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On Being 29

Posted: 19 October 2009, 7:11am -0500 by binsar

Well, I have this theory. When you’re 28: its fun time. You are enjoying life, doing as much as possible. When you’re 29: its worry time because you are counting the days before hitting the 3 digit. You start counting the things you have and you have not achieved. When you’re 30: just be wild, you’ve got nothing to loose because it’s already 30, better make the best of it.

Based on my own theory, I had a lot going on in my mind before my 29th birthday last week. I was thinking about my own milestones in life, and found that I should be forever grateful for all the blessings I’ve received. I cannot ask for more. Thus, my own theory doesn’t apply me. Being 29 is not that scary after all.

I didn’t plan for any celebration this year, because of my theory and a promise I made to myself that I will not throw any birthday party after last year’s. It turns out that I had a whole week of celebration. It started off with a surprise party by Tante Tina Saragih and Om Lutzen Haisma. They had the whole elder board of Perki Buitenveldert prepared for the celebration. I was not aware that so many people would showed up. I thought it was only a dinner event with some people, but it was really a real party with a mini ‘worship’ and ‘music’ for the service.

Then the next day I had a birthday lunch at my place; and a dinner with 5 wonderful women: Marcella, Angie, Maura, Bianca, and Meli . I was involved in the planning of Perki Nederland Youth Retreat with them. We were happy that the retreat went well. Then Marcella and Angie convinced me to have my birthday dinner with them. We had dinner at Cafe 1890 near my place; went to Maura’s place afterward – where I got cake and a wonderful shirt from them. Oh, and we had a curhat session as well

Tuesday, one day after the birthday, I had presents from wonderful family of Unique Theory while rehearsing at my place. We had dinner and made a song too for Padang earthquake victim. Wonderful!

I thought, okay it was over. This is it. Thank you God. But then I got more birthday presents on Friday from friend and loved ones. There was also a mini celebration after leading the Perki Amsterdam ZO bible study on saturday, with cake and candles – which also surprised me Then on Sunday I went to a dinner invitation (or maybe I invited myself hahaha) in Utrecht with friends. Had nice company and conversation afterward

So, a lot had happened last week. I think the best way to understand them is just being grateful for what God has given to me. I am actually excited with being 29 now. I’m entering the final year of school and am hopeful for what God has laid ahead for me. Having realized how much blessings I had in my entire life, I made a silent wish every time I blew off the candle, “God please bless these lovely people with joy and wisdom.” Thank you everyone, you’ve made last week a really meaningful week for me.

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Lagi Tentang Interrail Pass Dan Eurorail Pass

Posted: 7 October 2009, 1:34am -0500 by binsar

Ada dua jenis tiket kereta yang bisa dibeli untuk dipakai keliling Eropa: Eurorail ([www.eurail.com]) itu untuk mereka yang tinggal di luar Uni Eropa, dan Interrail ([www.interrailnet.com]) berlaku untuk seseorang yg sudah tinggal minimum 3 bulan di Uni Eropa. Tiket eurorail bisa dibeli online dan tiket interrail bisa dibeli di station kereta api besar di Eropa. Keduanya sebenarnya memiliki fungsi yang sama, hanya ada perbedaan tawaran harga dan fleksibilitas. saja. Coba lihat sendiri di website mereka.

Seandainya kamu hanya memilih satu negara untuk dikunjugi, maka kamu bisa pilih one country pass untuk kamu (interrail dan eurorail). Kalau kamu adalah penduduk di salah satu negara Eropa maka tiket Interrail tidak bisa digunakan untuk perjalanan dalam negeri. Apabila kamu masih di bawah 26 tahun, maka kamu akan dapat harga istimewa untuk youth. Pilihlah harga dan fleksibilitas yang paling memungkinkan untuk kamu.

Apabila kamu beli Interrail one country pass, itu artinya kamu bisa bebas naik kereta dalam negeri itu. Ada pilihan berapa hari perjalanan. Artinya hari perjalanan adalah: perjalanan yang dilakukan sepanjang hari itu. Kalau kamu mulai perjalanannya sesudah jam 7 malam, maka tanggal perjalanan dihitung dari tanggal keesokan hari. Contohnya kamu berangkat hari rabu 8 okt jam 8 malam, maka tanggal stempelnya adalah 9 okt. Inilah keuntungan berangkat malam hari.

Eurorail select pass lebih cocok untuk mereka yang bepergian dalam 2 atau 3 negara. Misalnya ketika kamu mau ke Belanda dan Austria, maka kamu masih perlu melewati Jerman. Artinya kamu harus ambil yang 3 country select pass. Dengan pilihan ini kamu bisa bergerak lebih fleksibel dalam 3 negara itu. Apabila kamu bepergian lebih dari 2 orang pikirkan mengenai membeli tiket grup yang lebih murah.

Hal-hal yg perlu kamu pertimbangkan buat perjalanan kalian:
1. Berapa negara yang dikunjungi dan berapa lama perjalanan di sebuah negara?

2. Berapa sering di sana naik kereta?

3. Sekarang banyak budget airline ke mana-mana di Eropa. Jadi bisa travel by plane and train juga.

4. Kalau kamu mau lebih melihat Eropa, pilih select pass saja bukan global pass.

Dalam banyak hal kamu harus lebih dulu membooking tiket kereta untuk perjalanan berikutnya. Beberapa kereta hanya bisa dinaiki dengan booking tempat duduk, dan beberapa bisa dinaiki langsung begitu saja. Misalnya Belanda memiliki beberapa jenis kereta: intercity, stoptrein, sama sneltrein. Negara lain juga punya ic (intercity), dan intrnasional yang umumnya harus dibooking terlebih dahulu. Kalau kamu naik kereta intercity atau lokal trein, kayanya sih ga perlu booking lagi. Kalau kamu ambil kereta cepat/internasional atau kereta malam, perlu biaya booking harganya sih bervariasi dari 3-5 euro di austria. Kalau kamu ambil tempat tidur di kereta harganya adalah ekstra 30 euro. Misalnya biaya booking kereta malam dari Vienna (Austria) ke Venezia (Italia) adalah 5 euro, tapi itu karena internasional. Di Spanyol saya naik kereta dari Barcelona ke Madrid dan hanya bayar biaya booking 10 euro, tapi kalau beli normal harganya memang di atas 100 euro. Jadi bijaklah menentukan pilihan dan waktu bepergian. Semoga ini membantu kamu merencanakan perjalanan kamu di Eropa.

Selamat berburu!

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Confucius Has 2 Million Descendants

Posted: 7 October 2009, 1:06am -0500 by binsar

I always thought that Batak’s family tree is the complete and best family tree ever. You can trace back your descendants until 19 generations above. You can meet someone with the same family name anywhere in this world and trace back your family line, and you will find out in which descendant you were separated. But I was wrong. Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher turns out to have 2 million descendants who can be validated by a certificate. This means there are 2 million people aware of their connection with Confucius who was born in 551 B.C., in or near the city of Qufu (??), in the Chinese State of Lu (?) (now part of Shandong Province).

Confucius is said to have risen to the position of Justice Minister (???) in Lu at the age of 53, wrote some important philosophy in the Analect, and died at the age of 72 or 73.He is seen by the Chinese people as the Greatest Master. He wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures and by relating the moral problems of the present to past political events (like the Annals) or past expressions of feelings by common people and reflective members of the elite, preserved in the poems of the Book of Odes (??). Because his moral teachings emphasise self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules, Confucius’s ethics may be considered a type of virtue ethics. His teachings rarely rely on reasoned argument, and ethical ideals and methods are conveyed more indirectly, through allusions, innuendo, and even tautology. This is why his teachings need to be examined and put into proper context in order to be understood. Perhaps his most famous teaching was the Golden Rule stated in the negative form, often called the silver rule:
???????????????????????????? ???????? Adept Kung asked: “Is there any one word that could guide a person throughout life?”
The Master replied: “How about ’shu’ [reciprocity: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?” Analects XV.24, tr. David Hinton
BBC News said that the 10m yuan ($1.4m; £1m) new family tree cost, paid for by the descendants, has 43,000-page document, spreading over 80 books, with 87 generations of descendants. The newest family lines now included women, adds 1.4 million names to the family tree of Confucius, known in China as Kong Fuzi, and is believed by the authorities to be the world’s largest. Are you one of them?

Read the news on BBC below.

“http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8275269.stm

Two million people are now recognised as being descendants of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, more than tripling the number in the last count.

The announcement was made as the fifth update to Confucius’ family tree was unveiled on the 2,560th anniversary of his birth, say Chinese state media.

Last updated in 1937, the book lists all 83 generations of descendents.

For the first time women, ethnic minorities and descendants living overseas have been included.

The 43,000-page document, spreading over 80 books, was unveiled at a ceremony in Confucius’ home town of Qufu, said Xinhua news agency.

It adds 1.4 million names to the family tree of Confucius, known in China as Kong Fuzi, and is believed by the authorities to be the world’s largest.

“Confucius’ family tree is a national treasure,” said Kong Deyong, a 77th generation descendant and head of the International Confucius Association.

Mr Kong said the family tree was important not only for academic research, but also for “helping Confucius’ descendants around the world discover their ancestors and strengthen family bonds”.

Confucius’ blood is flowing in our body Kong Dejun

Confucianism has traditionally given women a lower status than men in its strict hierarchy, so female descendants were not counted, but genealogists announced in 2006 that they had decided to “move with the times”.

Mr Kong said that even if many descendants were not Chinese nationals or Han Chinese – the majority ethnic group in China – “we should count them in because we are one big family”.

Kong Dejun, a former university teacher who travelled from Switzerland for the ceremony, said being included in the book was “the most exciting moment in my life”.

“In terms of genes, Confucius’ blood is flowing in our body,” she told Xinhua, adding that the inclusion of women “shows Chinese females’ status is improving”.

The new family tree cost 10m yuan ($1.4m; £1m) to produce, paid for by the descendants.

Confucius was dismissed as bourgeois and a relic of China’s feudal past by Mao Zedong during the 1960s Cultural Revolution.

But Confucian thought has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years and the Chinese government has even funded a film of the philosopher’s life, starring Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat.

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The Sad And Happy Terminal: Airport Philosophy

Posted: 7 October 2009, 12:32am -0500 by binsar

There’s something about the division of airport terminal that always fascinates me. There are a lot of emotions going on there. There are happiness and sadness, excitement and disappointment, laughter and tears, all in one place: the airport. I went to Schiphol Airport for 3 days in a row last week. I went there to say goodbye to my friends who are leaving the Netherlands after their studying time here, and to accompany a family that is going back to Indonesia after their vacation. These experiences strengthen my previous theory about the airport’s two terminals.

In general airports always have two terminals: The Sad Terminal and The Happy Terminal. The sad terminal is where people are separated from their loved ones. It is a place of tears, long hugs, exchange kisses, holding on to someone as if they don’t want to let go; a place where you will see someone’s back leaving you. People will walk slowly to the departure gate after checking in because they want to spend their last precious moments together as much as possible. You will see people trying to buy time even when they know the separation is inevitable.

If you are saying goodbye to your closed ones then it is a really bitter place for you. There is something about the feeling of being left behind and leaving something behind. Somehow, you feel sadder when someone is leaving you than when you are leaving someone. It is sad because you are being left alone with yourself. She or he might have influenced your life so much and now they are leaving you back to reality, the life without the people who meant so much for you. For people who are going to leave, they also have sad hours in the plane where they will think about the life they leave behind. But you’re not sad as much because you know at the end of the flight there is another terminal waiting for you: The Happy Terminal.

You will arrive somewhere and maybe someone else will welcome you at The Happy Terminal. Here you will meet your other loved ones, where you are coming back to your previous life; or going to start a new life. Here people exchange hugs and laughter. For the people who are coming to pick up their loved ones, this place creates good energy. The arrival terminal is a happy place where you always get positive energy from people’s faces who are anxious to see their loved ones. This is a place where you will see the face of someone walking towards you. Some would even prepare banner to welcome their loved ones. This is the place where you want to be.

Thus, there are three levels of feelings for the persons who experienced this situation : sad, mixed, and happy. People will be sad when they are the ones who are being left behind. If you are the one who leaves, you will have mixed emotions: sad for leaving someone/something and happy for meeting someone/something. The happiest person is the ones who come to pick up their loved ones. And somehow, someday, someway, you will experience all three.

For people who are taking the flight, you will learn an important lesson in life: Happiness will come after sadness. Just remember this when you are taking that plane, “There’s a happy terminal waiting for you after the gloomy goodbyes in the sad terminal.” There’s always happiness after sadness.

*this article is dedicated for Prima and Aras who are going back to Indonesia; and Melati who returns to Amsterdam!

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