Rational Expectation

Inspired by my classmate’s writing in responding a question about “Rational Expectation” that appeared in lately macroeconomics’ mid test, I decide to write the same topic. Be frankly, before I took the exam, I never heard the notion of “rational expectation” (ohh… poor me! இட்'ச definitely clear that I must increase time to “hitting the books – including journal, newspapar, etc”… :-D).

After two days of doing nothing because of suffering from midterm syndrome, fortunately, today, I got permission to borrow a book from a nice friend (thank you jelek!), a book that consists of several economics articles of Nobel Price receiver. Several of them talk about Rational Expectation.

Though the articles provided in book are not clear enough in explaining about The Rational Expecation, here I try to make summary on it. Basically, this writing is simply aimed to share while testing my knowledge about the topic I just read (lieur teu jiga dibaca sanes kituh…). To be honest, since now, I committed myself to write as many as I can as the way I choose to internalize all knowledge that I get from classes, discussions, books, newspaper or journal that I read. For this reason, I open with all critiques.

Background

To begin with, expectation is very essential in economics for every decision that deals with future always related to what people “expect” to happen in the future. If people expect to be wealthy in the future, they will consume more so that aggregate output will increase. If investor expects an increasing interest rate that can affect his loses in the long run, he will decrease his demand to bond. Basically, the theory of rational expectation is intended to explain about how people whom involed in economy activities perform their expectation.

Before we go further about rational expectation, we discuss first about what is “adaptive expectation” for the notion rational expectation was came up and developed from that idea. Adaptive expectation is expactation that people made based on the past information they have. In the other words, people make their expectation simply based on their past experiences without any considering to the present information. For this reason, adaptive expectation could be mislead.

Rational Expectation

Robert Lucas was well known as a Nobel Price receiver in economics for his theory about Rational Expectation. However, this theory firstly developed by John Muth that adopted from “adaptive expectation” as explained above. Rational expectation itself defines as optimum prediction or forcasting about future by using all information available. Eventhough, rational expectation is based on all available information, it could be faulty because of two reasons:

a. First, people aware about all available information but they are too lazy to work on making good forcast;

b. Second, people may not aware about relevan information so their prediction about future was misslead.

Why Theory of Rational Expectation is Important?

Principally, the answer to the question “why people try hard to work on their expectation” is simple that is for they won’t be lose. Just try to figure it out from the facts provided below: when a manufacture company knows that the level of interest rate affects their sales, if that company make wrong prediction about the level of interest rate, the company will receive lesser profit for they will produce too much or too less. For this reason, the company will use all its sources to get as much as information that can help them to predict the level of interest rate in the future.

Robert Lucas had applied his “rational expectation” theory to check why some policies failed. He critiques policy evaluation by using econometric application that involves mathematical equations which describes causalities among variables. According to Lucas, the involving of a policy changes the behaviour of people. This shows that the expectation of people change/influence that policy itself.

Expectation is important in economics decision making for not only household, firm but also organisation. The expectation is based on the expectation of inflation rate and labor supply in the future that influenced by expected level of wages. Generally, every individual in the economy is rational which means that they try to collect data and information as much as they can and use them to make plan or prediction about the future.

Several Critics over The Rational Expectation Theory

Eventhough rational expectation approach tend to cover the economic reality, there are several critiques upon this approach. First, because of complexity and dynamism of economy, people are doubted to make rational forcasting. Second, every person has different economic model so that rational expectation is different among one and others. Third, people are not always. Fourth, it’s not easy to formulate the rational expectation to a concrate macroeconomic model that can accommodate the changes of parameters in the model.

Conclusion

To sum up, the rational expectation is a sort of macroeconomic model that analyze the data available and used it to make prediction of future. It is intended to seek opportunities in the future by using all available information.

Sources:

Esai-Esai Nobel Ekonomi, KOMPAS

Awesome Belitung Island, Indonesia!!!!

Last week, my friends and I went to Belitung Island for vacation. Actually, the vacation was arranged accidently. Here this the story. A couple weeks ago, I bought a traveling magazine and read one of its article saying about five affordable island holidays. I decided to pick one of them for I would have 2 weeks off before involving seriously in a real study for my master that will be started on August 10.

I decided to have Belitung Island for my vacation, but I was confused about whether I went with companions or went alone. After browsing from the Internet about Belitung, I decided to look for companions since Belitung is not like Bali, a place that I am quite familiar with. Though it is a small island that available to be exlored in a short time, its facilities are not quite good. Hotels, and restourants are only few and simple. Moreover, Belitung has a rare and unconvinient public transportation so I have to rent a car and a boat for exploring Belitung Island. It meant that it would be expensive for going there alone for I am a student... :-p. Therefore, I looked for companions afterwards.

I got Lia and Indah as my companions, the ones whom I never had traveling with before. Uupsssttt.... I just noticed that there always different companions for each of my travelings and I don't feel bothered with it. It may be because I am a kind of easy going person. Having fun with new person while learning about others' personalities. hehehe....

All have been prepared before we departed: flight ticket returns have been bought, hotel has been booked, a car and a boat have been rented including its quides. We're ready!!!

Belitung Island is located in South China Ocean. According to the website that I read before I went there, Belitung has beautiful beaches, even they claim that the beaches are more beautiful than Bali has. wow, sound interesting!!! I said to myself, 'Let's prove it!'. The day has come! On July 31, we went to Belitung by Batavia Airlines, departed from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta and it on ly takes 40 menutes away, shorter than Jakarta - Bali flight that takes about one hour.

Arrived at Hananjoedin Airport, Tanjung Pandan, Belitung, a driver named Pak Itho who is also a guide, picked us up. He is a nice and funny guy, so he mingled easily with the three of us. After check-in to the hotel named Wisma Aditia, located in Jl. Diponegoro, we went directly to Tanjung Tinggi (directly meant that we didn't put our luggage-carrier to the hotel's room first since each of us only brought a bag).

Tanjung Tinggi

Tanjung Tinggi beach is also well known as Laskar Pelangi Beach since it used to shoot some scenes of the Laskar Pelangi Movie. One characteristic of Belitung beaches is there alway irrigular big-stones that beautify the beach.

A blue-green sea water color is also quite different from any other beaches. Furthermore, the type of sand is quite different from any other beaches. Definitely beautiful beach!! In Tanjung Tinggi beach, we were swimming while enjoying the sunset. Fortunately, when we were there, we got a perfect sunset because there were no clouds.

Tanjung Kelayang

After Tanjung Tinggi, we went to Tanjung Kelayang, other beautiful beach with awesome-stone-arrangement. We met Pak Rusdy there, the one who would guide us to the islands tomorrow morning. We had lunch there. Enjoying seafoods while the sea wind blows over our faces is astoning. The food cooked by Pak Rusdy's wife was testy and yummy. Hemmm.... Tanjung Kelayang scenery is awesome!

At the night, we hunted for durian. Since I am a durian maniac, I was so excited. We got some but not the best ones for the durian season in Belitung is almost over. It all was in the first day.

In the second day, we went to islands guided by Pak Rusdy and accompanied by Pak Itho. O ya... Belitung is surrounded by about 189 small islands. Some of them are inhibited islands such as Mendanau Island, Seliu Island, Nadu Island and Batu Dinding Island. We departed from Tanjung Kelayang. The first island we visited was Gusong Island. It is an island that only appears in the morning because in the afternoon the water sea level increases and covers the island. Though the island consists of white sand only, it is very beautiful for it surrounded by a blue-green ocean. I was speechless. Awesome Gusong Island!

The next visit was to Batu Belayar. It is a kind of island that consist of many big stones. I wonder how God creates those amazing place. O ya... since I was accompanied by two photographic-maniac and two awesome guides, we took many pictures everywhere with any kind styles-even the odd ones. Hehehe...

Next visit was Burung Island. Different from the former islands, Burung island is an island with many threes and longer cost-line. There is a group of big stones named Batu Menceko stand firmly in the beach. Awesome stones! The white-sand beach is also beautiful.

After visiting Burung Island, we went to Lengkuas Island, an island which is well known with its lightouse. The lightouse was built in 1880, colonialism era, and have been operating for 127 years. There were two man take care of this tower. Arrived at this island, Pak Rusdy cooked lunch for us. The menu were shrimp and poulp. After lunch, we took a rest for awhile and then went up to the lightouse. It has 18 floors and every windows in every floor has different awesome view of the sea. W-O-Wwww.... awesome...views.... In the top of lightouse, I almost cried for I saw beautiful scenery. I was amaze for God created Indonesia uniquely and beautifully. I said to is myself, wow and wow, repeteadly... God is great! God is great!!

After went down from the top of lightouse, we changed our dress-code and went for snorkling. Lengkuas Island has various diversities of corals. About 45 menutes we were snorkling, we went to Babi island afterwards to see sunset, another beautiful sunset. After sunset, we went back to Tanjung Kelayang, had dinner at Mie Belitung, Tanjung Pandan and went back to the hotel for taking a rest. Though tiring, it was awesome day.

In the third day, Pak Itho picked us up on 6 am because we asked him to deliver us to East Belitung, a quite away from Tanjung Pandan, while there was limited time. We checked out from the hotel and went directly to East Belitung. We went to Vihara Kwan Im, Toko Abadi, SD Muhammadiyah Ex-Shooting Laskar Pelangi and Pece Dam. On 10.30 am we have reaced Airport and ready to went back to Jakarta.

Mfyuuughhh.... what can I say about this vacation. Three words: AWESOME, EXOTIC, and SATISFIED !!! Belitung is very very beautiful. One thing for sure, the more I know Indonesia, the more I love it. I think that I have to visit it again one day. I'll schedule it!

So... guys, if you haven't visit Belitung, I suggest you to visit it or you will regret. Sure!

To which I belong?

I am Javanese. Both my father and mother are Javanese. In addition, as long as I can remember there’re no mixed bloods from any great grandparents. I was born in a small town named Boyolali, Central Java. Until Senior High School, I used to speak Javanese Language on my daily life. What a weird! When I was studying in Bandung, many friends and seniors asked me about what’s my bataknese family name. That kind of question had been asked so many times since I enrolled the collage. I didn’t know why. Was that due to my face? Emm… I didn’t know, but I didn’t think so. If you know my mother, who is a purely Javanese, you’ll see how I resemble her face. The question was not bothering much actually, but it sounded odd. Hehehe… Yeeaahhh… forget it! Hehehe… Since I married to a handsome bataknese man 2 years ago, I can handle that kind of question for I already have a bataknese family name. So, to which I belong now? I belong to both of them… :-).

A Lovely Vacation

About 2 months ago, I planned to have a vacation. The plan was about visiting Boyolali, a place where I was born and spent my childhood and teeneger. My parents are living there. Actually, I planned to visit my parents’ home in Boyolali on the first week of March, but it canceled for there was a wedding invitation from my friend in Bandung. Since then, I tried to find out other days that proper to have “a little break” from routineness. There were some days in the last of March that seem appropriate to have vacation. Gotchaaa… 26 – 30 March, I got it. Fortunately, I got cheap price for flight Jakarta-Jogja by Garuda Airways. It’s always fun to visit Boyolali for there are not only my parents and family but also some old friends.

My parents are getting older. My father is 73 years old while my mother is 65 years old. Because I live far away from them, I only can communicate with them by phone. Visiting and seeing them keep healthy and happy are relieving me much. On the other hand, having vacation in Boyolali is always fun. It is because of the food that I can’t find in other place except Central Java region, such as Sego Jagung, Sambel Tumpang, etc. In Boyolali, I also can eat irregular food that restricted to eat doe to a personal reason (I mean the smell) such as Pete and Jengkol. Hihihi….!!! Lovely, here did I get my freedom in consuming that such “inappropriate food” ..:-p.

Moreover, some old friends are living in Boyolali or cities around it, Jogja, Solo and Semarang. When I visit Boyolali, I never forget to hang-out with them. Sharing, having chit-chat about anything particularly about school memories and laughing aloud to the past behavior that mostly embarassing are very amusing. Delightful !!. Yes, it was definitely a kind of lovey vacation.

Today, I have to go back to Jakarta. So, let’s get back to “the main responsibilities”. Study and Study.

Dearest Father

I got home, my parents home actually, 2 days ago. Here am I taking a break for holiday. I am missing some classes for this. Hehehe… Hopefully my coming will relieve my parents for they really miss me, their younger child. Huhuhu… narcissist! Yeah, my parents only have 1 son and 1 daughter. For my brother is living in Boyolali, near my parents house, he comes to my parents house for daily, while I am staying away and used to going to Boyolali about 3 times in a year. No doubt if they miss me much… (keep narcissist!). Emm… I have been at home for 2 days. I notice that my father whose age is 73 years old keeps energetic in enjoying his life. There are two things that make me amaze.

Firstly, my father looks so healthy. When others old men are just staying at home, my fathers are having exercises. Hehehe… lovely! He rides bicycle every morning (and even in afternoon). Yesterday, I accompanied him to ride bicycle while sightseeing rice fields. You know what? Anytime we through up street, my father kept riding his bicycle, while I got down from my bicycle. Hahaha… poor me!! My father also plays fulsal with his friends 2 times a week. He even has a uniform that he always wears to play footsal. Hehehe… Seems like a professional football player.

Secondly, my father looks so happy. My father is a kind of person who is easy going. Moreover, now he has no burden for his children have been working (minimum standard for successful parents… :-p). Beside that, I think that doing exercises ragularly also makes my father refresher.

It’s lovely to see it. It has even touched my heart. Sure. I always love being home, Seeing my parents are healthy and happy. Home always gives comfortness. Staying with people who we love and to be loved us is lovely.

The Most Favorite Source of Information

In this day and age, there are many sources where we can get information. For instance, newspaper, TV, Radio, magazine, journal, Internet, etc. Among all those sources, the Internet is the most media that I am used to use. There are some justifications for this preference.

Firstly, the Internet is accessable. We can access the Internet anytime and anywhere. As we know, internet is getting cheaper and cheaper these days for there are many internet provider in Indonesia that set up internet connection with a cheap price, even Rp 100.000 per month for unlimited connection. Moreover, there are many places such as campus, café, restaurant, airport, mall, etc, which provide “hotspots“ internet free accessed. The hardware that we can use to access internet are also various. It is not only can be accessed by PC, laptop, but also mobile phone.

Secondly, information from Internet is up to date and comprehensive. Information in the internet is quickly updated, so we can know the news shortly after they just happened. Beside that, information from the Internet is also comprehensive. Because there are many sources of Information in the Internet that complete each other, we can have a comprehensive material for a “specific” thing we need and want. What we should do is going to the websites that we can browse through. Even, if we don’t know the specific websites, we can just use search engines. After typing the keywords of the subjects in search engines, there will be lists of information related to the subjects. It is quite easy, isn't it?

Therefore, in my opinion, the Internet is “the best” way to be well informed. Howover, we must be wise in using the Internet, not only in term of time consuming for internet but also in term of the kind of information that we can get from it.

Do We Need Creativity in Academic Writing?

Writing is one of skills that students must have to be success in academic. It is because academic writing is never “a side-job” for students, particularly students who engage in college. There are many writing tasks such as paper and essay that the lectures used to give to. Moreover, in the final year, students must design thesis before graduating. Therefore, learning academic writing can help students to do their academic obligations. For me, writing, particularly in term of academic, is not easy. It is definitely different from writing in blog as I am used to doing. Yah… I know… I keep struggling on it. For academic writing has some procedures that must be followed by academic writer where it must be well organized and based on evidences, facts, and data, do we need creativity in academic writing? In my opinion, there are some points of creativity that can be develope in academic writing.

Firstly, creativity is needed in organizing data and information. Eventhough creativity in academic writing is not dominant because students have to keep the procedures of academic writing itself, but it can stimulate creativity in some ways. Creative means how to find pattern in abundant data and information, so we can distinguish ‘signal’ from ‘noise’ that it can provide solutions to the problems.

Secondly, creativity is needed in elaborating rigorous explanations in communicating data and information. The formality in academic writing may be exhausting for some academic writers, but it generate several positive values including honesty, submissive, criticism, and curiousity. Overall, these values play important parts in a process of knowledge building writer’s while continuely lead to respecting nature and fellow human beings.

Thirdly, creativity is needed in selecting words, phrases and sentences used so writing has effective and efficient sentences. This includes how to link words, phrases and sentences as succint as possible so there is brevity and clarity sentences with no waste words.

In conclusion, though it is not that simple to write, particularly in academic writing, I believe that writing skill can be learned by practice. The more students take writing practice, the more writing skill that student can get. Therefore, writing should be supported as a positive habit in daily activities.

Classmates

I have been staying in Depok for about 2 months. It’s mean that I have been through one third of the EAP process. Then, what I can say so far? Though it’s a little bit tiring due to a tight schedule, actually I can say that the process is definitely fun. It is because of my classmates. My class consists of 13 people, 4 are women and the rest are men. We come from various government institutions, both central and local government. Here am I finding a very fun community. Emmm… There are 3 reasons why I feel that way.

Firstly, there’s no a day without laughing. Each of my classmate is a kind of playful person who loves joking. There're always moments to laugh (loudly laugh in fact), not only outside of class but also during the study process in class. Everyone seems to have talents to make jokes and humor. I see that the process of study become interested, lighthearted and spirited.

Secondly, my classmates are very generous and helpful. For we have "same and definite" goal to be reach in the end of this process, getting minimum score 83 in IBT, we try to help each other. Since the beginning, I, personally, think that we don’t compete against each other for this process. There is neither winning nor losing in this case. One thing for sure that we must pass "this" together. I am sure that all of my classmates think it in the same way.

Thirdly, I find another Javanese community. I was born in a small village where there was surrounded by Javanese culture and values. For I’ve been leaving my village since 1997, Javanese custom is always missed then. I don’t mean to be “a couvinist”. Off course not! I love making friend to anyone, whatever their etnic background. It’s only about something that remind me to all memories in the past. Honestly, I love the way Javanese speak particularly the accent. It sounds lovely and uniquely. I always miss it. Sure. Unfortunetely, there are not many Javanese communities that I have this far. There are: some people in office, Ida and Diana, ex-pancoran community, Mas Bron (I love the way he speaks… medoxxx bangeet... ;-p). That’s why it is interesting to find another Javanese community for most of my classmates are Javanese. Hehehe…. :-p

After all, I find a positive environment here. I wish that we gonna pass this process together. Ok, guys, let’s go for it!! Keep on fire!!

A Virus named Facebook.

Nowadays, there are many “IT products” that related to social networks, for example: Hi5, MySpace, Tagged, Skyrock, Orkut, Friendster, Cyworld, and Facebook. These “IT products” have created new ways to communicate and share information. They are being used regularly by millions of people, and now it seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life.

Some friends told me that they become addicted to some kinds of social networks lately. Even, a few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me that he spends 75% of his time having fun with this such of social networks while the other 25% was spent in study (Parahhhh kali … hahaha…). Frankly, I am also susceptible to this kind of “IT products” lately, particularly Facebook. Hehehe… it makes me become very addictive. A day without “facebooking” seems drained of. Berlebihan ya boww…. Hihihi…

Facebook is being like a virus that affacted me much,-as many people do-. The indication is just like “cough potato”,- wasting a lot of time in front of my laptop just for “facebooking” though is’s with or without consuming potato chips. I am used to moving with no clear direction or purpose on it. Just for fun, but is is time consuming. Oghhh… poor me!

So, why facebook and other social networks are being virus? Basicly, the main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust. Moreover, we can post the status where it can be commented by friends in uncommon way. It’s given us a lot of fun.

Since realizing that there are many things must be done lately, so how to get out of this infection? Can we be discipline and control ourself from this kind of distractions? Huhuhu… Emmm….

A Lesson Learn From Reading Class

What a day…

I don’t know what was going on this day. All things seem to be uncomfortable. Ya… there was something bothering me. I didn’t know actually whether it was a problem or not. Unfortunately, all my suroundings seem to be abandon me (maklum, saya lagi sensitif bow... ). When I tried to tell about “the thing” to a friend, she seemed not to realize that I just need an “ear” to listen.

After finishing an-hour-banking-procedure that was required by the Scholarship Institution, I chose not to attend the “Japanese Cross Culture Class” on 1.00 p.m. I went to Margo City instead of slept in the Class due to boring. I was alone. Sometimes it is better to do something alone when there is a-gloomy-heart. After seeing movie in Platinum and searching books in Gunung Agung, I went home. I just realize that at this time, the lonely-hang-out was not helping me to recover.

I had arrived at home and turned on my laptop when I remembered about yesterday lesson in Reading Class. The teacher copied from a reading material about keys to success. One of them was focus on distinguishing between problems and facts. The teacher told that “problem is something that can be fixed. If we are dealing with a circumstance that cannot be changed or fixed, than it’s no longer a “problem”, it is a fact".

I tought deeply whether “my thing” was a problem or just a fact.

I tried quite hard to figure it out. I did both thinking through all aspects related to “the thing” and drawing a mind map (I am used to doing this such a thing in jobs). Hihihi… sok ilmiah ya bow????. After 4 hours, I felt relieve. I could say that “the thing” was just a fact and there’s nothing I can do to fix or change it.

Understanding that it’s a fact, I think there’s no reason to waste emotional energy feeling frustrated over it. So, I try not to reliant myself on unnecessary stress. Let’s smiling!

Boring? What to do to deal with?

In the last two weeks, some of friends told me about boring. They also asked me wheather I get bored before and what to do to deal with. Emmm…

Actually, what is boring? Boring is defined as lacking in interest, excitement, enthusiasm, or liveliness. In addition, boring also can be defined as loosing passion of things. Boring itself is something that happened naturally in our life since there’re too much uniformity, repetition, and unvarying in life.

Knowing that everybody has his/her time to get boring, let us share how to overcome the situation according to our own experiences. For me, there’re some activities that I’m used to doing to get the life passion back:

1. Listening to Music. Listening to music that you like or love is a kind of healing method for boring. For me, light jazz is a kind of music that makes me refresh. But, if you do with the “wrong” one, music that you dislike, it can be turn to the opposite way. So, be sure for the the type of music. For someone who felt broken heart, melancholic music is better to be avoided.
2. Listening to Radio. I like to listen to radio instead of waching TV. I don’t know why, but I think there are 4 reasons behind: 1) Radio is more interactive rather than TV; 2) Music that we listen from radio seems livelier than the music from CD’ or MP3 do; 3) Many radio’s announcers are fun, funny, even some have a little bit craziness… hihihi…. And the rest is that we can do multitasking while we listen to the radio.
3. Reading. So, why reading? Some persons think that reading is such a boring activity and they don’t get any “fun” of it. For me, reading is a kind of fun and educated activity for dealing with boring. Knowing about new things, learning about somethings, and developing creativity and imagination about something are fun while there’re also good for our brain.
4. Watching movies. Like reading material, movie is a kind of refresher way that provide amusing or interesting art to be enjoyed and learnt.
5. Sleeping. Since I knew that our brain work better when sleeping than watching TV, I choose to take sleep more. :-D
6. Walking or Jogging to Punclut. While we’re sweating, by having activities in such an open air, we can be much refresher because the fresh air touchs our skin directly.
7. Hanging Out with Friends. Hanging out with friends can be one of cure for boring. Having fun and laughing together are good for health.
8. Sightseeing Around the City. When you get bored, you can go sightseeng around the city. Don’t forget to put your attention to everyone you meet, including the begger or other poor people. Think deeply, how lucky your life compared to them!
9. Praying. Don’t hasitate to come up to God for the cure of your boring.

For everybody has his/her own way in overcoming boring, there’s no “right or wrong”. There’s only about whether it’s suit or not to be applied on our own. For instance, a friend of mine told me that he used to go to “dugem” when he got boring. For me, it wouldn’t work. Otherwise, it would make “my boring” worse. Secara kita ini anak kampungan yang gak biasa dengan Dunia Gemerlap gituuuhhh!!! Hehehe… (Sorry wid!!! :-D). But, it’s no problem, because everyone has their own way to deal with boring.

Away From Him

Officially, I have been staying in Jakarta since February 1^st, 2009. Though I spend time in Bandung every weekend, I do most of activities in Jakarta, away from my dearest husband. As I said before in this posting, I and husband used to separate away temporary. It’s because each of our jobs requires some travels. Fyi, the number of travels I do is lesser than my husband does. Moreover, his travel’s distance is remoter than mine. That’s why we used to have a temporary Long Distance Relationship (LDR).

Since my husband got some troubles with his projects in Lahat, South Sumatra, eight months ago, he had to be much more focused on office stuff rather than field. Because the client put him lots of troubles, he had to deal with all office management, not only administrative stuff such as; preparing invoice, budgetting, paying tax and salary, etc; but also geological stuff such as; reporting, presentating project’s result to client, arranging contracts, preparing field team, lobbying, etc. Because my husband hasn’t prepared the person who can be in charge in those such a things yet, he decided not to leave office and travel much for the lately eight months except for Jakarta (one-day-travels to present the project’s reports or arrange new projects).

Consequently, we aren’t used to being seperate away anymore for about eight months. In other word, in the lately months we are used to seeing each other everyday. See! E – V – E – R – Y – D – A – Y. Hihihi… So when the scholarship was announced a month ago, and I must leave Bandung, it put us (especially me) into a weird situation. Being A – L – O – N – E is strange for me. Hehehe… biasa manja soalnya :-D.

I have been "menye-menye" in the first days. Yah… I have been feeling so homesick… filling sick for missing my husband so much. Hiks… paraahhh!!!!

So what and how???

ADAPTATION. I need it. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be taken a long time to getting used with it. BEING TOUGH, I do want it. For this, I try hard to be focus on the things that I want and commit since the beginning. BEING SINCERE, I must have it. Knowing that away from him would be a usual sequence for us for the next 30 months, I must learn to be sincere. I must get through this. Yes… I have to.

Above all, thing that I learn from this is “….the more I through the days away from him, the more I found myself love him…”

Lately Spare Time

Though I have a tight schedule for English Class 7 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 3 hours in Saturday for Self Directed Learning (SDL) class, I have enough spare time lately. Moreover, we still haven’t had many assignments to do and it’s just taken 20 menutes away (by foot) from Campus to my rented house. Because I’m used to staying up late, I have 7 to 8 hours free time a day (this time has been reduced by time to take a bath and eat). Fyughhh… lovely. Alison must be envy me for this (hehehe… ). Since I had in charge in some office projects, I never had that long free time as I have now.

So, what do I do for spare time? Emm… there are some favourite things that I do for lately spare time.

Firstly, I do reading. I brought many books from Bandung. They’re not only fictions but also non fiction a.k.a “serious” books. From the very start of this “study period”, I have decided to read much more than I did before. Understanding that there’s imposible to get more capacity without reading, I make reading schedule.

Secondly, I do writing. Since I found myself having interest on all research stuff, I decided to be research functionalist after completing master degree and to be more productive in writing. That’s why I train myself to write at least 1 article a month.

The first two activities seem to be so serious, don’t they? Hehehe… Do not ever think that my life is going to be boring guys, because I do a such fun activity too. Here are the fun activities. Thirtly, I do blogging. I enjoy this kind of activity because it helps me much on expressing myself. It is not only about expressing ideas and reflections, but also expressing filling. For many times, blogging relieves me much after I had written down the “things” that I feel or think. Hehehe… Since I have been pushed much on Academic Writing, I decided to write in English as many as I can.

Fourthly, I am used to enjoying DVD movies. For the last two weeks, there were many movies that I had seen, e.q: The Reader, Mamma Mia, Death Defying Acts, Feast of Love, Nights in Rodanthe, Bolt, Quantum of Solace, Grey’s Anatomy series, Slumdog Millionaire, Prison Break’ series (Makkk… Janggg!!! Setelah dilist jadi ketahuan banyakan nonton film nih..:-D). However, I think this activity is good for me in developing an “ear” for listening skill and also in developing a “thought” for having critical analysis. Hihihi… it seems like educated justification, isn’t it?

Beauty in Dissaray

After I had bought the book “Beauty in Dissaray” 3 weeks ago, reading that book has been my favourite activity during the spare time. Actually, I have some books to be read, but from the very start I have high interest in enjoying at that book.

Beauty in Dissaray, written by Harumi Setouchi, is a book about faminist movement in Japan. As for me, it gave me lot of lesson learn. It’s because it had made up my mind about woman and the role that they can play, not only in their personal life but also in their professional career. O yes, I just remembered something very interesting about the quotation in the book. And I do like it. Here is:

“… I am a new woman. At least day by day I am endeavoring to really be a new woman. It is the sun that is truly and eternally new. I am the sun. At least day by day I wish to be and am endeavoring to be the sun…”

The “Past Tense” Issue

Though this is not happened as often as before, “it” keeps being issue for me at the moment. To be honest, I keep struggling upon “it”. Realizing that “it” is just a ‘past tense” and memorizing “it” is definitely has no good impacts or advantages, I decided to step a head, not to recapture “it” anymore. Knowing that forgetting the “past tense” isn’t easy, I don’t sink back in my chair and wait for the time to heal me. Instead of staring blankly into space, I choose to mutter to myself that I can get through this.

I keep struggling on thinking about the “present and future tense” only. I try hard to keep moving. Emm… I’m moving forward for one reason “I wanna be happy”. I promise to myself that I won’t let any distractions take away the spirit that burn inside me. That’s why everyday I try so hard to keep fueling my dreams. Though, I need a little time to learn even more, I promise to pass it soon. Just let me do it in my own!