maudy's journal

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

God has been good to me through another year that almost passes. Looking back for what he's done for me, I can't do nothing but thank Him.
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
-Frederick M. Lehman

January
Our dearest brother and his girl friend, Shin visited us along with the other friends from IN. Hubby and I didn't go with them to the new year's eve counting down in Gatlinburg TN. I am not comfortable being in the crowd in a cold night. That night, I cooked for our company, and stopped to watch the Ball Drop from television. Two of our IN friends didn't go either, so we passed our changing year watching tv while eating ice cream. We are looking forward to meet our brother again sometimes. We would like to meet him more often, if time permits.

School started not until a week after the beginning of new year. On the way to school on my first day, I was still unsure if I want to take five classes that semester and work as a TA (teaching assistant). Considering prerequisite classes I needed to take, I didn't have choice. Hubby took five classes, got involved in choir, and work 20 hours minimum when he was in college, so he encourage me to do my best and take that as an experience just like what he did.

January - March
I knew that my busyness that semester would limit me from having free time. By that meant losing a lot of weekends, barely baking, and no cooking fancy food. My 5 classes included two studios and three labs, so the total is much more than 17 credit hours that I was taking officially. I couldn't understand when hubby said taking 17 credit is a lot for students here in the US. Backhome, the maximum credit that students could take is 24. It is normal for students to take more tan 20 hours. Now I know what he meant.

I enjoyed all classes I took that semester eventhough I had to struggle for some and had to really work hard for all. Soil science was class that I was uncomfortable with. It contains mostly chemistry! Since graduated from highschool, I hadn't thought about that subject anymore. I felt lost at the first labs. I didn't know any of my classmate, and I didn't know how lab worked in here. Most of my classmates were mostly undergrade students from soil science, chemistry or plant science major. Fortunately my lab assistant was such a nice person who was gladly to share her knowledge to her students. I asked too much questions to the lab assistant, and always be the last one who finished the lab assignment. I won't go home before I understand exactly what I was doing for the lab. The professor for that class is super funny guy. He is kind of guy that could speak for hours and still doesn't bore people.

Native plan class was another interesting class. We had field trip once a week when weather allowed. From this class I learned about the significant role of native plan in relation of ecological restoration. Since taking this class, I can't ignore even a tiny-bitty-wild plant anymore.

The hardest time came on mid-term. Our church, place where we live in were having volunteers who came from VA. They were so kind to be willing to help our church. That was a challenge for me since that time I needed quiet time to focus on my mid exams. Yet, to access the church's ceiling, they needed to go through our bedroom. So for those three days we had companies and our bedroom was like a mess. It was a chaotic moment for me not to have a settle place to focus on my work, yet it was such a blessing also to know people who share their talent that they got from God to other people.

April
Finishing that semester was such an accomplishment. It wasn't smooth, yet full of blessings. Our tight budget didn't allow us to have 'common' things that my friends have, such as printing for final projects. With hubby's encouragement, I used mostly projector instead of printing to display my drawing. It went well I think, and I got shortlisted to send my design to a competition in Brazil although I didn't win.

May
Applied for GTA positions that's supposed to start in summer, but didn't get one Kinda jealous of friends who could took summer mini term in Europe for garden visit. I wish I could go next mini term in England, but $5K/person is a huge number for me. I believe, there will be time for us someday.

Went to Goshen for friends' wedding, we had a great time at friends house in Elkhart, IN. I wish we could visit them in winter, when their house is surrounded by whiteness. So peaceful!

Celebrated 4 th year anniversary. I can't believe how both of us has changed a lot. That means less fights, more understanding

Yes it was a week ago, right before my last exam. Hubby is a member of group of people that don't care much about their birthday. He may not remember if I pretend not to know and his parents and my family do not call him to wish happy birthday. Unlike me whose series of birthday include several day pre and post the D day, he always ask me not to make it complicated. He never wish for any present either. Just like his mom, he is content with what he has. If he really needs something he will put on his wish list think thousand times before he decides to buy. Sometimes I get impatient with his slow decision making. But by that, we could manage our financial that took us at where we are right now.

Couple years ago, I wanted to buy him winter jacket since his jacket was not in a good shape. He got that jacket from home, a country that has hot and hotter season, two year after he moved to the US. His jacket wasn't thick enough for cold winter. Yet he said that he could survive hard winter in his four year in Goshen, Indiana. He finally agreed to get new jacket years after that, since my dad gave him envelope with note: To buy jacket. Haha... On one birthday, I wanted to buy him long sleeves t-shirt, since he didn't have "good enough" t-shirt for winter. If his parent, mine, of I (if I don't go with him) don't buy him clothes, he won't voluntarily buy for himself. At that time, he said that he couldn't understand why I gave something I wanted him to have, and not what he needed. What he needed at that time was a jump drive. Hm...I thought jump drive can't be considered as a present! isn't it like giving a bunch of empty CDs?

Now, I think I understand him better for his birthday. Eating at a fancy restaurant would excite me more than him. Present is nice if he gets what he needs (such as from his Amazon wishlist), but don't worry about present because he doesn't expect any present. Wrapping for his present is not preferable. The wrapper will get thrown away, the ribbon will not get reused, and it's not environmentally friendly. So yeah, like what my friend, Adik says, "he is a practical guy" Isn't he weird? For me...not anymore!

For his birthday, I cooked kikil (beef tendon) soup since he had requested it for years, birthday noodle, chicken dumpling, and birthday cake (please see my foodblog). We had a great simple celebration before I went back staring at my GIS books.

Thanks God for hubby's birthday.