(http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/040/5/9/one_piece_in_samurai_x__by_dragonoftheeastblue-d395kr3.jpg)

Yup, we can see Straw Hat Pirate’s Jolly Roger!! Well, I realized that the author of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, was indeed one of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s assistants. And it is true that when above chapter of Samurai X was published, Oda Sensei had just been writing One Piece for around two years. So it’s plausible.

From there, I further did some background check of mentor-assistant relationship in manga world. So, let me share you what I got:

1. Takeshi Obata of Hikaru no Go and Death Note is a mentor of Kentaro Yabuki of Black Cat, Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin, Yusuke Murata of Eyeshield 21
2. Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin had some notable assistants: Hiroyuki Takei of Shaman King, Eiichiro Oda of One Piece, Shinya Suzuki of Mr. Fullswing
3. Yoshihiro Togashi of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter is married to Naoko Takeuchi of Sailor Moon. She assisted Togashi Sensei with Hunter x Hunter several times.

And an extra trivia: Do you know what is the longest running manga series in history? It is Kochikame by Osamu Akimoto, a gag about a neighborhood around a certain police station.

So, is there any interesting trivia regarding mangas you’d like to share? ^__^

Tahukah Anda, bahwa dalam buku nya yang sangat fenomenal tersebut, kata Invisible Hand cuma pernah di sebutkan satu kali, tepat nya pada halaman 343?

Tahukah Anda, bahwa buku tersebut memiliki 746 halaman?

… he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in may other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote and end which was no part of his intention.

1. Albus Dumbledore: The best wizard in HP world, maybe only second to Lord Voldemort. He plays a role of mentor and grandfather to the trio, often be seen in the last part of each book explaining details and uncovering mysteries to Harry and the readers. Though his death in the Half-Blood Prince shocked the world in 1997, I found that it is indeed necessary for the saga to be an epic. It brings uncertainty to the magical world, for there will be practically no one that stands a chance to duel Lord Voldemort on even ground. It also passes the baton of resistance leadership to our Harry, now wandering with the trio, uncovering mysteries and sparking the war by their own hands. Being one of the most important characters, even death cannot erase his presence and significance–it even amplifies–to the adventurous HP.

2. Minerva McGonagall: Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor house. But beyond that, I recognize her as an Animagus with the cutest animal form. Strict and straight, she is proven to be one of the best witches in HP world, able to duel with Lord Voldemort along with Shacklebolt and Slughorn.

3. Harry Potter: The boy who lived. The absolute first chapter that roared in England and echoed throughout the world, up to today. Rebellous and gifted like his father, yet kindhearted like his mother, our hero paves his road for the sole purpose of defeating Lord Voldemort, for the second time. Interesting to see how well Rowling planned the growth or our character from book to book. While Harry only needs practically his friends’ assistance coupled with his flying skill and just bare hands to defeat Voldemort in the first book, he starts to fight his way out in the Mysteries Department at the fifth year, then fully able to wander around while being fugitive of Death Eaters for the final. If we must attribute a word to Harry, I might say ‘bravery’.

4. Ron Weasley: A great sidekick, I must say. A bit clumsy and moody, yet can be so manly and protective. Being raised in a big happy family, he becomes a great brother to our Harry, which has no family at all to begin with. Together with Hermione, they get the center role in the saga.

5. Hermione Granger: The genius beauty. She loves reading, studying, and of course, answering questions in classes. Among all the chosen actors and actresses of HP movies, I think Hermione got the best possible. Even JK Rowling was said to recognize Hermione in Emma Watson when she saw her for the first time.

6. Neville Longbottom: OK, here we go. Instead of Harry or Draco (who both have their own fan sites), I declare Neville as my favorite character in HP saga. Why, you said? Because he is unique! His character development from Philosopher’s Stone to Deathly Hallows is the best among all. I believe that we can even make a separate books for Neville alone! Now let’s check. He started as the “bottom” of all his year class. Clumsy, could not do magic properly, easily lost things or being picked on, but showed great potentials when he confronted the trio from breaking the school law–which in the end, granted the table-turned winning for Gryffindor House. Then, slowly, he became more capable in magic, accelerated by the first Azkaban’s mass jailbreak. And in the end, Neville is the one who was recognized by the Sorting Hat as the truest Gryffindor, got the Sword, killed Nagini, and by doing so practically ripped away the immortality of the You-Know-Who. Cool, isn’t he?

7. Severus Snape: My second fave in HP world (also the last on this list). The biggest reason for my adoration to the character lies on the last book, in which Rowling finally reveals the deepest secret of Snape’s allegiance. Not to Voldemort, nor Dumbledore, nor Harry, or the Magic World as a whole. But to LOVE.. Yeah, the cold-blooded two-faced professor, in the end, is just a mere lover. Right now, one of the moments I anticipated most from the last movie of HP franchise is the final moment of Snape. “After all this time, Severus?” “Always”

Aaand. There! I started this post early December and just finished it now. What a bad blogger I am. At first, I wanna explore more characters. But the topic is getting dull, and I’ve written much already. So, please bear with the seven characters above. Enjoy ^_^

Just early last month, they released an album with twelve tracks, including “Go Away”, “Clap Your Hands”, and “Can’t Nobody”. Along with their MVs in youtube getting more and more clicks, the songs have been being played all over Korea days and nights. Just walking on the Korean street, you can hear clearly one of their songs coming from one of the stores, mostly hand phone stores.

I posted once, on my facebook page, the K-POP Single Chart at Week 3 September 2010, which is produced weekly by a youtube user, KpopNET4. There you can see six singles by 2NE1 with the first, second, third and fifth position were taken by the group. Here they are:

15. I’m Busy(난 바빠) – 2NE1 [▲ 6]
13. Love is Aiyaiya(사랑은 아야야) – 2NE1 [▲ 5]
05. Slow(아파) – 2NE1 [▲ 10]
03. Clap Your Hands(박수쳐) – 2NE1 [▲ 6]
02. Can’t Nobody – 2NE1 [▲ 3]
01. Go Away – 2NE1 [▲ 10]

But my favorite song over six of them is the one with title “Love is Aiyaiya”. It still doesn’t have any MV but I am still gonna share the song with all of you. The reason why I pick this song over than the others is that the song is the one less “electronic” compared to others. Try listen to Can’t Nobody for instance. Anyway, enjoy the song. I put the original lyrics in Korean here, too. Maybe later on I will try to find the romanization and English translation.

Lyrics:

봄
Oh oh woo woah oh oh break it down now
woah woo oh oh woo oh oh oh
Break it down now
Oh oh woo woah oh oh break it down now
woah woo woah oh woo woah
This how it’s goin down

민지
사랑한다면서 왜 날 자꾸 힘들게 해
도대체 뭐가 불만인데
요즘 들어 부쩍 늘어난 간섭
참견이 날 지치게 해 hey

CL
Ey~그렇게 또 며칠째 난 네 전화를 피해
I tell you what’s going on
나만 행복하게 해주겠다던 네 그 약속(boy)
Tell me what’s up what’s up 넌 많이 달라졌어

다라
너는 쉽게 넘어 가려 하지만
벌써 시간이 다 됐나 봐 time to say good bye
못들은 척하지마
우린 이미 예전에 over 이젠 고개를 돌려
난 이별 노랠 불러 bye my love

민지
더 높이 날 꺼야 저 멀리
달콤한 유혹에 나 속지는 않아 ow now
새로운 시작 이젠 이별의 시간
힘차게 다시 나가는 거야

봄
그러니 너 역시~ 내게서 영원히~
자유로워 지길 바래 지금 이순간
사랑은 언제나 아이야이야 아픔도 있는 거야 (이제 널 잊는 거야)

CL
부쩍 늘어난 다툼에 절로 흘러나오는 한숨
우린 서로에게 잘못 하고 있어 너도 알고 있어 그걸 that I’m better without you
반복되는 서로에게 죄가 되는
그런 싸움에서 우린 서로 이기려 해
이런 내 자신이 싫어 그래서 더 네가 미워 이젠 너를 지우려 해

다라
이별도 사랑이라고 생각해줘
You’d drive me crazy
이러다가 널 미워 할거만 같아
대신 말해줄게 it’s over 이젠 고개를 돌려
난 이별 노랠 불러 bye my love

CL
더 높이 날 꺼야 저 멀리
달콤한 유혹에 나 속지는 않아
새로운 시작 이젠 이별의 시간
힘차게 다시 나가는 거야

봄
그러니 너 역시 내게서 영원히
자유로워 지길 바래 지금 이순간
사랑은 언제나 아이야이야 아픔도 있는 거야 (이제 널 잊는 거야)

CL
어딜 가든 I will think of you
언제나 늘 곁에 늘 옆에 (all right)

봄
널 위해 기도해줄게 두 손 모아
행복해 영원히 영원히 영원히
함께 한다고

다라
더 높이 날 꺼야 저 멀리
달콤한 유혹에 나 속지는 않아
새로운 시작 이젠 이별의 시간
힘차게 다시 나가는 거야

봄
그러니 너 역시 내게서 영원히
자유로워 지길 바래 지금 이순간
사랑은 언제나 아이야이야 아픔도 있는 거야 (이젠 널 잊는 거야)
Oh oh woo woah oh oh break it down now
woah woo woah oh woo woah
It’s almost over now

다라
난 잊지 않아
day and night 언제나
너와 함께한 추억

Beda program S1, S2, S3 di mana?

April 25, 2008 in ITB, Work

Oleh: Dr. Armein Z R Langi

Jaman dulu, tahun 60an, pendidikan tertinggi biasanya hanya sampai
sarjana. Tapi hari ini ada program sarjana, magister, dan doktor.
Apa sih bedanya? Apakah kita harus belajar sampai S3?

Terlepas dari status di masyarakat, kita harus meletakkan tingkat
pendidikan ini pada proporsi yang sebenarnya.

Pendidikan sarjana (S1) harusnya mengajarkan khasanah ilmu yang ada
sehingga ia menjadi orang yang terdidik. Ia memiliki dan menguasai
suatu disiplin atau metoda berpikir di bidangnya. Ia memiliki
pemahaman tentang dunia yang lebih tepat. Ia juga bisa belajar bahan
dan materi yang lebih sukar. Kemudian ia bisa menerapkan ilmunya untuk
persoalan-persoalan yang generik. Artinya jenis persoalan yang memang
sudah pernah diajarkan.

Pendidikan magister (S2) adalah kelanjutan dari pendidikan S1. Ia
mengusai state of the art dan best practices di bidangnya. S2 semacam
lisensi untuk mempraktekkan profesi bidang ini. Berbeda dengan S1
yang cenderung generalis, S2 cenderung spesialis. Lulusan S2 bisa
mendesain dan menginovasi solusi baru.

Pendidikan doktoral (S3) dimaksudkan untuk menghasilkan peneliti.
Peneliti adalah orang yang senang mencari kemudian mengkodifikasi
pengetahuan baru. Jadi syarat pertama seorang doktor sebenarnya
adalah keinginan menulis pengetahuan baru. Semacam anggota
legislatif, begitu. Tanpa keinginan ini, pendidikan doktoral
sebenarnya sia-sia. Syarat kedua, tentu keinginan tahu serta
kegigihan untuk menggunakan metoda riset untuk mencari pengetahuan
baru.

Dari segi kompetensi, lulusan S1 harus siap memasuki bidang profesi.
Lulusan S2 harus siap berinovasi dalam profesi. Lulusan S3 harus siap
meneliti dan mempublikasi pengetahuan baru.

Nah, apakah kita semua harus menjadi S3? Jelas tidak. Kecuali kita
mau jadi peneliti, dosen atau berbisnis di bidang teknologi, gelar
doktor itu sebenarnya sia-sia. Buang-buang waktu dan uang.

Tapi di Indonesia, gelar doktor masih bisa juga untuk impress mertua
atau kampanye pilkada/pilpres. Jadi sebenarnya berguna juga ya…

Tulisan di atas saya dapatkan dari milis IA ITB (yang baru saja berubah nama jadi milis ITB Club). Membaca artikel pendek di atas membuat saya kembali berkontemplasi dan berpikir, sudahkah saya memahami makna dan konsekuensi pilihan saya untuk melanjutkan studi hingga S3? Pun jikalau pemahaman itu sudah terpatri, sudah sesuaikan attitude dan kinerja saya sesuai dengan pemahaman tersebut?

Saya pikir jawabannya adalah belum. Sesuai konsepsi di atas, pendidikan doktoral identik dengan peneliti, orang yang bergelut dengan pengetahuan demi menghasilkan suatu kontribusi berupa formulasi pengetahuan baru. Untuk itu, seseorang yang mengaku mahasiswa S3 harus membekali diri dengan kemampuan formulasi masalah, riset dan tinjauan atas masalah tersebut dari berbagai sudut pandang, pemahaman dan pengembangan metode pemecahan masalah, perumusan hipotesis, hingga proses pembuktian hipotesis dengan mempergunakan kaidah ilmiah yang terukur. Supaya mampu melakukan itu semua, seorang mahasiswa S3 wajib bergelut dengan buku, jurnal, paper, diskusi ilmiah, ditambah penguasaan atas sejumlah tools spesifik untuk membantu proses penelitian. Tetapi di atas itu semua, yang paling penting adalah kejernihan dan ketajaman pikiran dalam mengkonstruksi sebuah ide dan merealisasikannya.

Lalu di mana posisi saya sekarang? Jujur saja, saat ini saya masih dalam tahapan pre-doctoral study, kalau tahap itu ada. Tahap di mana seseorang mengarungi lautan ilmu pengetahuan untuk mendapatkan pemahaman secara menyeluruh atas suatu bidang ilmu sembari mencermati cabang-cabang spesifik di mana kita dapat berkontribusi mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan yang authentic and original di situ.  Perlahan tapi pasti membangun kapabilitas diri supaya bisa memenuhi konsepsi seorang PhD yang telah menjadi pemahaman yang terpatri.

So, here we go. This time, Vira has been chosen as the chairman of the project. We then started recruiting members as early as October 2009. Little by little, the team has then found its perfect shape. The first thing we prepared was a proposal. It was planned to be in three language, Indonesian, English and Korean, though we only managed to form the Indonesian and English version. From the very beginning of this project, we tried to set an ambitious target. Being different than the previous ones, CISAK this year planned to invite several keynote speakers from various backgrounds. All the guest speakers will try to convey ideas on answering our core theme: Going Home or Staying Abroad.

The first party is a member of International Indonesian Scholars Association (IISA) or Ikatan Ilmuwan Indonesia Internasional (I-4). Fortunately, the vice-chairman of IISA, Dr. Khoirul Anwar, an assistant professor in Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technolgy (JAIST), was agree to visit Korea and give us a short lecture. The second party is a Korean professor who has deep interest in Indonesia. For this, we got ourselves to contact a professor in HUFS (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), Prof. Yang Seung Yoon. The last party is from the Indonesian embassy. This time, there are two speakers from Indonesian embassy, the Minister of Counselor, Akhmad D. H. Irfan and Defense Attache, Col. Agus Rustandi.

Other than invited speakers, we also opened a call for paper, which is open to all Indonesian students who was currently studying in Korea. Also, we invited our Indonesian student colleagues from other countries to participate on this call for paper. From all the papers coming to the committee, we chose Harry Pamungkas from TLBU, M. Rusdi Syamsudin and Purba Purnama (both form KIST) to present their papers in the conference.

Aside from the material and the program of CISAK, there are lots of aspects that I could share in here. The most important one is, well of course, the financial problem. As non-profit organization, PERPIKA (Indonesian Students Association at Korea) does not have strong financial capability to begin with. Thus CISAK committee must struggle hard enough to run this program. The first aid was coming from Indonesian embassy. After submitting our proposal there and discussed things with the embassy staff, we agreed on Indonesian embassy supporting CISAK in the form of venue, coffee break, lunch and accommodation. This sure was quite a big help for us. After these things have been settled, we only need to think about transportation cost of Dr. Khoirul from Japan, publication, decoration, equipment and all secretariat things. Those sure will cost lots of money. Up to one point, we had no more than couple hundred thousands of won, which is from PERPIKA’s fund and some small sponsors. While in fact, we need more than a million won.

Since this story has a kind of happy ending, there came a sponsorship agreement with Hana Financial Group. With their support, finally we could settle things financially (well, at least at the accounting notes) Nevertheless, the adventure to be able to get the real money is quite far ahead. But that will be another story. Bottom line, we had no worries about financial condition anymore and was ready to rock the show.

We had several meetings to discuss and share each division’ s progress, identify the problems and clear the pebbles from our road. Ewha University’s campus, Mba Yuli’s house, Indonesian embassy, and the most frequent, Skype conference room. All leads to Friday February 19, 2010. I met Dr. Khoirul at Incheon airport (I arrived pretty late but a bunch thanks for the help from Bli Putu and Mba Vicka) and came together to the guest house of Indonesian embassy (third floor, just one floor above the venue) while the others preparing the venue. We had a dinner together that time, along with the committees and Byan, one of CISAK moderator. I remember slept quite late that time. Then in the morning, with kimbabs and breads for breakfast, we started our day.

Along with Dr. Khoirul and Byan, I went down to the venue at around 8.30. There was a quick briefing with all the position arrangement and specific task of each person. Then the venue started to be filled up with students. I would like to mention here that some Indonesian students from Japan (four of them) were attending our conference. Also, we invited some Korean students who study Indonesian language at HUFS. They’re Indonesian is awesome. The program started at 09.30 with congratulatory and welcoming remarks from the chairman of CISAK 2010, the president of PERPIKA and Indonesian Ambassador for South Korea, Mr. Nicholas T. Dammen.

Right after that, Dr. Khoirul gave an interesting lecture that relates his study in the cutting edge of telecommunication technology with Indonesian human resources dilemma and the so called brain drain phenomena as well as promoting a strategy and answer of that case. The core idea was communication between the Indonesians who strive abroad and those who stay in Indonesia. Answering the question of going home or staying abroad, he said wisely that wherever you could be more meaningful to society as a whole, there your battlefield is. He also showed a graph of optimization ratio between Indonesian scholars and experts who must build Indonesia from the inside and those who shape from the outside.

The next is a presentation from Harry Pamungkas about Brain Gain theory and China case of it. He showed that in the past there are lots of Chinese intellectuals who went abroad, such as USA and Europe, to find a better life. People said those phenomena as Brain Drain, where the smarts of China were drawn out from its homeland and served for others. Yet recently, when China experienced the economic boom and started to roar, these brains are gradually coming back to their country with knowledge, experience, technology even networking and financial support–catalyzing and accelerating the economic boom even more. He also mentioned about several policies that China utilizes to call their brains back to the main body. This is the Brain Gain.

Just before the lunch break, the Counselor Minister of Indonesian embassy shared his knowledge and experience for serving in Korea for years to us. Although focusing on double citizenship case, Mr. Irfan also shares about the passport and self report obligatory for all Indonesian who stays in Korea. Then after an Indonesian style super-delicious lunch break, Col. Agus Rustandi started his presentation about present security condition on Korean peninsula. He also presented some materials about Indonesian-Korea cooperation on military equipment. Both speakers from the embassy had given us some new points of view and relevant information for our stay in Korea.

Then we had a presentation from M. Rusdi Syamsuddin about the virtual world development. He explored the imaginary-limited possibility of this ‘second life’ program, especially for education purpose. Then we also had a presentation from Prof. Yang Seung Yoon. At the beginning he mentioned about the cultural difference in Indonesia and Korea from a very small example, the use of ‘professor’ and ‘mister’. A little note here, he was quite enthusiastic to be able to attend our conference. He was in another meeting far away from Seoul and had to finish that meeting early and go to our conference directly by the fastest train in Korea, KTX. He even scratched his presentation material on his way to CISAK. After his presentation, we had Purba Purnama who researched on a bio-polymer which is able to replace conservative plastics. This technology, he said, is quite cheap, simple and replicable while maintaining a green quality, which is can be degraded easily.

I sure have written a bit too much here. So the last part of our CISAK was a panel discussion. We had in front of all audiences, Dr. Khoirul from JAIST, Ony Jauhari, a lecturer from Woosung University, our moderator Dewi Barnas, Prof. Yang Seung Yoon, and one representative of Korean student at HUFS, Sarah. We prepared several questions to be answered and elaborated by our four guest panelists, which are related to our core topic of conference. Especially for the Korean participants, we asked about their opinion of going abroad or staying at Korea. Sarah unexpectedly answered that she prefers to strive and stay outside the country to learn and gain a lot of things for the country. The final outcome from the discussion was that it is not a matter of where you are and what you do. But it is all about where your heart belongs to. With a high nationalism, we surely will be able to contribute to our nation’s development with our own unique way.

Thus the curtain of CISAK 2010 was closed by five hits of the gong by Elvira, the chairman of CISAK 2010. Just before that, a nicely delivered review was given by Ahmad Mulia Karnida, the embassy staff of Cultural and Protocol Affair. Then we had those great songs singing by Rain and Vira collaborated with guitarist Beni. As true narcissist, all the committees and participants of CISAK 2010 took a picture (pictures actually) together before cleaning up the mess and leaving sweet memories forever.

Di sisi lain, perubahan major dari engineering ke economics menuntut saya untuk mendapatkan banyak asupan materi perkuliahan untuk memperkuat basis keilmuan ekonomi saya. Sebut saja Ekonometri, Mikro Ekonomi dan Makro Ekonomi. Dan semuanya harus dalam tataran graduate level. Jadi, kalau saya memaksa mengambil kuliah-kuliah tersebut dalam bahasa Korea, alamak, apa jadinya? Itu sebabnya dalam dua semester terakhir, saya mencoba mencari berbagai kesempatan untuk mengambil perkuliahan dalam bahasa Inggris yang bisa diterima oleh departemen saya.

Semester lalu, saya ingin mengambil kelas ekonometri di Departemen Ekonomi Ajou. Sayangnya, si profesor tidak bisa dibujuk untuk menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Alasannya cukup logis, dikarenakan perkuliahan nya cukup sulit, beliau khawatir mahasiswa-mahasiswa Korea akan mengalami kesulitan jika kuliah nya dalam bahasa Inggris. Akhirnya beliau menawarkan solusi. Saya (dan dua orang mahasiswa asing lain di lab) bisa mengikuti perkuliahan ekonometri yg beliau ajar untuk GSIS (Graduate School of International Studies) Ajou. Tetapi karena semua kelas di GSIS Ajou tidak bisa ditransfer nilainya ke departemen kami, jadi kami harus tetap mendaftar dan mengambil kredit dari kelas profesor tersebut yang di Departemen Ekonomi. Ribet kan? Meskipun hal-hal teknis bisa diatur sedemikian rupa, permasalahan yang lebih besar adalah perbedaan kualitas antara kedua kelas tersebut. Kelas ekonometri Dept Ekonomi merupakan kelas graduate yang diperuntukkan bagi mahasiswa dengan basis ilmu ekonomi yang kuat, termasuk Mathematics for Economics dan Probabilistic and Statistics. Sementara yang di GSIS hanya berupa pengantar tanpa menyelam lebih dalam ke penurunan matematis juga teknik-teknik ekonometri. Ketika Long (rekan Vietnam di lab) harus mempelajari model GARCH (Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity), dia pun mengalami kesulitan.

Semester ini, petualangan kami (Long, Arijit[Bangladesh] dan saya) mencari kelas membawa kami ke Universitas Sogang di Seoul. Kebetulan salah satu profesor di sana, Gyu Ho Wang, merupakan kenalan profesor saya. Kebetulan pula, semester ini beliau mengajar kelas Advanced Microeconomics I berpengantar bahasa Inggris. Kami pun melakukan segala yang kami bisa untuk dapat mengikuti kelas tersebut. Alhamdulillah, meskipun pada awalnya profesor Wang agak reluctant, akhirnya berhasil juga. Dan resmilah, setiap Senin kami menjadi mahasiswa Sogang. Perkuliahan yang sejatinya hanya 3 jam (13.30-16.30) melar menjadi 11.30-18.15 karena waktu perjalanan Suwon – Seoul yang harus ditempuh dengan bus menuju Sadang St. disambung dengan kereta menuju Daeheung St. Perkuliahannya sendiri berat tetapi cukup menyenangkan, bahasa Inggris profesor Wang sangat apik. Menurut profesor saya, beliau merupakan salah satu yang terbaik di bidang mikroekonomi dan teori permainan (game theory). Beliau pun telah menerbitkan sejumlah buku pengantar yang tidak cuma sekali ‘dipromosikan’ di kelas. Jadi setelah menjelaskan sejumlah materi yang ribet, beliau bilang ‘untuk lebih jelasnya silahkan me-refer ke buku bla-bla-bla yang merupakan karangan saya’. Sayangnya, buku-buku tersebut ditulis dalam bahasa Korea.

Oh ya, saya lupa bilang. Salah satu alasan petualangan saya mencari kuliah/kelas di departemen/kampus lain adalah jumlah mata kuliah di departemen saya yang memang tidak banyak. Hampir semua mahasiswa di lab pernah mengambil kuliah di departemen/kampus lain. Untuk saya pribadi, yang memerlukan minimal 54 sks wajib, perkara ini memang selalu bikin pusing. Bagaimana tidak, dengan 2 semester tersisa, praktis sudah tidak ada mata perkuliahan di departemen yang bisa saya ambil. Well, mungkin satu dua.

Anyway, sekarang saya udah mulai pusing memikirkan matkul apa yang bisa saya outsource ke departemen/kampus lain. Tentunya dengan prasyarat bahasa Inggris sebagai pengantar. Minggu lalu, saya ngobrol dengan mas Budhi Setyawan, seorang lulusan SNU, berkenaan dengan ini. Dari dia, saya dapat saran seorang profesor asing yang kini mengajar di Korea University. Saya sudah kontak beliau via imel. Menurut saya, beliau cukup kooperatif dan menjanjikan akan menanyakan permasalahan ini ke dean beliau di Korea University. Saya sih sangat tertarik dengan kelas panel model analysis yang akan beliau ajar semester depan. Doakan semoga kami (profesor saya menyuruh beberapa teman lab untuk mengambil kelas ini, jika mungkin) bisa ikut kelas tersebut. Dan semoga saya bisa mendapatkan cukup kelas berkualitas semester depan. Amin. Hwaiting ^_^

1. Up in the Air

George Clooney as Ryan Bingham. Cool, calm, confident. This is a movie about a peculiar guy who regards airports and airplanes as home. The guy works for another peculiar company whose core business is firing people. For them, the high inflation, economic downturn, financial crisis and unemployment are gold coins. The very exact follower of Indonesian saying ‘kesempatan dalam kesempitan’ (opportunity in hardship). This job puts him ‘up in the air’ 270 days per year, hopping here and there comforting people he lays down. Also, a side job of his is a seminar maestro, conveying ideas and point of views with an empty backpack as medium. An interesting person and a unique way to begin a story, eh?

Then here goes the three women (Alex Goran, Natalie Keener and Kara Bingham) who brighten, dim, and color our story. Alex Goran is yet another traveler worker fellow, who shares some intimate fun with our Bingham. Their ‘cards conversation’ is so refreshing. Natalie Keener is a new kid on the block, who tries to ground our Icarus, the flying hero. Well, actually she proposes genuine art of firing people. Using the internet. Which Ryan opposes. Kara Bingham, as her name implies, is his younger sister. She is the one who binds the family together. Which Ryan subtly, well not really, avoids. As its tag line ‘the story of a man ready to make a connection’ tries to tell you, we are about to see how the strings of Ryan and his women are tangled, thus creating such an amusing and amazing movie.

Well, I admit that Clooney’s play in this movie is just great. It reminds me a bit of Mr. Ocean, though less cunning. The opening narration is so appetizing, the unique ending also suits very well. But for me, the best part is when the stewardess announces the 10,000 miles achievement that just be reached by Ryan Bingham and his later conversation with the pilot. A dream comes true which turns out to be empty.

2. Inglorious Basterds

The movie won an Oscar award, which in my humbles opinion, is totally suitable for the best performance of Christopher Waltz, the ‘Jew Hunter’. The story comprises of two plots which will meet in the final part of the movie. The first one is about the vendetta of a French-Jewish escapee, Shosanna, who as an early teenager ran away from Hans Landa, when he killed the rest of the Dreyfus. The other story line brings us to Lieutenant Aldo Raine and his Inglorious Basterds, a special guerrilla team with special task of killing Nazis. Both lines will meet in a junction at Shosanna’s cinema, which is full of Nazis watching Nazis movie.

At first, I was shocked with the bareness and starkness of this movie. Well, it’s just the Basterds scalping Nazis heads with a knife and pile them (which gives Aldo ‘the Apache’ nickname). Also there was this Donny who batters a Germany chauvinist into pulp. Well, I just don’t really suit with that genre (Jigsaw will never ever be my favorite character) Anyway, the story is going quite smoothly, getting denser each minutes passed by, bringing shocks and grins alternately, and the most gravitating, the superb act of the actors. Especially Christopher Waltz, who makes me feel the same thrill of Ledger’s Joker. His philosophy, his smile, his linguistic skill, his terror and his pain at the end.

Bottom line, try this one. No, try these two. And maybe then you will feel the same as what Quentin Tarantino transmits via Brad Pitt’s Aldo, “You know something, Donowitz? I think this might just be my masterpiece.”

Cerita bermula dari berkumpulnya tiga anak desa, satu anak gunung, satu anak amazons dan dua anak danau di Kedai Karamsong. Sambil menyeruput campong, ulmyon, bokembab dan dua belas potong mandu, dimulailah obrolan jualan untuk hari Minggu. Terpikat pada batagor maknyus buatan Chef Liyu, obrolan pun mendaulat batagor sebagai menu utama jualan.

Belum selesai sampai di situ, obrolan lain (kali ini di Warung Skype) pun memutuskan dadar gulung sebagai menu jualan pamungkas. Genderang perang pun ditabuh. Dimulai dari belanja belanji yang dilakukan di empat penjuru: Ittaewon, Suwon, Seoul dan Incheon. Hingga akhirnya masak memasik pada H-1 hingga H-0 yang dipusatkan di dua kampus, Konkuk dan Inha. Hari Minggu pun menunjukkan waktu 10.00 pagi.

Sebuah taksi meluncur menuju Seoul City Hall. Di dalamnya terdapat empat orang mahasiswa yang mandi seadanya, dengan tupperware dandang dan kantong barang di pangkuan masing2. Setelah menurunkan koper yang cukup besar untuk menyelundupkan orang dari bagasi, dengan tergesa mereka menuju sebuah gerai berjudulkan Indonesia. Dengan cekatan diaturlah kompor, panci, talenan dan beragam pernak pernik di atas meja. Tak lama, seorang mahasiswa lain tiba membawa dadar gulung-dadar gulung warna warni ukuran jumbo. Harga ditentukan. Contoh disajikan. Senyum dikembangkan. Pengunjung bermunculan.

Mengenang masa itu, sungguh manis terasa di masa ini. Teriakan ‘oso oseyo, indonesia emsik imnida, kajang masinnen emsik imnida’, suara garpu pisau dan talenan yang beradu, deskripsi batagor dan dadar gulung dengan bahasa Korea minim dan bahasa Inggris seadanya, pemotongan harga jual, kelegaan saat mencapai BEP, beragam kesibukan tiada henti. Obrolan, kelelahan dan senyuman beradu memperebutkan ekspresi dan bahasa tubuh. Dan ketika akhirnya panggung dibubarkan, penat dilepaskan dan perut diberikan jatahnya setelah seakan dilupakan seharian, tak ada kata lain yang terucap selain syukur dan terima kasih.

Terima kasih tiada terkira atas kerja keras Chef Liyu dengan batagor maknyus dan Chef Erna dengan dadar gulung jumbo warna warni. Om Soni sang preman Konkuk dengan totalitasnya. Agie sang apprentice dengan ulekan sambel kacang nya. Seluruh Tim Masak Memasak Cabang Konkuk dan Inha: Widhi, Mike, Qonita, Rhea, Yodha, Syamsul kuadrat, Dina, Hesti, Hasrul dan masih banyak lagi. Juga kepada seluruh pengunjung stand Indonesia. Dan tidak lupa Darma Wanita KBRI Seoul yang telah memberikan kesempatan kepada Perpika.

Mampuz tapi puaz,

-FIkar AJou-

setelah sekian lama blog ini usang berdebu, hari ini gw memutuskan untuk mengisinya lagi. kita mulai dengan sesuatu yang ringan. jadi hari ini gw ada lab meeting bersama profesor dan teman-teman lab. catatan khusus buat ku adalah: contract-wise data, research proposal, homepage, survey software CGE modelling open source (ada yang tahu?)

acara kemudian dilanjutkan dengan lunch bersama. berhubung 2 hari lagi gw ultah, akhirnya sekalian ngerayain itu jg (baru ditentukan saat itu) kita makan makanan mahal *smirk* nah, diakhir acara makan-makan tersebut, diadakan permainan suit. sekilas info, di korea ini suit disebut sebagai gawi bawi bo (가위 바위 보) alias gunting batu kertas. permainan ini cukup sering kami lakukan. biasanya, yang kalah dalam permainan ini wajib ‘mentraktir’ es krim seluruh pemain lain. gw selama ini menjaga rekor tidak pernah kalah di tiap permainan suit, dari masuk lab sampai semester 4 skrg. naaahhhh, entah kenapa dari mana oleh siapa, tau2 prop mutusin kalo permainan kali ini menggunakan aturan berbeda dari biasanya. kali ini, PEMENANG lah yang harus nraktir seluruh anak lab eskrim.

gw langsung bad feeling. oh ya, permainan suit ini dilakukan secara massal hingga bersisa satu atau dua pemenang. tanpa berpanjang2 dan mendramatisir adegan2 suit yang kami lakukan, kegembiraan mereka yang ‘kalah tapi menang’, kebuntuan gara2 satu orang pencilan (bayangkan 5 orang ‘batu’, 5 orang ‘kertas’ dan 1 ‘gunting’), akhirnya tersisalah gw n Long (my Vietnamese senior) sebagai ‘pemenang’. 신영 (Shin Young) pun nyeletuk, “주피카 첫번 이죠?”, intinya, fikar baru pertama kali ya? gw lgsg bales, “yes, i never lose”. bahkan sekarang pun gw ga kalah (teup) untungnya, kali ini gw n Long boleh berkolaborasi dlm traktiran eskrim.

so, hikmah dari cerita gw adalah …sometimes loser wins… gw cukup males memperpanjang artikel pembuka gw di sini dengan menjelaskan hikmah tersebut lebih dalam, so, kolom komentar terbuka untuk menginterpretasi 3 kata tersebut. silahkan