the first of August

It hurts so much when you finally realize that you love the people around you and now the time for them to leave has come..

July 7, Bluestone Park

If I could stop thinking about it just for a little while it would be the best thing to do. But no, I cannot. All the memory won’t fade away. It is a rainy Sunday morning. I am sitting on an old bench at the Bluestone Park with an umbrella in my hand. It is raining hard, very hard and I do not know where to go. My mind is mixed up. I cannot think. And every time I close my eyes looking for a peace I can clearly see him in my head, I can see him calling my name, looking deep at my eyes. It is torturing me. It is getting hard to breathe. I cannot breathe…
***
July 7, 2007
I found a perfect place to calm myself today. It was a beautiful park 5 blocks away from the apartment. I spent the evening reading 89 pages of Persuasion in the quite place. It was very relaxing and I could finally read something peacefully without any distraction from the noisy boys next door. As I was starting to read the 90th page all of the sudden I heard footsteps were coming from the someplace. I was a little bit surprised because it was quite late and I could barely see other people in the park. I looked around trying to find whose footsteps it was. After a while I could see a man walking alone, walking toward me.
“Hi, excuse me miss. Do you know where the nearest gas station is?”
That was the first sentence that came from him. And later he told me that he was heading to the neighbor city and suddenly his car broke down because it was run out the gas. I told him that I would walk him to the nearest gas station. He was a very nice guy. I supposed he was 6 feet 3 inches tall, very tall. I liked his blue eyes and blond hair.
It took us 20 minutes to reach the gas station. We spent the whole 20 minutes by talking and talking. It was a very nice conversation, he told me about where he was from and his new job that made him move to the new city.
“Thank you for walking me here. You really helped me, thank you again.” He said.
“By the way, I am Peter. It is strange that I did not mention my name before.” He continued
“It’s Amanda.” I replied with the smile on face.
***

July 7, 2010
09.30 am
Time did go so fast. We did not think that it could be this long. We have spent 3 amazing years together. And today Peter asked me to move in with him, in this special day, the day we first met each other. I said yes.
6.30 pm
We decided to start moving in together. We could not wait any longer because we were very excited. While Peter went to his apartment to pick up half of his stuffs I cleaned my apartment and made a space for his stuffs.
“Hi, I am on my way back. I will be there in 10 minutes I suppose. Can you wait for me in the Park, roomie? I have a surprise for you.” he said on the phone.
I turned off the phone and finished cleaning the mess as soon as I could. I grabbed my jacket and left the apartment and went to the Bluestone Park. It was a Perfect timing. I saw he was parking his car across the road. He saw me and smiled. He looked so excited with something on his hand. I could see that he could not wait to show it to me. He was running to cross the road and all of the sudden a car appeared from the other road with the high speed. He could not avoid it. I saw the car hit him with my own eyes. I saw him was lying down in the road with blood all over him and a ring next to his hand. I saw him dying. I saw it with my own eyes.
***


July 26, 2010
Aventia Wilona

My Concrete Poem - I am Your Sun

The poem is about someone who promises the most precious person in her or his life that she/ he will always be there for the person no matter what happens.

MADISONNNNNN!!!!

For the second excursion we went to the capital of Wisconsin, Madison. This time we spent the whole weekend there. It was so awesome. Madison is very different from Eau Claire if I might say. It was very crowded!

The most thing I like about Madison was SHOPPING.

We were pretty lucky because there was a big sale in Madison. There were tons of boutique and clothes stores plus there is sale everywhere, it was like the girls favorite place! My roommates, Carolina, Susan, and Fa spent the evening on the Terrace. We enjoyed the band playing that night. I would call it a duo rather a band because there were only two guys. One was the vocalist and playing guitar and the one was playing the keyboard. I really liked his voice and the songs. And I bet everybody there enjoyed it too. It was so very crowded that we could not find a chair to sit. We decided to sit on the floor.

In the next morning we had a tour to the State Capitol. You all have to believe me, It was very very very awesome! The building was very huge, pretty, artistic, luxury.. so beautiful that I can't describe. We went to the almost all the chambers including the Supreme Court which is the highest level of court there. In every chamber there were a lot of paintings and sculptures that have their own story. It was fascinating. One thing that caught most of my attention was the Badger sculpture. Once told that when you rub the nose of the Badger it will give you luck. I rubbed it, twice! I hope I will have a lot of luck.

After the Capitol we continued the tour into the Wisconsin Historical Museum near the state Capitol. It was four floors museum. We had a great time there even though there was no tour guide to accompany us. We had to explore the museum by ourselves. I found a lot of cool stuffs there.

To sum up, the trip was awesome! I had a lot of new clothes plus the sunburned! I have got very tanned!

The First Excursion!!! Friday and Saturday

So... It was a sunny Friday, July 9 2010, Chippewa Valley Museum.

I was very excited about the trip. Frankly saying,at first I was not so much into history, and anything related to that but this visit changed my opinion. I had a lot of fun there. The tour guide (a very nice grandfather figure) was friendly and passionately gave us a lot of interesting facts about Eau Claire and Wisconsin. I really did have a good time. There were a lot of interesting things too in the museum like the Sunny Day School from long long time ago,a lumberjack house,and also I got to see the Paul Bunyan sculpture and his blue ox! I saw a badger too, the Wisconsin mascot! There was a movie about it too, it was awesome. The movie was about how the immigrants moved from their home country in Europe to Wisconsin. They even showed the real things like the dining room, the bedroom, etc. inside the theater. It moved and changed as the story continued. It was soooo awesome!I really do want to go there again. :)

And this was on the next day, Saturday, July 10 2010, Minneapolis/ St. Paul.

We went to the Twin Cities!!! It took about 2 hours to get there (well I don't really remember because I slept most of the time). The first stop in Minnesota was the Cathedral in the St. Paul. It was a very gorgeous church. At the moment I stepped my feet in it all I could think was "I want to get married here!". It was big, filled with classic, antique, beautiful things (the sculptures of the Saints, the paintings and everything).
Then we continued our trip to the Sculpture park in Minneapolis (if I'm not mistaken but I think it's right). The park was very huge and there were a lot of interesting sculptures in it. There were a cheery in a spoon, a giant fish, and other indescribable sculptures. They were unique!
Next.. Lunch time! We were very hungry for sure! We went to the downtown to find something to eat. There were a lot of restaurants there. The downtown of Minneapolis is very different from Eau Claire. (There are a lot of tall buildings and also very crowded!) Finally, we found a Thai restaurant and we were excited about the food. I had a very spicy Thai fried rice and it tasted very very goooooddddddd.... After the lunch we went to the Minnie Haha Fall. It's a funny name. lol. It was a beautiful waterfall but I decided to stay in the upper side because I didn't have the energy for going down. :(
Last destination? The Mall of Americaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... Shopping time! I got my energy back!! The mall is huge! It even has a small theme park in it. There are roller coaster and the other extreme yet exciting rides inside the mall. I wanted to explore more but we did not have much time so I only went to the Nordstroms and The Macy's.
That's all for the Friday-Saturday trip. :)
I had a lot of fun!

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.




Something to share:

I have read "The Road Not taken" poem by Robert Frost before, And I have fallen in love with this poem and also the poet. The first thing I like about it is how this poem rhymes in every stanza. We can see it from the first stanza the word wood rhymes with both, stood, could, and undergrowth. The second stanza is also pretty with the words fair, claim, wear, there, and same. Even though the last word same is not quite the same with the others, it still sounds good though. The third and the forth are quite different. He puts 2 different rhymes words in each stanza. In the third stanza you can hear how the word lay goes with day and way and also the word black and back. The same thing happens in the last stanza where the word sigh goes with I and by while hence and difference. Those rhymes words make the poem heard very pretty filled with beautiful rhythms.

The second interesting thing that I have found from this poem is how Robert Frost puts the words that can make me really see or feel it that can give a vivid imagery in my head. For instance, in the line "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" I can really see a yellow wood in my head, and also in the second stanza "Because it was grassy..." I can really see the green and grassy road in front of me. And also there is one onomatopoeia in the last stanza which is sigh. And the repetition on ages and ages feels like it is a very long time.

This poem is quite hard to interpret because the deep meaning behind the sophisticated words that Robert Frost uses. It made me think over and over again to get the idea of this beautiful poem. As far as I can get, this poem tells about a moment when we have to choose between 2 ways that will make a difference, the ways that we have to through. We should choose because we cannot take both of them. It is a very hard decision because you cannot predict or see what is in the middle and the end of the both ways. We probably can see what it's in the beginning of the each paths. We can make a assumption which one is better than the other just like Frost says in the second stanza. And in the last stanza we can see that the person in the poem has finally made a decision that has made all the difference.

When ever I read this poem I always remember Professor Gurito, my Introduction to Literature professor back in my home university. He is a very good professor who has a big passion toward poetry. He was the first person who gave me this poem and the turned me to someone who has a big interest in literature.

I liked his opinion about the poem but the one that I have written above is my own opinion. We have completely difference thoughts about it. But once again, poetry is not a fixed science. People interpret it the way they want to, there is no wrong or true. :)

Run…Run...You Better Run Faster than the Devil

I do not like it
Its slimy thing in its body
It is all wet and stinks

It looks suspicious
Like the men behind the jars
You never know what is in its mind
You cannot predict what it is going to do

I do, do not like it
It is the worst creature I have ever seen
It represents evil, the sly little one
Who has the deadly weapon in its head

Its tongue dances uncertain moves
Which you won’t be able to enjoy
It is an evil; yes it is definitely an evil
And I do not like it, I will never like it

It knows my fear
It can feel it
It can read my thoughts
While I cannot read its

I do not like it
The hiss is the last sound I want to hear
The old junk car even makes a better harmony

Devil, evil, sly
They are all its
I do not like it
I do, do not like it

The Fair was soooooo awesome!

The ESL students along with the instructors went to Wisconsin State Fair in Chippewa Valley! Becky and Chris drove us there with the vans, isn't it amazing??? lol. I love vans, it was like we were in a tour!
There were lots lots of food, the cheese stuff was so good and tasty! I rode the Ferris Wheel, it was fun! And also rode "a" (i forget the name but it was moving around very fast like helicopter propellers)
The last one was (I called it the Yellow Tower, It goes up slowly and then just drops you very fast).
hmmm.... what else? many thing actually. But I'm a bit sleepy now so I'll just end it. maybe I'll add something tomorrow, forgive me if i don't. ;)

This is just the Way I am

You will never find a weirdo like I am
Who eats meat with a strawberry jam
The one who thinks Crouch is the man
She wants to be with 'till the end

You can find the others soccer fan
None of them as freak as I am
They go and cheer for Beckham with their song
But I scream: Peter Peter Crouch all day long

I get very excited in everything
Like a toddler gets a candy
You can hear my heart beating
If someone calls me pretty

When others have only money, money, money in their mind
I rather think about how to be a good person in my life
So I let myself entwined
While learn how to be an extremely good wife

Though it has only 5 letters lay
There won't be enough words that can describe Avent
If you need a warm sunny day
I'll be there to be your sweet and caring friend

Aventia Wilona

Aventia
Dreamy, Simple, but Not always Easy
The youngest daughter of the best parents in the world, Mr. and Mrs. Willem
Who is not afraid to experience a failure, insanely in love with Peter Crouch, and cares about her family and friends before herself
Has been hurt by quite a few irresponsible men, Has gotten up from any kind of hurricane, has learned many good lessons about life
Dislikes despicable liars, hates being betrayed, does not want to be the reason which makes people sad
Has tried her best in every single thing she has done and finally got a prize to see the world, here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA
Is eager to explore the world deeper,desires to have a Ph.D before her name and build a long-lasting happy family
Here I am in the place I have never thought I would be, Eau Claire, which is far away from Surabaya, Indonesia, my beloved hometown
Wilona

High Point, Low point, High Point...

It feels so good to be independent! I thought it would be very hard for me, but I think I can handle it quite well, I hope so. It's my first time being all by myself in this stranger place and new things going on. Instead of being afraid I am so excited! The people here are very friendly with their smiling faces and warm conversation. I love it.

But maybe I am still having the difficulty in adjusting to the weather plus the jet lag (which is no good). I hope I can cope with those soon.
And I do have a problem here. The Hilling road! It's sure not fun. I have to climb it up and go down more than once in every single day which takes like forever. 15 minutes for going down and 25 minutes for climbing up is super duper exhausting. I wish they had the elevator thing.

The other great things in here are my roommates, the instructors, and all the people in the program. They are very nice, friendly, kind,and thoughtful. I feel very comfortable being around them.
I want to live here, I do not want to leave, ever...

Here I am in Eau Claire

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
I am in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States of America!!!
It's so amazing that I can't ever describe in any word.