Pages of Mariskova

I left you when the last warm wind blew from the mountains.
You were standing from a far, watching, until my back disappeared at the corner of the street.
Your eyes were tears and you waved in silence.
But, you didn't say goodbye.

I left you when the last sound from the last student in the classroom slowly disappeared.
You sat down in front of me, watching, until my eyes couldn't hold the tears anymore.
Your glasses slowly blurred.
You told me you were afraid you wouldn't have the chance to meet me again.
You knew it would break my heart but I knew it broke your heart more.

I left you when I could still feel the warmth of your palms.
You made me promise things I wasn't sure I could keep.
Your loving smile did nothing to hide the teary eyes you had.
I wore my biggest smile for you but you knew how much I faked it.
Then we both fell to a silent cry.

I left you when the first cold air brushed our face.
You stood a meter away from me trying to grasp everything.
When I hugged you, you wouldn't let me go.
And after that we didn't know whose tears were on our face.

I turned my back from you and got on that bus
when the last green leaves fell to earth.
You knew how much I wanted to turned back again and ran to you
for I didn't want to leave.
But you also knew it was not my call to make, nor yours.
And the bus door closed when I closed my eyes in tears.
I thought home was the right way to go, but I knew I was home already.

Nobody told me it was this difficult.
Three years passed and I'm still longing for you.
I keep telling myself that time will teach me to forget.
Somehow I want it to fail this time.

You.
Please wait for me.
I will come no matter what.
Or how long it will take.
And I will curse anyone who tell me I can't.
I miss you.
I promise you that.

Hi Devina san!

This year, it is extreeeeeemly cold and we had snow
twice so far in Honjo or some other places including Tokyo. GITS students and their families or kids who saw the snow for their first time were all excited very much!! You can imagine their reaction, can't you?
Snow is beautiful. I have no objection about it. It covers everything,
mountains, trees, roofs of houses, fields, or even thin telephone
cables too. Everything becomes white and the scenery is so beautiful.

An email from a good friend in Honjo reminds me of how much I miss the city. And how much I miss my friends back then.

The view of one snowy morning, from the top of Honjo dormitory.

It's 2 in the morning and I'm still sitting in front of the computer. Stupidly waiting for some inspirations to pour down on me so I can finish what I'm doing and return to my bed. How I wish I could just go to bed without caring about this thing.

I can't. Even the bed cannot bring peace to my mind.

My eyes are heavy. And, my coffee cup has been empty for some time.

The thought of coffee made me remember my four tumblers. Three of them I bought in Japan: two in Kyoto and one in Tokyo.

We were in Kyoto at that time for Spring holiday. While walking around the Gion area, we decided to take a rest in a nearby Starbucks cafe. When I was making an order, I saw a really cute tumbler featuring Sakura. I bought the tumbler and got the coffee for free. Papap was as excited as I was when he saw the tumbler. As a true collector of unidentified objects, he knew that the tumbler was worth collecting.

Without realizing it, we became so obsessed of finding other kinds of tumbler's pictures. We bought another one with the word Kyoto all over the tumbler. Not as pretty as the first one but it was worth collecting too. Unfortunately, the city -at that time- only had those two kinds of pictures.

Another time, we bought the third tumbler in Tokyo. Here, they only had two kinds of pictures. The first one featured Tokyo Tower on its body. The second one featured some electric lights which made me dizzy whenever I looked at it. I bought the first one and tried to ignore the second one for health reason. Again, if we buy the tumbler, whatever size, the coffee will be free of charge. The prize of one tumbler, if I'm not mistaken, was 1,000 Yen.

We only had a chance to collect three tumblers. In Jakarta, I don't collect Starbucks tumbler anymore because Jakarta's stores don't have featured tumblers. Only the white plain one with Starbucks logo on it. So boring. Besides, if I buy a tumbler here, I don't get the coffee for free. So annoying.

My friend, Barb, became so addicted with Starbucks tumbler too when I showed her the featured tumblers. Both of us have been coffee addicts. Now we're tumbler addicts. She bought two featured tumblers when she was in Japan. Kyoto tumbler had changed pictures since the last time I bought. I believe the pictures on the tumblers are seasonal, although the guys at Starbucks stores in Japan always answered 'all year long edition'. Once Barb brought me a featured tumbler from Hongkong. Then, Papap broke its bottom. He said that the quality was bad. Japanese tumblers were better. Yeah, right.

Back to how I'm now, minutes ago, I could smell coffee right from the computer screen. Or maybe from my used cup. So, I clicked Starbucks Japan and.....

Now, I'm feeling terrible that I had clicked it.
Now, I can only dream of these tumblers without knowing how I can get them. Sucks!

photos: Starbucks Japan

Gara-gara baca postingan si Pak Le', saya jadi teringat kisah ngeselin di tahun lalu.

Waktu itu kami sedang tidur pulas. Jam menunjukkan pukul 2 malam. Gelap. Dingin.
Tiba-tiba telpon di sisi tempat tidur berbunyi.
Saya dan Papap langsung terduduk bangun. Telpon diatas jam 11 malam itu -sejarahnya- tak pernah berisi kabar gembira.

Papap, yang berada tepat disebelah telpon, langsung mengangkat telponnya.
Suara laki-laki yang menangis terisak-isak terdengar di telpon.
Sekarang bayangkan hal ini:
- Malam-malam buta
- Masih setengah ngantuk
- Ada suara orang menangis di telpon
- Suara itu berbahasa Jepang
- Anda tak bisa bahasa Jepang

Papap berjibaku dan berusaha mengerti orang ini. Siapa ini? Tanya Papap berulang kali. Ada apa? Apa yang terjadi?
Semua bahasa dikeluarkan: Inggris, Jepang, Indonesia....
Dia tetap tidak mengerti.

Tiba-tiba laki-laki itu menyebut dua kata: Nama Sensei saya yang berusia 75 tahun dan kata Mati dalam bahasa Jepang.

Sekarang Papap benar-benar panik. Sensei saya itu sudah tua, dan sedang sakit. Apa benar beliau meninggal dunia?
Gagang telpon pun dioper ke saya.
Dengan bahasa Jepang yang sedikit lebih baik dari Papap saya pun mulai muter-muter bertanya: Siapa? Ada apa? Apa yang terjadi?
Jawabannya isak tangis yang semakin kencang, dan tambahan dua kata: cepat kesini!
Saya mendesak lagi: Ada apa? Ada apa dengan Sensei?
Si penelpon bilang, "beliau ada di ruang sebelah. Sudah mati."

Tiba-tiba telpon terputus.
Kami kebingungan, panik, dan putus asa.
Jam 2 malam. Apa kami harus menelpon ke rumah Sensei? Atau lebih baik telpon teman kami yang lain? Jam 2 malam!
Untungnya Papap teringat sesuatu: Ini di Jepang! Kalau ada sesuatu yang terjadi dengan Sensei, pasti istrinya -yang sama sepuhnya- akan lebih dulu menelpon ambulan, daripada menelpon kami. Dan ambulan plus segala kecanggihan sistem darurat Jepang, pasti sudah membereskan sesuatu. Lagipula, kami tak kenal suara laki-laki ini.
Maka kami pun tak jadi menelpon siapa-siapa malam itu.
Sepanjang sisa malam sampai subuh tiba, kami akhirnya duduk bengong di depan tivi karena tak tahu harus melakukan apa.

Pagi-pagi sekali, jam 7, saat saya tahu seisi rumah Sensei saya -biasanya- sudah bangun dan beraktifitas, saya menelpon rumah Sensei. Suara ceria istrinya menjawab.
Eh?
Tak lama suara Sensei saya terdengar nyaring dan riang. Antara bingung dan lega, saya gelagapan bersuara.
"Apa kabar, Sensei?"
"Baik," jawabnya dengan nada sedikit heran. Ya, kami kan baru saja ketemu beberapa hari lalu.
Dan saya pun berbohong, bertanya tentang kursus bahasa Jepang yang akan saya hadiri siang nanti. Saya tak tega berkata, 'tadi malam ada orang yang menelpon kami dan berkata anda telah meninggal.'

Beberapa hari setelah kejadian, ketika Sensei berkunjung ke apartment kami, baru kami menyampaikan cerita telpon misterius itu. Beliau terlihat kaget dan mengusulkan untuk memberitahu polisi.
Polisi?
Ah, thanks, but no thanks.
Berdasarkan pengetahuan kami atas sifat orang Jepang yang prosedural, lebih baik tidak.
Maka sampai sekarang, kami tak tahu. Siapa, apa motifnya si penelpon misterius itu. Sungguh tak lucu tentu saja.

Tapi kalau dipikir-pikir lagi, bagaimana kalau kejadian itu benar adanya?

Sunday, 13 April 2005, 09:30 AM we started our 3-hour-train-ride trip to
Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise. It's a trip that started from the mountain to the seaside! Jauh memang but it's worth the effort. The Sea Paradise is a kind of amusement park combined with a sea-world park. Marina, DUFAN and Jakarta Sea World in one biggggg area.