Lost Japan

Ngisi liburan musim semi yang super panjang ini akhirnya ngubek-ngubek isi perpus,tapi bingung rasanya belum nemu satu buku yang bener-bener cocok dan pingin dibaca. Last minute sebelum ke meja peminjaman akhirnya milih buku judulnya Lost Japan karena covernya yang eye catching, ditulis sama Alex Kerr.
Secara umum isi buku ini tentang analisis si penulis terhadap hal-hal tradisional Jepang yang sudah mulai hilang. Sebenernya ada beberapa bagian yang aku skip karena nggak paham berkaitan sama kaligrafi, konfusianisme, dkk. Di bawah ini aku mau ngutip beberapa analisisnya Pak Alex tentang Jepang yang menurutku cocok banget berdasar dari apa yang aku lihat dan amati dari orang-orang dan lingkungan sekitar.

Kabuki's themes provide much insight into Japanese society. For instance, many plays are about the relationship between a lord and his retainers, or that between lovers, but there are none about friends...True friendship is not easy here. Long term foreign residents complain that after ten or twenty years in the country they are lucky to know one Japanese they consider to be a true friend. Yet the problem goes deeper than the culture gap between foreigners and Japanese. The Japanese often tell me that the cannot make friends with each other...One reason for this could be that the educational system traditionally discourages the Japanese from speaking their mind. They never quite trust each other,making friendship difficult. Another reason might be that the hierarchical structures of the society get in the way. In the old society the master-retainer relationship was a familiar one, relationship between equals were not.

I can remember almost nothing of interest regarding the time I spent at Keio. That was a partly a result of Japan's university system. High school students must study relentlessly to pass college entrance examination, giving up all extracurricular activities, and commuting to cram schools, in which is called examination hell. But once they got into college, the pressure suddenly relaxes and the next four years are spent almost completely at play (Really true! But unfortunately not for me). Companies put little stress on what new employees know before they are hired, the real education begins on the job.The result is that college classes do not matter much and academic rigor lags far behind Europe or the States. The lectures I attended on architecture were deathly boring and almost inevitably put me on sleep.

It has been pointed out that the Japanese educational system aims to produce a high average level of achievement for all, rather than excellence for a few. Students in school are not encouraged to stand out or ask questions, with the result that the Japanese conditioned to a life of average. Being average and boring here is the very essence of society, the factor which keeps the wheels of all those social systems turning so smoothly...in Japan, people are conditioned to be satisfied with the average, so the cannot fail but be happy with their lots.

Japan maintained peace in the marketplace by supporting cartels which set prices high, to the disadvantages of the consumer. It avoided the competition in communications or film industry by restricting the number of companies involved in service industries. And through every possible means, the impact of the outside world was kept to a minimum, foreigners were not allowed to run companies here, to design or construct buildings here, to make movies here, etc. It worked all too well. Because of the high wall of regulation and the cozy systems which exclude them, foreign firms are now giving Japan a miss as they move into the rest of Asia. 

Japan's national problem is homogeneity. The school system teaches everybody to say and think the same thing, and the bureaucracies restrict the development of new media, such as cable tv, the information highway and even movie theaters. As a result, no matter you go, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, all the houses look the same, the clothes look the same, and people's  lives center around the same humdrum activities. With everyone so well behaved and satisfied with their mediocre lives, Japan specializes in low level pressure.

Japan coats all culture from abroad, transforming it into a Japanese style pearl. The finished pearl is a thing of great beauty but the essential natural of original is lost.

My drawing

Iseng-iseng bantuin Kak Rahma bikin gambar binatang buat pos-pos di acara Sekolah Bhinneka kemarin. Ternyata aku bisa bikin gambar juga (?)

Moments may come and go,but memories stay forever

Where is my home?

Mungkin bisa dibilang tempatku sekarang itu rumah keduaku, tapi tetep aja aku nganggep ini bukan rumahku sebenernya. Sedangkan rumahku yang sebenernya kayak cuma tempat penginapan sementara selama satu sampe dua bulan. Karena aku perempuan, pada akhirnya juga nggak mungkin tinggal di rumah yang sama kayak dulu karena pasti ngikut suami *terlalu berpikir ke depan ya,tapi bener kan?haha*
Cuma terlintas aja sih di pikiranku "oh nggak nyangka ternyata aku bener-bener 'keluar' dari rumah."

Imagine myself staying in my home...in my room like before without worry about anything
다시 한번...

Batu Sandungan

Kira-kira hambatan apa aja yang mungkin ditemui kalo hidup di negara orang?

- Bahasa

Karena hidup di Jepang, biar survive dalam kehidupan sehari-hari bisa Bahasa Jepang itu wajib. Soalnya penguasaan Bahasa Inggris orang Jepang itu parah banget *berbanggalah jadi orang Indonesia* Akhirnya di Jepang ini aku pake tiga bahasa sekaligus : Indonesia, Inggris,& Jepang. Terdengar keren tapi aslinya nggak juga karena ujung-ujungnya Bahasa Inggris ku kalo nggak mau dibilang semakin jelek boleh dibilang stagnan sedangkan Bahasa Jepangnya jago-jago banget enggak. Karena make bahasa-bahasa ini campur-campur disesuaikan kondisi, bahasa-bahasa yang aku tau itu kayak mix jadi satu. Kadang karena kebiasaan pake Bahasa Jepang aku bisa kelupaan gimana ngomong pake Bahasa Inggris. Pernah pas itu ditanya nomer telpon berapa pake Bahasa Inggris tapi aku sampe lupa Bahasa Inggrisnya 5 itu apa ya soalnya di otak ini ingetnya Bahasa Jepangnya 5 -_- Terus penurunan dalam menyusun kalimat dalam Bahasa Inggris, serasa kebalik semuanya hahaha. Soalnya kalo di Bahasa Jepang susunannya itu S-K-O-P, kalo Bahasa Inggris kan mirip kayak Bahasa Indonesia S-P-O-K, hmm jadi ya kadang kacau jadinya kalo ngomong. Karena itu seneng banget kalo ada orang yang bisa diajak ngomong pake Bahasa Indonesia,nggak perlu capek-capek mikir. Kadang kita males nyapa temen dari negara lain gara-gara males ngomong pake bahasa asing :p *jangan ditiru*

-Makanan

Percaya deh nggak ada yang ngalahin enaknya makanan Indonesia, apalagi variasinya itu lho banyak banget. Bandingin kalo di Jepang kamu pergi kemana aja makanannya nggak jauh beda ya sushi udon tempura takoyaki sashimi dll, tambah lama tambah eneg meski nggak makan. Mungkin karena aku muslim juga makanan yang bisa dimakan jadinya lebih dikit, disini apa-apa campurannya babi sama alkohol. Masa snack kacang aja di ingredients nya ada babi, parah banget -,- Alhasil makanan ato minuman yang biasanya bisa dimakan ato diminum ujung-ujungnya jadi nggak bisa. Kebayang kan makanan yang ada nggak bisa dimakan plus ngerinduin makanan Indonesia, bikin tekanan batin. Pernah nih sama temen-temen pulang dari kampus kita nyebutin makanan ato minuman Indonesia yang kita pinginin, dan ternyata sampe nyampe asrama pun belum selesai buat nyebutin itu semua. Sayangnya cuma bisa dibayangin aja nih ._.

-Keluarga dan teman

Kenapa keluarga sama temen bisa jadi halangan? Karena kangen mereka bisa bikin jadi homesick. Hmm  kalo jauh gini kepikiran yang aneh-aneh, tapi ya udah lah saling kirim doa aja. Kalo udah kangen gitu bisanya ya telpon, chatting, nangis (?) wkwk. Sesuatu ato seseorang baru kerasa penting kalo mereka udah nggak ada di sekitar kita kan, makanya jauh dari mereka itu baik biar kita lebih ngehargain waktu bareng-bareng sama mereka. Terus jangan sampe hal ini bikin semangat kita turun, justru harus lebih semangat lagi biar cepet lulus dan banggain mereka.

- Pandangan penduduk asli ke kita sebagai orang asing

Kebanyakan orang Jepang nggak mau ndeketin orang asing karena takut mungkin ya. Sifat mereka juga sih yang tertutup dan kurang fleksibel. Apalagi mereka nggak pede dengan penguasaan bahasa asing kayak Bahasa Inggris. Rasanya orang-orang Jepang yang masih muda nggak mengenal Indonesia. Habis mesti ditanyain "Indonesia itu dimana ya?" Padahal mereka tau dan sering pergi ke Bali,tapi nggak tau Indonesia. Kalo nggak gitu sering kan orang Jepang basa basi tentang cuaca,terus kalo aku bilang di Indonesia nggak ada musim dingin soalnya cuma ada dua musim aja mereka mesti langsung kaget. Artinya mereka nggak ngerti kan Indonesia itu dimana,menyedihkan. Beda lagi kalo ketemu orang Jepang yang udah agak tuaan, mereka kadang tau tentang Indonesia. Jadi kesimpulannya orang Jepang nggak punya pandangan negatif tentang Indonesia,mereka cuma belum tau. Jadi ini tugas buat orang-orang Indonesia disini supaya ngenalin sisi-sisi positif dari Indonesia lewat perilaku sehari-hari.

-Budaya

Culture shock pasti jadi masalah kalo kita udah tinggal di negara lain. Orang-orangnya beda, cara hidup beda, peraturan beda. Di Jepang mungkin yang bisa bikin kaget itu masalah ketepatan waktu dan budaya antri. Mereka rada strict masalah ini soalnya mereka suka keteraturan,kerapian,dan mungkin kesempurnaan. Pinter-pinternya kita adaptasi aja, sering-sering nanya sama senior-senior di negeri perantauan apa yang sebaiknya dilakukan dan apa yang sebaiknya dihindari. Kalo udah tinggal lama disini ketauan juga kok jeleknya Jepang apa, selama ini rata-rata kita mikirnya kan hal-hal bagus aja tentang Jepang. Budaya yang baik-baik bisa kita tiru, yang jelek dibuang dan disyukuri ternyata Indonesia nggak kayak gitu :D

- Ekonomi 

Uang bukan segalanya tapi nggak ada uang repot juga haha. Apalagi dengan biaya hidup yang jauuh lebih besar dari di Indonesia kesulitan uang bisa bikin stress dan nggak konsen sekolah. Kalo ekonomi udah nggak jadi masalah misal karena dateng dari keluarga yang bener-bener mampu sih hidup di luar itu mungkin enak banget karena udah nggak mikir uang. Beda sama orang-orang yang kesini dengan biaya sendiri tapi pas-pasan ato yang dapet beasiswa, harus diatur bener masalah keuangan itu. Cerita nyata dari temen-temen sendiri selama 4 bulan beasiswa dari pemerintah Indonesia buat mereka nggak bisa turun dan pemberitahuannya sangat sangat mendadak.Gimana nggak bikin kalang kabut mikirin kelanjutan hidup beberapa bulan ke depan. Yaa akhirnya kalo ada orang tua yang mampu nalangin ditalangin dulu, ada juga yang sampe pinjem-pinjem segala. Kalo boleh ngasi saran jangan ambil deh beasiswa dari D***I kalo nggak bener-bener kepepet ato ada kontrak yang jelas soalnya keuangan pemerintah Indonesia masih labil. Intinya jangan lupa nabung dan kalo bisa cari part time job itung-itung nambah pemasukan dan pengalaman.

-Dunia kerja

Cerita dari orang-orang Indonesia yang kerja di Jepang sebagai dosen, peneliti, buruh, tenaga ahli, perawat, dll macem-macem juga. Dunia kerja Jepang lumayan keras sih,harus tahan aja. Yang paling shock denger cerita orang Indonesia yang udah sebulan ini disuruh kerja tiap hari, Senin-Minggu dan lembur sampe malem. Katanya sih ini namanya pemecatan secara halus karena kalo dia nggak tahan kan bakal ngundurin diri. Kalo dia sendiri yang ngajuin pengunduran diri perusahaan nggak perlu ngasi pesangon yang layak. Beda kalo perusahaan yang mecat dia,perusahaan harus bayar pesangon yang lumayan besar. Pemecatan halus ini bisa dengan cara lembur kerja gini ato katanya diomelin terus sama atasan, semacam diintimidasi gitu. Kaget banget dengernya, ternyata di balik muka kalem orang Jepang mereka kejem juga makanya dulu ada Romusha ya._.

-Cuaca ekstrim

Nggak bisa dipungkiri kita ini orang tropis, yang namanya musim dingin itu mungkin agak menyiksa. Tapi kalo ditanya musim dingin sama musim panas pilih yang mana bingung juga,soalnya musim panas disini nggak enak,mending panasnya Indonesia. Terus angin disini bener-bener ekstrim soalnya kenceng banget makanya hati-hati buat orang yang kekurangan berat badan :p Hmm mungkin musim yang paling enak itu musim semi sama musim gugur ya kalo. Intinya karena ada banyak musim kondisi tubuh harus dijaga bener soalnya cuacanya bisa cepet berubah-ubah. Kalo sakit disini gawat,selain biaya berobat mahal sapa yang bisa ngurus kita kalo lagi sakit.

Poin-poin di atas tadi cuma pendapatku aja selama tinggal di Jepang, mungkin orang lain punya pendapat beda. Anyway hidup itu perjuangan sih,so no pain no gain!

Proposal Hidup

Sebenernya baru tau istilah "proposal hidup" setelah tanteku nyuruh aku bikin. Awalnya bingung emang proposal hidup itu kayak gimana ya? Akhirnya googling dan nemuin kalo istilah ini dipopulerkan oleh Pak Jamil Azzaini. 

Setelah ngeliat isinya, oalah proposal hidup itu kayak gini tho. Bukan hal baru lagi buat aku bikin kayak ginian *gaya haha* soalnya memang sejak SMP aku biasa nulis semua harapan/cita-cita/mimpiku di satu buku dan isi buku itu masih aku lanjutin sampai sekarang. Semua yang aku pinginin aku tulis disitu, mulai dari yang paling nggak penting sampai yang penting banget, plus bulan atau tahun kapan kira-kira mimpi itu bisa terwujud. Buat mimpi jangka pendek biasanya aku tulis di kertas terus aku tempel atau ditaruh di tempat yang gampang dilihat. Jadi tiap pagi sebelum mulai aktivitas rutin aku liatin dulu isinya :D 

Menurutku cara kayak gini bermanfaat banget buat ngingetin kita tentang mimpi dan tujuan hidup kita jadi kita bisa keep on the track gitu. Kalo misalnya lagi lowong aku biasanya ngeliatin daftar semua mimpiku yang aku tulis dari jaman dulu sampe yang masih baru. Dari semuanya ada yang alhamdulillah terwujud sesuai keinginanku, ada yang "setengah" terwujud ; maksudnya gol utamanya tercapai tapi cara buat kesananya nggak terduga; ada yang sama sekali nggak terwujud, dan ada juga yang belum terwujud alias still in progress. Kalo habis ngeliatin itu rasanya bersyukur banget, asal kita selalu berdoa dan berusaha insyaallah semua ada jalannya. Aku percaya kata orang kan ada tiga macem cara Allah menjawab doa kita :

1. Ya,  Aku kabulkan.

2. Ya, Aku kabulkan tapi bukan sekarang. 

3, Tidak, Aku akan ganti dengan yang lebih baik.

Don't lose your hope! 

Prestasi terbaik saya adalah saya ingin memberdayakan satu juta anak-anak Indonesia. Saya harus jadi orang mampu supaya bisa punya panti asuhan, sekolah, rumah sakit sehingga anak-anak Indonesia bisa makan makanan yang layak, kesehatannya terjamin, bisa sekolah sampe tinggi, dan jadi orang-orang sukses.

Masshiro at Hirugano Kogen, Gifu

Subhanallaah

Berasa di negeri dongeng

Di antara pohon-pohon pinus

Suasana di ski resortnya

Our journey

Ketemu Pak Habibie

Setelah masuk komunitas mahasiswa Indonesia, PPI (Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia) disini, selain kuliah kita juga dapat kesempatan aktif dalam kegiatan mempromosikan budaya Indonesia ke warga Jepang. Hal ini yang perlu disadari oleh orang Indonesia yang ada di luar negeri kalo kita-kita ini secara nggak langsung sudah jadi duta bangsa. Kalo boleh jujur sih pengetahuanku tentang budaya Indonesia juga minim banget secara di Al Hikmah nggak pernah diajarin hal-hal beginian *cari alesan*
Tapi alhamdulillah dalam wadah PPI Nagoya aku bisa aktof dalam pementasan angklung baik di dalam dan di luar kampus, tergantung orderan. Ternyata peminat angklung cukup banyak, terbukti tawaran main dalam event-event internasional semacam cultural exchange party berdatangan dan kalo beruntung bisa dapet gaji juga.
Karena angklung ini juga akhirnya aku bisa foto bareng sama Pak Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie, Presiden Indonesia yang ketiga. Bangga dan seneng banget soalnya Pak Habibie ini salah satu idolaku dari dulu. Ceritanya sekitar bulan November 2012 ada pertemuan antara rektor beberapa universitas di Indonesia dengan rektor beberapa universitas di Jepang. Pak Habibie diundang buat jadi salah satu keynote speaker sekaligus dijadwalin nerima gelar kehormatan dari Nagoya University. Pagi-pagi aku izin *baca : bolos* dari kelas Bahasa Jepang buat ikutan nyambut Pak Habibie. Begitu Pak Habibie datang, beliau langsung nyalamin semua mahasiswa Indonesia yang berbaris rapi menyambut tamu penting satu ini. Orangnya emang mungil banget dan ramah. Kata orang-orang, tangan bekas salaman sama Pak Habibie harum. Lanjut sorenya kita semua kumpul di Noyori Hall ngeliat penganugerahan gelar buat Pak Habibie. Di akhir acara, grup angklung maju ke depan mainin lagu Sepasang Mata Bola, katanya sih lagu favoritmya Pak Habibie. Gugup banget waktu itu soalnya Pak Habibie duduk di dekat panggungnya jadi kalo kita salah kayaknya langsung keliatan haha. Ketika lagu ini dimainkan, sontak Pak Habibie bilang ke Pak Hamaguchi (rektornya Nagoya University),"That is my favourite song!" Wuah rasanya seneng banget dengernya, padahal menurutku penampilan kita yang ini nggak terlalu bagus, maklum baru latian semalam sebelumnya :p

Berikut tampilan tim angklung PPI Nagoya dapat dilihat di youtube channel  Sanggar Bhinneka

Around Nagoya University Higashiyama Campus

Suasana depan Central Library. Senengnya kalo liat perubahan daun-daun pohon ini.
Pas musim gugur berubah coklat dan sekarang nggak bersisa sama sekali daunnya.

Bagian belakang Liberal Arts and Science Building. Goresan garisnya keren banget!

Diambil dari lantai 7 Engineering Building

Toyoda Hall

Hamparan tanah rumput yang lumayan luas. Kalo cuaca bagus banyak yang duduk-duduk
di sana,anak-anak kecil yang lagi main layangan atau main sama hewan piaraannya. Kalo musim dingin turun salju tanah ini jadi karpet putih sementara :)

Introduce my new fellows

Sepertinya aku belum pernah nyeritain ya gimana kehidupan baruku setelah pindah  ke Nagoya. Tanggal 5 Oktober 2012 alhamdulillah aku dan teman-teman lain resmi dilantik menjadi Meidaisei (名大生）alias mahasiswa Nagoya University. Upacara pelantikan nggak lebih dari 20 menit, wow! Singkat, padat, jelas. Nggak macem-macem awalnya cuma ada iringan orkestra nyambut Pak Hamaguchi (rektornya) dan petinggi yang lain terus pembacaan pidato dari beberapa orang gitu, habis itu selesai. Yang bikin lama sesi foto-fotonya hahaha. 

Bersama Pak Shobatake, Kepala Program G30. Orangnya super baik, selalu senyum,,
punya passion ngajar , somehow reminds me of my grandpa.

Bersama seluruh mahasiswa baru G30. Sepertinya saya nyempil nggak kelihatan hehe

Indonesian Army (?) dari kiri Irfan, Yahya, Ivan, Jovano, Annisa, Fikri, 
Icha, Audrey,Izma,Veve

Bagian yang menyedihkan itu di Universitas Jepang nggak ada yang namanya jas almamater. Kayaknya pas pulang nanti bawa jas almamaternya Al Hikmah aja ya wkwk. Anyway teman-temanku dateng dari beberapa negara : Jepang, Korea, Cina, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapura, Australia, New Zealand, Amerika Serikat, Kanada, Uzbekistan, dan Bangladesh. Orang Jepang menempati urutan pertama jumlah murid terbanyak di program G30 ini , tapi kebanyakan dari mereka itu half Japanese atau orang Jepang yang nggak tinggal di Jepang sebelumnya kayak di Amerika, Cina, New Zealand, dan beberapa negara Eropa atau orang Jepang asli tapi bersekolah di sekolah internasional. Contohnya ada si Tsutomu Reid, dari namanya udah ketauan dia half Japanese-Australian, kayaknya dia cocok jadi bintang film soalnya ngingetin aku sama pemain di hanakimi :P Trus ada Masaki Kinoshita yang udah lama tinggal di Amerika Serikat dan baru sekarang balik ke Jepang. Temen sejurusanku yang imut banget, Megumi Takase, sebelumnya tinggal di Belgia. Terus ada Rika Hayashida yang cantik banget cocok buat ikutan kontes" Miss Pageant soalnya punya muka tradisional Jepang (?) sebelumnya sekolah di International School di Tokyo *mungkin*

Pepatah yang bilang "Di atas langit masih ada langit" itu emang bener. Gila temenku super canggih semua! *oke agak lebay* Tapi ya serius kayak gitu sih, aku ngerasa paling nggak bisa jadinya haha. Paling kagum sama namanya Jotaro Nakane alias Jojo yang bawaannya buku mekanika atau buku sejenis matematika fisika lain yang tingkatannya udah di atas kita. Kalo ngerjain soal rasanya sambel merem dia juga bisa. Anaknya kecil, suaranya juga kecil, baik dan sabar ngadepin temen-temen lain yang agak bandel kalo kerja kelompok. Kalo dia ngambil barang pake 3 jari dan suka duduk jongkok mungkin udah tak anggep sebagai L di dunia nyata hahaha :D Eh tapi dari Indonesia juga ada kok yang puinter, si Ivan tuh.  

Lalu lalu ada namanya Shizen atau Michael, orang Jepang asli yang muirip banget sama tokoh komik. Kalo di komik kan mesti ada ya tokoh cowok yang selalu ceria penuh semangat, ya ini mungkin aslinya kalo di dunia nyata. Bajunya mesti rapi, sukanya pake vest" gitu dan selalu nyapa semua orang. Kocak banget anaknya apalagi kalo udah gabung sama Remi Gola (dari Amerika, tapi kayaknya aslinya orang Filipina). Dua orang itu yang mesti bikin suasana kelas cair. 

Oh iya guru-gurunya juga dateng dari berbagai negara nggak cuma Jepang. Ada yang dari Filipina, Amerika, Swedia, Perancis, Malaysia, Belgia, Korea, dan lainnya aku kurang tau soalnya belum pernah diajar hehe. Kalo yang profesor laki-laki banyak yang nikah sama wanita Jepang. Sayangnya belum ada yang dari Indonesia, mungkin nanti ada salah satu dari kita disini?

Prof Humblet dari Belgia yang ngajar Earth Science. Super baik dan suka ngasi kitkat ato pocky di kelas.
Sayang udah nikah wkwk

Terakhir, aku punya tutor di sini yang tugasnya ngajarin Bahasa Jepang dan bantuin kita kalo ada kesulitan di kehidupan sehari-hari. Namanya Ayami san, kawaii orangnya haha. Biasanya ketemuan bareng tutornya si Jovano, Nao san dari Osaka yang ceplas ceplos dan menyenangkan. Apa orang Osaka tipenya emang kayak Heiji ya?  

Yang dua dari kiri : Nao san&Ayami san

日本語会話

Postingan terkahir yang berhubungan dengan kegiatan tulis menulis saya selama kuliah satu semester ini. Namanya sih Japanese Conversation class, tapi ada semacam sakubun (writing) yang harus kita tulis sebelum kita presentasikan di depan kelas. Sakubun yang pertama tentang pengalaman pribadi di Jepang yang berkesan lalu sakubun yang kedua tentang hasil interview dengan orang Jepang tentang hal aneh yang kita temui selama di Jepang.

作文　１

 ”日本をどう思いますか”ともし日本人に聞かれたら”日本はとても便利と思います”と答えるかもしれません。なぜ日本は便利ですか。便利というのはいろんな意味がありますから、日本の公共交通機関に付いておはなしたいと思います。

インドネシアでは車とかバイクの運転ができなかったらとても大変です。私は運転できなくて遠いところまでいけません．ときどきバスに乗っても汚かったりうるさかったりです。そして長い時間またな駆ればなりません。だから、どこかへ連れて行ってくれるように両親とか友達頼んでいました。
日本に来て、電車とかバスとか地下鉄もあるし、すぐ乗れるし、自分で遠いところまでいけるからとてもうれしいです。 時間は守っているし、きれいだし、私は日本の公共交通機関を使って楽しんでいます。
でもひとつ困った経験がありました。私は国へ帰ったので大きなスーツケース持っていました。安かったですから、空港までバスに乗ろうと思いました。しかし、スーツケースが重すぎて、どうしてももちあげられなかったです。こんな悩みがあっても誰も助けてくれませんでした。今ままで日本ではどこでも誰かが助けてくれました。どうしてこんなとき誰も助けてくれなかったでしょうか。
もし、そのとき日本人に頼んだら助けてくれるかもしれません。日本人は頼まなければ助けてくれません。インドネシア人だったら、頼まなくてもすぐ助けます。こんな文化違いは本当に勉強になりました。

作文２

私は夕方に日本人とペットが一緒に散歩してとてもかわいがっていることに気が付きました。そしてペットは自分の子供みたい荷大切に飼っていると思っています。このペットについて日本人の方に質問しました。その結果と私の意見をまとめて発表します。

まず、日本人の女の人が本当に働いているなら子供を産まないでペットを飼うかどうか聞いてみました。４人のうち二人がペットと子どもは関係がないといっていました。みんなは結婚した後やっぱり子土間がほしいですが、女の人が子供を産めないという場合もあるそうです。もしその女の人が働いていたら問題がありません。しかし仕事がなければずっと家にいて、ご主人が働いてたら、さびしくなりますからペットを飼うことになるそうです。ほかの二人はそういうことがあるかもしれないといっていました。ペットはいつも近くにいて、私たちの言葉のとおりにして、世話があまり大変じゃない層です。子供はペットに比べたら世話をするためにもっとお金がかかって、いつか親と離れて、ときどき親の言葉を聞かないそうです。

また、ペットを家族だと思っているから、子供みたいに大切に飼っているそうです。同じ食べ物を食べて、洋服を着て、とてもかわいがっています。冬は寒くてペットも寒いと思っているから、ペットの家にﾍｰﾀｰ もつけるそうです。ペットがなくなったらお葬式もするそうです。

またペットを飼っている人は若い人だけじゃなくて、高齢者もよく飼っているそうです。一番の理由は一人暮らしでとてもさびしいですから、ペットを飼うと毎日らのしくなるそうです。

そしてペットの数と子供の数を比べたら同じぐらいだと説明したら日本人がびっくりしていました。４人のうち二人はそんなことはないといっていました。子供の数がもっと多いはずだといっていました。ほかの二人は残念だとも言っていました。これからももっとペットを飼う人が増えたら子供のほうが少なくなってしまうかもしれません。これから日本の将来はちょっと心配だそうです。

最後にわかったと私の考えたことについてお話したいと思います。このトピック選んだのはニュースを見てペットの数は子供の数より多いと聞いたときにとてもおどろいたからです。日本人にとってペットは単なるペットではありません。ペットは自分の家族だと思っているから子供みたいに大切に飼っています。 今のペットは人間と同じ食べ物を食べて、いい洋服を着て、病気だったら病院へ連れて行って、それはお金もかかるはずです。それならペットよりも子供があったほうがいいと思います。子供は親と互いにｺﾑﾆｹｰｼｮﾝをとることができるし、大人になれば親を守ります。たぶんg日本ではペットが子供の役割をすることは変わることがあるかもしれません。

以上です。

Cultural Studies

Lanjutan dari postingan sebelumnya. Writing yang kedua ini tugas akhir matkul cultural studies. Di matkul ini kita belajar budaya Jepang zaman dulu dari segi literaturnya. Contohnya kita menganalisis Tale of Genji, cerita yang menurutku lumayan bejat *sebenernya ada yang lebih bejat lagi, menjijikkan pokoknya* dan sadar kenapa Jepang punya produksi film/buku/komik porno yang lumayan tinggi di dunia karena ternyata sejak zaman dulu isi cerita dari literatur mereka ya mepet-mepet sama yang beginian. Memang nggak semua kayak gitu sih tapi kayaknya banyak yang temanya model gini.
Di writing ini aku ngambil topik tentang giri dari cerita Chusingura.

Loyalty Based on Chûshingura Story and Islamic Values

Kanadehon Chûshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), popularly known as Chûshingura, is a Japanese puppet play (bunraku [文楽] or ningyō jōruri [人形浄瑠璃] ) written by Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi Shôraku, and Namiki Sôsuke in 1748 . The story is mainly about loyalty and revenge story, based upon events that occurred at the beginning of the eighteenth century. At Edo Castle, Asano Naganori, the lord of Ako (now part of Hyogo Prefecture), drew his sword against Kira Yoshinaka, the shogun's chief of protocol. The shogun immediately ordered Asano to commit suicide and omitted Asano's domain. Because of  that, about 300 retainers suddenly found themselves out of a job. But, this incident did not mean the end of their loyalty to Asano. In December of the following year, 47 of the masterless samurai, led by Oishi Kuranosuke, avenged the death of their lord by slaying Kira. The men then gave themselves up to the shogunate, and a few weeks later were ordered to commit suicide. This story then was adapted into bunraku which Ko no Moronô represents Kira Yoshinaka, Enya Hangan Takasada represents Asano Naganori and Oboshi Yuranosuke represents Oishi Kuranosuke.

What makes this story really popular is that Japanese audiences admire the characteristic of giri that is shown by the retainers to their masters.  Giri, or loyalty, is the principal ethic of  bushido (the way of the warrior). According to Ruth Benedict in her book “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture”, giri has many meanings : forcing someone to take revenge and to commit suicide in order to purify his name, killing himself, his family, and his life for the sake of honor, self-control, self-esteem, loyal and willing to die for the sake of his master.” The idea of Chûshingura focuses on the last meaning, loyalty to the master even the master already died. “Griffis was quiet right in stating that whereas in China Confucian ethics made obedience to parents the primary human duty, in Japan precedence was given to loyalty…,” (Nitobe,83). Concept of giri was also introduced by Yamaga Soko in some of his books dealing with "the warrior’s creed" (bukyō) and "the way of the gentleman" (shidō). According to review by Columbia University’s scholar, Yamaga Soko emphasizes that devotion to duty as the most important aspect of a samurai’s life and believed that the samurai class should assume moral leadership in society.

Here, the writer picks up three names among all characters which are appeared in Chûshingura to be evaluated. They are Kakogawa Honzo Yukikuni, Wakanosuke’s chief retainer ; Hayano Kampei, Enya’s retainer; and Oboshi Yuranosuke, Enya’s chief retainer.

Firstly, let us evaluate Kakogawa Honzo Yukikuni who is Wakanosuke’s chief retainer. Wakanosuke told Honzo that he wanted to kill Moronô and asked Honzo not to do anything to stop his plan. Honzo just said that he really supported Wakanosuke’s idea. However, as soon as Wakanosuke departs, Honzô disobeys his master and rushes to Moronô’s mansion to arrange for an apology from Moronô. He bribed Moronô in order to avoid any incidents which might occur later on such as the enforced suicide of Wakasanosuke and the confiscation of all his assets. In the writer’s point of view, Honzo is not a loyal samurai because his action, bribing someone, does not reflect moral values that samurai should have. Samurai has  many honorable values which are held in his daily life  and bribing is not one of them. Actually Honzo’s purpose is good because he just wanted to protect his master. But if he is really loyal to his master, he would respect Wakanosuke’s decision, obey his master’s words, and take the consequences of his master’s action. Is not bribing the same as lying to his master?

How about Hayano Kampei, one of Enya’s retainer? At first he wished to kill himself by way of apology for neglecting his duty to dally with Okaru begged him to go her home together and Kampei finally agreed because he was really ashamed for not being able to protect his master. In fact, we often see this kind of behavior in daily life for instance some Japanese prime ministers resigned before his tenure runs out  because he felt he was incompetent to do the duty as a good prime minister  and may be this is one of values held by  Japanese people  demonstrate their responsibility. But, the writer thinks this action is not the right way to show loyalty. If Kampei was really loyal then at least he would choose to stay beside his master even after he did wrong. Even though in the end he was happy because he  managed to have his name included among along with the other retainers involved in the vendetta before he died,  it would be better if since beginning he could pay his mistake by supporting Enya Hangan and not even once leaving him.

The last character here is Oboshi Yuranosuke, Enya’s chief retainer, which is the leader of the vendetta. This character demonstrate the real meaning of giri or loyalty. Because since beginning,  he maintained his master’s dying wish to be avenged on Moronô and he tried by all means such as gathering other retainers and arranging strategy in order to complete that mission. He even left his wife and his son in order to be concentrate in his duty.  His choice waiting for almost two years and spending time in the pleasure quarters before killing Ko no Moronô is a smart way to disguise the actual mission. He just prepared well the whole plans so that in the day everything went perfectly.  It was a pride for him after killing Moronô and placing the head of Moronô at the Enya’s grave even he knew that he had to commit seppuku after doing all of these.

The ethic of giri or loyalty can be found also in Islamic values. Walaa’ (loyalty, allegiance) is amongst the key concepts of the Islamic aqeedah which every Muslim must understand and hold close to their hearts. In essence it means the loyalty to Allah, to His Messenger and to the believers. As samurai’s loyalty to his master, His Messenger,Prophet Muhammad, also have many companions who are very faithful, loyal, and sincere to him. For instance is the story below which shows how loyal  His companion to Him. One day the holy Prophet was saying His prayers in the Kaba. Abu Jahl and some other chiefs of Makkah were sitting in the courtyard of the Kaba. “I must finish with Muhammad today,” said Abu Jahl. So saying, he took a long piece of cloth. He put it around the holy Prophet’s neck then twisted it hard. Abu Bakr, one of His companion, happened to see this from a distance. He at once ran to the help of the Prophet. Thereupon Abu Jahl and the other enemies of Islam beat Abu Bakr very badly. He did not regain his sense for several hours. And when he did come to himself, the first question he asked was, “Is the Prophet well?” Abu Bakr did not care about his own suffering. He was glad that he was able to save the Prophet’s life.

From the story above, we know that the companion is really loyal to Prophet Muhammad. He even did not ignore his condition because no matter how he should protect the Prophet and he was willing to die for Him. Even after Prophet Muhammad died, His companions still held His words and continued spreading His message. So actually,  giri and walaa’ share quite similar value, that is loyal to your master. This loyalty remains forever even the master already died and it could be demonstrated in various ways in form of protecting the master or maintaning and applying the master’s values throughout his life. The main difference between these two ethics probably is that in walaa’, there is no revenge or suicide to purify either your name or your master’s name.

References:

Benedict,Ruth.1967. The Chrysanthemum And the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture.Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Nitobe, Inazo. 2007. Bushido:The Soul of Japan. Minneapolis: Filiquarian Publishing LLC.

Advanced Academic English Writing

Satu bulan ini aku ngerasa produktif sekali menulis, karena tuntutan tugas sih haha. Yang pertama final writing buat kelas English. Nyelesain kelas ini juga rasanya penuh perjuangan *halah* .Mau nggak mau matkul English ini harus diambil karena matkul wajib. Gurunya sih enak-enak aja, cuma karena bahasa Inggris saya masih belepotan *makanya belajar chaa* dan lagi harus menulis dan berbicara dalam kelas rasanya jadi beban tersendiri. But anyway this class has finished alhamdulillaah :)

 The Differences in Evaluation System of Students Achievement       

 Between Indonesia and Japan

Indonesia and Japan have similarities in terms of general basic education system  which includes primary school  and secondary school which is divided into two levels : junior high school and senior high school. Indonesia has its own name for each level of study, they are Sekolah Dasar (primary school), Sekolah Menengah Pertama (junior high school), and Sekolah Menengah Atas (senior high school) which means Shougakkou, Chuugakkou, and Koukou in Japanese. This basic education system take 12 years in total. Primary school takes 6 years whereas secondary school takes three years for each level. Even though the general basic education system between these two countries is quite similar, there is a difference in how the schools evaluate the students achievement in primary and secondary school. 

In Indonesia, each school conducts final exam every year in every level to decide whether the students deserve to go the higher level or not. For instance, if the school determines that the students have to get average score at least 70 above in the final exam to pass and a fifth grade student got 65 in his final exam, he could not continue to the sixth grade and would have to stay in the same class for a year. The same rule also applies if the students want to go from elementary school to junior high school, from junior high school to senior high school, and from senior high school to university. Yet, the exam is not the usual exam. It is called as national examination and maybe it is one of the most important examination for the students. This  examination is conducted by the government under the Ministry of Education and it evaluates some subjects based on subjects that students have taken in their classes such as mathematics, English, Bahasa Indonesia, natural science, and social science. Once the result of this test has come out, this score determines whether the students can graduate from the previous school or  have to retake the same class again for a year.

Compared to Indonesia education system for primary and secondary school, Japan has a different way to evaluate the students. Japanese schools have adopted an automatic promotion system wherein students move on the next grade based on age. According to Adeluna’s report about education in Japan, “One thing that is interesting in Japanese education system is basic education (shougakkou)  did not recognize any final exam . Students who have completed the study in the first grade will automatically continue to the second grade, and so on. There is no final exam because the elementary and junior high schools (chuugakkou) are still included in the compulsory education, so the students who have completed their studies at the primary level can go directly to the junior high school.”

So, how do teachers evaluate their students? Of course, there is still an evaluation process. The teachers do the occasional test to see the students’ ability in the lesson. In the junior high school and senior high school, there are exams like mid test and final test which are held to evaluate students but they are not mandatory. Only some prefectures are carrying out these tests. A final test is held simultaneously for three days, and the test material was made by the school based on the standards of the Educational Board in the prefecture. Assessment of students is not only based on the results of the final test, but on the accumulation of daily test scores, extra-curricular activities, a mid-term test and a final test. With this kind of system, of course, almost 100% of students can graduate and continue to the next level.

The question is which one is better : doing a kind of test such as a so-called national examination or adopting automatic promotion system? 

Firstly, let us evaluate the national examination in Indonesia. National examination is aimed to measure and maintain the quality of education nationwide. Fitry Mayanti states, “In short, we can say that National Examination is a legal measuring instrument specified by National Education Ministry as the determinant of students’ passing grade in primary and secondary schools, and it is a rightful national standard and has the same right for every student who has this certificate of National Examination.”  Fitry basically says that if many students passed the national examination, it is one of indication that the schools could apply the standard national education curriculum properly. For this reason, the government argues that the national examination will be needed constantly, whatever the constraints are. But, is it fair to conduct national examinations for education standards when in fact there are many children in Indonesia who cannot get good education? Look at the schools’ condition outside Java Island and we could realize that there is till no such  thing as an education standard in Indonesia. Moreover, national examination seems irrelevant to the national curriculum ,which the teacher should measure three aspects of student learning : cognitive, affective, and psychomotor, since it only examines four to six subjects among all subjects which are being taught at school and the questions are all in multiple choice form. How could the government judge the students’ achievement by conducting this kind of test? In his writing, Rasheed maintains that, “National examination is narrowing the definition of education. Education does not only covers cognitive faculty. It also covers attitude, personality, and skills. Hence, determining whether a student passes his education by means of National Exam only is not in line with the comprehensive definition of education.” Furthermore, national examination in Indonesia is a big source of pressure not only for the students but also for the teachers. Many students are stressed and some commit suicide because they fail in the national examination. Students somehow do anything in order to pass this examination and instead of studying hard they choose to cheat. “Because the exam decides whether a student would pass or not, the students cheat in the exam in order to get good result. Besides, schools were also pushed to pass as many of their students as possible because the number of students that can pass and the average result of the exam they could get determined their prestige and reputation among the public. For this reason, the schools demanded that their teachers help the students to cheat in the exam”, as Rasheed wrote in his writing about pros and cons of national exam. Is this behavior called as education to educate people so that they could have moral values? This is really contradictory with the Act of Republic Indonesia Number 20, Year 2003 on National Education System which states, “The 1945 Constitution has mandated that the Government organize and run one national education system, based on legal framework, strengthen the people’s faith and piety to God the Almighty and their moral character as a means for enhancing the intellectual capacity of the nation.” 

However, some people argue that national examination is still necessary to some extent.  For instance students are encouraged and motivated to study more in order to pass this examination. Because national examination has a national standard all over the country, students who pass this examination could gain confidence since they could compete with other Indonesian students and of course their parents would proud of them too. Similar to the students, the school especially the teachers would do the best to teach for the success of their students. Other reason is until now there is not any examination beside national examination that can be a standard evaluation for all schools in Indonesia since graduation requirements  vary each school. 

Let us move to evaluate automatic promotion system in Japan. In my opinion, this system is designed for uniformity purpose so that every student in the same age gets the same education process. This system does not recognize any students who failed and had to repeat the same class because everyone must continue to higher level together.  According to research which is conducted by Center for US-Japan Comparative Social Studies,the uniformity of Japanese education system is one key to the success of Japanese education, “Japanese primary and secondary schools have produced a workforce with solid knowledge and a strong work ethic.  There are many reasons for this success: longer school days, a uniformly high standard of curriculum, excellent teachers, active parental involvement in education, and respect for education.  During the 1980s and the early 1990s, foreign scholars and journalists praised Japanese education for producing an educated and industrious workforce for economic and technological success.”  This kind of uniformity in education is also discussed by Ichikawa Shogo in his paper “Distinctive Features of the Japanese Education System” , “It is also claimed that egalitarianism and group  consciousness in the schools contribute to a high standard of student achievement, but that at the same time, they hamper the development of  individuality and  creativity. In the same way, while centralized educational  administration and finance are  criticized as the main cause of the  uniformity in Japanese education, it is also considered to be helpful in maintaining a high national standard of education with few differences in conditions  throughout the country.”  Maybe this system sounds nice for students because they could pass to higher level automatically. It also prevents jealousy or low self esteem  among students if some of them could not continue to the higher level. But, this system  also causes low motivation to compete with each other thus they do not want to study hard. 

Even though there is not any national examination in Japanese education system, the school sometimes still conducts final exam. But, the main point here is that the graduation requirements are not purely based on final exam but on the accumulation of daily test scores, extra-curricular, mid exam and final exam, also considered as a whole requirements for the students to pass. As the Center for US-Japan Comparative Social Studies states, “The government administers the educational system in order to produce educated and responsible citizens.  First, schools transmit knowledge, and develop the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social skills of students.  Secondly, schools train students to become responsible citizens.  The Japanese government regards the human capital of the Japanese people as the nation’s most valuable natural resource.” 

In sum, the writer prefers combining these two country’s education system than choosing one of them to evaluate students’ achievement at school because each system has its own advantages and disadvantages so it is really hard to choose which one is better. The national examination could be done as long as there is educational equity across the country. But, this examination does not specify 100% of student graduation but the accumulation of daily test scores, extra-curricular, mid exam and final exam are also being considered as graduation requirements.

References

Adeluna.2012. Pendidikan di Jepang.Retrieved on January 16 2013, from http://japanlunatic.do.am/index/pendidikan_di_jepang/0-296

Center for US-Japan Comparative Social Studies (2005), Japanese Education in the 21st Century.

Ichikawa Shogo (1991), Distinctive Features of Japanese Education. NIER Occasional Paper, National Institute for Educational Research

Mayanti, Fitri. 2009. National Examination : Controversy Policy. Retrieved on January 16 2013, from http://fitrymayanti.blogspot.jp/2009/12/national-examination-controversy-policy.html

Rasheed. 2009. Pros and Cons of National Exam (Unas). Retrieved on January 16 2013, from http://abdorasheed.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/pros-and-cons-of-national-exam-unas/

 Thanks buat yang udah bantuin nyariin data buat nyelesain writing ini :p