Pages of Mariskova

Is it now the season for having a reunion already? I just read about it in Mbok'e and now I have an invitation for one myself.
For all the years passed after my last graduation, I've never had a formal-and-official reunion. Well, actually I had one for my elementary school six years after we graduated (that was a long long long time ago), but I don't count it as a reunion. The reason is simple: my elementary classmates were mostly my next-door neighboors. If we didn't see each other often after graduation, we would see our parents or our siblings like... everyday anyway (neighbor, see?). So, what's the use of having a reunion when we would always bump into each other in front of each other's house? Anyway, we did have a reunion, just for the fun of it.

Then time passed, still I had never attended one. One reason is because there never was an official one (official= organized by a committee consisting of the graduates and the school involved). Another reason is I was not in town even when they had unofficial ones.

Do I look forward to it?
Honestly... I am not into reunion. A big-official reunion where people dress up and behave. Not then, not now, for a simple yet foolish reason: I'm not a sociable-kind of person. I am never successful in making a sociable conversation. I'm not good in answering the WHquestions or asking the right WHquestions.

Me: Hi, Lina?
She: Leni.
Me: Oh.... silent... How are you?
She: Fine.
silent
Me: Coming alone?
She: Yes.
Me: Oh... silent...

Then I would feel awkward all over among these strangers.
Strangers???
Well, what do you call people whom you don't see for more than 10-15 years?
Old friends? Sure! If you keep in touch. If not?
Whenever I am in a new situation meeting new people, I am usually trembling, clumsy and dumb. I don't know what to do, what to say. I need time (like a month or two) to become my full self again. So, reunion for me means something between the urge and the curiosity to meet my old friends again, and the pain of pretending. Pretending to know what to feel, what to say, and how to respond... Ugh... I wish you know what I am trying to say...
I'd rather have a small gathering once in 3-6 months where everyone can be comfortable for not behaving...

Teruu no Uta



Theme: Tales from the Earthsea

TERUU no Uta
Lyrics: Tejima Aoi

Yuuyami semaru kumo no ue
Itsumo ichiwa de tonde iru
Taka wa kitto kanashi karou
Oto mo todaeta kaze no naka
Sora wo tsukanda sono tsubasa
Yasumeru koto wa deki nakute
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Taka no you na kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Sora wo mau yo na kanashi sa wo
Ame no sobo furui wakage ni
Itsumo chiisaku saite iru
Hana wa kitto setsuna karou
Iro mo kasunda ame no naka
Usu momo-iro no hanabira wo
Medete kureru te mo nakute
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Hana no you na kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Ame ni utareru setsuna sa wo
Hitokage taeta no no michi wo
Watashi totomo ni ayunderu
Anata mo kitto samishi karou
Mushi no sasayaku kusahara wo
Tomo ni michiyuku hito dakedo
Taete mono iu koto mo naku
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Hitori michiyuku kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoe you
Hitoribocchi no sabishi sa wo

Seorang kenalan saya (maksudnya, saya kenal dia tapi saya tidak tahu apakah dia mau mengaku kenal saya atau tidak) yang katanya pakar ilmu sosial pernah berkata bahwa sedikit banyak budaya suatu bangsa direpresentasikan pada program tivi mereka...
Saya tidak mengerti benar tidaknya perkataan dia. Mungkin Nenek Ratu Negeri Neri bisa berkomentar soal isi perutnya tivi ini. Kalo saya sih lebih memilih ngeceng di layarnya sajah. Tetapi, kalau benar stasiun-stasiun tivi menerapkan teori kenalan saya itu maka secara umum gambaran orang Indonesia adalah sadis (berita kriminal), penggosip (entertainment), percaya tahyul (acara ngejar-ngejar setan), omdo alias omong doang (talkshow), doyan debat kusir (talkshow lagi), seneng mimpi (sinetron). Ada lagi?
Belum lagi kalau melihat iklan di tivi. Orang Indonesia rasanya jadi heavy smoker semua...
Eits! Sebentar. Saya kok merasa bukan orang Indonesia kalau begitu? *mikir* Kalian begimana?

Coba saya tengok program-program tivi di Jepun. Kalau menerapkan teori di atas tadi, seperti apa sih orang Jepun itu bila program tivi mereka isinya seperti berikut...
1) Makan-makan.
Iya, ada banyak channel tivi (Bukan cable! Saya gak mampu mengabel.) tapi hampir semua programnya pasti ada acara icip-icip, makan-makan, keliling restoran-restoran, nyoba makanan ini itu. Tiap hari, tiap jam, hanya beda channel aja.
2) Jalan-jalan.
Program bepergian juga banyak. Baik ke luar negeri maupun dalam negeri.
3) Makan-makan sekaligus Jalan-jalan.
Dobel ini. Mereka jalan-jalan sekaligus icip-icip makanannya.
4) Berita.
Ada dua jenis:
a> Berita beneran model siaran berita TVRI jadul. Tiap jam ada walopun ada yang singkat sekali waktunya. Penyiarnya biasanya hanya satu. Gak perlu nongkrongin semua program berita disini. Pilih acak satu stasiun, simak beritanya, cukup. Walo ada banyak channel, isi beritanya, sudut pengambilan gambar, bahasannya sama sajah .
b> Berita dibahas rame-rame. Sama-sama siaran berita, tapi disini ada yang jadi host dan ada beberapa orang tamu sebagai komentator si host tadi. Berita model begini ngabisin waktu. Lamaaaa benerrr. Bisa lebih dari sejam! Si host nyodorin satu berita, dibahas rame-rame. Terus begitu sampai semua berita selesai ditayangkan. Bayangkan kalau semua stasiun tivi menayangkan berita yang sama, dibahas berulang-ulang (try a week!), dikomentari pula!
5) Variety Show campur Talk Show. *keblinger*
Isi bahasannya macem-macem, tapi jarang ada yang serius (bagaimana mendapatkan seorang pacar, misalnya). Jelas ada hostnya, tapi yang bikin 'lucu' justru bintang tamunya. Bintang tamunya itu rame bener. Bisa lebih dari 5 orang diatas 'panggung'. DAN, walopun tiap channel punya shownya sendiri-sendiri, bintang tamunya hampir sama semua. Dia lagi dia lagi. Kalo di Show 1 si A jadi tamu, maka di Show 2 dia bisa jadi host. Dewi Soekarno juga jadi tamu tetap show beginian... Oh ya, acara begini juga bisa makan waktu berjam-jam. *hih, betah banget?!*
6) Apa lagi ya?
........................
Kayaknya itu aja isinya...
-Isi program sama
-Bintang tamu sama
-Waktu acaranya lama


Mau tau mayoritas iklan-iklannya?
1) Produk makanan
2) Bir
3) Produk jasa asuransi

Nah, para hadirin sekalian, kesimpulan anda, bagaimana sih karakter orang Jepun itu bila menilik dari program tivi dan iklannya?

warning: tulisan model begini yang keluar kalo kebanyakan nongkrongin tipi...

Tergelitik dengan pengakuan Pak Dhe Mbilung yang me-rumpon-kan sepeda onthel beliau di dasar sungai (ngomong-ngomong rumpon itu artinya apa sih?), saya jadi ingin bercerita ngalor ngidul tentang sepeda onthel di Jepang ini. Sekalian mengilik Pak Dhe yang namanya tersebut diatas untuk memberi info bagaimana caranya menceburkan sepeda ke sungai tanpa ketahuan pak Pulisi.

Seinget saya, begitu saya menjejakkan kaki di bumi Honjo, Papap langsung menjadwalkan saya untuk belanja sepeda. Hehe... mirip anak kecil ulang tahun yah. Belanja sepeda. Saya baru tahu kemudian, sepeda adalah alat transportasi utama di Jepang ini. Rasa-rasanya, hampir semua orang Jepang atau orang tinggal di Jepang punya sepeda, terutama yang berada di kota kecil. Habis mau gimana lagi? Mobil gak punya (kasus saya dan teman-teman perantau), motor juga gak ada, jalur bis-nya garing, jalur kereta hanya keluar kota sajah, rate taxi muahal sekali. Orang-orang yang punya mobil sekalipun juga masih mengandalkan sepeda. Mungkin karena bebas macet, bebas bahan bakar, dan bebas polusi (bukan pulisi). Selain itu nggenjot sepeda bisa membuat badan sehat, lebih kurus (tidak harus kurus, tapi bisa lebih lah), dan seksih. Anak-anak kecil dan anak-anak sekolah, terutama, menggunakan sepeda sebagai kendaraan mereka. Juga para ibu rumah tangga yang tiap hari kudu belanja. Bapak-bapak, kakek-kakek, nenek-nenek, dan para karyawan pun dengan pedenya bersepeda. Kagak ade tuh nyang namenye turun gengsi gara-gara ente naek sepedah. Padahal sepedanya juga model sepeda onthel, bukan sepeda balap yang kerenan dikit. Pemandangan seorang ibu bersepeda dengan barang belanjaan di belakang dan anak bayi duduk dibagian depan sepeda serta anak balita yang mengekor dengan sepeda kecilnya sendiri adalah jamak terlihat, terutama di kota kecil. Di kota-kota besar seperti Tokyo, sepeda masih terlihat dipakai tapi tak sebanyak di Honjo, misalnya. Mungkin karena di Tokyo terlalu banyak orang jadi kudu punya nyali besar untuk nyalip-nyalip naek sepeda karena jalur sepeda itu sama dengan jalur pejalan kaki. Lagipula, Tokyo punya jalur kereta dalam kota yang accessible, begitu juga dengan bisnya.

Sepeda-sepeda di Jepang semua punya plat registrasi yang berfungsi sebagai stnk. Kalau kita membeli sepeda, baik bekas maupun baru, kita akan diberi 'stnk' ini. Sepeda tanpa stnk harap siap dikejar-kejar pak Pulisi. Miss Mia-the-Ridho juga pernah menulis tentang Para Pulisi Jepun yang kekurangan kerjaan sehingga seringkali melakukan razia random terhadap sepeda. Papap pernah kena razia ini. Dengan model sepeda ala emak-emak alias mempunyai bangku anak dibelakangnya, jelas Pulisi curiga melihat laki-laki yang menggenjot. Di Jepang yang katanya aman ini, maling sepeda pun ada. Tapi, maling sepeda ala Jepang ini antik. Mereka nyolong sepeda bukan buat dijual lagi atau diloakkan (percuma juga, bisa digaruk Pak Pul). Biasanya sepeda dicolong karena si maling butuh transportasi darurat dari stasiun atau supermarket ke rumahnya. Setelah jarak ke rumah tinggal selemparan kolor, sepeda itu pun di tinggal begitu saja. Bisa dipinggir jalan, bisa di tempat parkir. Makanya Mia-the-Ridho menyarankan saya untuk membuang sepeda dengan cara menaruh sepeda itu di eki (stasiun). Umumnya, begitu deretan sepeda di eki sudah menumpuk, melumut, dan tak ada tanda-tanda bakal diambil yang punya, Pak Pulisi akan membawa semua sepeda itu pergi. Problem saya atas sepeda bekas yang tak bisa dibawa ke kampung pun hilang kan? *kok sayang ya?*
Nah, pertanyaannya... setelah itu akan diapakan tumpukan sepeda yang tak pernah menipis itu? Dibuang ke dasar laut seperti nasib becak-becak di Jakarta? Dijual ke Indonesia seperti nasib kereta bekas Jepang di Jakarta? Di daur ulang menjadi panci? Dibikin pesawat terbang?
Ada yang tau?

Mbok'e sini dan Mbak'e sana berkata supaya semua barang saya (lihat postingan sebelumnya) diangkut sajah semuah. Glek ! Kalo saya bisa melakukan itu, nih jerawat gak bakalan boncel-boncel begini . Kepengenan kita, semua diangkut. Sekalian sama apartmentnya sekaligus biar sampe Jakcity -seperti disebut oleh Nenek Neri- gak perlu bangun rumah lagi. Persoalannya hanya satu: DUIT! (dengan sentakan gitar dan nada Rhoma Irama) Ngirim satu kerdus dengan ngirim satu apartment kan harganya beda toh ?

"Ya sudah," kata penganut paham begitu-saja-kok-repot, "tinggal saja sebagian."

Duh. Seandainya bisa segampang itu...
Di Jepang ini, semua barang yang tidak terpakai disebut GOMI alias SAMPAH. Kategori sampah itu luas sekali. Dari sampah rumah tangga beneran (yang kudu dipisahin jenisnya walo saya belum yakin apakah suami brengsek dan istri cuerewet bisa masuk kategori ini) sampai semua barang tidak terpakai. Buat keluarga Sensei saya yang cucunya udah gede-gede, semua buku anak-anak, lego, robot-robotan, mainan anak-anak, dsb dst dll masuk kategori sampah walo kondisi barang-barang itu masih bagus banget. Buat keluarga lain, baju-baju mahal yang kekecilan, tas-tas bermerk yang sudah out-of-date, barang-barang elektronik yang sudah basi, juga masuk kategori sampah. Buat petani-petani, semua hasil pertanian yang tak sesuai standard kesempurnaan, juga masuk kategori sampah yang akan dibuldozer dan dijadikan makanan ternak. Semua yang tak terpakai, segimana masih bagusnya, masuk kategori sampah yang akan mereka buang. Iya, dibuang!
Kok gak dikasih ke orang lain? Wah, mana ada yang mau. Semua orang juga punya sampahnya sendiri-sendiri. Lagipula, dengan tipe rumah Jepang yang mungil-mungil, barang tak terpakai tadi hanya akan memenuhi tempat.
Kok gak dijual? Lah, dikasih aja gak ada yang mau... . Seorang teman kami, waktu pindah dari apartment pribadi ke dormitory kampus harus menelan rasa dongkol karena toko barang bekas (second-hand store) yang ia minta supaya membeli kulkasnya (yang ia beli baru), menolak untuk membeli dan malah meminta dia membayar kalau dia tetap ingin menaruh kulkasnya di toko mereka. Lah... mau membuang barang kok malah disuruh bayar ? Kalo di Endonesah (dan ternyata juga di negara teman kami ini), taro aja tuh barang di depan rumah, entar juga ada yang ngambil. Wong, ditaro di dalam rumah aja masih diambil juga .
Ada juga sih orang-orang yang mencari peruntungan dengan menjual barang bekasnya di Flea Market (yang dilidah orang sini berubah jadi Furee Maaketto sehingga sempat membuat saya berpikir semua barang disitu gratis alias Free). Tapi sejauh ini, Flea Market di Honjo garing banget. Yang ada, barang gak kejual, kita kudu bayar sewa tempat.
Singkat cerita, barang-barang bekas ini hanya bisa dibuang di tempat sampah! Tapi, tunggu dulu! Membuang barang pun ada problemnya sendiri! Kalau barang yang dibuang itu bukan sampah rumah tangga, maka ada fee-nya! Iya, fee! Barang seperti: sepeda bekas, meja, kursi, kasur, barang-barang elektronik, dsb itu gak boleh dibuang sembarangan. Kita harus membayar kepada pemda untuk mengangkut barang-barang tersebut!
Lah, apa gak makan hati itu? Udah berasa sayang karena harus melihat barang masih bagus tapi sudah jadi penghuni tempat sampah, eeehhh... disuruh bayar pulak???

Pengecualian ada pada para mahasiswa asing yang tentu tidak pernah kelebihan duit dan selalu senang menerima barang lungsuran. Seperti saya yang senang sekali menerima lungsuran mainan anak-anak dari Sensei . Setiap tahun, barang-barang dari senior yang akan pulang biasanya diwariskan ke juniornya. Begitu juga yang terjadi pada kami tahun lalu. Ya, gak, Mbok'e? Tapi, tahun ini pengecualian luar biasa. Masalahnya, tahun ini ternyata tidak ada mahasiswa baru asal Indonesia datang ke Honjo-Waseda . Sementara, mahasiswa Indonesia yang tersisa tinggal 3 biji dan semuanya sudah terkena timpukan lungsuran. Bagaimana ini???

Mo buang barang sayang, tapi duit buat nyewa satu kontainer gak punya. *jerawat pecah lagi satu*
Pak Dhe Mbilung... butuh sepedah ontel?

Dimana-mana, apapun alasannya, yang namanya pilih kasih itu gak baik dan tentu saja gak enak. Ketika ada puluhan buku tetapi hanya terdapat beberapa kardus (dan tentu saja duit), maka dada ini pun terasa sesak...

Bagaimana caranya menjelaskan kepada anak umur 4 tahun bahwa buku ini dan ini dan itu juga itu tidak bisa ikut kita kirim ke kampung halaman?
Bagaimana caranya menjelaskan kepada ibu-ibu umur sedikit diatas 17 tahun bahwa dia harus merelakan buku ini dan ini dan itu juga itu tetap tidak bisa masuk kardus dan dikirim ke kampung?
Bagaimana caranya menjelaskan kepada bapak-bapak umur jauh diatas 18 tahun bahwa di kampung halaman dia tidak akan bisa melihat barang elektronik yang itu dan itu dan itu dan tentu saja yang itu?

Atau tak usah saja ada pilih kasih?
Ini bisa jadi pilihan kah? *mikir sambil pencet-pencet jerawat*

illustration by corbis

Once, a dear friend asked me.
"How do you define SOULMATE?"

I stopped my walking and stunned.
I had never thought about soulmate in my entire life.

Suddenly an image flashed.
A knight in a shining armor riding a white horse.
He was handsome, of course.
Or else, he wouldn't matter.
I believed I had a tranced version of Snow White and that handsome Prince.
Instead, I saw a face of a man with his old Bebek motorbike.

I answered,
"somebody that clicks?"
My friend was disappointed.
I was afraid she actually hoped for my enlightenment.
But, who was I to give her enlightenment?
And to explain to her about the Zen of Soulmate?!
I never had succeded in figuring out the wisdom of Pooh Bear.

She didn't give up.
"But, you must know," she said.
"You've been in the relationship for so long."
Eh?

"Like Barbie and Ken?"
I offered an answer.
And silently crossed my fingers.
She made that face.
I failed.

Another friend lent me the Notebook
finally... sigh...
I finished reading and suddenly felt ecstatic.
'This must be the answer of that Soulmate-definition thing!'

"Our souls were one, if you must know
and never shall they be apart;
With splendid dawn, your face aglow,
I reach for you and find my heart."
-Nicholas Sparks: the Notebook-

I turned on my PC and planned to Buzz.
That dear old friend must be very elated.
Years passed, still I remember her question.
But,
I stopped.
Something started to ring.

Not the phone!
It's in my head!

A picture of US was staring at me from the computer screen.
The same face was smiling to me.
Although now, without his old Bebek motorbike.

He is not a knight in a shining armor.
He doesn't have a horse.
So, don't even ask me about the color.
He is not the prince in Cinderella story.
Nor Ken, in Barbie.
He is not Noah Calhoun,
who is haunted by
images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier,
a girl he loved like no other*
And I,
absolutely am NOT Allie Nelson, the haunting girl.

The Noah-and-Allie story is so sweet.
Too sweet that it made my teeth ached.
Like an ultra sweet candy that
when you taste it
you will run for a bitter cup of tea.

My love story perhaps
is more like a bitter cup of tea.
Sweetened by sugar.
I also like to stir my tea
And put more sugar than I should have.
But, here, I found the Zen
of my love story.
"A bitter cup of tea is better for health."

So,
how do I define SOULMATE?
I must say...
and believe me I'm thinking hard
... it is another soul
that you DECIDE
to be YOUR soulMATE.

*excerpt taken from here and illustration taken from here.

Lagi asyik ngemut selimut sambil nonton adegan munculnya muka hantu-hantu anak sekolah SD yang mati karena sekolahnya tersapu tsunami, telpon berbunyi. "Setan!"
Maksudnya, gue bener-bener kaget karena lihat film setan itu. Gue bukannya lagi mengumpat .

Summer vacation ini tivi-tivi berisi program-program hantu alias obake. Gak tau apakah hantu Jepun ini munculnya pas summer or what. Hampir semua film isinya hantu. Daannn... semua film-film itu film untuk anak-anak loh. Pemainnya anak-anak, hantunya juga hantu anak-anak penasaran. Bahkan anime-anime juga isinya hantu. Baru saja kita selesai nonton Doraemon yang bertema hantu juga . Tapi terus terang, hantu klasik versi Jepun bener-bener gak nakutin. Ada binatang jadi-jadian, ada nenek-nenek berambut panjang yang putih semua, ada seprai terbang, ada perempuan berambut panjang yang lehernya bisa memanjang macam ular, ada perempuan berambut panjang (juga) memakai kimono dengan muka pucat dan mata putih semua.... ngomong-ngomong kok setannya perempuan semua? Kalau mau lihat gambar-gambar obake cek disini ajah. Lucu-lucu lah. Wong, Hikari aja bilang, "Obake, omoshiroii." (ghost is interesting). Sekarang gue lagi cekikikan ngebayangin kalau setan-setan pecicilan di Indonesia di-anime-kan. Apa bisa jadi konsumsi anak kecil itu? Tuyul, genderuwo, kuntilanak (eh, sama ya?), mak lampir, kolor ijo, jin bertaring... gak ada lucu-lucunya .

PS: jangan samain hantu klasik Jepun ini dengan hantu-hantu modern di film-film horor Jepun macem the Ring atau the Grudge yah! Itu sih.... hiiiiiiiiiiii........

PS lagi: gak jadi pengen punya rambut panjang lurus terurai ah.... Tanpa rambut panjang itu aja gue udah sering teriak kaget ngeliat muka sendiri di depan kaca .

A week without a computer, already my head was full of voices. I call them ideas, me-gut-fren Mickey call them first signs toward schizophrenia... .
"I need to write. I'm hearing voices again."
"Then write."
"I don't have a computer."
"That's ironic (he made it sound like pathetic). Most people don't have the net."

It is indeed ironic. To Er, In, Ra, another Ra, Dy, Nu, and Je, your emails were safe in the computer. The computer was safe with Papap who was in Hokkaido. Yeah, he was gone only for awhile, but I missed him terribly and the computer. I was luckier, of course, because he missed his son's fourth birthday. Now that he is here again, I wrote this post especially to answer your emails...

First, I am fine, thank you, though the weather is a bit irritating. It's been raining the whole two weeks and on some days the rain didn't stop at all. And they say it is summer. The rain has caused a lot of damage. More damage than last year's flood. This time more people died, more houses are ruined, more victims are without homes. I'm not sure how Japan learns from this. I haven't heard the learning thing from TV. Honestly, though, I kind of expecting it was an ice-rain again like what we had before. It was fun to see, but I heard the wavy-next-to-curly univesity bus driver said, "Abunai yo! Sonna ame da!" (bahaya, tau!)

And yes, it is summer in Japan. And another yes, it is HOT, although for some unknown reasons (except it feels nicer) I still enjoy a hot bath. Pencerahan plisss?

Next, Honjo just held a summer festival. This will be our last Natsu Matsuri in Honjo. Sad, to think about that, but on that day we had great fun. While Papap was busy taking pictures for his blog, Hikari was busy pointing his index finger to the crowd and shouting, "Mamaaa! Mite! OSHIRI da!" (Liat, Mak, ada pantat!). There! Some people thought it was funny, some hundred others didn't think so.
"Please, God, make me blend."
"I can't. What will I make of you? A caffee-latte?"
Next thing I know I encouraged Papap to take pictures of more butts... Yiiiihaaa... we were butt hunting.

Then, you guys asked me if I had some parties? Well, sort of. We were invited here and there, to visit this and that. We visited Sanden factory in the neighboring town. Don't imagine a conventional factory we had back home. This factory's compound is vast and surrounded by forest. If it was not for the rain, we would go hiking around the forest to find some beetles. These beetles -people here call them Kabutomushi- are very famous as pets as well as anime characters. That's why the children who joined the trip expected to find some if it was not for the rain. Hikari got one, though. The host captured some beetles and gave them to Hikari and other children. Oh, do you know that Indonesian beetles are more famous here and also more expensive? I could get rich just by selling those beetles...
And then Papap returned to his favorite pastime: cooking. We got some fresh jengkol from a friend a few days back. Papap urged me to find the recipe for Semur Jengkol. I agreed with one condition: I didn't want to have anything to do with that jengkol. The smell of it can give me a morning sickness! So, that day, after studying the recipe thoroughly, Papap indeed made Semur Jengkol successfully. Fortunately, the other Indonesians love that smelly thing so that Papap could have a party with them. Or else, he would be a drunken jengkol eater . I, on the other hand, am still a modest cook (and still don't enjoy cooking). I tried to make Gobo Tempura but failed. Gobo is a kind of vegetable root. It tastes yummy when fried as tempura. Then, a friend of mine invited me and some friends to her house. She taught us to make Miso soup, Inarizushi, and Onigiri roll. They are deliciiiiiiioooouuuuuusss . *For those who question the food I eat, let me just tell you that you can still eat things and be safe.* Look at my inarizushi! The outer is a fried tofu seasoned with Japanese sauce (shoyu) and the inside is rice seasoned with vinegar and salt. Sluurrrpp... Email me for the recipe hehehe... But, wait! I didn't stop there. My Bangladeshi friend taught me how to make Lachcha Shemai, a kind of porridge milk. The milk is boiled with sugar and some spices, and then shemai (a very small noodle-like thingy) is put into the milk. Another slurrrppp...
There are still many other parties and get together. It seems like everyone here really needs one . Or may be the dormitory needs a bit of a cheer-up. Next get-together that we will attend -and we openly look forward to- is a hanabi, watching the firework. In Japan, it's the time for hanabi already. Wanna join us ?

Okay, that's the latest news for you, guys. I'm sorry I answered all your emails like this. It's more fun (for me), and it spares me from writing the same thing for many emails . Ya, ya, I know I need a pinch for that. Hug me instead?
Now, I've got to go. This whole party thing delayed me from packing. What? I'll be right over there at the end of September. Hopefully. Okay?

Dear God,

Today, I have a request.
I know (really) that everyday you always hear me
pray for you, ask for this, and that
as if I were not a man of things already.
But, today,
today is different.


You see, today is my son's fourth birthday.
I'm sure you remember that.
But I cannot give him things.
For I don't know what kind of present gives him heaven.
So, I'm thinking
may be
perhaps
I can ask You
to lend me the wind, the leaves of every tree, the grass, the sea, the ocean, the water, the rain, the wood, the air...
I will need the leaves of every tree to write all my prayers
for all the papers I have is no longer have space.
I will also need the grass
for I am afraid the leaves will soon no longer be enough.
I will need the sea, the ocean, the rain, all of the water I can think of
to make the ink for my pen
and I will need the wood to make me a pen that will not break.
And I will need the air to fill my lung
as I write my prayers for my son.
And the wind...
if You lend me the wind
the wind will carry those prayers to you.

... then may be...
when You see the wind bringing my prayers.
You will give my son his birthday's present.
For I wish nothing else but
Your love
as his present.



Hikari, thank you for teaching me about love and life.