After two days of nothing – stuck in the bed, not feeling well – I ironed my clothes just now… nothing special… Until I found a white t-shirt and read what it said in its back side…
And it reminds me of you… About everything happened before I came to Korea… Do you miss me? Because I miss you ^_^ See you in the next 7 months, when I will come back along with the winter breeze here… Until then, let’s do our part best… whatever we do… wherever we do… at least, we all know that we are not alone in this big world…
Who are “you” ? It refers to everyone who knows me, who loves me, like I know, love, and miss them all… And that includes you who now read this post … See you!!!
Thanks to my friend, Ivan, I remembered about this problem, one of famous and confusing mathematics problem – even many math professors around the world has been tricked. The problem is stated as follow:
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“Suppose you are on a game show, and you are given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say door number 1, and the host, who knows what is behind the doors, opens another door, say door number 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, “Do you want to pick door number 2?” Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?
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When I first knew about this problem, I thought, “The chance to get the car is of course 50-50, so it is the same whether I switch my choice or not“. Hafiz, my friend who introduced this problem to me at that time also said, “There was a math professor who said that no need to become math professor to tell that the chance is 50-50“… Nevertheless… Who knows? Ah, by the way, how about you guys? What is your choice? Still pick 1 or switch to 2? Or both are okay since it is 50-50? Try to answer it by yourself before you start googling about it, it is really challenging if you can figure it out without help ^_^
Really fun, knowing that, even the most gambling part in our lives has some logical aspects within… Agree?
Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) are two research institutions we visit this week. Located in the same area as we visited last week (Daedeok Science Town) makes us take the same route to go there – again with two guides (one for explaining the places and the other one for translating the words to English).
The first place we visit is KIMM /한국 기계연구원 (http://www.kimm.re.kr/), one of the Korean advanced institutions which concerns about how to develop better materials for transportation, energy maintenance, and other involved in heavy industry. First thing in my brain when I entered the area of this institution was an advanced technological research institutions – I saw the magnetic levitation train railway for the first time in my life which surrounds the building. We also got the opportunity to see the mini version of that train (called maglev) goes along inside the building after listen to 10 minutes video presentation. In addition, we also saw some mechanical tools which has been built by the institutions such as automatic pollution filter, plastic-paper LCD (I am so interested about this thing – It is like a plastic u can fold and put in your pocket like a paper, and then later if you want to use computer, it can act as a monitor).
We spent around 45 minutes in KIMM, and then we straightly went to KASI (http://kasi.re.kr) after that. There are a lot of things to see too after the presentation. For example, there are multiple gravitation weight measurers – by which you can measure how much is your weight if you live in the moon, sun, Jupiter, etc. We also got chance to see a very old tools to measure direction of the star and other astronomical objects – in order to count dates in Korean calendar (For your information, Korea uses also Moon Calendar besides Gregorian / Lunar Calendar). Finally, we are also able to look inside the “small” radio telescope with 14-metres diameter of the lens. We got a brief explanation about how that thing works and how to operate even from other places (which is called remote telescoping).
On the way back to Daejeon University, I think that two places, along with around 15 world class research institutions in Daedeok Science Town (including KAIST) prove that Daejeon is perhaps the city in Korea which is dedicated to improve technology in Korea in every sector. In this case, I really hope that I can get more information about this in the next trip. That is why I like it ^_^.
Treasure what you see, hear, read… Chances are you won’t have a chance to repeat those all ^_^
Ups, sebelumnya cuma mau ngingetin saja kalo dosen wali saya di Informatika ITB masih Bapak Munawar Ahmad kok, dan Insya Allah akan tetap menjadi dosen wali saya hingga lulus Aminnnnn…. Cuma ya cuma, selama saya hampir satu tahun di Daejeon University sini kan saya perlu pembimbing juga toh…. Yang bisa membantu untuk urusan akademis maupun mengatasi problem-problem umum yang saya temui selama di sini (dan sejauh ini peran terakhir ini justru yang paling kelihatan hahaha)…
Well, everyone… Setelah kami (para 20 mahasiswa dari berbagai negara di ASEAN yang terdampar di kota Daejeon) ini) menetapkan tiga pilihan dosen wali dan kemudian dilanjutkan dengan sang pemimpin program pertukaran pelajar ASEAN-Korea ini memutuskan pembagian dosen wali sesuai dengan pilihan kami tadi… Akhirnya… Please let me introduce My Omma (mother), Mrs. Cho Hyun Sook, Ph.D, dosen sekaligus profesor wanita muda berusia 37 tahun di Daejeon University yang menamatkan seluruh pendidikan tingginya di universitas ini juga. Di bawah ini foto beliau bersama mahasiswa walinya (termasuk saya ^_^).
Overall, saya senang memiliki dosen wali beliau ini hehehe. Agak surprised juga saya terpilih memiliki dosen wali beliau, coz cukup banyak dari kami yang menjadikan beliau sebagai dosen wali pilihan pertama (termasuk saya hahaha). Lalu mengapa saya senang memiliki dosen wali beliau? Selain karena wanita muda (walah, bohong deng, alasan ini sih tidak terlalu prioritas kok Tapi bisa merupakan suatu poin lebih lah ^_^), juga karena alasan utama yang baru saya sadari setelah terpilih menjadi mahasiswa wali beliau dan beberapa kali berinteraksi dengan beliau setelahnya (sempat diundang dinner di rumahnya dan juga lunch bersama dia hehehe… dan sepanjang yang kuingat, sepertinya baru kali ini deh makan ditraktir bersama dosen wali hahaha…).
Okay, jadi ceritanya My Omma ini sangat tidak seperti dosen pada umumnya, lebih seperti mahasiswa tingkat akhir (jadi seperti kakak mungkin ya) dengan segala keceriaan dan keaktifannya. Meskipun demikian, tetap saja sih kami memanggilkan ibu hehehe. Agar menjadi keluarga yang semakin akrab. Dan benar saja, sama sekali gakada formal-formalnya pembicaraan yang terjadi antara kami bersama dia, suasana yang nampak seperti di dalam keluarga. Bayangkan saja, ketika kami dalam perjalanan menuju ke rumahnya dengan mobilnya dia, kukira hal-hal yang pertama kali dibicarakan adalah hal-hal resmi seperti pekerjaan orang tua, rencana ke depan, atau bagaimana hidup di korea atau kesulitan selama berkuliah di kampus ini. Ternyata (hahaha), yang dibicarakan adalah pacar masing-masing (baik mantan, calon, ataupun yang masih).
Perjalanan kami dipenuhi dengan betapa semangatnya beliau menceritakan awal pertemuannya dengan suaminya, yaitu ketika di suatu senja yang cerah dan ia (dalam usia 29 tahun) sedang bersantai di rumah, orang yang kelak menjadi suaminya tiba-tiba menelepon ke rumahnya setelah tidak pernah bersua selama sekitar 20 tahun – dia dan suaminya terakhir bertemu ketika SD, dan berpisah selama itu. Tidak lupa juga dia bertanyakan bagaimana pacar kami-kami ini hahaha…
My Omma : Wow, Rin, u have a girlfriend?? How come u could have a girlfriend?? Rin : Ng.. don’t know.. ask her.. (menunjuk suatu tempat jauh yang kumaksud sebagai Gunung Putri, Indonesia hahaha) My Omma : How often do you meet each other? Rin : Errrr… maybe once or twice a month? My Omma : What?? That’s not ur girlfriend! How come u guys only meet like that… Ah, u should find a girlfriend here! Rin : Ng.. don’t know what to say.. I love her, mom, hahaha..
Itulah secuplik tanggapan dia terhadap saya hehe… Dan suasana pun bertambah lucu ketika tiba di rumahnya… Ya ampun, kayak kosan mahasiswa saja haha… Berantakan… Jarang masak dan gak terlalu bisa… Senang makan es krim… Dsb… Membuat dia semakin tampak sebagai mahasiswa… Dan, satu sifatnya yang khas yang selalu membuat semua tertawa adalah, beliau adalah seorang yang sangat jujur… Tinjau saja apa yang dikatakan beliau di depan semua orang tentang mahasiswa-mahasiswanya berikut ini (Ah, untuk menjaga nama baik para mahasiswa tersebut, nama mereka sedikit disamarkan hehehe).
1) Cyrus-Oppa, mahasiswa asal Malaysia yang lucu – ceria dan bersemangat, dan juga sering tertawa dan meramaikan suasana. Dia berbadan sedikit lebih tinggi (dan juga cukup besar) dibandingkan dengan mahasiswa yang lainnya. My Omma : Cyrus-Oppa, everytime I see your face I laugh u know… Because your face is so funny… Why do u have such a big head??? Everyone : Ng… (Tertawa dalam hati dan sedikit cengigikan hahaha)
2) BimMomo, teman sekamar saya, mahasiswa asal Filipina yang sangat pendiam dan cool. Dia jarang sekali berbicara, tetapi jika sudah berbicara kelihatan lah segala taring kecerdasan dan kemantapannya My Omma : BimMomo, how come u could have a girlfrien??? U are so silent all the time that i thought u can’t speak to girls. Everyone : Ng… Hihihi… (Tertawa… Walah walah, belum tau si BimMomo rupanya dia hahaha)
3) Alousome, mahasiswa asal Laos yang sangat lucu – suka bertingkah polos. Namun dia sedikit mengalami masalah untuk hal-hal yang berbau pemrograman sehingga kadang tertinggal dalam memahami materi di kelas. My Omma : I think if Alousome can understand, then everyone in this class will also understand. Everyone : Ng… Hahahahaha…. (udah gabisa disembunyiin lagi tawanya… Sumpah jujur dan to the point banget ngomongnya hahaha)
4) Rin-Ssi, mahasiswa asal Indonesia yang (iya dia sendiri mengakuinyaaaaaaaaaaa T_T) memiliki penampakan yang sepertinya jauh lebih tua dibandingkan umurnya. My Omma : Rin-Ssi, do u know, I think if we go on a walk or date or something, then everyone will think that you are my husband. Everyone : Ng… HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAA… (ketawa jauh lebih parah lagi semuanya… Ya ampun omma… Rin-Ssi sendiri sepertinya bukannya jadi malu justru malah ampe ketawa kebahak-bahak hahaha…)
Memang dasar dosen wali yang unik… Sangat lucu… Dan sangat menyenangkan… Karenanya, di hari Kamis lalu, hari spesial untuk para orang tua di Korea karena merupakan “Parents Day”, kami memberi dia ucapan selamat terbungkus rapi dalam amplop cantik yang kami persembahkan hanya untuknya…
Dear Omma, hope we can always be real family as u said… Together facing this 9 months study in Korea, and also later after completing this program…
Finally, field trip!! Hurray!!! Hoho, actually, there is a “field of study” course in my course list this semester, but We never experienced how the course was until last week, hahaha… because last week we finally went outside this university together… It was a very very nice trip… I was very satisfied when I came back to my room back after then, when I suddenly received email like this :
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Hi everyone ^^
I have something to tell you all.
today we have class “Field study1″ right?
everyone have to do report about felling in this trip and
send it to me before next friday… so?
how do you feel? write it down ~~~~~.
Please remember your report will have effect to another Trip in the future.
Thank you ~~~
The (Unknown ) Officer
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Ah… It ruined what I would like to post about that trip T_T… Well then, this is my boring-formal-report about what we experienced back then hahaha… But in addition I posted some pictures here..
The first place we visit is Currency Museum (its web site here) which is located in Daedeok Science Town. It takes about 40 minutes from Daejeon University through expressway. We went there by bus accompanied by two guides in about 2 p.m. That was a hot day though, but despite that problem, we were really anxious about what we would find inside there. The museum is not so big, occupies 2 floors and about 5 – 6 show rooms. However, it covers lot of things you need to know about money from around the world throughout history. I was glad that I got a chance to see what ancient people use in order to exchange things and how the coins has evolved since thousands years ago. We also got knowledge about how coins are made, and saw various kind of money from many countries (there are also from Indonesia – and there are some I have never seen hahaha).
One thing I discovered there which made me admired about Korean technology is how they discover and apply sciences to improve security to guarantee originality of the money they use. They use many electromagnetic seals and holograms in order to prevent the money from being imitated. What an excellent technology they have! Finally, one thing which was also important is of course taking pictures there. There are some great stuff to take picture with such as big size of money and coins. That made the trip to this museum became more fun.
The second place we visit is Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology – KRICT (its website here) which is also located in the same area. I am so happy that I got the opportunity to see one of the world’s greatest advances in chemical technology. The building is so big and occupies large area. I imagined that I would find latest technologies in this field there – and that imagination came well. First we went to a large room which is really like a theatre. We watched movie about what KRICT area and what they have been doing in order to provide better services to us in this technology. I awed with their 24 hours activities in researches and developments in chemical things so that in the future the concept of better environment (which they call Green Society) will be achieved.
We also got opportunity to enter one of KRICT show room there. In that room, we briefly found some of chemical appliances used in our daily life – and also what kind of future technology we will experience in the field of chemical technology. They mentioned about nanotechnology which is popular nowadays and some of its applications will be in use in the near future. Finally, we came back to Daejeon University in about 5 p.m. – tired but really interesting! I hoped I got more experiences like this trip in the future.
Always waiting for the trip… And for the next trip, after going to Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Korea Astronomi and Space Science Institution (KASI), then finally… Jeju Island!!! We are coming!!! ^_^
Okay, sebelum datang ke Korea, saya sama sekali tidak tahu tentang lagu Tell Me ini, apalagi penyanyinya si Wonder Girls (haha, sebelumnya memang jarang sekali memperhatikan tentang negeri ginseng ini – apalagi sebelum bertemu si sayang). Tapi semenjak datang kemari, lagu di bawah ini cukup sering terdengar di acara televisi sini, pas naik bus atau taksi, di mall, atau di tempat yang ada pemutar musik lainnya. Yah, memang menarik sih (baik penyanyinya maupun lagunya), sehingga wajar juga kalau lagu di bawah ini masuk top hitz di Korea sekarang-sekarang ini.
Sampai tiba waktunya hari Jumat malam lalu, pada acara birthday party Jon, teman Korea kami, eh tiba-tiba diputar video lagu ini, dan kami menari bersama-sama hahahaha… Waw, jarang-jarang banget menari modern bersama hahaha… Jadilah saya dan beberapa teman ASEAN lain (Cyrus from Malaysia, Marvin from Philippines, Tac from Thailand) diajari dance lagu ini (dikenal sebagai Tell Me Dance) dan juga beberapa lagu Korea lain semisal One More Time – nya Jewelry, Big Bang, etc oleh anak Korea hahaha… Pengalaman yang menarik… Dan membuat lagu ini masuk playlist wajib di komputer saya hahaha…
Dan bahkan, masih melanjutkan kepopuleran lagu ini, ketika keesokan harinya, Sabtu kemarin, para mahasiswa Indonesia yang menuntut ilmu di Daejeon sini (ada yang di KAIST, Chungnam Univ, ICU, KAERI, dan saya sendiri di Daejeon Univ) makan malam bersama plus karaokean, lagu ini termasuk salah satu lagu wajibnya haha… Bahkan dinyanyikan dengan sangat fasih oleh Mbak Noni dan Mas Glen yang sudah cukup lama tinggal di Korea sini…
Well cerita tentang dua kegiatan itu di postingan berikutnya ya, nah di sini silakan dinikmati dulu lirik, video, dan gambar terkait lagu ini, Tell Me, by Wonder Girls…
Yang ini video klipnya (ada yang mau nari bareng? ^_^)
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Nah ini foto para penyanyinya…
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Hihihi… how’s it? Good? This is one of the best songs (and dance) in Korea nowadays… As i said before, personally i like this song, and also the singers (especially Kim Yoo Bin – the second one from the right in the picture hahaha)… Ah, and you know, they actually held a concert in this city, Daejeon, few days ago!!! They held the concert in KAIST, second best university in Korea, which is about 40 minutes by bus from my university (read this). Huaaa… I didn’t know that!!! T_T
Ah well, next time I’ll watch them for sure hihihi..
Still becoming a part in order to learn all sides of other cultures…
"yang penting bukanlah bagaimana aku bisa melakukannya, melainkan mengapa aku harus melakukannya... karena ketika mengapa itu begitu besar, maka bagaimana itu menjadi kecil"
) Officer
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