My New Niece

                Today, I’m going to tell you about my new niece. She is a cute baby. She is the daughter of my cousin. She was born last week, on the 19^th of December, 2010.

                In the afternoon of last Sunday, my cousin called me. He asked me if I could go to the hospital because his wife had felt the contraction. Actually I was confused because I had many assignments that I hadn’t done. But I promised that I would go to the hospital soon.

                After took a bath, my mother and I went to the hospital. We rode a motorcycle. I still confused with my assignments that I left, but my mother had been trying to convince me that I would repent if I didn’t go to the hospital.

                When I arrived in the hospital, my cousin’s wife had borne. She bore a cute daughter. Diana, who is their first daughter, started to show her jealous. She didn’t permit her father to see the baby. Wow! It was so funny for me.

                My cousin’s wife asked me whether I had found the name for her baby. Then I showed her three names which my friend had looked for my new niece. These are my options: Khansa Haura Aniqah, Caliana Zhaafira, and Zara Alifiyyah Hasya. My cousin’s wife chose the second name, but my cousin chose the first name. So I had an idea to combine the names. Finally we named my new niece Caliana Haura Zhaafira. It meant a kindly princess which always be given the fortunate.

                It was our beautiful day. We hope that Fira will make our life more beautiful. Amin.

New Vocabularies

Contraction : a sudden and painful tightening of the muscles around a woman’s womb that happen when she is giving birth to a child. (N)

Repent : to feel and show you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you have done. (V)

Borne : to give birth to a child. (V)

                (bear- bore- borne)

Looked for : to try to find somebody or something. (V)

Fortunate : having or bringing an advantage, an opportunity, a piece of good luck, etc. (Adj.)

               

FANBOYS

1.       Bayu watched TV alone, for his wife went shopping.

2.       Bayu likes watching TV, and his wife likes shopping.

3.       I didn’t care with whatever he said, nor did I care with whatever he did.

4.       We lived in the same street, but we have never seen each other.

5.       All of the students should study harder, or they fail the National Examination.

6.       Bayu has a good job, yet he never seems to have any money.

7.       It was rain heavily, so we didn’t come to the meeting on time.

My New Idol

I have many idols in my life. But I’m a person who is easily to feel boredom. So I always have a new idol every month. And for now I really love Avril Lavigne and her songs.

Avril is a creative singer. She writes almost all of her songs. Nobody’s Fool, Why, Alice, I’m with You, Complicated, Don’t Tell Me, My Happy Ending, Girlfriend, and Fall to Pieces are some of her songs which she had created.

 All of her songs make me found a new spirit. When I’m down or bored with my activities, I always listening her songs. After I listened her songs, I feel better.

Her songs are easy listening and easy to digest for me. I could get the point of her songs although it was my first time to hear that song. Commonly I couldn’t understand the meaning of a song when I heard it for the first time. So I think it was so amazing for me when I’m digesting her song. I think Avril has a good pronunciation, so that I can hear her songs clearly.

She is a philanthropist singer. She helped Burma with her campaign, and she joined with an organization to support and help AIDS victims. She also had recycled Knocking on Heaven’s Doors for remind us about the starving of African.

Avril is my idol now. She is a perfect singer. She is creative, beautiful, has good pronunciation, and her songs make me have new spirit. 

New Vocabularies

Boredom: the state of feeling bored. (N)

Bored: feeling tired because you have lost interest in somebody or something. (Adj.)

Digest:  to think about something so that you fully understand it. (VN)

Philanthropist: a rich person who helps the poor and those in needs. (N)

Campaign: a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social. (N)

Victims: a person who has been attacked, injured, or killed as the result of a crime, a disease, etc. (N)

Recycled: to treat things that have already been used so that they can be used again. (VN)

Have Fun at Dufan

               Today, I’m going to tell you about my happy holiday at Dufan. Dufan is one of tourist area which is located in North Jakarta. I went to Dufan on the 9^th of December, 2010.

                I went to Dufan with my classmates. They were Wiwit, Nabila, Anis, Novi, and Ami. We gathered at Anis’ rent house. Then, we went to Dufan by bus. It was around 9 A.M.

                We arrived at Dufan at 10.30 A.M. But Dufan would be opened at 11.00 A.M. It means that we had to wait for 30 minutes again. So we used that time to take some of pictures. At that time, Wiwit and I took a picture with a funny clown. 

                When Dufan’s gates had been opened, we made some rows soon. There was no very long queue, because actually we went to Dufan on Thursday. We just queued up for 10 minutes before we entered and could play all of the playthings at there. We played Kora-kora, Hysteria, Niagara, and Perang Bintang. After that, we took a rest for an hour to eat. Then, we are going on the next plan. We visited Rumah Miring, Rumah Sesat, and Istana Boneka.

                It was my happy holiday. Although I felt so tired, I was so happy to spend my time at Dufan.

New Vocabularies:

Tourist area        : part of a place to travelling for pleasure. (N)

Clown   : an entertainer who wears funny clothes to make people laugh. (N)

Gate      : a barrier like a door. (N)

Queue  : a line of people waiting for something. (N)

Queued up : to wait in a line of people in order to do something, get something, or go somewhere. (V)

Tired     : feeling that you would like to rest. (Adj.)

               

               

My Childhood

              Childhood is the period of somebody’s life when they are a child. Everyone have childhood. Sometimes it was a happy childhood, but sometimes it was a sad childhood. And today, I will tell you about my happy childhood.

                My childhood times started when I moved from Jakarta to Bekasi. It was around 1995, before I was on the kindergarten. It was one of my difficult times, because I had to adapt with my new milieu. I was a calm person, but I would be a friendly if I was comfortable with them. So, I was so easy to have some of new friends. In a week, I had known all of my new neighbors. They were being my childhood friends. They are Nilla, Any, Nadyah, Ayu, Pipit, Kemal, Vian, Devi, and Susan.

                We always spent our times together. We played and studied together. We learned new things together. We sang a song together. We went to school together. We had breakfast and lunch together. Moreover we took a nap together. Wow! I would involve them in my activities.

                I really enjoyed my childhood, because I had a few friends. I was so happy to spend my time with them. Sometimes, I really missed my childhood times. 

New Vocabularies:

Childhood : the period of somebody's life when they are a child. (N)

Kindergarten : a school to prepare children aged five for school. (N)

Adapt : to change something in order to make it suitable with a new situation. (V)

Milieu : the social environment that you live. (N)

Involve : when somebody take a part in a situation. (V)

Takashi Kashiwabara

                Takashi Kashiwabara is a handsome actor from Japan. He was born in Yamanashi on March 16^th, 1997. I knew him when he played in Ittazura Na Kiss drama. And he has been being my favorite actor since my first sight of him.

                He is the ideal man for me. He is tall, has bright skin, and pointed nose. I can say that he is so cute. His way to look somebody up can make us went into rapture. His smile can make us fly to the moon. In other words, he is so perfect for me.

                His acting is so natural. He can play his characters perfectly. He perfectly played as Irrie Naoki in Ittazura Na Kiss. Naoki is a calm and brainy boy. In the others drama, his acting is still adorable although he played as an antagonist man.

                Of course with all of his perfection, he can make me adore him. I hope one day, I can meet someone like him.

New Vocabularies
Look somebody up : to make contact with somebody.  (PHR V)
Went into rapture : to feel or express extreme pleasure for somebody. (IDM)
Brainy : very intelligent. (Adj.)
Adorable : very attractive and easy to feel love for. (Adj.)
Perfection  : to state of being perfect. (N)

Troy Movie Review

                Troy is one of my favorite movies. This movie told about Trojan War, which was begun when Helen (Diane Kruger), who was a queen from King of Sparta, was kidnapped by Paris (Orlando Bloom), who was a Trojan Prince. In the fact, Helen and Paris was a love bird, so Paris asked Helen to live in Troya and she would be his wife.

                Menelaus really anger when he knew his wife joined Paris to go to Troya. So, he asked Agamemnon who was King of Mycenaean to attack the Troya Kingdom. Agamemnon agreed to do it, because he had the intention to expand his power and to subject Troya Kingdom. So, he asked his troops to attack Troya kingdom. This troop was led by Achilles (Brad Pitt). Achilles was a brave fighter. He was respected by the others fighters. But, his king didn’t like him, because Achilles joined to this war in order to note down his name in history. In this war, brother of Achilles joined to attack Troya Kingdom.

                Finally, Achilles and his troops arrived in Troya. They attacked Troya Kingdom and used Briseis as their hostage. Briseis was a King Priam’s daughter. In their first attacked, they succeed to make the fortress in Troya seashore too.

                The next day, the war was continued again. Paris tried to end this war by invited Menelaus to fight one by one. But, Paris was a bad fighter. He almost was killed by Menelaus. I believe that he would be killed if Hector didn’t hep him. Prince Hector (Eric Bana) was the best solder that Troya ever had. He succeeded to kill Menelaus. Of course, it made bigger war than before. Trojans, who was led by Prince Hector, won in this war.

                The success of last war made Trojans had bigger spirit to expulsion their enemy from Troya. They attacked their enemies in the dawn. It made Spartan and Mycenaean panic and almost defeated. Suddenly Achilles came and fought with Hector. Achilles used the mask when he fought with Hector. Finally Hector could kill Achilles. But, actually the man who mask was Achilles’s younger brother. It was surprised Hector, because he thought that the man who wore the mask was Achilles.

                Achilles, who had known that Hector had killed his younger brother, came to Hector and asked him to fight one by one. Actually Hector had known that Achilles was stronger than himself. But, Hector was not a coward. Finally, Achilles killed Hector.

                King Priam really sad when he knew Hector was killed. So, he asked Achilles to end this war as long as 12 days. Achilles agreed it.

                In those silent days, Agamemnon had an idea to enter the fortress of Troya Kingdom. He and his troops made a big wooden horse. Tens of Spartan hid among in that wooden horse. They would open the way to the others Spartan to enter the fortress of Troya.

                The Spartan tactic’s was success. King Priam thought that the wooden horse was the peace present from Spartan. Then that wooden horse was brought into the fortress of Troya. In the middle of night, the Spartans went out from wooden horse. Then they opened the fortress gates of Troya. So, other Spartans could enter and attacked Troya. Most of Trojan was killed by Spartan. Women and children ran away by the secret way. But, Briseis who felt in love with her enemy didn’t want to leave Troya. She looked out for Achilles. She almost was killed by Agamemnon, but Achilles saved her. When Achilles was expressing his feeling to Briseis, Paris came and killed Achilles.

                It was the end of this movie. Troy was the best movie that I ever seen. It told us about love, loyalty, and braveness. So, I really like this movie.

New Vocabularies:

Love bird : two people who love each other very much. (N)

Troops : soldiers, especially in large group. (N)

Expulsion : the act of forcing somebody to leave a place. (N)

Dawn : the time of day when light first appears. (N)

Coward : a person who is not brave. (N)

Fortress : a building or a place that has been strengthened and protected against attack. (N)

Ari's Birthday

               Today, I’m going to tell you about my friend’s birthday. Her name is Ari. She was my classmate. Her birthday was on 12^th of November.

                Anis, Nabil, and I had a plan to anger with her. We were not invite her to speak out and gather with us. Because she couldn’t endure with our attitude, so she cried and told Wiwiet that she was sad. I saw when she was crying, but I didn’t care.

 After we had finished our Advanced English Structure Class, we had a leisure time around two hours. So, we used that time to prepare a surprise to Ari. We decided that Anis and I would buy something in Cijantung.  When we were going to Cijantung, Nabil phoned me and said that she had been success to make Ari cried again at Dapur Bunda. Wow, it was a good job!

After we prepared a surprise for Ari, we came back to Uhamka to present in Introduction Linguistic Class. And of course, we still didn’t be on speaking terms with Ari. We had a plan to end all of this when we had finished our class. But, it turned out when Ari ran out from the class after Mr. Hakiki had finished the lesson. And of course, it was surprised us. Anis and I hurried into her rent house. Then we prepared the cake which we bought and lighted the candles. After that, I phoned Nabil and asked her to invite Ari to the rent house. Then, Ari came to the rent house with Wiwit, Nabil, Dwi, Eci, and Novi.

Ari really surprised when we brought a cake and sing a song to her. And she cried again. But, it was happy tears. She told that it was her beautiful day, because we remembered and celebrated her birthday together.

It was her beautiful day. Although we had made her cried, but she was happy with our surprise.


New Vocabularies
Classmate  : a person who is or was in the same class at school or college. (N)
Endure       : to exist for a long time. (V)
Prepare      : to make something to be used. (V)
Be on speaking terms  : to be polite or friendly towards somebody. (IDM)
Plan         : something that you intend to do. (N)

WHY DID ENGLISH BECOME A NIGHTMARE?

These days, it’s very helpful when we have the language skill. We should be able to speak more than one language. So, there are many course which be erected to improve our skill, especially our skill in English. But, the problem is why English Language still be the biggest nightmare for us although we have been learning it for 11 years. 

Why many students said that English is a difficult thing? They are said it because they are afraid to do wrong. Our frighteners make us be hampered to be success. Because, when we afraid to do wrong, it can make us be lazy to write, to speak, and to read. The fact is, we are students who are still in process to improve our skill. That’s way we are in English major class.

           English isn’t our national languages. So, don’t be afraid to do something wrong when you are learning it. Don’t make English as a nightmare! 

New Vocabularies

Able            : have the skill, intelligence, opportunity, etc. to do something.(Adjective)

Erected       : to build something. (V)

Frighteners : to threaten somebody in order to make them do what you want.(N)

Hampered  : to prevent somebody from easily doing or achieving something. (V)

Nightmare  : an experience that is very frightening or very difficult to deal with. (N)

My Leisure Time

          Leisure is a time when we took a break from our daily activities. It’s time for us to do something which make us relax and happy. I love my leisure time, because I have many activities to do. Sometimes, I watch comedy movie in my leisure time. But, if there aren’t good movies in theater, I spent my leisure time to sleep in my lovely bedroom. The other activity that I do in my leisure time is go fishing with my father. I really enjoy my leisure time, especially when I spend it with my father.

My Sister

Today, I will tell you about my sister. Actually she is my neighbor, but I was on intimate terms with her. Her name is Dwi Putri Rahayu. She was born in Jakarta on March 29^th, 1987. I usually called her Mbak Ayu (mbak is a pronunciation to call our older sister). She was a cute, kind, cheerful, polite, and always gave me happiness.

She was a cute girl. Almost my entire neighbor loved her. She had many male friends. In fact, many of them felt in love with her. And I think, my older brother had felt in love with her before he met with her girl friend who he loved now. This is not surprised me, because I think she had inner and outer beauty.

One of her good character is kind. When we were in Karang Taruna, we used to talk about anything. We talked about his boy friend, about my crush, about our lecturer, and sometimes we talked about my older brother and his girl friend. When I talked with her, it could make me happy and laugh. She was an enjoyable sister. She taught me how to laugh my problem.

When my older brother was angry with me, Mbak Ayu used to give some advice to him. She said that my brother shouldn’t be angry with me. She said that my brother should have more patience. Sometimes she said that she would be like if I was her younger sister. And I always had happy when she said like that.

She was famous with her politeness. She always smiled when she met with the peoples. She always asked permission when she walked in front of her neighbor who sat.

She was a cheerful girl. Although she was being sick, but she never show her pain. She still showed her joy. And of course, it surprised us when we hear that she was seriously ill at Gatot Subroto’s hospital.  My friends in Karang Taruna and I visit her in hospital. I really don’t believe that it was my last time to see her. On Sunday, 24^th of October, at 11.30 A.M she passed away. I cried when my father called me to say this news.

It was around 3 P.M on 24^th October when her corpse arrived at her home. Her friends and I came to see her face for the last time. I cried again. I really don’t believe it. Then, my father asked me whether I would join to her burial. And of course, I won’t pass this chance.

It was many of people who came to make a visit of condolence. Maybe, all of her good character which made many people loved her. Mbak Ayu, although you had gone and never come back again but we always remember you.

New Vocabularies

1.       Intimate    : having a close and friendly relationship. (Adj.)

2.       Crush       : a strong feeling of love that usually doesn’t last very long. (N)

3.       Patience  : the ability to stay calm, accept something annoying without complaining. (N)

4.       Corpse    : a dead body, especially of a human being. (N)

5.       Burial       : the act or ceremony of burying a dead body. (N)

6.       Condolence : sympathy that you feel for somebody when a person has died. (N)

My Unforgettable Moment

Today, I’ll try to tell you about my unforgettable moment. It was Thursday, 9^th of July, 2009. I went to UIJ on Utan Kayu to take an UNJ matriculation. It was my first time went to UIJ. I didn’t know about that university before I came to take an UNJ matriculation. I was so scared. My cousin took me to UIJ, but he had to leave me because he would go to his factory. So, I had to go home alone.

When I had finished my matriculation, my father phoned me. It’s around 1 P.M. He said that I should get on Kopaja 46 from Utan Kayu until Pulo Gadung, because he couldn’t pick me up.

OMG, I was so confused. I lost all of sense of direction. I didn’t know which way to go. I understood what my father had talked, but I didn’t know whether I was stayed in the right direction or not. So, I decided to ask someone. Then, I asked a boy who walked beside me about it.

I tried to call him and ask whether I was stayed in the right direction to Pulo Gadung or not. Then he said that he didn’t know about it. OMG, he is a boy. Why he didn’t know about Pulo Gadung? It was so curious that he didn’t know about a famous bus station like Pulo Gadung. I took a deep breath, desperately tried to say thank you for him. When I saw his face, I realized that he was a handsome boy. He is tall and has wavy hair. He is very good looking and I think he has a good personality.

Then we walked together to the bus stop. He said that he moved from Bangka. That day was the sixth day he lived in Jakarta. And, finally I understood why he didn’t know anything about Jakarta.

Then, I asked about his direction. He said he would go to Rawamangun. He asked me whether Rawamangun and Pulo Gadung had the same direction. Then I said yes.

When we were talking about, Kopaja 46 came. So, we got on soon. I got on by first doors whereas he got on by second doors. So, we sat on the different seat. I honestly hope he sat beside me. And suddenly he stood from his seat then sat beside me. I was startled by his decision to sit beside me, but I just smiled. Then we continued our conversation.

We talked about where he came from, why he moved to Jakarta and anything else. And I think that time went quickly. We had arrived on Rawamangun. So, he had to get off. Before he got off, he said that I had to be carefully. And he asked bus conductor to take care me.

OMG, it was a beautiful moment. He was a kind person. But, I didn’t know his name and his phone number. Although we spent our times in the bus with talked, but we forgot one thing. We didn’t introduce ourselves. But, I hope he still remembers me and one day we can be met again. Amin.

New vocabularies

Matriculation   : an officially process to be a student at the university. (N)

Factory             : a building where goods are made. (N)

Direction           : the general position a person or thing moves or points toward. (N)

Honestly           : emphasized that what you are saying is true. (Adv.)

Curious             : strange and unusual. (Adj.)

Startle               : to surprise see suddenly in a way. (V)