Tag: livethelife

What is this feeling?

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

This is NOT an affectionate text. If you know me well then you might have guessed. Haha!

I talked to my friend, Chysa, a few weeks ago. We were basically in the same situation and we felt the same thing. WE WERE BORED! Yes, we live in a small city in Yorkshire area and for city girls like us, it is different from the life we lived before. But still… we shouldn’t feel that bored.

It was not that we were bored because we have nothing to do. Believe me, we have loads to do. It was more emotional. We both felt like we didn’t feel enough emotion (if there is such a thing). See, if we are happy then we’re not that happy. If we are sad then we’re not that sad. If we’re angry then we’re not that angry. Why??

I suppose balance is the key for everything, right? And what I described before suppose to be balance, am I correct? Happy but not that happy; sad but not that sad… But is there such a thing called balance in terms of emotion? Can we be partially stimulated in our limbic system? Any neuropsychologist?? I wonder… (*brb reading neuro books)

Well, then a few days ago I read this article in the guardian. The writer described differences of the situation in the tube in London and New York. And guess what, the writer found that it is busier, louder, and I suppose more dynamic in New York. The tube is quiet, people are more self-absorbed with their own activities, and there were only a little human interaction in London.

Maybe it is a cultural thing, then? I mean, here in the UK people are more self-conscious, quiet, mannered (?) and therefore those who live in UK may not feel extreme emotion. It is my assumption, really. But hey, which one would you choose? Would you rather feel more extreme emotion even though it may not be always pleasant OR would you choose the so so situation?

I will definitely choose the one where I wouldn’t get bored.

May 21, 2013

Easter Travel Cool Fact #5

Published on by Izza Dinillah2 Comments

As there are so many Indonesian people in Germany, it is easy to find tempe (soy bean cake) in stores. You can find ANY Asian store and you will FIND it there! What a nice life. I saw a big Asian store in Heidelberg which has everything. From Indomie, sambel bajak, up to tempe. I’m kind of jealous… While in here, well, Alhamdulillah I have a friend who can make tempe, Mbak Tina. If she’s not here… Oh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do as it is soooo rare.

Apr 07, 2013

Easter Travel Cool Fact #6

Published on by Izza Dinillah1 Comment

They still use blackboards in Germany universities.

Wow! I don’t know whether it’s cool or not but from where I come from, Indonesia, well… at least we don’t use blackboards anymore. Not even the whiteboards if you have computer and the LCD projector. It is also not the case in the UK. They use smart board in here. Well, mostly the computer though. I don’t know if it’s the case in other countries, but WOW! They still use the blackboard with chalks in Germany. They even still use the manual projector where you need to write on mica papers! Even though it seems to be an old school way, their blackboards are sophisticated. They can move and do stuffs. Haha! I think it’s so cool – as in unique. I didn’t know people still use that!

Apr 08, 2013

Easter Travel Cool Fact #3

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

You won’t be lost taking the train inside Germany. Literally!

The train connection in Germany is sooooo good that you won’t be confused even if you are traveling alone for the first time as in my case. When you purchase the ticket, you will find which train you will need to take – with the number, from which platform you will get on the train, what time the train will depart and what time the train will arrive. If you need connecting train, you will also find the same information in your ticket. What a nice life! Hah! Comparing to the system in the UK. WOW! You will be confused if you have to change your train. Oh! And all the trains are rarely late, and the connecting time between trains is planned very carefully so that you won’t have to wait more than an hour. Well, this can be good or bad as I had to run to catch my next train because the previous one was delayed for 5 minutes. See, 5 minutes delay and I almost missed my next train. So cool, right?

Apr 05, 2013

 

Schön Heildelberg

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

On the third day of my Easter vacation, I went to Heidelberg to meet Lana. I didn’t plan to go there before, but I was lucky to decide to go to Heidelberg. It is such a beautiful city. The city is not as big, but the old town is amazing. I like how the old town was built. The environment, the people… all was wonderful.

There is the oldest university in Germany there. It isn’t too big but it’s beautiful. Even the library was ‘oh my God’ breathtaking. Another attraction there is Philosophenweg. It is basically a street up to a hill where you can take pictures of the whole old town Heidelberg. You can also see a fort across the hill there. The day I went to Heidelberg was nice but a bit foggy so I kind of didn’t get good enough picture. But that’s okay. I had fun!

Apr 07, 2013

Wunderbar Munchen

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

I went to Munich last Tuesday. I went there by train from Milano Centrale. That was my first experience going to Germany and Munich is a good place to start. There are so many places to go but as I had only 5 hours, I needed to pick which ones to go to. Here are the list:

1. Neuerathaus: the new what is it? ah, town hall! It is a very nice place with a kind of Platz (I don’t know the English word for this) in front. The building itself is massive and beautiful, with a kind of Gothic touch in the architecture.

2. Glockenspiel: this attraction is literally attached to the Neuerathaus. It’s a clock which has a dancing creatures during the hour change. It is located in the central tower of the Neuerathaus. I didn’t see the dancing thingy but that’s okay. I got to run around to see other Munich attractions.

3. Viktualienmarkt: this is a market! People usually sells daily grocery products and – yes! Wurst! As Germany is very famous for its sausage, Wurst is the main product sold in Viktualienmarkt. Along the way from Bayerstrasse to Mariensplatz (where the Neuerathaus is located) and to Viktualienmarkt, you can see St. Paul Cathedral and other historical building, I suppose. Walking around the Viktualienmarkt is quite nice, as long as it isn’t snowing which in my case it was so… yeah..

4. Residenz Museum: this is the only museum I visited in Munich. Well, I wanted to visit the science museum but it’s just too difficult as it snowed which makes it too cold to walk around too far. The Residenz Museum is very very very big! You can spend the whole day there if you are really into museums. It was the place for the rulers of Munich to live. You can still see the whole rooms and furniture in the museum. What interesting in this museum is that there is one room called Schwartz Raum which means black room; and you can see an illusion painting on the ceiling. It makes the room looks two stories higher than the actual one. How cool is that! And, as most palace in Europe, there are lots of wall paintings.

Those were the places I visited in Munich. I regret that I didn’t plan it well enough so that I couldn’t go to Allianz Arena and BMW Welt. I should go to those places another time. Another important thing is Germany is cold during the almost spring time so don’t underestimate the weather. I didn’t prepare myself for that kind of weather so that it was too cold for me. But anyway, Munich is a great place with nice and friendly people.

Aufwiedersehen! 🙂

Apr 04, 2013

Easter Travel Cool Fact #1

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

CNL

CNL means city night line. It is a type of train to go around Europe (the main land Europe) at night with the sleeper coach in the train. I went from Milano Centrale to Munchen Hbf with this kind of train. The train was very nice with friendly staff. That was my first experience using the sleeper coach. I was lucky that there was only me in my sleeper coach which is supposed to be for up to 6 people. You have your electrical plug (very important!), blanket, and pillows. Yeay! I had a nice night sleep here. Plus, they also give you small breakfast. It almost seems to be too good to be true. Ha!

File:Mannheimer Hauptbahnhof- auf Bahnsteig zu Gleis 3- Richtung Ludwigshafen (Rhein)- City Night Line (Schlafwagen) 26.3.2010.jpg

Apr 04, 2013

The Dead of Death

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

I had an interesting lecture this evening. It’s about death, loss, and bereavement. In the beginning, I was thinking – how is it going to have something to do with education? Well, that is why it’s interesting.

Talking about death from different cultural points of view is interesting. And it is almost unbelievable how the concept of death, loss, and bereavement change historically. It was just never occurred to me, really. But how it is then connected to education is almost as bizarre. But then, hey, it’s not learning when you don’t have any cognitive dissonance, isn’t it?

However, here is my thought..

As any other concepts in the world, death concept is highly cultural. Looking back at my own culture and my experience, it is difficult to find the real conception of death explicitly explained. It is avoided as in taboo. Talking about death, especially to children is regarded inappropriate. Parents specifically ask teachers not to talk about death, especially to children who experience bereavement. WHY?

Yes, why? While on the other hand, other kind of loss which isn’t death, such as divorce, is often explained to children as death. Why is it? Is divorce then regarded worse than death so that children should not know about it and they better of with explanation about death?

Maybe, death is a simple answer. It doesn’t have any moral implication – right or wrong questions following it. Death is just.. death. Especially when then it is linked into religious explanation. Well maybe then.. death is an easy out.

What is going to happen then, if children are exposed with the idea that death is an easy out? They will find death as a solution for their problem. It’s easy – without thinking about the implication of it. There was this news about a primary school boy who attempted to commit suicide because his love was rejected by a girl he liked. This is a really good example about how death is seen as a quick fix to a problem.

This thought was just occurred to me during the class. Well then maybe, maybe.. it is the fact that the concept of death, loss, and bereavement is not thoroughly explained to children that they not only don’t understand about death and its friend but they also don’t understand about the meaning of being alive. When the concept of death is dead, how are children going to understand about being alive?

Mar 15, 2013