Education

Greetings, people!

So I wrote a new post and this contains educational thingy. I will tell you my perspective about education in Indonesia and in foreign countries. It also based on my friend’s experience who had gone studying abroad.

The first thing is the subjects we are studying. In Indonesia, we have to study about 13 subjects according to our program (science, social, or language) and at least two cross-program subject in grade ten or one in grade eleven. Science program studies about the main subjects like Religion, Indonesia Language, General Math, Sport, History, Civil, Art, and the science subjects like Optional Math, Biology, Physic, and Chemistry. Social program also studies the main subjects and the social subjects just like Optional History, Economy, Sociology, and Geography. At my school, there isn’t a language program. Language program occasionally studies about the main subjects and the language subjects such as Indonesia Language and Culture, Anthropology, English Language and Culture, and random foreign language (usually it’s Germany or Japanese).

The cross program subject is called “Lintas Minat”. For example, if we are a student from science program, we should choose one subject from social program and the remaining one from language. You can choose both from social or language. When you are in grade eleven, you can choose one between the subjects you had taken in grade ten.

And I think this rules and system are not too effective for us, the student. Because not all of us have an interest with all of science, social, or language subjects. For example; when someone taking a science program doesn’t mean he likes Physics. He takes the science program because he wants to be a doctor, so he can dedicate his senior high school life to study Biology and Chemistry. But he also have to study Physics and he believes that Physics have no prospect for a doctor.

In other countries, such as USA and Australia, we can choose which subjects we want to study. They aren’t limited to exact studies. We can study theatre, fine arts, sports, media, etc. the system can make us, the students, study effectively based on our interests and future dream.

Second, how school embrace the ability and uniqueness of each students. In Indonesia, it’s not always but it happens occasionally, a student with higher score in academic is appreciated more than a student who win the national soccer league. The cleverness is standardized by how high we can get a score on paperwork or exams, not by each other’s ability. When a student get a bad score for his academic doesn’t mean he is stupid. He probably has an amazing talent in sport, and still he has to study harder for his academic subjects. But when it comes to a student with high academic talent, it doesn’t matter whether he can sing or no, he isn’t pushed to sing well. I think it’s a little bit unfair, because academic doesn’t always determine someone’s cleverness.  It impacts to student morality. In order to get a high score in academic subject, they cheat. It happens in some foreign countries, too. They are also strict to academic subjects.

But some countries do the opposite. For example, in Australia, each students are appreciated for their talent. They let the students do whatever they want and dedicated. They allow the student who have achieved certain achievement to put the badge on their uniform as a symbol of pride.

So that was the two points of my opinion about education in Indonesia and in foreign countries. Each system has its good and its bad. What we may think it’s bad, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. From other perspective, it can be the good one.

Thank you for reading!

Adam Levine – Lost Stars Song Meaning

 

Greetings, everyone!

I write the meaning of a song. I choose Adam Levine – Lost Stars because that is my all-time favorite song.

So here is the lyric….

Please don’t see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies
Please see me reaching out for someone I can’t see
Take my hand let’s see where we wake up tomorrow
Best laid plans sometimes are just a one night stand
I’d be damned Cupid’s demanding back his arrow
So let’s get drunk on our tears and

God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy?
Woe is me, if we’re not careful turns into reality
Don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page maybe we’ll find a brand new ending
Where we’re dancing in our tears and

God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

I thought I saw you out there crying
I thought I heard you call my name
I thought I heard you out there crying
Just the same

God, give us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and this lamb is on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

I thought I saw you out there crying
I thought I heard you call my name
I thought I heard you out there crying

But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

 

For me, I think that the lyric written by Adam Levine has a love-themed song. So when the first and the second lines of his song

Please don’t see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies
Please see me reaching out for someone I can’t see

I think it explains about the feelings when you’re in love but your crush doesn’t notice and you’re trapped by your own dream, to dream as their boy/girlfriend. You don’t want to be seen as a person who dream too high yet you want to be seen when you’re running to someone (your crush) you can’t have.

The third to the sixth lines

Take my hand let’s see where we wake up tomorrow
Best laid plans sometimes are just a one night stand
I’d be damned Cupid’s demanding back his arrow
So let’s get drunk on our tears and

He explains the moment when you’re hopeless, but still wishing your crush to be yours.

And the chorus

God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

I don’t really get the idea of this part before I read the actual meanings. All I see is the second last line. I think that it’s a kind of term when you and your crush are thinking about the meanings of your relationship. The ‘lost stars’ means that you guys are the separated stars and try to get back for your happiness. The Hopeless You are still trying to figure out your relationship but a step closer to the aim that you guys are worth to be together.

The next part

Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy?
Woe is me, if we’re not careful turns into reality

These explains about the condition of you and your crush. You guys are a big in your fantasies but actually you’re just a little. And you’re trying so carefully to go back into reality without giving any other painful hopes.

Don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page maybe we’ll find a brand new ending
Where we’re dancing in our tears and

The moment you realize that you and your crush are hardly to be together, you wish your crush happiness, joy, anything that makes them not feeling sad. And again you wish that you can be together as well the next chances.

I thought I saw you out there crying
I thought I heard you call my name
I thought I heard you out there crying
Just the same

You lost in thoughts about your crush crying over you and calling out your name.

And well, I was surprised when I read the actual meanings by the original writer. This song actually has a deep, touching meanings. No wonder I can’t understand the part which has an allegory. So here is the version of Adam Levine.

Please don’t see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies
Please see me reaching out for someone I can’t see

 

Adam Levine doesn’t want to be known as someone whose head is “in the clouds.” On the other hand, he doesn’t mind if people see him as someone who is pursuing meaning and purpose.

Take my hand let’s see where we wake up tomorrow
Best laid plans sometimes are just a one night stand
I’d be damned Cupid’s demanding back his arrow
So let’s get drunk on our tears and

It holds adventurous connotations. He values momentary experience, even if it’s not something that pays off in the long run. In mythology, Cupid is a character that shoots a “love arrow,” causing the recipients of the arrow to fall in love with the first person they see after being struck. Therefore, if Cupid “demands back his arrow,” it means that outside forces demand people to retract their love for one another. The last line refers to living life emotionally.

God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It’s hunting season and the lambs are on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

He questions the nature of reality hear. What is time? What purpose do I have in the world? What is meaningful in this life? These are the kinds of questions for which he wants answers. Lambs are thought to be creatures that are only on the receiving end of victimization. Here he refers to the forces of the powerful and the powerless that are always in conflict. “Are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?” is a question he asks about the role of human beings in the universe. Do any of us really know our purpose? Do we pretend to know our purpose because that confidence brings us comfort?

Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy?
Woe is me, if we’re not careful turns into reality

He wonders whether human beings should be so myopic. Is there a deeper meaning to why we exist, or is our existence strictly scientific, a result of randomness? “Woe is me…turns into reality” means that people cast self-fulfilling prophecies for themselves. If they believe their lives to be bad, they will live bad lives.

Don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page maybe we’ll find a brand new ending
Where we’re dancing in our tears and

He encourages to “see the glass half full,” insists that the impossible can indeed happen, believes change can occur.

I thought I saw you out there crying
I thought I heard you call my name
I thought I heard you out there crying

This stanza conveys he’s belief in God. He refers to God’s feelings toward humanity here.

But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

He closes his song by returning to its main theme: whether human beings have a higher purpose or if nobody understands anything at all.

So this is the explanation about the meanings behind Lost Stars, my version and Adam Levine’s version. My version is too shallow but Adam’s version is too deep I guess. I think when he created this song, he was having a conversation with someone about the God, the world, and even humanity before, then he was lost in thoughts then grabbed something that could be written to get his mind clear and his heart relieve. It’s supported by the lyric; full of beautiful allegories.

 

My Not-So-Long Vacation

Last holiday was a Christmas and New Year holiday. I fortunately didn’t have to attend short semester because I had passed the test with good grades. But my vacation started a week before the end of holiday because the hotels were fully booked.

My mom and my aunty decided taking us to Ciater. It was located on Subang. We went there on Sunday morning, 9 a.m. We rode our cars there. The trip was fun but a bit boring. It was really crowded. Lembang was always crowded when holiday. Not even Lembang, I think the whole Bandung was incurably crowded that time.

We entered the Ciater Spa and Resort, but we weren’t satisfied by its service and location. So we were looking for the other hotel and resort. I even asked some recommendation my friend who had lived in Subang before. Then we’ve finally got to Sariater Hotel and Resort. It was big, clean, cozy, and had many hot pools. For me and my family, it was much better than the previous resort.

After booked some rooms, we walked around the resort. We went to the pool, the restaurant, the bungalows, and even to the playground. We took some photos there. Even though it was a resort, the scenery was awesome. Here is a photo of me.

We went back to the room because we were tired of walking around and it was raining. I fell asleep until 8 p.m. I took a bath and ate some dinner my mom bought when I was sleeping. We stayed still at our room that night.

The next day, I woke up a bit late. My mom brought me to the mini waterfall called curug in Sundanese. It was a warm waterfall. I soaked my legs for more or less 20 minutes. Then we went back to the hotel because it was our time to check out. I still wanted to stay but my grandmother didn’t like being here so we should go home today.

Before going home, we decided to go to Farmhouse. It was a place designed with European styles, more like The Hobbit series. There was a Hobbit House just like the original one. I took some photos there because that was a great place to take a picture. I played with some animals there too. I fed a rabbit before I went home. And the special thing from Farmhouse was the milk! The milk was fresh and sweet. I liked chocolate milk the best.

After that, we were back to our home. I felt happy even though I was a bit disappointed because of the short vacation. I hope the next holiday would be much greater than this. See you on the next holiday!

Gamarvani

My school had an annual event, it was art, food, and cultures festival. This year, the name of our school’s art, food, and culture festival was Gamarvani. Gamarvani means trip to the moon. Gama was the trip and Parvani was the Moon. This name was related to West java folk named Nyi Anteh. The story told us about the friendship between the Queen named Endahwarni and her lady-in-waiting Anteh. The mission of Gamarvani was to show the cultures of West Java to the young generation of Indonesia, especially in Bandung.

The committee was built 3 months or more before the day. When I was on my third weeks of school, there was an open recquitment for 3’2018 committee. I joined as the committee with my friends. When we first joined, we were still the committee candidates. We got a mission to make a contract with some trending café such as LOL, Roti Gempol, Es Kabut Salju, etc. We should invite them to open a stand on food festival, and we did it! Since we could do the mission, we were accepted as Gamarvani committee. The leader of committee was Muhammad Ababil Ahram and the co-leader was Aditya Nugraha.

Day by day, my friends and I worked hard for Gamarvani. I was a committee in decoration division. My friends and I worked hard to decorate the Bali Field. We made an artificial tunnel and lampions. There was another division, such as publication division, field division, event division, and consumption, transportation, and logistic division. We worked hard to make our festival went success. And our hard work was paid. The day, September 19^th 2015, Gamarvani was held successfully. There was some cultures communities stands, 15 food stands, 7 foodtrucks, performances from cultures communities, SMA Negeri 3’s music clubs, and guest stars performance. We had Adera and Hivi as the guest stars.

There was a pra-event of Gamaravni, it was parade. We wore West Java traditional clothes and we also invited BPI Elementary School to join the parade.

The open gate of Gamarvani was at 10 a.m. When we entered the gate, there was an artificial tunnel. Inside the tunnel was a story of Nyi Anteh that was told by drawings and some stuffs. After getting out from the tunnel, we could see the venue. The venue was filled by community stands, food stands and trucks, and street vendor stands. For street vendors, the food was sold by free!

The cultures communities showed angklung, wayang, and so on. The food stands and trucks consisted of trending and delicious foods. I ate a delicious chicken by Wingz o Wingz. Then I ate an ice cream with cotton candy by Es Kabut Salju. I also ate a rice box with chicken on top by Bite Box and drank chocolate milkshake by Ultra Milk Bar.

I also met my best friend on junior high school. We hang around after a long time no see. We ate together, watched TST performance together, and played around. We also took a photo together with Gamarvani stage as the background.

this is me with my best friend!

And then as we waited for, the guest stars performances time was up! The first one was from Adera. But when we did check sound, it took a lightly long time. To fill the emptiness, there was a performance from Lightning Entertainment. After that, Adera was really really really performing! He sang a few songs with his amazing voice. He could bring the audiences into his song, giving us a sad atmosphere since some of his songs are a gloomy song. In the end of Adera’s performance, he sang the happy one, which is named “Lebih Indah”.

After Adera, we waited impatiently for HiVi performance. They were the most waited guest star, I think. Then the super guest star was here! They came up on the stage with their cheerful song. We jumped along as we sang together with them. They were all amazing. The boys are handsome and Dea, the only girl in the group is very cute! Her cute and high-pitch voice suits with Ilham’s soft voice. By the way, I was very happy because I could see Ilham in real life. For me, he was very handsome.

The encore of HiVi was “Dari Mata Ke Hati”. We jumped and sang along with them until we got very tired. They said thank you and bowed to us, then went back to the backstage. I was very tired. My foot felt hurts because I didn’t sit for a long moment that day. I went home quickly so I could go to sleep faster.

Gamarvani was ended successfully. Even though we were all exhausted, we felt very very excited, satisfied and touched because we could overcome the obstacles which came before the show and finally, the festival was held without any failure. It was one of my best experience!

Compliments

Virgi: “Hello, how was your day, Manda?”

Amanda: “It was great, and you?”

Virgi: “I’m great too. Hey, your watch looks amazing! Where do you get it?”

Amanda: “Oh really? Thanks! I bought it with my mom yesterday from a store nearly here.”

Virgi: “What colors are available, Manda?”

Amanda: “There is a pink color! Do you also want to buy it?”

Virgi: “Pink? Of course! Can you take me to that store, please?”

Amanda: “Sure, let’s go!

Virgi: “Wow, the watches are amazing. I really love this pink watch!”

Amanda: “The pink watch really suits you well, Virgi! Let’s have the same but different color of watch.”

Virgi: “Okay, I’m going to pay for this first. Then let’s go home!”

Amanda: “See you tomorrow Virgi! And have a nice day ahead!”

Virgi: “You too!”

My New Friend

I have a new friend. She is Virgi Saputra, but she is usually called as Ijong. People usually mistaken her as a boy because of her name. She is from BPI 1 Junior High School Bandung. She is my first chairmate since I got into X IPA 7 class, 3 Senior High School Bandung. She is pretty and funny.

Ijong was born in Bandung. We were born in the same month but different year. She was born on September 14th and she is 16 this year, a year older than me. She lives in Kiaracondong, Bandung. She has three younger sisters and she doesn’t have any older sibling.

Ijong really loves to eat sushi. Her favorite thing to do is to hangout with her friends. Tosca is her very favorite color. Her favorite music genre is EDM, she has many EDM songs in her phone. Other than EDM, she also likes Ariana Grande.

She has a phobia. She is really really really afraid of clowns! She hates every species of insects, so she doesn’t like outdoor activity such as camping. Ijong also can’t swim. Her hobby is reading books.

Ijong is a kind girl. She likes to help people. She really wants to be a doctor, so she can help more people who are injured and sick.

Ijong really loves to eat sushi. Her favorite thing to do is to hangout with her friends. Tosca is her very favorite color. Her favorite music genre is EDM, she has many EDM songs in her phone. Other than EDM, she also likes Ariana Grande.

She has a phobia. She is really really really afraid of clowns! She hates every species of insects, so she doesn’t like outdoor activity such as camping. Ijong also can’t swim. Her hobby is reading books.

Ijong is a kind girl. She likes to help people. She really wants to be a doctor, so she can help more people who are injured and sick.

So that’s all about my new friend Ijong. I hope we can keep getting along well.

IT’S ME!

Hello, my name is Nissa Amanda, buy I usually call myself Amanda. I was born in Bandung, September 16^th 2000. Now I live in Parahyangan Rumah Vila B-105, Bandung. I study in 3 Senior High School Bandung. I’m 15 this year.

I have father, mother, and one younger sister. My father’s name is Isak Adhariady. He was a student of 3 Senior High School too. My mother’s name is Kelly Damayanti. She is very beautiful. My little sister’s name is Nisrina Elhidaiya. She is a student of elementary school. I love all of them.

My favorite food is fried chicken and fries. My favorite beverage is mineral water. My favorite things are Disney, Marvel, music, movies, fast wi-fi (everyone’s favorite thing), cozy place to sleep, and some amazing books.

I like to play music instruments, such as keyboard and guitar. I also like to sing. But I think I don’t sing really well, I need to learn more how to sing really well. I love to watch movie and sleep. I don’t have any favorite movie because I like many good movies. If someone doesn’t wake me up, I can sleep more than 15 hours. I like Korean cultures, music, food, and language. I really love Kpop. I love to learn foreign languages. I can speak English (of course), Korean, a little Japanese and Chinese.

I’m a cat lover, so are my father and my sister. We take care of cats in our house. We have two cats, their name is Sapi and Owy. They both are boys. Sapi is older than Owy. They are very lovely.

I want to be a doctor, because I want to help many people. I like designing things, for example house and clothes, so I want to have my own fashion brand or to be an architect. Actually I have so many dreams. I want to be musician, translator, movie star, and also movie producers. I want to continue study in University of Indonesia (UI) or Bandung Technology Institute (ITB), but more importantly I want to have a scholarship to study abroad.

Hello world!

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