So, I spent last night participating in White Bear Lake Relay for Life event. The event was held at WBL area high school. Each team can set up a tent at the designated space on the football (not soccer) field coz we will all be staying overnight at the area and run/walk all night. My team consists of the Century College Phi Theta Kappa members.

So, me, Barb and her husband Wally, and Justin arrived at 1:30pm on Friday. We set up our tent, and bring down the stuff, set up the chairs and tables. Then, Wally stayed back at the camp while me, Barb, and Justin went back home to get more stuff. I took a nap when I got back home.

At 6 o’clock, we reconvene at the campsite. It turned out that while I slept, a storm had come and past, but not before collapsing our tent. Thankfully, Wally is so skillful that it’s upright again when we got back with the sun shining full blast on the campsite. It was HOT!! LOL.

The event started at 7 o’clock and the walk was started by cancer survivor lap. The lap is the full athletic lap, each lap is a quarter mile. Boy, you’d be amazed how many cancer survivors participated. At least a hundred of them, from little children to seniors, from 1 month survivor to up to 15 years survivors. After the survivor lap was the team lap. So me and Justin carried the Phi Theta Kappa banner for the lap. At that time, Blythe, Kathy, Lauren, Leticia, and their daughters were also there. Barb’s sister-in-law was also there with her daughters.

After that, we started our individual lap. At first, we walked together, chatting, joking and stuff. But after 5 or 6 laps, because Wally had an extra lap by going with Barb on the survivor lap, Justin run off by himself to catch up. Our target that day was to beat Wally’s last year of 30 laps.

So I also began to jog, leaving the rest of the group behind. Suddenly, it’s already 9 past and I was at 15 or so laps. Justin had run out of breath and resting at the campsite. We all stopped for a bit to light the Luminaria : paper bags with names of cancer survivors and victims with a candle in it.

By 12am, I was at 30 some laps, beat Wally’s last year record, and was one of the leader in laps. I bought this one bracelet which I added with beads every time I completed a lap, and the people at the beads stand were just crazy about me. LOL. My feet were so sore already and I can feel a melon-sized blister under my feet. LOL.

Surprisingly, there were this 3 little kids. They were about 7-9 years old and they were running like crazy. By 1am, they’ve surpassed me. By 5am, when the event ends, one had a 70 and the other 2 had the 100 laps record. I bet they’d crashed (collapsed) from exhaustion once they got home.

I was surprised by myself though. I accumulated 70 laps, one shy of Wally’s of 71. Lauren and Leticia was even better. They were at 78 when we were leaving and they were going for the 80. I can’t believe I’ve gone 17.5 miles that night in 10 hours straight. I could even jog, no, RUN from 4 to 5am. Again, the people at the beads stand were going crazy. LOL.

If we were all walking/running for the cure for cancer, I think I’ve discovered that cure. When I ran, I was in a state of total bliss. My legs didn’t hurt anymore, I was running with my eyes closed, arms opened wide, and smiling. You see, sickness is sometimes not the problem with body, but with the mind. If you put your mind away from the worldly troubles, and live together with the surrounding, you will live healthier. When I was running, I could feel the wind on my face and whole body. It was really great to run with the wind past the trees and people and those Luminaria candles at the track side.

So yeah, last night was a great experience for me. I met with a lot of new people, including the 100-lap kids, the people at the beads stand including one who turned out to be from Korea and was adopted by an American, and other runners/walkers. Now, I will have to deal with this sore legs all weekends. Ouch! I can’t walk!!!!

An addition to the last post, I went tubbing yesterday!!! ^^ I’m not sure in what lake but It’s at Big Marine Lake, farther north of White Bear Lake. For you who doesn’t know what tubing is, it’s an outdoor activity where you ride on a tube and being pulled by a motor boat like this XD :

(Click image to enlarge)

Now, for the new part, I remembered that one of my reasons to come to the US is to meet people from other countries/cultures around the world. Well, lets see how many countries I’ve had friends from:
- Hmong
- South Africa
- Romania
- Samoa
- Vietnamese
- Nigeria
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Indonesian (of course! LOL)
- Liberia
- Iran
- American Indian
- Mexican
- India
- American (Duh!! Of course !!! ^^)
- etc.
I know I might’ve met other people from other culture, but I tend to not ask them about where they come from. I recall someone from Ireland, or at least part Irish. Hmm… Not bad, eh? Well, regardless what their nationalities/cultures are, they’re all my friends!!! ^^ I love it here!!!!

Ahaha. I’ve been busy the last week that I haven’t been writing here. I just finished my modern physics class today. So I’m done with classes named "Physics" until the end of the world!! LOL They will, however, come in other names and more "fun" stuff (what an understatement, LOL).

So, this time I will share the places I’ve gone to this past year in US that gives great memories.

Uptown area –> bars and restaurants, bright place

University of Minnesota Twin Cities Arts Department –> went here to meet a friend’s friend. HUGE PLACE. Awesome art gallery and art design equipment.

Trollhaugen skiing area –> 1st time snowboarding!!! Fell down tumbling twice, fell on my butt backward real hard and hit my head. Almost lost my glasses. LOL

Valley Fair –> awesome and scary roller coasters and water park. Almost lost my glasses again in the Big Wave ride. LOL

Nickelodeon World Mall of America

New York City –> main attraction, of course, the Statue of Liberty ^^

Cornell University –> it’s HUGE!!!!

Boston –> nice city for studying

The Myth –> discotheque place. I thought I spotted aliens here. LOL

Buffalo Wild Wings –> aka "Bidabs", where me and my frens like to hang out on Thursday nights. Awesome chicken wings.

Dunn Bros. Coffee in County Road E, White Bear Lake –> perfect place for study group. They provide free coffee refill for your study buddies. ^^

White Bear Lake –> Spent more than an hour biking nonstop around the lake. Thought I was lost and can’t go back home when suddenly I popped out in the street I know. Lucky I stick to the lake shore. LOL

St. Croix camp –> we had student ambassador training here. It was a blast!!! Really fun!!!

And of course, my dear school : CENTURY COLLEGE!!! In the end, I’m really thankful that I ended up here for my first 2 years instead of the U of M. Ahhh… the Wood Duck Trails, the Library, the science laboratories, the hallways, the student senate room… Almost a year had passed and I still have areas to conquer. ^^

Yep, it’s nearing 29th July. Therefore, it’s almost a year after I arrived here in America for my college. I will start a series of posts reviewing what have happened during this first year and the memorable things.

I will start this series with all the events I have participated in/helped with at Century College. Lets start the list!!!

Fall 2007
Asian Student Association Halloween Dance night –> set up, decoration
PAC Fright Walk –> set up, decoration, spooker, clean up
PAC Thanksgiving Fest –> food server, clean up
PAC Fall Festival –> food server, clean up

AMATYC Student Math League first round –> participant 2nd place

Intro to Engineering class Robot Show –> participant

Spring 2008
Welcome Week Activities Fair –> Writer’s Bloc
PAC Blizzard Blast –> hang around burning smores ^^
Asian Student Association Valentine Masquerade –> set up, decoration, and much more
Phi Theta Kappa induction Ceremony and Golden Apple Award Presentation –> taking pictures

AMATYC Student Math League 2nd round –> 5th place, cummulative 2 rounds 2nd place

Asian Student Association spring roll sale –> make spring roll ^^
Century Poetry Slam 2008 –> participant
Student Lounge Literature and Art Magazine with Writer’s Bloc –> magazine editor and contributor
Education Club Student’s Voice Award –> set up, decoration, taking pictures
PAC Wood Duck Days–> set up, food server, clean up
Phi Theta Kappa Pancake Breakfast –> set up
Graduation night

Summer 2008
Summer Festival –> set up, clean up

Education Club Market Fest –> set up, attend a stan, clean up

Other than those, I also went to:
PERMIAS Thanksgiving dinner
PERMIAS Halloween gathering
PERMIAS Color of Indonesia

Ehm… Not bad, eh? I’ve been busy. ^^

Well, I just came back from watching movie at the theatre. For me, Disney has once again done a great job with their new movie Wall-E.

The story is about a lone antique robot in future, named Wall-E (Wally), with the task to clean the trash-filled earth. In that future, humans have left the Earth because we have depleted the natural resources and Earth can no more sustain life because it’s too full of trash and no plant can live. But Wally then found a single small plant and took care of it, not really knowing what it is.

Then, another modern robot came from space. ‘Her’ mission is to find a plant on earth that signifies the self-sustainability of Earth to support life. She then met Wally and the little plant. The story then revolves around them getting the plant to the commander of the starship in which humans have been living for 700 years. The villain, surprisingly, is the autopilot robot of the starship.

In the end, they made it back home and that small plant was replanted on earth soil.

This is why, even at the age of 19, I still like to watch Disney cartoons/movies. They always have an important message, message that sinks better in our mind because they are planted with fun.

The message is this : if we don’t change our life style and keep ignoring the environment, in the near future, we won’t be able to live on our dear mother Earth anymore.

I remember one thing from PLKJ lesson, back in grade school. Jakarta has a slogan Teguh Beriman, which stands for (if I’m not mistaken) TEruskan Gerakan Untuk Hidup BERsih, Indah, dan MANusiawi. Where is it now?

People throwing trash anywhere they like, plants got cut down to give way for tall skyscrapper building and shopping centers, and many more.

Okay, you might say that US is worse, that they are the #1 carbon emmitter in the world and still hasn’t signed the Kyoto Protocol and more. But I think they are still better than Indonesia. Every house has a garden with at least 2 trees. Strict rules are enforced to protect the environment. I heard its even better in Europe.

Well, maybe we can say that life is tough in Indonesia, with poverty and lack of social security and whatever that we can’t even think of anything else other than make a living. But if even one person can change, that might lead to changing more people. It’s a chain reaction. Us from the higher social economic class must start the movement.

Yeah, I admit I wasn’t any better back home. But yeah, I want to change. No more throwing trash on the sidewalk. Use bicycle more. It’s small. But there is a saying : sedikit-sedikit lama-lama menjadi bukit. Let us start saving our home, the mother Earth.

Oh well… First, I’ll show the comments from users other thatn the challenger.

 

 

8     points         out of 10

- Aku Ingin   Melihat Minnesota   ok… cerita ini khas orang luar memang… tapi benar   komen sebelumnya heheh.. kurang eksplor konlflik dan alurnya jadi gampang   ditebak.   dikirim Arra 16 hours 54 sec yang lalu

 

well, tepuk tangan dulu buat weha :), waktu singkat bisa juga menjadikan   theme seperti ini menjadi bangunan cerita, saya kira musakan dari teman teman   yang lain sudah cukup banyak..dan sepertinya memang begitu..(apa ini   maksudnya? heheh)…   okey memang saya pribadi sih berpendapat bangunan cerita udah komplete,   hanya itu cobalah lebih variatif dalam penggunaan kata, deskripsi setting,   dan kuatkan karakter lagi..kasih ajah sesuatu yang unik..yang inherent hanya   pada lia misalnya..sehingga ia bisa jadi begitu..karena biasanya tokoh tokoh   seperti itu yang enak di baca…   ya tapi cerita ini..happy ending..and I love it..meski rada klise..*halah   protes lagi…   okelah, selamat weha   gruß   dikirim Tedjo 9 min 25 sec yang lalu

 

 

8     points         out of 10

villam says,   Wehahaha, hmm… terus terang aku agak terkejut dengan temanya. ‘Mengajak   tidur ’? dan akhirnya ‘berhasil’? Duh… Oke deh… mungkin ini ciri lokalitas   dalam ceritamu ini (terus terang aku lebih nyaman dengan ‘lokalitas’ di ceritamu   yang lain tentang kehidupan imigran pengeruk salju itu. Aku lebih suka   pesannya).   Mungkin, bisa saja sih cerita ini menjadi lebih lembut dan nyaman, jika   saja proses ‘merayu’nya tidak terlalu gampang dan polos. Masukkan ‘cinta’   dalam cerita. Tapi, yeah… mungkin memang bukan itu tema yang penting di sini.   Atau… come on… kamu bisa membuat james menjadi playboy yang lebih canggih   daripada ini. Hehehe…   Dua hal lainnya saja yang ingin kukomentari. Pertama soal sudut pandang,   ada baiknya konsisten di sudut pandang James. Di beberapa tempat kamu banyak   terpeleset masuk ke sudut pandang Lia, seperti saat dia bercerita tentang   windry (lha? Kok kamu sendiri malah jadi keluar jalur dan melukai keseriusan   ceritamu?). Kalau sudut pandang tetap di James, cerita bisa terasa lebih   jujur.   Yang kedua, soal karakter Lia. Terus terang, ‘perubahan’nya mengejutkan.   Ah, enggak kayaknya, Itu bukan perubahan, aku merasa kamu memang sengaja   menyembunyikan itu dari pembaca. Padahal kamu sempat masuk ke sudut pandang   Lia… lalu kenapa disembunyikan?   dikirim Villam 8 hours 29 min yang   lalu

 

 

6     points         out of 10

eh…   … ada Windry nyelip di tengah-tengah cerita^^   saya sependapat dengan seluruh pendapat noir :). Pun kisah ini tidak akan   mengalami perubahan apabila setting Minnesota   diganti.   Saya tahu kisahnya bukan terjadi di Indonesia , tapi tetap saja   dialogmu masih terasa kaku.   Dan kenapa dimulai dengan ‘matahari’? :p   dikirim fortherose 10 hours 13 min   yang lalu

 

 

6     points         out of 10

Weits   OOT:   Hahahaha…Windry kebawa-bawa nih dalam cerita :p Hati-hati dalam editingnya,   Bung William ^^   First of all, salut kepada penulis yang berhasil menyelesaikan tantangan   dengan waktu terbatas dan tema yang ditentukan. Keep writing!   Tantangan(Saya ikut nimbrung tantangan ini ah):   1. Kesesuaian dengan tema tantangan.   Saya tidak melihat konflik pertentangan antara si tokoh perempuan yang   menolak berhubungan seks. Taat beragama di sini hanya digambarkan dalam   kebaktian di gereja, tapi tidak pada perilaku dan sikap. Penolakannya pun   terkesan tidak beralasan, karena pada akhirnya si tokoh mendapatkan apa yang   diinginkannya dengan klise. Di sini penulis masih ‘tell’, belum ’show’.   2. Lokalitas. Setting menjadi lokalitas utama di sini. Tapi berhenti   sampai di situ saja. Tidak terlihat kekhasan Minnesota di sini, yang terbaurkan dalam   cerita.   3. Humor. Cukup lucu dan konyol, cuma masih dalam standar biasa. Walaupun   saya suka dengan joke Lia di akhir cerita^^   4. Alur. Penulis kurang berani mempermainkan alur. Awal cerita yang   terkesan lambat, dibawa dengan terburu-buru pada pertengahan, dan ditutup   dengan ending klise. Coba diberi penekanan lagi pada emosi si tokoh, bukan   pemaparan semata.   Jika saja ini bukan cerpen tantangan, pasti saya akan menilai tinggi. Hana   saja berhubung ini tantangan, jadi harus saya sesuaikan lagi dengan tantangan   yang diminta.   Yang lainnya saya serahkan kepada penantang asli saja hehehehe…   dikirim noir 11 hours 8 min yang lalu

 

 

8     points         out of 10

*lho.. kok ada ‘Windry’ di ceritanya, sampe kaget.. ha ha ha…   *salah satu saat terlihat ‘lokalitas’ yang menurutku paling baik adalah   saat James mengenalkan diri. Terlihat gaya   bahasa yang tidak biasa.   *good luck yaa!!   dikirim cassle 1 hari 11 hours yang   lalu

 

 

7     points         out of 10

dikirim deft_4 1 hari 12 hours yang   lalu

 

 

9     points         out of 10

Asyik   Cerita ini lumayan asyik untuk dinikmati. Namun barangkali ada bagian yang   terasa begitu panjang (di tengah cerita), walaupun demikian penulis mampu   membawa pembaca untuk menuntaskan cerita, justru inti dari cerita ada di   bagian akhir.   Toh, akhirnya Lia mau juga bermesraan dengan James, walaupun Lia sempat   menampar pipi James.   Cerita yang asyik.   dikirim Bamby Cahyadi 1 hari 12   hours yang lalu

Last, lets see what miss worm has to say. ^^

[Lokalitas]

Minnesota

(atau detilnya Minnesota State College & University) seharusnya menjadi
Jackpot bagi penulis (penulis tinggal di

Minnesota

).
Saya bayangkan, cerpen ini akan menjadi menarik jika penulis mau menggali lebih
jauh detil-detil yang dekat dengan kesehariannya di

kota

tersebut, lalu pembaca akan melihat lokalitas yang ditawarkan dan berkata,
"Oooh, seperti itu tho

Minnesota

."
Mereka jadi tahu seperti apa

kota

/ kampus itu,
bagaimana kehidupan mahasiswi

Indonesia

di

sana

,
bagaimana kehidupan seksual mahasiswa MSCU, sebebas apa mereka berhubungan seks
dan sesering apa, dan lain-lain, dan lain-lain.

Akan lebih menarik lagi jika penulis melibatkan ‘pola pikir setempat’ dalam
cerpennya dan (menurut saya) inilah sesungguhnya yang membuat sebuah karya
tulis menjadi ‘lokal’. Seperti apa mahasiswa MSCU berpikir? Seperti apa mereka
melihat mahasiswi

Indonesia

?
Bagaimana mereka memandang seks? Apa pendapat mereka terhadap seks? dan
lain-lain, sehingga cerita bisa kuat dan pembaca ‘percaya’ bahwa kisah itu
terjadi di

Minnesota

.

Elemen ‘waktu’ tampaknya terlupakan oleh penulis. Misal, Amerika sedang
sibuk dengan Obama maka penulis bisa saja memasukkan gambaran James sibuk
ngomongin Obama, Lia tidak peduli (karena dia tidak punya hak pilih). Atau Lia
justru sok menghubung-hubungkan Obama dengan

Indonesia

(seperti kebanyakan warga

Indonesia

lainnya), lalu James (yang sebenarnya pengikut Republik) terpaksa membela Obama
untuk menarik hati Lia. Atau apalah.

[Pengembangan Cerita] Saya setuju dengan Noir. Variabel
‘mahasiswi

Indonesia

taat
agama’ yang dibentrokkan dengan ‘mahasiswa’

Minnesota

belum digambarkan dengan lengkap.
Penulis perlu memasukkan adalah ‘motif’ dari setiap aksi tokoh-tokohnya,
sehingga logika cerita menjadi kuat, dan kejadian demi kejadian menjadi
beralasan. Alasan James menyukai Lia, misalnya. Kenapa dia sampai ngotot
mengajak Lia seks walau ditolak berkali-kali. Alasan Lia menolak James. Alasan
apa yang kemudian membuat Lia memberi James ‘angin’ dengan kata-kata,
"Perlihatkan dulu

Minnesota

padaku." Akan lebih masuk di akal kalau itu hanya permainan Lia dan tujua
Lia tetap satu: James tidak akan pernah ia izinkan menyentuhnya.

[Karakterisasi] Saya sulit melihat James dan Lia sebagai
karakter yang utuh. Saya lebih sulit lagi melihat James sebagai mahasiswa yang
cerdas. Ya, dia memang menyebutkan tentang nilai A, bolos kuliah karena paham
dan lain-lain, tetapi dia justru membujuk Lia melakukan seks dengan cara
kacangan. Sementara Lia tidak tergambar ‘

Indonesia

‘ atau ‘taat agama’.

[Dialog dan Deskripsi] Saat Lia menolak untuk berhubungan
seks, Lia cuma bilang, "Tidak, James," lalu James bilang, "Tapi,
Lia," kemudian Lia bilang lagi, "Tidak," lalu James bilang juga,
"Lia!" dan seterusnya. Apa yang ditawarkan dari dialog-dialog semacam
ini? Sementara Deksripsi yang ditawarkan juga masih bisa dikembangkan lagi.
Alangkah asyiknya kalau penulis melibatkan

lima

indra dalam deskripsi-deskripsi. Lebih
asyik lagi jika ditambahkan emosi.

[

Gaya

Bahasa] Lugas, ya. Klise, juga ya. Silakan hitung ada berapa cerpen di
dunia yang diawali dengan kata ‘matahari’, diikuti dengan langit, rumput hijau,
bunga warna-warni, dst. Selain itu, pengulangan kata yang sama dalam satu
paragraf juga cukup mengganggu (di paragraf ketiga dan tiga ‘wajah’ atau
"musim dingin yang dinginnya…" di paragraf pertama). Sudah ada
Tesaurus

Indonesia

maka manfaatkanlah (memang, belum ada Tesaurus Indonesia Dalam Jaringan).

[Tata Bahasa dan EYD] Beberapa kalimat masih bisa diubah
menjadi lebih efektif lagi seperti "Lia sedang duduk di meja di dekatnya
dengan sebuah buku." Selain itu, saya masih menemukan beberapa kesalahan
ketik.

Demikian pembacaan saya seputar ‘Aku Ingin Melihat

Minnesota

‘. Semoga racauan sok tahu saya
bisa membuat penulis menghasilkan karya yang di kemudian hari bisa membuat
banyak pembaca berkomentar, "Wow!".

And so there goes. Back to the computer and start writing even more!!! ^^