Indonesian Cultural Night 2012

Sorry for the late post ! Anyway, this is my first Indonesian Night during my Stay in Unites States !

Yak, dan akhirnya aku bisa pergi ke Indonesian Cultural Night di International House at University of Chicago. Acara ini di selenggarakan oleh kakak kakak Permias Chicago, Ohio, dan Wisconsin, gak lupa juga dengan KBRI dan KJRI Republik Indonesia. Selain karena free admission, kakak kakak panitia juga nyediain masakan Indonesia&banyak cultural dances either traditional and Modern. Banyak orang orang penting yang datang ke Acara ini, mulai dari Ambassadors, professors sampai chicagoan yang banyak di antara mereka yang lancar bahasa Indonesia. Super proud of Indonesians ! :)

Rasany bangga dan senang, pokoknya campur aduk, bukan lebay sih, tapi setiap kali aku mau ngerencanain dateng ke acara Indonesia di Wisma Indonesia, selalu aja ada halangan. Tapi kali ini, alhamdulillah aku bisa ke venue-nya. Agak sedih juga Mom&Dad gak bisa ikut, tapi aku bawain oleh oleh dari Cultural Night buat mereka juga.

Ini tampak depan dari University of Chicago, International House

Gak nyangka ternyata banyak anak anak Indonesia yang kuliah di University of Chicago. Menurut statistik, UC ini top 10 Universities di Amerika dan banyak nyediain Full Bright Scholarship buat Foreign Students.

Ini tampak depan dari Meja Resepsionis. Lots of Indonesian Pictures.

This is the main hall, sistemnya disini siapa cepat dia dapat, untung aja aku datengnya lumayan sorean jadi masih bisa dapet tempat duduk.

Dan guess what, di Rundown Event ada bapak Dino Patti Djalal&Istrinya ! Alhamdulillah banget dapet kesempatan buat ketemu dan ngobrol sama Beliau.

 

Dan ini dia yang ditunggu tunggu, finally, BRACE YOURSELVES WITH INDONESIAN FOOD !!!!!!!!!!! ( dengan porsi seuprit )

Besides makan makan, ada juga loh tarian tarian yang dibawakan oleh PERMIAS Chicago, dan juga Foreign ( include Americans ), yang ngebawain tariannya. Bener bener ngerasa di Indonesia banget !

At the end, keseluruhan acaranya bener bener keren ! Thanks to PERMIAS Chicago for inviting me and my hostfamily to the MOST AMAZING Indonesian Cultural Night !

Memory Book 2011/2012

Buenoooooooooooooooooooooooos Diaz readers !

Yep, it's been a while since I've posted the latest one, anyhow, I'm working on my scrapbook till the day I will leave United States or eventually the day I will arrive Jakarta. It was really nice for my hostfamily giving me Scrapbooking Kit ! 

Mom said, " Let all the memories be cherished in your scrapbook ! You are VERY lucky and look how much you're improve now, you're now more mature, you handle a lot of problems, but on the other hand you're not afraid to admit some of the mistakes that you ( partially ) made. I-eventually, all of us, are more than proud to host you, and I believe, someday, you will be a great doctor in the future. "

Yep, that a note from my mom underneath some pages on my scrapbook, she knows my favorite color - purple ! Actually, I have started to collect miscellaneous stuff for each chapters, and now, I almost made all of the descriptions. Talking about chapters, probably, some of you knew that before staying with The Brosch, I stayed with a family who supposed to be my permanent hostfamily, but it didn't work out well. But, with a lot of considerations, I will make a chapter about them. Why ? Because I did have great times with them, it's just not wise if I only put happy moments in my memory book ( I call it Memory Book, instead of Scrapbook ).  Because, Memory Book is all about the memories during my stay in United States, no matter it was sad or happy, because it was a memory that would never fade away.

Here is the list of the chapters of my Memory Book :

• It's all about me : My dream and Motivation
• See you Indonesia, Hello United States !
• The First Day in United States
• The Larson
• The Grismer
• The Brosch
• Christmas, discovering my ups and downs
• Too Cool For School : SENIO12S !
• Get the W, Marengo !
• Field Trips
• Basketball Season
• Soccer Season
• Last Day at School
• Prom 2012 : Enchantment Under The Sea
• Graduation 2012 : Well done, Grads !
• Mitha and Becky's Graduation Party 
• Diversity in AFS Northern Illinois
• Where are the Subtitles ? Wait a Minute, I don't need them !
• Musicals and Plays.
• A Glimpse of Windy City, Chicago.
• Springfield with AFS Northern IL : Only If You're a History and Government Buff :p
• Let the Memories Begin : Walt Disney World, Florida.
• Visiting the Capitol, Washington, DC !
•  Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
• Zoos
• The Last Day in United States
• End of Stay Orientation
• Overwhelmed Feeling in June 26 2012
• Celebrating My 18th Birthday at Istanbul, Turkey !
• Back in Indonesia, where all dreams were started.

It's Not Yet Accomplished, Mith !

I took Foods Class, and I fell in love with the class right on the first day ! Ini list masakan masakan yang udah aku buat selama disini :

1. Egg Benedict
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie
3. Strawberry Dip with Waffle
4. French Toast
5. Applesauce Pancake
6. Spinach Artichoke Dip with French Bread
7. Italian Meatballs
8. Vanilla Gelato
9. Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake
10. Red Velvet Cake
11. Banana Bread
12. Zucchini Bread
13. Monkey Bread
14. Coffee Cake
15. Red Velvet Cupcake
16. Pumpkin Spice Cupcake
17. Spice Cake
18. Fettuccini Alfredo
19. Classic Breakfast : Cheesy Omelet, turkey bacon and sunny side up
20. Chorizo Con Huevos ( Although I couldn't eat this cs it contains pork, but still, people said that mine is extremely yummy ! )
21. Pizza Napolitana
22. Chicken Piccata
23. Oatmeal Raisin cookie
24. Chicken Stir Fry
25. Minestrone Soup
26. Classic Baked Mostaciolli
27. Baked Mostachiolli with Alfredo Sauce
28. Soft-Home Made Pretzel
29. Scrambled Egg with Basil, Oregano, Halves Tomato, Halves Mushroom, Swiss Cheese and Chopped Onion ( I made this my own using all of the ingredients left, but it turned out so yumyum ! You should try this, and yet, this dish just contain 200 calories using 1 inch x 1 inch swiss cheese :D )
30. Tampa Bay Brunch Souffle ( Couldnt eat it, because it has sausage in it, but still, I got A for making such a delicious food. )
31. Chicago Style Hotdog. ( It was like THE BEST Hotdog I've ever ate in my life ! Belum ke Chicago kalo belum nyobain hotdog-nya ! It was such a flavorous hotdog, you got pickles, peppers, onions and any other spicy stuff that made me snizzling ! And the beef frank was amazing too )
32. Corn Flakes Coated Chicken Fingers. ( It tastes pretty good and much healthier than the regular chicken fingers )
33. Fresh Spaghetti and Fetuccini from Scratch

And probably that was all ! I know that I made something more, but I just couldn't remembered it. Ok, This is the list of food that I really want to make, and hopefully would be accomplished before I leave United States ! 

1. Chocolate Lava Cake with Whipped Cream
2. Tiramisu
3. Stramberry Parfait
4. Chicago Style : Deep Dish Pizza ( I know this sounds impossible, due to ingredients and skill reason, but still, it's gonna be worthed to try ! )
5. Dirt ( Based on the cooking book, it's made from margarine, cream cheese, cold milk, oreo cookies, french vanilla instant pudding, cool whip and oreo cookies ! Sounds yummy :9 )
6. Classic Crepes ( For god sake, I always made Crepes and ended up like " dadar gulung " -____- )
7. Miss Dunker's Peanut Butter Cupcake
8. Lasagna
9. Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole with Broccoli.
10. Battered Fish and Chips

Yea, I know, this post makes me hungry ! I've been yearning to make all of these foods and sell it to people ! It's going to be a huge blast of Profit ! ( haha, you wish, Mith ! ) Although, I'm not majoring in cooking, but cooking is my hobby, i think my mom inherits this to me, that's why both of us love to cook :)

Abundant Emotions in May

Heran, so in these days, I have been trying to publish most of the postings that I keep putting off. Yet, I always end up of being gloomy and distracted. I have been feeling so sad yet emotional. This feeling bugs me everynight, and everysecond when I try to look up on my pictures during my stay in Marengo. School, Friends, Crush, Parties, Exam, Sports, Food, Changing Hostfamilies, Misunderstoods, Bad Tempers, and so on, those are bittersweet memories. I know, another people got so much what they wished for, traveling, get gadget for free from hostfamily and achievement for certain competitions or from school. Pernah terbesit untuk iri, kesel, kenapa gak dapet kesempatan yang sama. But the bottom line is, Why you have to be jealous ? It's really fortunate for a such a small-town-living girl to compete for getting this opportunity. Masih beruntung diberangkatin, masih beruntung dapat surat dari Bina Antar-budaya kalau aku dihost di Amerika Serikat, masih beruntung granted for my J-1 VISA. 


Here, I discovered a lot of things that I never tried before ; I can paint with watercolor, I can play soccer, I can be straightforward, I can make a slapstick joke, I can make Egg Benedict and.................I can do Calculus - although not being the best in the class, but I really don't care whatsoever.

Banyak pertanyaan yang terbesit juga, dulu, hari pertama aku sekolah, aku selalu down, setiap jalan di senior hallway, semua orang pasti nganggep aku strangers, well memang, aku ini strangers. Sempet depressed, gimana caranya bisa used to people in this school. Gimana caranya untuk ngobrol dan bisa ketawa. Sampai mikir, bisa gak ya ketawa ngakak sama kayak yang aku sering lakuin di Indonesia.


May 15 2012. Bisa dibilang hari terakhir aku sekolah, although I have to take finals, but, spent the last day with seniors, seeing them in hallway, calling their name, joking with Ally, Al, Nora, Hannah and Becky, getting free food from Cassi, hiding Adam's lunchbag, cutting the line to Specialty lunch :P, and so on. But the good thing, I got a lot of pictures in my last day with them, the teachers asked me whether we could get a group picture. In Calculus, which is my favorite class with my favorite teacher, we were spending the class with just socialized to each other, I got the chance to have a chit chat with people who rarely talk to me, and how they said they would miss me a lot. And I SWEAR, I SAW MANSFIELD EYES WERE BOWLING AFTER WE GOT A GROUP PICTURE. Well, He's my favorite after all, despite the fact that he's married, has 1 daughter and 9 month pregnant wife. I will miss him a lot, and the calculus class also advance biology the most.

This morning, I have to return my beloved Calculator, I'm gonna miss her so much. Redundantly, I slept with my calculator last night, since the fact that I could not afford to buy ( it's around $83 ) and I wouldn't ask my parents to send me money to buy it.

My stay in Marengo is amazing, it has its ups and downs, and I never know what would happen tomorrow. My stay is a gift and I never know what it is unless I discovered it, it's like a box of chocolate ! :)

Bored : Part II

It's rainy outside since this morning. Besides, I couldn't help my body from coldness and keep shivering. Lesson learned from my life : Sometime, it is hard to make a promise before we really face the real situation. 


Somebody make a promise to me, well, they don't really make it happen ; instead of saying they break their promise. But, I appreciate when somebody make a promise to me, it proves that they do care to me and just want to make me happy.    


Although I hate rain, but I find something peaceful. Of course, at the end I always remain crying while listening to John Mayer's songs or Sigur Ros'.

Courtesy of images.google.com

MCHS Prom 2012

When I was kid, I always wanted to be the one who looks beautiful, just like in Disney Princess Tales. Mostly, I want to be Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I remembered, my mother always told me the story before I fell asleep.

Yesterday, I was metamorphosized, I became a pretty nice young lady, yet, I realize I'm feeling so old, cs I almost eighteen ! If it wasn't about prom, I wouldn't spend tons of time just looking at the mirror just to match my veil with my dress. 

The prom was AW AW AW AW AWESOME ! Not trying to brag anything, but, most of people realized my "veil-over" ( instead of saying makeover, haha :p ), because I braid it, and made people curious about how could I braid it. I love when guys said that it was really nice, and even they said that I was pretty last night, pretty made me blush last night, haha. 

My favorite part at prom is everything, but since, I haven't transfered my picture from my camera to my laptop, so I just used some of picture that I have from facebook that people tagged on me. Ah, they have like photobox that we could use anytime that we want, and we got 2 copies for three captures. And we could access the picture on the internet and download it as much as we want. ISN'T THAT LEGIT ???

So, those picture was taken from the Photobox. Love it <3

Prom's Preps.

Hi Folks ! So today, April 28th 2012 is Marengo High School's Junior-Senior Prom. I am so thrilled for today, like no kidding, I spent the whole week with my nerves out for what I'm go'n to do with my Veil, nails, etc. But prominently, VEILS ! So, I decided to braid it, plus, my friend's auntie who also a moslem, helped me to shape up my eyebrows too yesterday. So, no more nerves for prom ! Dress, checked. Long Sleeves, checked. Braided-Veil, checked. Purse, checked. Heels, Checked. Corsage, Checked ! So, pretty much everything's done, too bad I don't polish my nail due praying reason. But, it's ok though, It will be a fantabulous night ever in my Senior Year at United States =) =) =)