birthday....

what birthday is? its meaning has been changing from time to time..for me in particular ^_^ although its main meaning remains the same...

when i was a lil girl, b'day is all about getting lotsa gifts, eating yummy food and of course being treated as a b'day girl...n if i think about that now...how fun it was sometimes, nothing but fun..no worries at all at that time ^_^
i always woke up pretty early, wandering around the house, hoping everyone would hug and congratulate me with some gifts...and of course b'day also went well with bday cake...and blowing the candles hahaha. I thought..the more candles on the cake i could blow..it showed the stronger and bigger i was hahaha...

but..i've never had my b'day party like others...though sometimes i really wanted my mum to prepare one for me....what my mum said was... "ulang taun kan ga mesti pesta? ngumpul dan makan bareng keluarga adja udah lebih dari cukup"

and...when i was a teenager...bday party is all about going out with friends (=traktir" atau tepatnya ditodong supaya nraktir)...having dinner together ...chatting all about out loud, staying overnite at friends' place or hotel, making some pics, cheering each other, making some silly things...throwing the bday cake to the bday girl or boy on the face, playing some 'lemparän telur busuk, susu basi dll"..but somehow..we really enjoyed that ...and we could do nothing but smile, because...they always said...ülang taun ga boleh marah lho...mau diapain juga hahaha" (guys...miss those sumatra resto moments lho....hahahaha...)

or when you had boyfriend or girlfriend...b'day is something with a romantic candle light dinner or at least "special dinner", you will prepare special place and special gift for them... so...you must show how you treat them as your someone special....with some surprises, a big bunch of flowers, nice card and nice words, gift and of course...attention and passion....to make them happy and show how you love and remember that it's a special day for them...love says everything, doesn't it????

and now...birthday...for me is...thanking how you are still blessed with having people around you, how you are remembered...thanking how your family and friends still remember your day by sending text, email, msg or make phone calls; just to congratulate you and even sing on the phone for you?
just to remember that...will make your day even brighter..although 'there is still some spiders hanging on the wall?' and b'day gift is something that has been put aside at this time....it doesn't even matter if you don't get any today, no dinner or anything....it's (quite) ok haha

it may be something that simply the same like another ordinary day. perhaps the difference is ...when you get more texts, phone calls, message or email. and more hugs :p but still...no matter what..bday is always something special...something different in its own way..for each person...

i still remember my friend's dad always said, "kalian ini, namanya juga anak muda, ulang taun kok makan", traktir", seneng". ulang taun itu mbok ya harusnya dirayain dengan refleksi, sholat, dzikir bersyukur kalo kalian masih di kasih hari ulang taun. kan ulang taun itu mengingatkan kita bahwa jatah umur kita berkurang setaun lho. bukan bertambah setaun"

i think he is right, to some extent....and maybe if i were him at his age, i will think the same...

anyway...thanks everyone for today..much appreciated...

BIG KIDS

anak" di kelas kami selalu menyebut murid SD dengan sebutan BIG KIDS. i don't know where they got the word, tapi lucu juga sih...

kelas kami terpisah dengan kelas SD. dan mereka selalu keliatan 'kagum'dengan murid SD tersebut. pernah kami berkumpul dalam satu ruangan dengan murid SD tersebut dan mereka memilih untuk duduk berdampingan dengan mereka =)

dan juga 'playground' SD lebih bervariasi dan tentu saja lebih 'berbahaya' untuk anak"preschool.

mereka sering bertanya "can we play in the big playground?"pdhl mnrt saya, playground mereka relatif sama saja, hanya sugesti mereka saja yang mengatakan big kids have bigger playground than us...

mereka akan terlihat sangat bersemangat apabila kami mengijinkan mereka bermain di playground SD

pernah saya bertanya:
"why you call them big kids?"

mereka akan menjawab:
"because they are bigger than us (silly me, tentu saja jawaban itu yang akan mereka kemukan atas pertanyaan saya)

tapi ada yang menarik menurut saya:
kebanyakan mereka mengemukakan alasan yang sama akan pertanyaan saya yang ini:
"do you want to be the big kids?"

jawaban mereka?
öf course. we will be the big kids next year. we can write a long sentence and of course. we can write our full name. not just our first name like now.
we can meet Mr. Poulton more often. Mr. Poulton visits big kids everyday. He even teaches big kids. I love Mr. Poulton.
i want to be the big kids because i can use all the playground without wearing my hat. why we have to wear the hat when we play outside while big kids don't?
i want to be the big kids because we can eat more tuckshops food
i want to be the big kids because i can go to school by school bus, not with my daddy or mommy
i want to be the big kids because they know more than us. they even know everything. maybe they only don't know something that teachers do. what do you think?

*Mr. Poulton is the principle of the school. Anak"entah kenapa sangat 'mengagumi'beliau. often times when he visits our class, the children will straight go for him and hug him tightly ^_^...
*tuckshop is like a refectory in the school.

dan masih banyak jawaban"yang menarik menurut saya. ada"saja yach...

Kebetulankah??

saya sering bertemu dia, hampir setiap kali, tidak di bus, tidak di uni, tidak di jalan

kami tidak pernah terlibat percakapan. hanya saling lempar senyum saja

dan lucunya, hari ini, kami baru tahu...kami memiliki teman yang sama

teman itu menempati kamar yang saya tempati sekarang, dan entah ini kebetulan atau tidak..dia tinggal di tempat tinggal yang saya tinggali semester lalu, di unit yang sama, dan di kamar yang sama dengan yang saya tinggali pula.

kebetulankah???? mungkin juga...

side by side

the children really like this song...most of the time they always pick this song to be sung...

Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money,
Maybe we're ragged and funny;
But we travel along, singin' our song,
Side by side.

Don't know what's comin' tomorrow,
Maybe it's trouble and sorrow;
But we travel the road,
sharin' our load,
Side by Side.

Through all kinds of weather,
What if the sky should fall;
As long as we're together,
It doesn't matter at all.

When they've all had their quarrels and parted,
We'll be the same as we started;
Just travelin' along, singin' our song,
Side by Side.

and...though this song is sung by Ray Charles and it might for his lover (perhaps) but i find it really suitable for the children...and just by seeing them holding hands together, hugging each other...doing all the movement and singing out loud...it's just another fuel to my soul ^_^
and yes....whatever that is...as long as having YOU =) here with me...side by side....it's more than enough....

HISTERIA ITU

sudah seperti yang kami ketahui sebelumnya, hari paling bersemangat untuk anak" adalah hari senin dan jumat. dan ditambah hari sebelum dan sesudah liburan..

seperti hari ini contohnya, seperti kebanyakan hari" senen sebelumnya, kami sudah mengira apabila hari ini akan dimulai dengan histeria sana sini

baru saja pintu kelas dibuka...anak" sudah berlarian masuk...langsung sibuk di daerah kesukaan mereka masing". ada yang sibuk bermain puzzle, block, komputer, mewarnai, gunting kertas dan mengelem, baca buku, bermain di home corner dan dramatic corner. ada yang sibuk membuka buku world map dan berlari sana sini dengan alasan 'we are going to every country in the world'...belum sejam kelas dimulai, kami sudah beberapa kali membersihkan kertas dan kotoran berserakan di dalam kelas...

saya bekerja dengan guru senior. bayangkan dia sudah mengajar selama 26th di sekolah ini. jadi pasti sudah banyak pengalaman sekali. anak" begitu respek dan mendengar apa kata beliau, dan terus terang saja saya juga melihat bahwa beliau bukan lagi mengajar tapi profesi ini sudah menjadi darah dagingnya. begitu yang beliau katakan...

hari ini ada salah satu bagian yang kami perbaharui...biasanya anak" yang tidak mau mendengar, ribut sendiri atau terlalu banyak showing tantrum akan kami pisahkan dari kelompoknya, dan merenung sebentar...tapi kali ini kebalikan dari itu, kami membuat corner baru di dekat home corner, yaitu khusus buat 'good listener' di mana kami menaruh semua bits and pieces seperti mainan, mobil"an, boneka, buku, puzzle, paper and crayon dan lain" dalam satu tas koper besar yang sengaja disumbangkan salah satu rekan =)..

ternyata new corner ini membantu juga walaupun hari ini masih saja penuh histeria sana sini. benar" masih ada sisa" weekend mereka yach...tunggu saja bagaimana rasanya hari jumat nanti..

RELATIONSHIP

there were two emails from best friends...

first friend : i just broke up with my boy friend. after 9 years relationship. you know what, tin? often times, i think i am afraid, always afraid to take the consequences, to take the decision to break up with him. he loves me..i know..but somehow i can't feel him..
i was too afraid of the risks. but now..what i do is...just follow my heart....without thinking about the gain or loss...

and now i've found 'him'. who can't take his eyes off me. and here i am, taking the risks and responsibility with him...although it's hard to start from all over again...somehow i'm happy....

second friend: i think i lost my feeling for him...for no special reasons. it just happened like this. what should i do? do you think i should keep my relationship or move on to the next life? i know i love him so, but somehow i don't feel like having someone....

pause...

if only i could do the same thing :)

PASAR MINI

sudah lama rasanya saya tidak bercerita tentang kelas kami...saya baru mulai lagi ceritanya...

hmm anak" kelas kami paling senang dramatic play, apalagi yang namanya 'main jual"an" :)

kemarin kami membuka pasar kecil"an. kami menjual hasil 'cocok tanam' anak"

selama ini, anak" dibiasakan untuk membuat satu proyek, yang kami rancang di kebun depan kelas.

mereka menanam radish, brocolli, kentang, lemon grass, dan oregano.

memang tidak begitu banyak yang bisa dipetik kemarin, tapi mereka sudah sangat senang. terlihat dari ekspresi mereka saat saya dan guru" lain membantu mencangkul. apalagi di saat mereka berhasil menggali dan menemukan hasilnya..'i found it, tanti..i found it. look at that...wow...this is my potato...let's find another one..i've never seen this one before bla bla bla'...celoteh sana sini bermunculan...tiba" semua jadi cerewet ^_^

wow...dan memang sempat terjadi perang mulut sedikit karena masing" mempertahankan pendapat bahwa hasil tersebut adalah kepunyaan mereka...

josephine mengeluarkan ide untuk menjualnya sore itu..kami pikir, kenapa tidak? pengalaman menarik pasti untuk anak" untuk praktek berjualan...

alhasil, setelah lunch break, mereka menghabiskan waktu untuk menggambar poster, menggambar kentang, radish dan segala macam, mewarnai, dan menempel pengumuman tersebut di depan kelas.

tidak banyak memang hasil yang kami dapat dari hasil tersebut, tapi melihat ekspresi mereka ketika berhasil menjual kepada para orang tua itu yang membuat senyum di wajah mereka tidak hilang hingga mereka meninggalkan sekolah siang itu...dan senyum di wajah kami juga tentunya...

tiba" saja kelas kami menjadi kelas paling manis (menurut salah satu guru yang ada)...dan tentu saja...itu mengurangi effort kami menarik urat untuk menenangkan mereka di saat" tegang...

terima kasih pasar mini.... :P