who wrote the scenario himself, it is become very good. We can see it from the dialogues in the movie when you heard it, you’ll smile by yourself. Pidi Baiq said that the dialogues are the heart of the film. He really loves the characters in his novel. He once said that his novel will become a box office movie if he has time to wrote the scenario. And here it is.

            However, this movie also has its weakness. The bad boy side of Dilan is not visualized very well by Iqbal. People who already read the novel will imagine Dilan as a brave guy that doesn’t fear anything, beside he is a romantic and funny guy. For the calm and romantic dialogues, he is very succeeded, but when it comes to fight scene, he can’t take out the bad boy side. Maybe this is because Iqbal has already known for his cute side since he was in CJR (a boyband).

            Regardless the weakness of this movie, it still has many advantages and you should watch it. Especially for the 90’s kids, when watch this movie, you’ll miss the time when you’re still in Junior or Senior High School.

Happiness for Everyone

What is happiness to you? Everyone will have their own answers for that.

           

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            Happiness for me is when you have everything that you need in your life. What we need and what we want is two different things. But sometimes, people can’t separate those two and become greedy. When you know what you need more than what you want, you’ll find the true happiness in this life and more important, you’ll become a wise person.

            The first happiness in this world is when you still have both of your parents. We need them more than anything in this tough world. No one can change their place in our hearts. Sometimes we didn’t thank for having them and even we sometimes arguing with them because we think they don’t understand us. But think again. They know the best for us because they know us more than anyone else. We should be happy because we have our parents. Over 3 million children in Indonesia want to be in our place and feel the love of parents, but they can’t. So now, start thanking for your parents in your prayer.

            The second happiness is when you have roof over your head. That doesn’t matter whether your house is small or big as long as you can make it into a home sweet home that you’ll miss every time you are away. Some people, even when they live in a super big house with fancy things in it, they can’t find their happiness. Why?  Because they are busy to fill their house with fancy things and forget to spend time with their family and they are not thanking for what they have. They keep looking for what they need – fancy things for their fancy house – and forget what they actually need. What they need is to create home in their house by spending time together. Many people sleep in the road at night because they don’t have house. So, thank for the roof over your head.

            The third happiness is when you have enough food. I don’t say rich because money is not your main happiness in this world. Money can make people become evil. Many people in this world are starving while we are busy wasting our food and not feel guilty about it. Since we are a kid, our parents have told us not to waste our food or else they will cry. Now I realize that it is not the food who cry but people out there who can not taste what we eat today and we are just wasting it. Be thankful for you can eat today. Not everyone can eat like us.

            Sometimes we don’t realize that these simple things are what keep us happy until today. So, be thankful for what you have today because when you are thankful, you’ll find your happiness.

           

Rambu Solo', The Most Complex Funeral Ceremony in the World

In Tana Toraja, there are two big ceremony that are really popular. First is Rambu Solo', the funeral ceremony and second is Rambu Tuka', the thankfulness ceremony. Now, we're not going to talk about Rambu Tuka', but I will tell you a little bit about the most complex funeral ceremony in the world, Rambu Solo'. When someone dies in Toraja, the family members have to hold series of funeral ceremony for many days. The death body is not buried until the ceremony is over because she/he doesn't considered as dead people but a person who is sick or some other say "the one who is asleep". They are embalmed and put in the traditional house under the same roof with other family members. The thing that makes it more unique is that the deceased will be treated as they were alive. The family members will prepared some food and drink, taking care of the deceased, talking and even telling jokes. This could even lasts for several years, depending on how long the family members can raise the money to hold a funeral ceremony. 

In the past, the caste system in Tana Toraja is very strict. Only nobles can hold a big funeral ceremony. But now, the richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. The family members have to slaughter buffaloes and pigs as they believe that the deceased will need the buffaloes and pigs to make the journey to Puya (the other world). The more buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered, it will makes the deceased quicker to arrive at Puya. Before being sacrificed according to a strictly defined procedure, the animals take part in trials of strength known as Tedong Silaga. This is why Rambu Solo' is very complex because it has many rules though that makes it unique.

Finally, when the dead people is buried, the family members will make a wood-carved effigy called tau-tau, carved with the likeness of the dead person. Tau-tau is placed in the balcony of the tomb to represent the dead and watch over their remains. 

That's all about what I can tell you about Rambu Solo'. Hope you like and interested to know more about Tana Toraja. Thanks :)

Introduction

Hi.. My name is Gracya Herjawanti Masroem. I was born on 14 December 1995 in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. Now, I'm studying at Bunda Mulia University in North Jakarta and majoring in English and Language Culture. I chose that major because I like English language and its culture. I also like to read novels and comics, and I can spend hours reading them. Listening to music is also my hobby. I enjoy pop and country music.That's all that I can tell you about me.

Well, this is my first time writing a blog, so I'm sorry if it's not that good and the contain is boring. In this blog, I'm going to write all about my hometown's culture, Toraja and why it is unique and also things that is interesting to me. I hope you all can enjoy reading my blog and give some comments.
Thanks :)