Rizki Amalia

November 2008 Update

November is the end of uni. The first two weeks of November were hectic weeks for everyone in uni. Final assignments, final presentation, and final exams (this one was not for me). But School of Architecture ended earlier than other schools in uni, so when other friends were still running here and there for their final essays, final assignemnts,  and exams, i was already free.

I couldn’t believe that time really does fly because now my time studying in University of Newcastle has finished. On November 5th, i attended farewell ceremony which was pretty much like graduation ceremony. People wore black gown, black hat and received certificate from the head of chancellor. I had Elizabeth and Socheata as my honor guests. The ceremony was very lovely.      

This is also my final month living in Newcastle. Though it’s not a big and busy city—and Birmingham Gardens is a quiet suburb, i’m gonna miss a lot of things here. For me Newcastle has been, and always will, my second hometown. I have very lovely homestay parents, Anastasi couple (we still keep in touch though i don’t live in their home anymore), good friends from many countries (many farewell parties this week), and most of all is the University of Newcastle. From all of the things i’m gonna miss a lot from Newcastle is the uni, especially the Auchmuty Libarary, my most favourite place. I could always go there in anykind of mood and it always felt good (tired of reading books could always watch favourite movies...heheheheh).

Now i’m ready for December! Holiday...yeaaayyy!  Time to explore Australia.....

October 2008 Update

October has been a very great month for me. The 1st of October was Hari Raya Idul Fitri, the day when all of Moslems celebrating the end of Ramadhan or the Fasting month and the beginning of Syawwal Month. This Idul Fitri i was far away from home for the first time in my life. On that day i was in my holiday in Melbourne with Socheata, Sambath, and other friends. We stayed in Socheata’s grandparents’ house. In the morning, on Idul Fitri Day, i made a very emotional call with my parents, siblings, and my other relatives. It was quite sad on that moment seeing through webcam how merry my house was but i wasn’t there with them. But i knew that it was okay and would be a good experience of life for me. And i felt a bit like home when i spent the whole evening with Ika’s family. Ika is my Singaporean friend in Newcastle who was celebrating Idul Fitri with her family in Melbourne. Ika’s mother’s cooking was so delicious. Though most of them were meat, the ketupat, satay souce and chilli squid were enough to make me very happy. The cookies were my favourite.  

In general, my 8 days in Melbourne was wonderful. It was a very lovely city with many interesting architecture. I REALLY love it!

After Melbourne, i visited Hobart. I straightly fell in love with the beauty of this city as soon as i arrived there. Hobart was very beautiful! I stayed in Angie’s place for 5 days (sorry for highjacking your bed, Angie, and millions of thanks for that!) and spent the days with her, Sambath, Sambath’s friends and also with Thong, another PSP recipient whom i never met before. But we got along with each other quite well that i even went to a very little town called Richmond with Thong. If only there was one thing i could complain about was the weather. It was still so cold in Hobart that i felt like i was still in winter.

Back to Newcastle after 2 weeks holiday was very refreshing. But facing the reality that the due  date of one of my final assignments was just within days ahead, the panic button in my head was straightly switched on.

Everybody is being so busy with the assigments and exams this whole month. However, our Peace Action Group (Elizabeth, Socheata and i) could finally do the fundraising. Many thanks to the Singaporean Club that held an Idul Fitri Celebration for giving us a chance to do our fundraising in that event. I was appointed by my two friends to do the presentation. I was so nervous because i had to speak in front of many people, in proper English, without text (just tried to memorize everything i had practiced the night before) and the most important thing that made me so nervous was the conciousness that i stood there as a representative of IDP Peace Scholarship Program and also my country, Indonesia. Thank God we all did it well together. That was another great experience for me.

This is my final month studying in University of Newcastle. I will have the final presentation for Architecture Design Studio and the Uni Farewell Ceremony on the 1st week of November. It  means my time studying in Newcastle will soon be over. But it also means i will have 2 months of summer holiday to enjoy Australia...!

September 2008 Update

This year, September goes together with Ramadhan or the fasting month for Moslems. This is my very first time having my Ramadhan so far away from family and friends. Honestly, yeah i miss them alot and also the Ramadhan atmosphere in Indonesia in general. The first sahur, or early breakfast (before the dawn) before we start the fast, was quite sad for me because i was alone and it was so quite while usually the first sahur had to be with the family and the situation would be cheerful. I also miss the situation when everybody is heading to the mosque at night for Tarawih prayer. And the gatherings for breaking  the fast together with friends is definitely  one thing i miss so much, because usually it is the time for reunion with my old friends. However, i have been through Ramadhan here quite well so far. Thankfully the uni assignments kept me so busy that i did not have much time to think about other things. Keeping in touch with my family and friends also helped me alot. And there are Malaysian and Singaporean Moslem girls here who i get along with very well so i do not feel very lonely in doing fasting. And the uni also had the event of Breakfast Together which were open for everyone. I went there with my housemate, she’s from China, and enjoyed the evening with other Moslem and non-moslem friends. I think the moment was so beautiful that we were all together there, enjoying the moment and delicious meals from many countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, Saudi) without having race and religion as the boundaries.

I have moved out from my homestay and live in a share house with other students from Australia, Africa, China and Jordan which is a very good experience for me. One thing i like the most from my new house is it is only 5 minutes walk to Architecture building and 10 minutes walk to Socheata and Elizabeth’s house. So i’m very close to my study and my friends now, even the library has become my favourite place in uni these days. And cooking is another great experience for me since i’ve moved into this new house. Thanks to my mother and sister for the recepies, now i know how to cook rice and other foods...i even surprised that i made my own Kolak for the very first time in my life. Kolak is a kind of desert that Indonesian people usually have during the Fasting Month, made from sweet potato and banana boiled in the water with brown palm sugar and coconut milk.

And this is the last week before the spring break! Oh i’m so excited. And it is less than a week to the ending of Ramadhan where we are having Ied Day. Hopefully there is going to be a cheerful celebration on that day.     

August 2008 Update

Well, August is an adaptable month for me. On July, everything seemed exciting and brand new and not yet busy with the study, so pretty much like a tourist. But this month has been quite tough in many aspects.

I study architecture here, just like my major at home university. Here, in university of newcastle i take 2nd year courses. So far i find it basically quite similar the way they study architecture here and back home. Although yes there are some differences in approach and method. But the most difficult part was when i found out that here they use archiCAD as design software while i am used to design with autoCAD or Sketchup. And i had to learn about this software in a very short time to be able to catch the other students ‘ skill of using this software. And i only had 4 weeks to submit the 1st assignment. Very tough, but thankfully i did it and i submitted it without any extention time.

Besides that “software” shock, another hard thing about taking this course is the materials for making 3D model are so expensive! Even for my Austrlian friends. So i just tried to use things surround me, like unused foam boxes my father homestay gave me, some old newspapers, unused soft drinks boxes...yeah things that other people will call as garbage. 

So far i’ve been making friends with students from various nations which is a very good experience for me: the Peace Scholaship fellows (Elizabeth and Socheata have become my best friends here); homestay friends (oh, i’m gonna miss them because i’m moving out at the end of this month)from Japan, China, Korea, and Saudi; many Malaysian girls i usually meet at Islamic Prayer Center in uni; my classmates who are mostly Australian (not many international students in this course); some Indonesian students here; and some other friends i know from some friends. It’s very interesting for me because beside generally communicating in English, sometimes i hang out with people who speak Spanish, another time with people who speak Korean, and many times in Prayer Center speak the “weird” mix of Bahasa Indonesia-Bahasa Malay-English, and everyday my ears are familiar with Greek language since my homestay parents are originally from Greece...so, i’m not only improving my English here.

Instead of its unpredictable weather (one minute it can be sunny and warm, next minute it can be very cold and heavy rain), i see Newcastle as a very lovely city with lovely people. Firstly i was surprised that here people will smile at or even ask “how’re ya doing?” to other people without have to know the person they are greeting at. But my most favourite thing about this city is the beautiful old buildings. There are lots of them here, especailly along Hunter Street in the city, but unfortunately some of them seem have been abandoned for quite a long time. That issue is quite interesting for me and hopefully i can have some times for doing a little research about it.  

And Ramadhan is coming pretty soon! It will start on September 1st. It is going to be my first Fasting Month very far away from home, my family and my friends. So i’m so exciting...can’t wait for it to come!