My Life As A Dancer

Hi, all the blogger who read my blog! How are you guys? 


Since I came to APU, I don't know why but it seems that my life turned out to be a life of a dancer lol. I danced a lot here, danced not only Indonesian Dance, but also another country's dance.


I am not a dancer, I never took any dance class in my entire life. When I was in junior high school, I learnt two Indonesian Traditional Dances from my bestfriend and that's it. I never danced ever since that day. It's been almost 6 years since the last time I learnt how to dance from my bestfriend (she is a true dancer).


I wanted to take Ballet Class back then when I was in Indonesia, but I am not confident enough to tell my parents. I like seeing people dancing, they look so beautiful in my opinion. I want to learn how to dance so gracefully. I also watched Hwang Jin-Yi (Korean TV Drama) and the lead actress danced very very good. They influenced me to learn dancing.


When I came to APU, I learnt some dances:
1. Piring Dance 

Piring Dance is from Sumatera, Indonesia. I used plate in this dance. First, it's kinda difficult to do this dance because I had to keep the plate stay still on my hand. It's not a rare thing that the plate keep falling from my hand during the practice.

2. Taiwanese Nature Dance

This Nature Dance is from Taiwan, it is a mix between Taiwanese Traditional Dance and Classic Ballet Dance. I like the choreography, it is so graceful. It is so nice to learnt other country's dance. 

3. Saman Dance

You can also watch the performance over here:

This dance is really famous, it's from Aceh, Indonesia (remember Tsunami 2004?). It's famous for the speed. We sat for about 10 minutes and use our hands at fast speed to do the dance. 

The first video was from the Entrance Ceremony for Spring New Students in APU (1st April 2011) and the second video was from the APU-Nest : Pray For Japan (Charity for Japan's Great Earthquake & Tsunami) at Beppu Station (2nd April 2011) and you can watch my performance from 3:58 in the second video.

For Saman Dance, I did some 'research'. I watched more than ten Saman's videos. And.. I learnt some lesson from that. 

Saman is not about how fast the movement nor how difficult the choreography.

I saw a lot of videos that showing the dancers are smiling.. but they don't smile from inside.

I saw a lot of dancers only danced with their body, and left out their heart.

What is it being a dancer?

It's dancing with your heart.

That's what I really want to do as a dancer. I want to dance with my heart, that's why I try to smile as bright as I could when I dance. I want the audience not only enjoying my dance, but also dancing in their heart.

During the rehearsal for entrance ceremony, nobody gave me an applause; I thought my dancing was not that enjoyable anymore. But, when the day I performed, I heard more than one thousands people applause for our dance, I cannot hold back my tears. That's the honor for being a dancer.

I am not a professional dancer, but I love dancing. It's a place where I can express my feeling, through my dancing. I still have a lot of things to learn, and I think, I won't stop dancing. I am not a very good dancer, I didn't even go to dance class. I just want to dance and dance. That's all.

Thanks for reading my post.

See ya' and bye-bye!

Far from Japan,

Maya

Snow In Japan

Hi, blogger! This is Maya.


Today is 3rd March, and guess what? It's snowing heavily here in my dorm and my campus!
Cannot believe it :D I thought spring is coming because couple days ago I saw some Sakura, but then, now it snows again and everybody is surprised.

I don't mind with snow, lots of my friends hate snow. I love snow. I know it's freaking cold when it snows, but I love cold and snow. Whenever snow is falling, I cannot help myself but slow down my walk and enjoy the cold, smiling and feel the snow falling from the sky. Some people find it is not enjoyable, but for me, it is. Maybe it's weird for some people lol.

It's kinda sad for me because winter is over. When I made up my bed, suddenly I saw snow was falling again, it brought me a smile. Happy. I love fall semester because it has winter and I love winter. 雪が好きです。

See you next year snow :D

Thanks for reading :))

See ya' and bye-bye.

Far away from Japan,

Maya

Should We Regret On Our Own Decision?

Hi, blogger! This is Maya.


I don't know why, but lately there are a lot of things I want to write down in this blog and I have to write it down all of them, if I don't do that, all of my thoughts will just gone.

You know, since I got here to live on my own for the next 4 years, I start to think about my past and my future. I will imagine what if I didn't decide to chase my dream to go here. What if I chose to go to UI. Going here is my very own decision. I decided to leave.

Sometimes, a lot of people regret on their own decision. I think they shouldn't. In my case, when I was deciding to go to Japan, I need to know all my consequences. My life won't be easy over there. I will be apart from my best friends and people I don't want to be apart of. I have to sacrifice things. I didn't think only the good things I will get if I got to Japan.

Deciding means you accept all the consequences as well.

That's why, I cannot stand it when people start to sigh about their life, regretting their own decision. You should know the consequences before you brave enough to decide on something, be ready of it. You must not regret on your decision, because that is your own decision. You are the one who decided it, so you must responsible of it.

Today I'll practice Saman Dance again. My life in APU is kind of a dancer life (lol), I should post about my activity next time. 

By the way, today in Japan, we celebrate ひなまつり (Girl's Festival) hehe.

Thanks for reading anyway :))

See ya' and bye-bye.

Far away from Japan,

Maya

Forgiving and Apologizing

Hi, blogger! This is Maya :)


Recently I watch a Japanese Drama titled "Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta", what a long title, right? It hasn't finished airing in Japan anyway.


I am not going to summarize the plot or anything here, I just want to tell you guys a great lesson I got from this drama. About forgiving and apologizing.

Some people will say that apologizing is the hardest thing to do because you have to admit your mistake and everything. They'd rather lie than confess the truth. I don't really think so. I thought that too in the beginning, but now, I think, apologizing is the easiest way to free yourself. Forgiving is the hardest thing to do.

How should I put it in words? If you do a mistake, unless you say you're sorry, you'll have this burden and guilty to the person you hurt. But, after you apologize, you will have this relieve and free feeling. 

How about the one you apologize to? They've been hurt, sometimes even more than you imagine it would be, and because you apologized, this person has to forgive you, but it is not easy. Mistake is something that you cannot undo for the rest of your life. You might think after apologizing, you can just forget it; it's also a way to protect yourself of reminding the old mistake and live on. But, you're wrong.

For the one who get hurt in the first place, every pain, every lie, every disappointment, will leave scars, even though they said they already forget about the past, the mistake, but that pain of being hurt will remain forever. It's impossible to forget completely. I experienced this. Everybody did. 

What a great lesson I got from this drama. Very thoughtful. 


Actually, I just awake because my friend called me at this hour (I already asleep back then), and I cannot put myself back on sleep -__- 


Thanks for reading my post.


See ya' and bye-bye!


Far away from Japan,
Maya

How Many Times Should We Fall?

Hi, blogger! With Maya again here.
I just posted a post not a long time ago, but I had a lot of things to write in my head right now that I can't let them just disappear like shadow if I fail to write it down all of them here.


During this holiday, my friend shows me a lot of cute baby video on Youtube. We keep watching cute and funny videos until morning, something we cannot do if the school starts. 
Watching those little kids just reminds me of my childhood. I can recall everything, my precious memories with my dad, my big brother, in America.. Yes, I was my dad's little girl.


There is one video, Nina's video, half American-Japanese, who inspired me a lot. Her father recorded her since she was so little. There is one video of her showing when she learnt how to walk.

She fell down a lot of times, maybe hundred of times, but she kept smiling and trying again and again. We fell down as much as we did when we were learning how to stand and walk. We fell down before we success or reach out our dream. I fell down so many times.


I fell down during my school years, I fell down a lot in my love life, I fell down in many aspect of my life. In our lives, we fall and will fall down a lot, as much as baby falls down in learning new things.


How many times should we fall until we reach out our dreams?


I don't know.


But the thing is, we should remember, when we fall, we must lift up our head, smiling into the sky, and find the will to get up again. Falling down makes us stronger. How hurts it is, you can always get up and face the day again. Because..


..falling down is the prove that we are living.


Thanks for reading my post :)


See ya' and bye-bye!


Far away from Japan,
Maya

Living In My Dream

Hi, blogger! This is Maya. Still in my long Spring Vacation =)
I had nothing to do these days except practice Saman Dance and playing around with my friends. I spent a lot of my time enjoying my holiday slowly.


Today is my first time to do part time job! Yay! It's an on-campus job, testing the newest Online Teaching System (Blackboard Learning System). I went to campus, and you know, why I love going to campus is because I got to see and meet people I couldn't meet during my holiday. I got to meet my international friends, and it was so nice.

Suddenly, I remember something. Two years ago, when I was still in my second year of high school, I was asked, what is your dream college. This was my answer:

"My dream university is where I can gather with people from all over the world, sharing thoughts and experiences, while studying the subject I like,"

That 16-years-old me who dreams big and believe that she can do even the impossible thing didn't know that 2 years later, her dream will be realized. I didn't expect I am going to living in my dream. Going to APU is just exactly like my answer. Having friends from all over the world; Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, Myanmar, America, Germany, Norway, Uzbekistan, etc. 

I'm so glad I came here. I cannot thank God more. I love studying here. I love my college life up until now. I wish it will be better in the future. I love the multicultural environment my university offers to me. I am living my dream. You know, for me, the key for my life is to believe. Believe that I can do it, believe my dream will come true. Just believe. 

Does my dream end after I chased one? Nope.

There's a lot of new dreams when I got here. Dreams that waiting for me to reach. My road  is still far, all I need to do is do the best and never give up.

Thanks for reading.

See ya' and bye-bye! :))

Far away in Japan,

Maya

What I Did These Past 2 Months

Hi, blogger! With me, Maya here.
Sorry I didn't post anything these last 2 months. My schedule was driving me crazy, really.
So.. how's life?


Now, I am on my Spring Vacation until April 10th. Can't wait to see my very first Sakura :)


A lot of thing happen to these 2 months, that's why, I don't think it's gonna be a good idea to write all of them here, you might get bored as well =P So, here's some highlights of my life these 2 months:


1. Winter Vacation: Fukuoka Trip
I went to Fukuoka for a week with my friends. One of them is half-Japanese so she got a house (her grandma's house) to stay :)) I got first-hand-experienced about the real Japanese New Year. We ate Kotoshi Udon on 31st December and ate Osenchi on 1st January. And also, I accidently received Otoshidama from Shimoo Family. Million thanks!

Then, we had a little Fukuoka Tour, Tenjin, Hakata, Fukuoka Tower, thank you my friend, Muti and Ai. Sorry, I didn't help you a lot back then :D

2. Taiwanese Cultural Week: Nature Dance

In APU, we have multicultural weeks, every semester, there will be several countries that selected to make a one-week full of introduction of their country's culture through stall in cafeteria, free foods, and end with grand performance. I joined the Taiwanese Cultural Week Grand Performance, performed as Nature Dancer. I love the music and the movement, because it was mix of traditional Taiwanese dance and western ballet. 

I know I am not a good dancer but I love dancing. I think dancing is a way to express your feeling, that's why I tried my best to dance with joy, so people will see that I wasn't only memorizing random movement, but enjoy it. The custom was.. unwearable for me =P too cold to be worn in the middle of the cold winter, especially for me, who experienced winter for the first time after 12 years lived in a tropic country. 

3. Best Group In Workshop II Class

I had this class, must be taken by all first year student in my university. Blending the international students with the Japanese students through a group project. The aim is to make the students encounter the multicultural environment. My group consisted of 5 people, from Japan, China, Korea, and myself, Indonesia.

We had meetings 3 times a week to accomplish our group project. And we were paid off for our hard work. We won the best group both in small class and big class presentation. You know, when this semester over, I went to the big lecture class and it's like a movie. How we didn't expected to win at all, and then everybody gave applause to us. I remember looking around to the audience and see them all congrats us. One of the best moments of my life.

It's kinda sad the class and our group is over. My group member somehow taught me a lot of things. One of them came back to Korea for military service. We still keep in touch with everyone. Hope we can work together as a group again in the future :))

4. Fukuoka and Kansai Trip with my Family

My family visited me last week. My parents came on 12 - 15 February, while my brother came from 14th until 19th February. The four of us had one-day trip together on Valentine's Day, we went to Fukuoka Tower and ate dinner together after parted for about 5 months. Then, from 15th until 18th, me and my brother had a trip to Kansai Region by Shinkansen. It was my first time to travel by Shinkansen. 

We went to Kobe (Kobe Port Tower), Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Kyoto (Kiyomizu Temple) and ate Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki (Osaka's most famous foods). Tiring because I only depended with my limited Japanese skills and reading map skills, and my brother couldn't help a lot since I am the only one who understand Japanese. There were some bad experiences too, like getting lost, getting yelled by the bus driver, etc. But, I'm proud of myself I could bring my brother until Kansai. Fun, because I got to USJ and Kobe. I went to Kiyomizudera again lol.

As siblings, we still had that little fight back then. It can't be helped anyway lol. But I am happy to meet my family this holiday.

Still got a long way to go. I might go to several places this holiday. I also practice Saman Dance. I will dance more. Even though I am not at that, but I just love it.

See you later then!

Take care of your self, thanks for reading :DD

See ya' and bye-bye!

Here in Japan,

Maya