BOOK REVIEW: I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN

Hi. Remember on my last post I wrote that I was reading The Book Thief and hoping to finish that soon? Well, I never got around to it.. *ashamed* I was like 1/4 pages through the book but then I gave up. Not that I dislike the book. It's just that it was like my fourth time reading it and I was kind of bored and was on a reading slump. So yeah.. I practically didn't even read anything in October. (Despite my goal to read at least 4 books each month.)

But on the bright side, I bought some new books recently! Just thought I was going to treat myself. I got myself 3 new books. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I have only finished I'll Give You the Sun so far. And I'm planning to read the other two later. I have quite high expectations for these books, actually. Because I have heard nothing but great things about them. 

Anyways, here are my review of I'll Give You the Sun. (Spoiler alert)

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson : 4/5 

Some things about what this book is about, it's a story of Noah and Jude, a twins. (Noah is a guy and Jude is a girl, btw.) Noah is more of the awkward and weird one while Jude is popular and outgoing. This book is set in two time periods. The one when they were 13-14 yo is told from Noah's pov. And the other one when they were 16 is told from Jude's. They were really close when they were 13-14 yo, before a tragedy takes place. While when they were 16, after the tragedy, they avoid each other and they were barely themselves. Like you could see 13 yo Noah and 16 yo Noah is like 180 degree different. So is Jude. Throughout the story you start to connect Noah's side of story and Jude's side. 

I like that art was part of the subject in the story. Noah is an aspiring and passionate artist, so there was quite a lot of art references in his pov. Their mother is also someone who admires and appreciates art. When the twins were 13, she suggested that the twins should go to an art school for high school. It wasn't any art school either. It was hard to get in. Noah was thrilled of the idea, of course. While Jude was not. She just wanted to go to a normal high school. But as you read and read, you'll find that Noah was not the one who got accepted. I was quite shocked too. Because I bet when you read it, you could really see that Noah is the better and passionate artist. But then, a shocking fact was revealed too! (I'm not going to tell you what that is as it'll probably ruin your interest).

Noah was also having some hard times with his father. Noah is homosexual, and not everyone knows that. He feels like his father is disappointed in him. To quote Noah, he feels like his father think of him as a broken umbrella. Jude on the other hand, was closer with his father. And she thinks that their mother like Noah better. 

I really enjoy this book. For me it's also about family, loss, death, regret, love, disappointment, passion, jealousy, and being true to yourself. The only thing that annoys me was the ending! Here's the thing. Throughout the book it was like a rollercoaster! Ups and downs. Shocking facts and everything. Despite the strong story, I feel like the ending was rushed and everything just turns out to be perfect. It's not that I don't like perfect ending. This one is just too perfectly perfect. 

I would still recommend you to read this though. Because despite the ending, I think it has a strong and great story :)

SEPTEMBER WRAP UP

I managed to read 4 books on September. 3 of them is actually a re-read, because I haven't bought anything new. I used to love and was obsessed over The Selection series (even though I was always annoyed by America). But now I'm kind of annoyed and tired with this series. It's just that the author keep on releasing new books companion for the series despite the story actually (in my opinion) already finished. Anyway, I'm rereading The Book Thief now, I hope I could finish it as soon as possible.

LITTLE GESTURE

"One kind word can change someone's entire day"

I'm not feeling so good today. Maybe the result of my not so well fitness state, plus my bad mood. I had a headache and a stomach ache yesterday. And I'm already catching a flu right now. I'm also struggling with an artblock lately, none of my drawings seems good/satisfying enough. I was going to draw just this morning, but my attempt failed me. So I watched Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox instead. It's really quirky and fun, yet it also has those sad moments that just kinda get me.

Today, a friend of mine said something that I'm not exactly happy with. And she said it twice! Those words were really what makes me most upset today. I'm not going to tell you what she said, but even though maybe she meant it like a joke, it still upset me. I was really not in a mood then.

5 PM today, I had a mass in a chapel near my house. Actually, I was lazy. But I still went there. I met a little girl I knew from helping the sunday school. The Father was giving a sermon while I gave her a smile and waved my hand. She returned my smile with a shy smile and waved back too. That simple little gesture made me happier. I realized then that there is still so many good things for us to be grateful for about life. That little gesture gave me some positivity.

I feel like that sometimes. Like when I felt bad and sad and angry about life in general, I'll get better when I see some little kindness around me. This might not make sense at all. But anyway, it gives me hope.

I'm starting fresh tomorrow.

OHAYOU, OBAACHAN! (BAHASA INDONESIA)

Halo semuanya. Hari ini saya mau cerita tentang pengalaman saya selama tinggal dengan Oma
homestay di Jepang. Jadi oom saya yang tinggal di Jepang mengundang saya untuk liburan ala homestay selama 3 minggu disana. Ini adalah pengalaman pertama kalinya saya naik pesawat sendirian. Biasanya saya cuma “ngekor” mama aja. Mama kemana, ya ikutin.. hehehe (umur saya masih 16 kok #banyakalasan). Jadi degdegan dan excited juga rasanya karna akan pergi keluar negeri sendirian.

Akhirnya saya sampai di Jepang tanggal 6 Juni 2015. Sesampainya di bandara Haneda, saya dijemput oleh oom dan tante saya. Tante saya ini memang orang Jepang asli, tapi sudah lumayan lancar juga bicara bahasa Indonesia nya. Tante dan oom saya tinggal di Shinjuku. Sedangkan mama mertuanya oom saya tinggal di Machida. Nah, selama homestay ini saya akan tinggal dengan mama mertua oom saya (saya panggilnya dengan sebutan Oma) di Machida.

Malam pertama saya sampai di Jepang, saya degdegan sekali akan bertemu Oma. Degdegan, seneng, excited semua jadi 1, sampai saya sakit perut rasanya waktu di mobil. Sebelumnya saya sudah pernah ketemu dengan Oma, waktu itu saya masih kecil sekali. Dia berkunjung ke Indonesia dan mampir juga kerumah saya. Tapi itu udah lama banget, ingatan saya tentang dia juga samar-samar. Saya juga takut sekali kalo saya kurang sopan! Tau sendiri kan, orang Jepang terkenal sopan-sopan sekali. Di mobil saya udah siapin, nanti saya akan membungkuk sambil mengucapkan “ohayou obaachan” waktu bertemu dengannya.

Kaget saya! Sesampainya dirumah Oma, saya langsung disambut ceria sekali sama Oma. Oma langsung “lari” ke arah saya sambil tertawa dan senyum-senyum, juga sambil menepuk-nepuk pundak saya. Pertemuan yang awalnya saya kira akan berlangsung dengan sangat formal, malah ternyata tidak seperti dugaan saya. Saya pun langsung memeluk Oma dan ikutan ketawa sambil senyum-senyum.

Malam pertama disana, oom dan tante saya juga ikut menginap di Machida. Jadi kadang-kadang oom dan tante saya menginap di Machida, kadang-kadang di Shinjuku, karena mereka juga harus bekerja. Kalo lagi ber2 saja dengan Oma, kami berkomunikasi dengan bahasa campur-campur, sedangkan kalo lagi ada oom dan tante, mereka juga ikut bantu menerjemahkan.

Saat pertama kali datang kesana, saya hanya bisa ngomong kata-kata yang simple dan umum saja. Misalnya arigatou, douitashimashite, kore, sore, sumimasen, ohayou, dan oyasuminasai. Juga tidak bisa baca hiragana, katakana, dan kanji. Jadi biasanya Oma akan bicara sesuatu dalam bahasa Jepang (sambil nunjuk-nunjuk barang atau memperagakan sesuatu), lalu saya akan nebak-nebak dalam bahasa Inggris. Kadang tebakan saya benar, kadang benar-benar salah. Untungnya Oma lumayan bisa bahasa Inggris yang umum. Oma juga tau beberapa kata dalam bahasa Indonesia, seperti makan, mandi, dan jalan-jalan. Selama disitu saya juga diharuskan oom saya untuk belajar bahasa Jepang sama Oma tiap hari. Oma juga menyiapkan buku belajar bahasa Jepang yang sebenarnya untuk anak-anak buat saya hehehe.

Yang saya senang dan bersyukur juga, Oma tetap ngajak ngobrol saya walaupun saya nebak-nebak saja. Asik juga ngobrol sama Oma, ia senang sekali tertawa dan tersenyum. Saya juga salut, walaupun umurnya sudah 70an, tapi dia masih kuat dan periang sekali! Dia juga cukup tegas untuk masalah pekerjaan rumah (saya juga bingung kadang, kok rumahnya bisa bersih banget kayak ga ada debu o_o). Padahal, itu rumah masa kecilnya tante saya juga katanya. Tapi benar-benar ga ada yang udah bulukkan atau apa gitu.

Selama homestay, saya paling sering bantu-bantu cuci piring dan ngelap piring. Pokonya habis dicuci harus langsung di lap sampe kering. Pertamanya capek juga, karna sekali makan saja, 1 orang bisa pakai 1 mangkok buat piring, 1 mangkok buat lauk, 1 mangkok buat miso soup, belum lagi piring dan mangkok lauk. Beda dengan saya yang di Indonesia biasanya cuma pakai 1 piring, nasi dan lauk dicampur semua disitu. Tapi lama kelamaan ga capek lagi, karna sudah jadi kebiasaan.

Saya kagum sekali dengan Oma. Semangatnya masih terlihat jelas! Saya juga belajar banyak dari beliau. Semoga nanti kalo udah jadi oma-oma (masih lama banget sih) saya bisa tetap semangat juga kaya Oma :D Semoga juga suatu saat nanti saya bisa ketemu lagi dengan beliau, dan saya sudah bisa bahasa Jepang dengan lancar hahaha.

JAPAN 2015

So last June, I got the chance to go to Japan. I was invited by my uncle who lives there. It wasn't my first time going abroad BUT it was my first flight alone. Honestly and guiltily, usually I just followed my mom (aka. mengekor) in every flight I've had. I had all that giddy and excited feeling. I was most worried about everything that involves the officials (seriously). Like even though I know that I didn't do or bring anything banned, I was so worried that something would went wrong. But I'm also pretty proud of myself that I had the courage to went abroad alone, come to think of it hehe :p It was a 3 weeks trip, and it had been really such an experience for me!

I lived in my uncle's wife's mother's house (sorry for the complicated words). My uncle's wife is Japanese, so yeah her mother is also a Japanese. (I'll refer to her as Oma). My uncle and aunt lives in an apartment in Shinjuku and Oma lives in Machida, where I stayed in with her. So it was kind of a homestay vacation, I guess? (because I got to live with the local). Sometimes my uncle and aunt would stay for some days in Machida too. And some days it was just me and Oma.

When I first went there, I speak very little Japanese. I only knew the basic and common words like sumimasen, arigatou, ohayou, konnichiwa, etc. And I couldn't read hiragana, katakana, nor kanji. So if you are wondering, I communicated with Oma by english + japanese + indonesian. She knows some indonesian words like makan, mandi, and jalan-jalan. Usually, what happens is that she'll say something in japanese, and then I'll guess what she means in english! Most of the times, I got it right. But sometimes I literally have no idea.

My uncle and aunt picked me up at the Haneda Airport and then we went to Machida. I was very very anxious and nervous when we were going to meet Oma! But I was really surprised and happy when we arrived and she gave me a very happy welcome!!! Actually it wasn't my first time meeting her, because she went to Indonesia and visited my home back when I was still a little kid. I miss her already now!