maudy's journal

I heard about this lady for the first time about five years ago. We opened our wedding presents a day after wedding celebration that our church made for us. Then we opened a present with two names I'd never heard before. They were endearing elderly ladies brought color to our church. They were sisters who took care of each other. Their health hindered them from coming to church. The younger one never got married, the older had family. However, two of them lived alone. The younger one took care of her sister wholeheartedly for the rest of her older sister's life. The older sister passed away years ago. Since then the younger sister, Obie moved to a nursing home.

Whenever we carolled on Christmas time to Obie, I could see that she was in joy. Sitting on a wheel chair, she asked one kid to sit on her lap. Hymn sing was her favorite. She would requested some songs, hymns that she used to sing. She sang and showed her bright, content smile. Then, she would ask us to carol to everyone at the nursing home. We would then walk around the corridors with Obie leading in front of us. I could see some people were curious on what was going on, and some muttered the song we were singing.

Last Christmas we went there, she wasn't in a great condition. I wouldn't have known if my friend had not asked, since she showed her usual joyful face. After telling her health problem, she said that it was nothing compare to the joy she will received when she met the Lord, while she had her finger pointed up. She was ready, but in the mean time she used her time to spread her faith and shared her overflow happiness to people on nursing home. I never spend much time with her, but from our short meetings and from people's testimony about her, I could see that she was a very faithful, special and influential lady.

This freezing winter morning, I attended her funeral. A joyful funeral, since finally met her dear older sister. Joyful, since it was a celebration of her meeting Father 'above' there.

Yes! I think I've had more than enough rest. However, thinking craziness of school turned me down a bit. I was nervous, as usual.

We were welcomed with pizza for lunch on our first day of school. There are much changes in our department, and we, students were given update for what to expect this semester. I am glad for the changes. Our program is a brand new, yet there's thirty-year preparation behind it. I believe the changes will make it better. On that moment, an excitement filled me. I was glad to be back to school! Besides that, our studio is the same as that of last semester. I loooove my spot. It faces window where I can see a lot of activities down there and old-stone library as a deep foreground. This picture was taken at the end of last semester. At this moment, my desk is still clean, so does the entire studio. Soon it will be packed up with trashing papers, drawings, models, pictures, books, etc. This studio is my second home. Some students will bring sleeping bag, blanket, sofa, electric kettle, microwave and refrigerator. You'll see some unexpected stuffs like hammock, iron, grill, and toaster.

First meetings of class somewhat make my stomach queasy. Now I know the pattern. It's when a professor read the schedule and grading point. I thought I would treat this grad school easily, and wouldn't care much about grade. I thought getting stressed out about not getting good grade is so undergrad and so vain. The more I tried, the more I know my nature But, I still don't get the point of too emphasizing on discussing grading point. Professors will repeat this again in the middle and the end of semester. Moreover, I don't get why people like to calculate what grade they have earn as semester goes on to know how many more they need to get an A. Such a wasting time. I hope they don't miscalculate. I would just do my best.

I've step 'the' conveyor belt - I'll get 'moved' whatever happens. Once I realize, it would be next week, next month month, spring break, Easter, then the end of the semester. I am busy already. Busy with homework, work for my professors, my freelance work & cleaning my house. Like what I said to my friend, I complain a lot, but I enjoy my life

June
Class requirements that my department has troubled me. Their class arrangement works for most students, except international student like me. There's no way I could finish my study in 3 years unless I took summer classes. We couldn't afford summer tuition, that's cost almost as expensive as that of regular semester. I called my department treasure in the middle of "desperation". Surprisingly I my spring GTA included summer tuition waiver. Thanks God. That was a huge great surprise. I was stressed out that semester because summer semester is so intense, more intense than my previous semester. It was full of blessing though. At the end of first summer session I was no longer in prerequisite-class debt. Thanks God...

July
As though I had forgotten the craziness of summer semester, I took second session of summer class It's paid, what could I say?
At same time, hubby and I happily got summoned to go home by my uncle and dad. What a great pleasure indeed! Hence I only took half of my summer class. That class wasn't required, so from the beginning I just took it for fun.

Native Plant Conference was one of my highlight last summer. My professor encouraged us, students to apply for scholarship for the conference, and I was blessed to get one. The event took place in one university in the middle of Appalachian mountain in North Carolina. I met and learned much from many nice people that are so passionate about native plants. From that conference, I was reminded of our high dependency on nature. My professor gave my Chinese friend and I ride back home. Our 3 hour-trip back was my best history lesson ever in my life. He took us to Indian reservation and explained American Indian history, history that most U.S. scholars have heard about. He also explain plants we saw on the side of the road. It was such a great trip.

At the end of July, we went home!!! My dad and uncle paid the tickets My joy was indescribable.

August
My dear cousin (he is a brother to me) got married. That was the main reason we went home. I'd witnessed his and his (now) wife's journey since they first met at church. It was juuuust beautiful to see they committed to love each other before God. The wedding ceremony and the parties (they had two) were so great. They were lovable people who love God so much. We only went home for 3 weeks, yet it was worthed.

School started a day after I got to my U.S. home. Work load were getting heavier, yet my friendship with my classmates were getting closer. I enjoyed my semester so much... and whinned so much too

Hubby got very sick more than 2 weeks after our trip home. I'd told him not to eat too much food, because I didn't want him to get sick, like his three-consecutive-previous visits. I guess Indonesian food is so tempting

October
Our first trip to DC was great and annoying as well.

November
November is short month. I was busy like crazy with school, so I couldn't really enjoy my Thanksgiving. We had a great Thanksgiving celebration with great friends though.

My cousin told me that she got pregnant. She had been wanting to have baby since her early marriage, but doctor said she had to have surgery to take out something (I forgot) from her womb. She is so happy with her pregnancy. Soon I'll have one more niece/nephew.

December
Finally I finished my semester. Now I am halfway from finishing my whole study.

My dear friends Rika and Meikel, had a baby boy, Adriel Sutanto on the 4th. What a joy!

On Dec 27, my another dear friend Don2 got married. I am sooo happy for her and wished I could have been there to testify her greatest moment of life.

Some new things for us that we put on our favorite-things list that month were The Office and brussel sprout

God has been so good to me. He has helped me in ages past, and will help you and me in my years to come. Happy new year 2010.

Christmas day this year was the quietest Christmas I've ever experienced. I've passed the denial phase that Christmastime is supposed to be spent at church, just like what we did back home. Yet here, Christmas as family time honestly makes me feel homesick and lonely. Church that we attend regularly didn't have Christmas eve service, so we went to different church that had great choir, string quartet, pipe organ, and nice sermon. Eventhough it's not supposed to affect the meaning of Christmas, being around people that we didn't know gave different feeling. That was time that I want to celebrate with familiar faces that I loved. While most friends back home long for white Christmas and places of full Christmas decoration, I long for my tropical Christmas with my family, relatives, and church friends.

On the way to the mountain a day after Christmas, I turned on our car's radio, hoping to hear Christmas song. This may sound pathetic that Christmas songs (yes, even those that have nothing to do with Nativity since I can't control the songs that radio want to play), can appease my holiday loneliness. Guess what?! there's no Christmas songs anymore. Wild new year's wave has replaced the joyful Christmas atmosphere. Evenmore, almost every store marked their Christmas stuffs on sale. I found this interesting. On calendar that we had back home there's a note below the numbers 25 of December that said "first day of Christmas". Doesn't that mean the 26 and so forth are the second, the third, etc...?

About a week ago my friend told me that she always gives present on twelve days of Christmas for her three kids. She started when her first kid was little. Until now, about 20 years later, that tradition is still a highlight for her kids on Christmastime. Every day before Christmas day, her kids would open small gift under their small Christmas tree. Until there's only one present, means Christmas day. I can imagine the joy of opening present every day!
Went home from the mountain, we listened to my favorite radio show, Prairie Home Companion that was talking about that day, the second day of twelve days of Christmas. Wait, what?!

Didn't agree with the hard line between Christmas day and a day after, I looked up Wikipedia. The twelve days of Christmas are festive days beginning on Christmas day (December 25) until January 5th (before Epiphany, on the 6th). This time is also called Christmastide. The Epiphany itself has different meaning for different culture. For Eastern Christianity, it is to commemorate Jesus' baptism in Jordan River, while for other, it is to commemorate the magi. In United Kingdom and Western Christianity, twelve days of Christmas is continuous merrymaking and feasting. In England nowadays, the twelfth day is last day people take down their Christmas decoration.

Although twelve days of Christmas is not mentioned in the bible, I like the idea of having celebration after the Christmas day. People seem hectic in doing Christmas shopping days before Christmas and then passing Christmas day like blowing balloon for days then poke it in a millisecond! I just wish people's Christmas greet and friendly faces could get extended twelve days more It is not surprising to read that in the United States the twelve days of Christmas becomes secular tradition. It's even started 12 days before Christmas day, instead of after. Present present and present! and Santa Claus as always plays role in shifting the religious tradition to "more colorful and sweeter" physical meaning. Isn't it so much for mentioning this country as a Christian nation?

If you fell gloomy of the dim Christmas like I did, don't be! Dec 25th was just the beginning. Lets enjoy our Christmastide with joy and thanksgiving.
For unto us a Child is born...

Sending Christmas card was one of my Christmas ritual until I was in was a sophomore of junior in college. I could spend much time looking for best Christmas cards that fit my budget. Pictures on those cards would bring my imagination to places covered with snow, with snowman and conifer trees in front of Victorian houses and children with their toboggan and scarf were laughing enjoying their time. I didn't care about santa and his reindeer, so they never came to my imagination Not only that, I enjoyed writing on the cards using my best handwriting, gluing stamps, then inserting them to mailbox also.

Yet, the most excitement was when I heard a honk (the honk was loud, kinda annoying) from mailman's motorcycle around Christmas time. I would run outside, receive a heap of mails and hope to find my name written on those envelopes. There's a joy when I received card from friends. Then I saved those card in my 'card' drawer that was located at the lower part of my pink desk I got when I was a third grader. When I cleaned that desk before that desk was given to someone, I found piles of Christmas cards since I was in elementary school.

As time went by, the technology become more advance, people no longer depend on Christmas card to send Christmas greeting and wishes to their respected ones. Like most people that I know, I also preferred sending message (sms) from cell phone because I could send one for several people at once. Besides, it is cheaper, more practical, and less using paper. People also get very creative with creating messages. Even with the earliest cell phone, they could create clever graphics using limited symbols and pixels available at that time.

Slightly parallel to sms trend, e-card and other electronic media was great choice to send Christmas wish without traditional-Christmas-card hassle. In my country at that time, not many people had their personal internet connection, so many had to go to limited number of internet cafe. Sending message still won that years. About after 2004, getting internet connection has becoming easier. Social networks played big role in society and people change information, greet and meet through it replacing traditional cards or even cell-phone' messages. That time, I was not surprised when I heard from the news about store and card company complained about their decreasing demand for their products.

Moving to the US in 2005, I experienced different situation. Cell phone wasn't as common as that of in Indonesia; and sending text message boomed just now and mostly for young generation. Internet connection was so easy and cheap to get, yet somewhat couldn't fully replace that classical-annual practice. On my first Christmas, I was surprised to receive Christmas cards from friends mostly from friends that we met every week. Those were my first Christmas cards after my years dived in sms era. Some even handed it to us directly when they met us. Seriously, I was puzzled. Back home, Christmas card works as extended hand for people that we can't reach directly. I guess here in the US, it is more like a culture.

After that first year, not much for getting surprised, I try to understand Christmas card purpose, but enjoy cards that has their kids picture. Year after year we can see how much the kids has grown! We never replied their Christmas card nor sent to our other friends because we thought we meet the people anyway, and always wish them a merry Christmas on Christmas service. Yet, year after year we kept receiving cards from friends. After 4 years, this year we decided to follow the culture and give our very best Christmas greeting to our dear friends through Christmas cards