Language: Bahasa Indonesia and English
If there's ever one thing that I like from 'living' is that it is always full of surprises; you'll never know where they will lead you to.
Liburan musim dingin tahun ini, aku berkesempatan untuk mengajar dan jalan-jalan selama kurang lebih 5 minggu di Jerman (dan beberapa kota tetangga di Eropa). Jadi, aku diterima dalam suatu program yang disponspori MIT yang disebut MISTI GTL (MIT's International Science and Technology Initiatives Global Teaching Lab) dimana kita, sebagai 'duta' dari MIT, diharapkan dapat mengajar sekaligus memperkenalkan pendidikan serta budaya di Amerika, terutama di MIT, kepada murid-murid di luar negeri. Program MISTI GTL ini sendiri merupakan salah satu program yang lumayan populer di kalangan mahasiswa pada musim dingin, karena kita dapat 'jalan-jalan' gratis (walaupun, ya kita juga harus 'bekerja'/mengajar selama di luar negeri) di luar negeri sekaligus menghindari dingin (atau jenuh)nya kota Boston di bulan Januari. Pilihan negaranya pun cukup banyak: dari Meksiko, Brazil, Itali, Jerman, hingga Israel, Korea Selatan, dst.
Aku sendiri memilih GTL di Jerman untuk beberapa alasan. Pertama, aku sama sekali belum pernah ke Eropa, jadi ya aku pikir, "Kenapa tidak? Jalan-jalan gratis di Eropa." Selain itu, dari beberapa pilihan negara di Eropa (Spanyol, Itali dan Jerman), Jerman menurut aku adalah negara yang paling menarik. Jerman, di kalangan orang Indo, merupakan salah satu destinasi untuk kuliah yang sangat populer. Selain biaya pendidikan yang murah (bahkan gratis kalau tidak salah), Jerman mempunyai sistem pendidikan yang maju di dunia, jadi akan menarik untuk melihat bagaimana anak-anak di Jerman belajar baik di tingkat Gymnasium (setara dengan SMP - SMA di Indonesia) hingga universitas. Jerman juga mempunyai budaya dan sejarah yang cukup menarik (paska WWII, Jerman Timur vs Barat, dsb). Setelah ditimbang matang-matang, akhirnya akupun memutuskan untuk mendaftar untuk program di Jerman.
Again, (this is the part where I start writing in English because Bahasa Indonesia often frustrates me) my break wouldn't be so much fun if I only spent it on teaching. So I decided to travel a bit before, in between and after my teaching program to many, many cities in Europe (or that's how I feel it is, looking from my bank statement :( ). Along my journey, I witnessed and experienced so many unique and interesting new things, and that's how I came to blogging about the trip so that I can look back and cherish the moments in the future. Knowing me, however, who's never good with words (I tried), I decided to tell my story through pictures and captions instead, which (can hopefully) narrate my thoughts and impression throughout the trip. Feel free to comment down below to ask or suggest (more) places for me to visit; I'll definitely do another Euro trip in the future!
1. Munich, Germany
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I began my trip in Munich, a day after Christmas (cause flying out on Christmas
day was my cheapest option) soI missed the chance to visit the so called
'Christmas Market' during this festive season :( At least the Christmas
tree at Marienplatz (central square) was still there, so we're still good. |
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My dad's a big soccer fan, so I kinda dropped by the (empty) Allianz Arena, home
of the Bayern Munchen, forhis sake. Funny was how I met 2-3 groups of Indonesian
tourists just at the stadium alone, much more than I'veencountered
the past semester at MIT :/
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2. Fussen, Germany
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The so called 'fairy' castle Schloss Neuschwanstein. There's a lot of hype
surrounding this place, tapi ga tahudeh. Menurut aku biasa aj sih .__. |
3. Prague, Czech Republic
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| The city's just an absolute beauty; I tell you. Perhaps my favorite thus far! |
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It was a foggy morning when we visited Charles Bridge, yet it still looked amazing.
We even came back later that night to see it again. |
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Cukup mengejutkan bagaimana pengemis2 di kota-kota Eropa bisa tahan berlutut
berjam-jam di suhu 0 derajat Celcius *_* |
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It's true that many Cathedrals in Europe, like ones in Prague (with their statues, paintings and
murals) look crazily pretty, tapi kok aku merasa gereja-gereja tersebut terlalu dieksploitasi ya?
(i.e you have to pay entrance fee to get in). It kinda beats the purpose of having such
sacred places in the first place .__. |
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| One particular message really stood out for me on this one... |
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We tried our best to make him laugh, but sadly we couldn't :(
feat: Ci Marsha Wibowo, MIT Class of 2016 |
4. Vienna, Austria
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That awkward moment when you were surrounded by little kids, talking (and perhaps
laughing at you) in a different language, and all you can do is to smile |
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| Vienna was okay, I guess. Still, nothing beats Prague .__. |
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| It's a bit too late now, but cheers to 2017! |
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| My vacation started to feel shitty when I dropped and broke my 1 month-old camera lens :( . FML |
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We were looking for a lens service center when we found
this. To clarify, I'm not endorsing anything, but I just found it
to be weirdly funny.
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5. Venice, Italy
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Okay, I might've retouched the photo (and maybe by quite a lot) so the real
thing might not look as pretty, but Burano was still decent looking. |
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The alleyway outside Marco Missiaja's camera store where I (sadly have to) bought a new
camera lens. But hey, I would definitely recommend checking his place out
while in Venice, and the dude has amazing postcards if you're looking to find one! |
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| I guess the new lens was working okay |
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Perhaps the highlight of Venice was not the canals and boats, but the
gelato from Suso: The salted pistachio flavor was to die for
(even when it's freezing cold outside)! |
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Worst public transport ever! If only I didn't have my luggage to carry around,
walking would be much faster. |
6. Bern, Switzerland
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After failing to reach IBO 2013, I feel blessed to finally be able
to visit this city |
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| Sure wish I could've joined in the fun :( |
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| From all the waaayyyyy down there!!!! |
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| Not captured in this image: My frozen finger tips. |
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Moral of the story: If you want to have an enjoyable time at Pilatus + climb to the top
of it, don't come during winter season. |
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Aside from the (admittedly beautiful) lake and nicely decorated buildings, I just couldn't
seem to find anything else interesting in Lucerne .__. |
8. Regensburg, Germany
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| A view from my bedroom |
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| The place I would soon call home |
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| Let this be a proof that I didn't just travel in Europe; I did teach (at times). |
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| Funny to find this one here |
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| Everything does look prettier in white |
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The city was rebuilt from the bottom to top after WWII (where the allies flat out destroyed
almost every major German cities with bombs), all while preserving the original
architecture. You'll find here the original bricks in black, remnant of WWII. |
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| Cool looking shell exhibit |
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No, this is not the classic Brandenburg Gate picture (I did visit it though).
Biar anti-mainstream, enjoy this weird-looking robot we found at a refugee (?) site |
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Someone must've really been pissed off by the US Presidential election.
Ironically, it's also written on a wall (though not built by Mexicans) |
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It was an emotional journey reading through the stories at the Holocaust Memorial.
Definitely visit this while in Berlin |
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| I was this close of getting scammed LOL |
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The port city Hamburg. I was actually anticipating a nice walk around
the city, but then it fking snowed the entire fking day! |
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Cold and wet, I found this Indonesian restaurant in Hamburg to conclude
my Euro Trip! |
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| Dish: Schweinshaxn (roasted pork knuckle) with potato dumpling |
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Desert: Donauwelle ("made of layers of plain and chocolate pound cake combined to have
a wavy border between them. It contains sour cherries and is topped with buttercream and
chocolate glaze" Wikipedia) |
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| Beverage: Germans call it 'water' |
13. Other notable stuff worth mentioning:
- Orang Jerman itu sangat environmentally conscious. Sebagai contoh, di dalam rumah host family-ku, sampah-sampah itu disortir dan dibuang berdasarkan jenisnya (recyclable, compostable, etc). Selain itu, mereka juga menggunakan bahan bakar pellet kayu (yang katanya menghasilkan emisi gas lebih sedikit daripada BBM) untuk menghangatkan ruangan saat musim dingin, dan juga memasang panel surya di atap rumah mereka.
- Akan tetapi, seakan-akan bertolak belakang dengan sifat yang disebut di atas, orang Jerman kebanyakan adalah perokok. Ironis sih bagaimana sebuah negara yang sungguh menghargai lingkungannya tapi tidak begitu dengan tubuhnya sendiri.
- Orang Jerman sangat mementingkan ketepatan waktu. Mungkin ini tidak perlu disebutkan lagi, tapi memang mereka, kalau misalkan kereta terlambat 1 menit aja, bisa marah-marah sendiri nunggunya. No wonder public transport here became so efficient.
- Satu hal teraneh yang kurasakan di WC umum di Eropa, (seperti Jerman dan Swiss) adalah cara mengeringkan tangan. Mungkin untuk menghindari sampah tisu, negara-negara tersebut kebanyakan menggunakan hand dryer dan suatu alat aneh (ga tahu namanya apa) dimana dari alat tersebut keluar gulungan kertas yang kita bisa pakai untuk mengelap tangan, dan setelah 10 detik, gulungan kertas tsb 'dimakan' kembali oleh alat tsb. Pokoknya aneh deh, susah dijelaskan, dan aku sendiri butuh waktu 5 menit awalnya untuk mencari tahu bagaimana mengoperasikan hal tsb .__. (wish I had a picture to explain better..)
- Orang Jerman sangat terbuka/tertarik untuk bicara politik. Hal pertama yang selalu ditanya anak-anak sekolah thdp kita anak MIT selalu mengenai Trump dan sistem politik Amerika. (I was told that every year, that is the case with them)
- Orang Jerman tidak malu untuk berbicara tentang tragedi WWII dan Nazism.
- Orang Bavaria (provinsi di Jerman Selatan, yang ibukotanya Munich) lebih bangga meyebut dirinya seorang Bavarian daripada seorang German. Jika ditanya, pasti bilang pusat pemerintahan mereka adalah di Munich, bukan di Berlin.
- Orang Jerman sangatlah mementingkan privasi, jadi jangan terkejut jika kebanyakan dari mereka tidak punya facebook account (dan jikalau punya, biasanya memakai nama alias / pp palsu)
- Dikira suka serius terus, rupanya orang Jerman adalah orang yang suka bercanda jika kita sudah mengenal mereka dengan baik.
- Minum bir di siang hari (atau bahkan di dalam kelas saat kuliah) bukanlah hal yang tidak wajar di Jerman.
- Orang Eropa, tidak seperti di Amerika, lebih senang menggunakan uang kertas dibandingkan kartu ATM/kredit.
- Bakeries, definitely. Kalau uda makan roti di Eropa, yang selain enak, murah lagi (ketimbang di Amerika), roti-roti di Amerika jadi kelihatan seperti s*mp*h
- Jalan-jalan keliling Eropa murah. Selain ada kereta, bisa naik coach bus, salah satunya seperti flixbus: Dari Berlin ke Hamburg (yang kurang lebih memakan 3.5 jam) hanya 20 € pp! Bisnya enak lagi, ada wifi + tempat cas-an, jadi ga bosan deh di perjalanan.
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