Bowery

Its is almost 12 PM on Wednesday, i am supposed to write my paper for Psychology class instead of wandering around on my blog. Or start writing my Natural Resource journal instead of researching the life of Harvey Milk. Or studying evidence for my upcoming Michigan State debate tournament this week end instead of having my eyes glued to Tyler Oakley's youtube channel. I know i am natural procrastinator and i have no excuse for that, but i just cant get these stuff out of my mind. I will try my best to explain these 'stuff' i am talking about. As you know i am living in United States at the moment because of my exchange student program. I realized that coming from a totally different society would surely trouble me at some points while living in this country. In every orientation programs i have attended, they've always subtly segues the idea of 'reserving judgement' as a coping mechanism to live in a totally different society. That it is not better or worse...

by : Raditya Darningtyas   The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. Taking place in a fictional town on the Long Island, Fitzgerald was trying to depict the reality of wealth communities behind their lavish parties and luxurious houses. This story focuses mostly on Jay Gatsby, a rich man who lives in a big mansion next to the house the narrator of this story.   Throughout the novel, Gatsby is trying to rekindle his love with a woman from his past. Unfortunately the woman he loves, Daisy, has married to another rich yet arrogant man named Tom Buchanan.   Both the men love Daisy and refuse to let her go. As the result, they make some bad decisions in term of morality to win Daisy.   But they also show some differences between them in the way they try to achieve their goals. That is Gatsby to win Daisy back, and Tom, to keep Daisy on his side.   While persistency in pursuing our dream is mostly perceived as a good thing, it could also le...

I feel like now i know what happy and blissful means. I was completely amazed by their performance. If voices were food, then D.O = Green Tea Cake with Vanilla Cream Luhan = Strawberry Ice Cream Crepes Chen = Butterscotch + Cinnamon Popcorns Baekhyun = Nutella Cookies D.O has this distinctive deep, gentle & manly voice, a bit RnB perhaps. He is indeed the perfect choice for the opening part (as expected from my favorite ballad singer!). What captures my attention the most is somehow Luhan's voice. He is my second favorite member after D.O. I've noticed Luhan's great singing skill since their debut but somehow he never gets the chance to really put it on display. I've been waiting for the moment when SM Entertainment will finally unleash his power and yeah here it is!

August 17th is Indonesia Independence Day and i happened to be in US instead of joining balap karung in Indonesia. So, my hostsister and i decided to make Nasi Goreng or Indonesian fried rice to celebrate. You know how i am really bad in the kitchen but my hostsister is a really good chef. So we looked at the recipe online and she did most of the work though since i didn't want to ruin the taste.

At the Dulles airport, some YES committee welcomed us and we met few Indonesian volunteers too. We then headed straight to Hilton Hotel DC where we had our Orientation with other friends from all over the world. I guess Paris Hilton should feel thankful because we'd just added her pocket money. My roomates were Amelia (fellow Indonesian from Aceh) and Gifty from Ghana. All of us fell asleep on the first night so we missed dinner and the welcoming speech. Amelia & i were hungry that night so we wandered around the hall in the middle of the night trying to find some foods then we met a friend from Egypt (who has just arrived that time) who thankfully gave us info about sahur. If we hadn't met her, we would have starve while fasting the next day.

After saying goodbye to our families at Wisma Insan Cita Depok, we were heading to Soekarno-Hatta Airport Cengkareng by bus. I decided not to cry. I wasn't so sad anyway. I was thrilled for the adventure ahead. All kakak Bina Antarbudaya volunteers were also coming with us. We took many pictures with them. We got on a plane on 19.35 PM. What took my emotion control away was when we were entering airport security check, all kakak Volunteers were standing in a line holding a banner that said "Selamat Jalan. Sampai Jumpa Tahun Depan' while singing nationalism songs and some other mellow songs. I couldn't help crying. What i really love about kakak Volunteers is that they are the true kind-hearted & sincere people.I am so touched. I want to be volunteers in Bina Antarbudaya when i go back to Indonesia next year. Gosh I love them!

Yes i am here again. After months of constant struggle of dealing with bunch of paperworks, presentations, essays, i (finally) am officially accepted as one of 85 Indonesian students who receive scholarship from U.S. Department of State as an exchange student. This program is called Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study or YES. We are going to live in US for almost a year with a host family, attending an American Highschool and getting involve in any community service to promote cultural exchange and religion understanding. (for those who are curious about this program just go to http://yesprograms.org/ ) Before our departure to US, we had Chapter orientation and National Orientation where we were given many information, tips etc to survive the year ahead as an exchange student. I personally feel thankful toward all the kakak volunteers who have worked really hard as the committee of our orientation programs. At first, i thought this orientation would be just another usual '...

By : Raditya Putranti Darningtyas             The world sees him as a ‘moral authority’ with great concern for the truth. He is considered forthcoming and friendly toward everybody. Mandela always showed signs of hospitality by exhibiting his relaxed charms when speaking to others including his adversaries. He enjoyed talking with their staff despite his many friendships with personages, millionaires, and dignitaries, thanks to his mischievous sense of humor. He was also known for his fidelity and stubbornness. He could exhibit a hot temper which could erupt in certain situations.             Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is a politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was born on 18 th of July 1918. Mandela was the first black South African to be a president and also the first elected in a multiracial, fully representative election. Being and A...

                                                     What a great surprise on my Monday. SM has (finally!) uploaded the greatly anticipated drama version of Wolf's Music Video. But being an SM Entertainment till the end, they never ceased to find a way to stir up my curiosity (again!) and drive some of us insane with just one single sentence at the end of the video which is "To Be Continue" and i was like aissh Wae Geuraeseyo? WAE? WAE? What makes me happy about it is that my top three bias (D.O, Luhan, Kai) are stunning! They have a good and unexpected plot here, while many of us assumed the main story in the MV was merely the love triangle between Luhan, Kai and female leading role (which i thought kind of mainstr...

By : Raditya Putranti Darningtyas     The improvement of education and health in many countries around the world has raised people’s living standard, thus causes changes in how people seeing their life. Interconnection and internationalization has also influenced human life motivation. According to Maslow’s theory of human motivation, once a person has surpassed fulfilling their basic physical needs, he will try to fulfill his needs on the next level such as social or esteem needs and self-actualization. He won’t buy things to merely satisfy his functional needs only, but he would also looking for products that can give him an identity and bring him respects from others. We can call these things as prestigious products. Hence, this initiates transformation in people consuming behavior as well as the market situation. All these reasons resulted in what we call Creative Industry and nowadays as Creative Economy. Creative economy is an evolving concept that ...

Have you guys seen this teaser video? I really cant keep my fingers still waiting for the actual MV to come out. In the first part of the video, the dramatic tree formation appears. Then, the boys are jumping rather tough and roughly. And the next part is what takes my breath away, we can see Kai jumps down and gives a girl peck on her cheek! I heard the rumor that Kai feels scared after seeing fans crying in front of SM building because of kiss scene he took with that girl and crazy fans who try to harm that girl. I personally think that those fans are over reacting. It's just a scenario made by a director. Not that Kai has chosen this girl personally.

I dont know what's possessing me right now. Perhaps i'm just so bored and runs out of things to do during this dull weeks i spend at the dorm. Most people have gone home for holidays and i am stuck here. FYI, i'm still waiting for Visa interview invitation from US Embassy. So here i am posting some of my hunting results. ChanYeol, DO, Kai watch his eyes

[Verse 1] I've seen the world Done it all Had my cake now Diamonds, brilliant In Bel Air now Hot summer nights, mid July When you and I were forever wild The crazy days, city lights The way you'd play with me like a child

Let's say hi to my latest muse !!!  Do Kyung Soo or best known in his stage name as D.O is a member of EXO, the latest Chinese-Korean boyband formed by SM Entertainment. He was born on January 12th 1993 in Goyang, Gyonggi Province South Korea. He was cast into SM Entertainment through S.M. Casting System in 2010 after winning a singing competition. D.O. was formally introduced as a member on January 30th  2012.

"I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. I thought the whole concept was so fucking cool. Like, at first it's fine and you think you have a dark side – it's exciting – and then you realise the dark side wins every time if you decide to indulge in it. It's also a completely different way of living when you know that...a different species of person. " LANA DEL REY "Tell you about cockroaches," said Clint with intense enthusiasm, leaning forward with a finger pointed. "Now! The place I live in has a lot of cockroaches, but I don't have trouble with them, understand, I'm on the best terms with them. Tell you how I do this. Some years ago I sat down and thought about the whole matter: I said to myself, cockroaches are human too, just as much as us human beings. Reason for that is this: I've watched them long enough to realize their sense of discretion, their feelings, their emotions, their though...

Dalam rangka merayakan ulang tahun SMA Semesta Bilingual Boarding School, kami selaku OSIS SMA Semesta bermaksud mengundang siswa – siswi SMP atau sederajat untuk menghadiri Semesta English Competition dengan Tema “ Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself” yang diselenggarakan bagi siswa SMP se-Semarang dan sekitarnya.

Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room; And hermits are contented with their cells; And students with their pensive citadels; Maids at the wheel, the weaver at this loom, Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom, High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells, Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells: In truth the prison, into which we doom Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me, In sundry moods, ’twas pastime to be bound Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground; Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be) Who have felt the weight of too much liberty, Should find brief solace there, as I have found. Source: The Longman Anthology of Poetry (Pearson, 2006)

I I walk through the long schoolroom questioning; A kind old nun in a white hood replies; The children learn to cipher and to sing, To study reading-books and histories, To cut and sew, be neat in everything In the best modern way — the children’s eyes In momentary wonder stare upon A sixty-year-old smiling public man.

I went home few weeks ago and i bought some books at Periplus in Semarang Airport. This one is called Fatherland by Robert Harris. It takes from a detective story in an alternative history in which Nazi Germany won World War II. Sounds like a terrific novel for me since my favorite novel recently is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy. (Do you get my taste now?)  I was jokingly telling my friend if i were lesbian i would have dated Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Thanks God i am straight enough not to date a lesbian hacker in real life. But i would indeed recommend this book to every other bookworm i know. I couldn't stop reading those books until i finish. It became an addiction for a while and i was completely in love with this Salander.   I am so sorry that its author Stieg Larsson died shortly after he sent the 3 manuscripts to the publisher. Because i really want to read other books of him. His books are really my things. I am i...

Gosh I-AM-OLD! I still remember when i was in elementary school, i read those teen-lit novels about teenagers life which mostly involved their lovey-dovey romance story. Most of the characters were 16 or 17. They seemed to be really busy during that age. All homonal issues mixed with adventurous day. Thus, it made me wonder what the 17th year of my life would be like. Now im telling you, there has absolutely nothing of those happened during my 16th year of life until now which is almost 22 days after my 17th birthday. No extremely hot guys, no cigarret, no pot-smoking, no dating, let alone getting laid at some parties and i am competely grateful for that. I am safe and on the right track. Eventhough i wonder sometimes what it would feel like to do what those adolescents did in novels. Still, here i am safe and sound. Completely hidden behind my strong wall of believes. But i do feel exasperated and bored like normal teenager despite knowing precisely what to expect ...

Well youre the closest thing I have To bring up in a conversation About a love that didnt last But I could never call you mine Cause I could never call myself yours And if we were really meant to be Well then we justify destiny Its not that our love died Just never really bloomed Well I cant let go No, I cant let go of you Youre holding me back without even trying to. I cant let go I cant move on from the past Without lifting a finger youre holding me back.

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines                     he wrote a poem And he called it "Chops"                     because that was the name of his dog And that's what it was all about And his teacher gave him an A                     and a gold star And his mother hung it on the kitchen door                     and read it to his aunts That was the year Father Tracy                     took all the kids to the zoo And he let them sing on the bus And his little sister was born ...

Neon jidokhae You are terrible Byeonge geollin saramgata neon It’s like you are diseased Bimyeong sok gin pokjue ppajin dok Poison that runs wild in the screams Imi nan iksukhan dok Poison that I am already used to   Wae ireoke sikkeureopge sorijireulkka (okay) Why does it scream so loudly (okay)

                                     I've been interested in Greek history since elementary school and i've just found an interesting piece of legend that captured my attention. I am quiet fascinated by all sort of feminism issues. Hence I wrote an essay for my english assignment with its title 'Does Modern Feminism Bring More Harms than Good?'. According to a historian from Sicily named Diodorus who is regarged as an unreliable source by other historian, Amazons of Libya which at that time was a name used for all of north Africa west of Egypt, was a reign of Gynaecocracy. Means only women were allowed to hold high positions including in the military.             Legend said the realm was ruled by a Queen Myrina, who with 30.000 female soldiers and 3000 female cavalry swept through Egypt, Syria and all the way to Aegean. They defeated a number of...

Another South Korean boyband is going to have their very first concert in Jakarta. With its title ' 1st Baba B1A4 Showcase in Jakarta.' The concert will be held on tuesday 12 of march 2013 at Skenoo Exhibition Hall Gandaria City, Jakarta.   B1A4 started their debut in 2011. Their members consist of  Jin-Young (Leader, Vocal), CNU (Vocal, Rapper), Sandeul (Main Vocal), Baro (Rapper), dan Gongchan (Vocal). They are ready to rock the Indonesian 'Bana' (name for their fansclub) with numbers of their hits such as Beautiful Target, So Fine, Baby I’m Sorry, and OK.  Their songs are quiet known for their cheerful tones combined with members' hilarrious personality. They show some kind of playful image which give a perky and fun feeling.