A Week that I tried hard to manage..

17th - 21st November was the International Education Week when we were supposed to give out presentations about our country. The International Club in my school has finally been established and the first meeting was not all bad, though did not meet my expectation. Around 15 kids came and Max from Ukraine and I gave our presentations for a whole hour to the High Schoolers. I might have to say that it went well but there was not a single interesting thing that happened. NONE! No silly questions asked, or anything. I tried my best to make my presentation as interesting as possible; showed a bunch of photos, video with music, I explained it in the most 'inviting' was as I could; but nothing happened. Though none of them looked sleepy which was good.
The next day, I gave out a presentation to a bunch of 3rd graders and 7th graders. I had to arrange it myself! Other AFS kids said that their AFS volunteers arranged the events for them, but in my case I HAD TO MAKE THE MOVE! God! I WAS ANNOYED!!! My guidance counselor was, fortunately, very easy on me and helped me out so that I could do what I had to do.
The 3rd graders were the bunch I liked the most. They were very eager, asked questions, put their hands up whenever I asked them questions. The 35 minute presentation turned out to be very successful. I was glad. I walked slowly to the bathroom, locked the door and cried. "WHAT THE HELL!! What are those people on the government doing?! They are up there, taking as much money as they can while me and the others are trying to convince everyone in this strange country to think that our country is a great country!! What the..?!!!"

A little guy asked me, "Is there any hurricanes and tsunamis?"
"Well, yeah..disasters like that happen very often in my country. See, we are surrounded by oceans."
"What about the people? Are they being swept out from the waves?"
"Some were, but those who have two storey houses usually got up and to the second floor to avoid being swept out. But after that, people put up tents, refugee camp for those who lost their houses. You see, when you're having problems, everyone will help you there.."
"Sounds like a very nice place," said a little girl as she zipped close her bag.
"It is," I said softly, almost a whisper.

Okay, I was probably annoyed, mad and glad at once. Annoyed that no one seemed to CARE that it was the week that we all should be giving out presentations. None of the other AFS kids in my school give out presentations apart from Max , and he was unprepared! Mad at MY COUNTRY's STUPID government. What the hell do they think THEY ARE!! RATS!!!! Glad that the presentation that I worked hard on was a success.

THOSE were the things that made me cry!!

Call me pathetic, but there's NOTHING WORSE than being LOST in an ignorant environment and still trying to stand up in the crowd and stand up to what you believe in.

I BELIEVE that my country is a GREAT country with LOTS of BEAUTIFUL things, if those BASTARDS take their feet off their position!!
I BELIEVE that a presentation should be given that week even though NO ONE CARED!!! I managed it myself!!!

Next, I got in trouble because my lab teacher marked me as SKIPPING CLASS!!! What the hell! I explained to her that I was giving a presentation and she won't believe me until the 7th grade teacher talk to her!!
My GOD!!!!!!

This is getting on my nerves! I feel like I want to shout in her ears and tell her to stop being a PAIN in my ...!!!

Bottom line, I managed to give my best effort and managed 4 meetings with the school kids to talk about my country.

THAT'S IT!!

School that people say Rules

Well...You know..this is kinda awkward. I decided to join the girls basketball team and within 1 week, I successfully sprained both of my ankles!! Here's the thing, Americans are really serious and professional and competitive too, I should say, in practicing whatever they are learning. Gosh! Didn't that drive me crazy!!
The practice is 2 hours everyday, 6 days a week!! Cool or too cool?
The first practice, I felt like I wanted to faint!
And yeah, after a week of practicing, my ankles hurt so bad that I have to drag my feet when I walk and I was the cause of a pretty long traffic in the stair case. lol. I wasn't able to attend practice for a couple of days. To tell you the truth,they still hurt! hah! Better, I guess though..

Last night, I watched the school's play, "The Mousetrap", adapted from Agatha Christie's novel. To be honest, I didn't expect the play to be good, but it turned out to be EXCELLENT! Oh my god, those people acted as if they're real actresses!!The setting was amazing and the 2.5 play was just perfect! There are a couple of shots that I managed to take.

It really amazes me, how those Americans work! Oh, my god! Get a life! I mean, they're really serious (good thing), always serious (can be bad. well, yeah...my opinion).

THE Election

Interestingly and unsurprisingly (in my opinion), Obama won!! yuhuu!!
My American History teacher, today, began a conversation that made me excited!
Mr K: Did you see that Indonesia was on TV last night?
Me: No, I didn't. But my friend told me about it (The night before, Ibel called me and told me the news. He has TVs in his house)
Mr K: Yeah, they were reporting Obama's school when he lived in Indonesia
Brittany: Oh, is that the school you went to?
Me: (smiling so big) No, but it's still in the same city I lived in. But my friends' dad actually went to the same school as him!
Mr K: (smiling and laughing)
Tiffany: This might be a stupid question, but what language do you speak there?
Me: Indonesian. Haha... It's not a stupid question!
Mr K: Yeah.. There are a lot of languages being spoken there!
Brittany: Oh really? How many?
Me: Three hundred. (I remembered from one of the article I read. I hope I didn't give the wrong info).
Brittany: Wow!! That's a lot.
Others: bla..bla..

The bell rang.

Haha..it was interesting to be able to talk about your country in a different perspective.

Anyway,I actually VOTED at school! Well, it was just a "pretend" vote, but using the real machine!! I must admit the machine is REALLY cool!
Obama beated McCain by... I don't know. A lot! Most of the blue states (those states supported the democrats) are the northern states. Racism is still the issue, especially in the south which are mostly the red states (supported Republicans). As I study the American History, it became clear to me why that's still the status quo right now. The story has to go back to the Civil War!

I received a request that asked for an explanation on how this cool voting machine works. So, first, people signup in their local voting booth and attend the place which opens from 6 a.m to 9 p.m
Then, they line up in front of the machine, waiting for their turns. They must sign their name before entering the machine and vote, that way, no one will vote twice.
As soon as you enter the booth, you turn the handle in front of you sideways, and the curtain closes. Pull down the lever that says the candidate you're supporting for. Turn the handle again, and the curtain opens. Your vote counts.

That's it. Pretty simple. It's an electric voting machine and it's really cool.lol

Trick or Treat!!

Halloween! Well, I guess it's only America that celebrates Halloween. That night, me, Mosh, Pasca, Cartoon, Elizabet, Rita and Natalie dressed up randomly (I dressed up as a princess) and went trick or treating! It was my first trick or treat!
When I was a little, I read a story about Halloween and trick or treat, but I never thought I could actually do that!
I gained quite a lot of chocolate bars and candies for me to eat in my room when I am bored!
Those are witches fingers! Haha...They are actually soft pretzels with dyed almonds for the nails! They taste good! Eliz's mum made them. She's such a nice mum.


Beside the witch's fingers is a photo of the little kids in my school who joined in the Halloween parade at school! They dress up as cartoon characters, witches or animals and show off their costumes in front of everyone in the entire school. What I found out was that, sometimes they don't buy the costumes but their mums made them! For mums, it's a pride to be able to make a Halloween costume for their kids! Interesting!