A Short Trip to Bonn

When my boss in the NGO where I've worked part time in this last couple of years told me, that they were opening a full time position in Indonesia as a Liaison Officer, I didn't think too serious about it. The details of my big day (which, answering some people's question, will be held in December) was quite giving me a constant headache. That's why, I thought a full time job was the last thing I need (although, come to think about it, the money part does make it sound a bit more interesting, hehe)...

But, since I've been working for quite some time with them, I thought this job would perfectly fit me. There will be no office (only working from home, huray!), lots of traveling to eastern part of Indonesia (which has too many places that I haven't explored before), and having a boss in a thousands miles distance...Quite tempting, hmm?

So I decided to just go for it, sending my resume, and suddenly, they asked me to come to the headquarter (which is located in Bonn, Germany) to have a final interview with some of the managers. So the next think I know, I have packed my small suitcase (without really knowing what were exactly I put inside it), and said goodbye to my family and my guy.

I was more nervous about the interview, so the fact that I will go to Europe for only 5 days (including the journey) didn't really fascinate me. Actually I didn't really care where the interview took place, as long as I wouldn't do anything stupid in front of my future employers.

So, I sat in Lufthansa for more than 12 hours, cursing the European plane with their lack of entertainment (but what could I say? my ticket is paid by the organisation, so I didn't have much choices, did I?), and spending most of my journey by sleeping. And finally, still in jet lag and didn't have any clue how to get to Bonn from Frankfurt Airport (I was given the direction to my hotel, of course, but my sense of direction itself was very dangerous to be relied on), so imagined how happy I was when accidentally met Indonesian students who just got back from their holiday in Indonesia, and on their way to Bonn!!(Gabriel and Sisco, I owe you guys one!).

So, I arrived in my hotel safely. A nice hotel, actually. But the very next question was: What should I do now? The interview was scheduled for the next day,so I had to spend one day in the city, alone. The thought of it suddenly hit me. I was alone in this freaking city, without knowing what to do. I didn't prepare my mood to become a tourist, so it took me quite some time to switched my mode into "exploring the city" mode.

But turned out, Bonn is quite beautiful. This city is actually the birthplace of Beethoven, so I decided to start my journey from the Beethoven Haus.
The nice thing about the city was its public transportation. The system was exactly like the one in Netherlands, so it's not really complicated for me. I took the tram to the Main Station, and from there walking to the museum. Beethoven Haus was a nice place, with lots of stories, archives, and bits and pieces about Beethoven.

Then I went to the market, (or centrum, like we called in the Netherlands), browsing some shops and taking pictures of beautiful buildings, having lunch in one of the squares, and going back to the hotel. It's easy to get homesick when you're traveling alone, but somehow Bonn reminded me a lot with Den Haag, from the old buildings, the pigeons in the squares, people with bicycles, even the way they say thank you.

On the second day, I had my interview, but to tell you the truth, all the images from that interview was just a blur, mostly because I was too nervous to remember anything, haha...Well, my presentation was not that bad, but those questions they asked!!! Huhuhu....

Anyway, on my last day, I decided to walk around the city for the last time. I stopped for a short time in Museum of The History of Federal Republic of Germany , buying some German sausages (yep, the pork ones! hahaha)for my mom in one of the supermarkets, and sat on the side of Rhein River, which divided the city into two beautiful parts.

And, despite my desire to really get the job, I felt very grateful to have this short yet wonderful trip experience. It's a great feeling when you think, hey, I'm a citizen of this beautiful place called Earth, and there are so many great places ready to welcome me...=)

PS: Several things about the Bonn-ers:

Like most of European people, they like to chase the sun...even when the sun doesn't feel like showing in the city. Don't worry...there'll always be the Sunpoint...where you can get the tan even though the sun feels like hiding forever =)




Don't feel bad about your English when you're in Germany. They also struggle with the language. And believe it or not, Wall Street Institute is definitely a good choice to start! (Well, now you don't have to be ashamed when walking to your class in Wall Street Institute in Ratu Plaza or Kelapa Gading Mall).

Using QWERTZ

Baru gue sadar kalo selama ini gue udah sangat terbiasa dengan keyboard QWERTY, dan mendapatkan kesulitan luar biasa menggunakan kezboard QWERTZ....

untuk nulis alamat emailpun misalnza, hasilnza adalah seperti iniÄ astridfelicia"hotmail.com....tombol @ harus diakses sedemikian rupa karena terletak di tombol huruf Q, dan harus ditekan bersamaan dengan tombol AltGr....

gak bermutu zah postingannza kali ini...hahaha-.-(Gue kok jadi serasa ngobrol sama Mr Punk...tau kan, guru fisika galaknya Lupus di novelnya Hilman..hehehe)

Yaaa..ini hanya catatan singkat dari sebuah warnet di tengah kota Bönn...will continue the story later----

Azzurri, Cinta yang tak Berbalas

Piala dunia usai sudah. Harap-harap cemas, perasaan excited karena tim favorit mau bertanding, dan rasa kesal yang amat sangat melihat pemain kesayangan dikartu kuning dengan semena-mena oleh wasit.

Banyak kenangan piala dunia tahun ini buat gue. Yang paling luar biasa dan nggak diduga-duga, tentu aja kemenangan tim azzurri sebagai juara dunia. Seumur-umur gue mengidolakan tim italia sebagai favorit, belum pernah sekalipun mereka meraih kemenangan. Paling banter masuk final. Itu pun biasanya diakhiri dengan tragis dan ironis, menyisakan air mata buat gue.

Jadi, betapa sangat bahagianya gue yang dari awal sudah menerima celaan-celaan seputar prospek tim italia di piala dunia tahun ini, ketika akhirnya italia berhasil masuk ke putaran final, setelah memenangkan pertandingan luar biasa seru melawan jerman sang tuan rumah.

Saking berlebihannya, seorang temen gue yang asli dari italia berkomentar, sepertinya gue malah lebih bersemangat daripada dia. Gue jadi agak malu sendiri sama kelakuan gue.

Dan kebahagiaan itu semakin berlipat ganda berhubung gue sdah memesan tiket kereta ke Berlin sejak beberapa bulan yang lalu, demi bisa menonton final piala dunia lewat widescreen di tengah kota Berlin. Nggak nyangka, ternyata fans Azzurri membludak di sana, lengkap dengan berbagai atribut gilanya. Gue langsung merasa ada di tengah teman senasib sepenanggungan. Bahkan sempat beberapa kali diminta foto bareng sama gerombolan fans gila itu, mungkin karena mereka heran melihat gue ikut bersemangat, komplit dengan modal atribut gratisan dari pihak sponsor.

Dan begitulah. Finalnya sendiri nggak semenarik yang dibayangkan sebelumnya, apalagi kalau dibandingkan dengan pertandingan semifinal antara italia melawan jerman. Italia kembali main bertahan, dengan passing-passing atas yang sering berakhir dengan terbuangnya bola ke tangan Perancis atau bahkan keluar lapangan. Menyebalkan sekaligus bikin gregetan. Dan menjelang akhir babak perpanjangan waktu, terjadilah insiden itu, yang membuat orang-orang semakin panas. Entah terprovokasi apa, Zidane menanduk dada Matterazi, disusul dengan dikeluarkannya kartu merah untuk Zidane. Gila. Semakin mirip sinetron.

Drama berlanjut kembali saat adu penalti dilakukan. Trezeguet, pemain Perancis yang saat final Euro 2000 berhasil menjadi pahlawan kemenangan melawan Italia, kini malah menjadi penyebab kekalahan Perancis karena tidak berhasil menyarangkan bolanya ke gawang Italia yang dijaga oleh Buffon. Tragis, dan dramatis. Karma, kalau kata orang-orang.Kebetulan yang menguntungkan, kalau menurut gue.

Dan begitulah. Italia akhirnya menjadi juara, diiringi sorak tidak puas dari pendukung Perancis (terlebih setelah insiden dikeluarkannya Zidane dari lapangan), dan gemuruh kemenangan dari fans Azzurri. Gue larut dalam perayaan kemenangan pendukung Italia. Akhirnya, penantian gue terbalas sudah. Meski Inzaghi tidak juga main sampai detik terakhir...tapi kekecewaan gue cukup terbayar.

Tapi, melihat gerombolan Italia menyanyikan lagu kemenangan dalam bahasa nenek moyang mereka, lengkap dengan bendera merah-putih-hijau yang berkibar-kibar, dan sebagian malah dililitkan ke tubuh mereka, membuat gue merasa terasing. Cinta gue sama Azzurri adalah cinta tak berbalas. Sampai kapanpun, gue nggak bisa disamakan dengan pendukung asli Italia. Gue bukan orang Italia, secinta apapun gue pada Azzurri.

Dan tiba-tiba, gue merasa rindu. Rindu dengan hadirnya tim sepakbola negara gue di ajang internasional seperti ini. Rindu menyanyikan lagu kemenangan dengan bahasa Indonesia. Rindu melihat bendera merah putih yang berkibar, tanpa embel-embel hijau atau biru.Rindu mendapat cinta yang berbalas, dari sebuah tim bertajuk PSSI. Mungkinkah?