Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Yes, I got the Visa to Germany


at the General Consulate of German

After arriving in Vancouver, BC, Canada in June 23, I just spent most of my time with my daughter Kadek, while my husband Thomas Hunter is busy finishing his college works, grading and office hours with his students. Kadek took me to meet with her friends in a few different places. I met with Bahar, Mickey, Frederique, Angela, Claire and Rosio. We went to Kadek's school at the University Hill about 20 minutes walk from our apartment at the Gardenia Garden in Larkin Drive. I myself was busy with unfinished works for the SIT. Basically we are all busy with our own work.

One evening, we remember that I did not have a visa for going to Germany yet. Then we checked online to make an appointment with the German Consulate, unfortunately there was not any day left until August this year. We are so upset and felt so stupid for not thinking about applying for the visa sooner. I was so worried that I would not be able to present my paper at the University of Heidelberg. Then we found a possibility that I could apply for Schengen visa via the Netherlands Consulate. We made the booking for July 7, 2014 on Monday.


Appointment Details

WebReference Number  
     Applicant Name
         Appointment Date
Appointment Time
001139094919 
     NI WAYAN PASEK ARIATI
         2014.07.11
1050

Regards,
Consular Department

So, we complete all the documents needed for going the Netherlands Consulate. It was Monday 7 of July we left the apartment at 9am to give us more time to find the place. We took bus No. 4 going down town. We stop at Burrad street and walked to the office at Vancouver: Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Suite 883, Three Bentall Center, PO Box 4968, 595 Burrard Street, Vancouver, Canada V7X, Phone +1 106-684-6448
We went to the 8th floor of the Three Bentall Center, we entered the office of the Consulate and sat down quietly waiting for our turn to be called. I was very nervous at the time. I read some magazines without concentrating on the reading. 

It was at 10:50am finally I was called by a lady behind the glass window. I handed in my confirmation sheet and gave her my application documents. Before she even looked at my documents, she asked me how long I would be in Holland. Being honest with my trip, I told her that I would be in Holland for a week then to Germany for 42 days. "Well, she said,,,you need to apply for a visa at the German Consulate since you will spend most of your time in Germany", while handing back all my documents.

Upset with my honesty in replying to her question, I was very angry with the fact that I did not apply for the German visa in Bali. Along the way home, we did not say a word worrying about how we all would be able to go to Germany as a plan if I did not get my German visa. 

So, as soon as we got home, we checked on line about the possibility to apply a visa at the German Consulate. We checked online...yes it was one slot free on Monday 14 July at 10.00 am.

Dear Ni Wayan Ariati,
Your appointment at Vancouver on 14.07.2014 from 10:00 until 11:00 has successfully been booked.
The address of the German Consulate General Vancouver is: Suite 704 - World Trade Centre, 999 Canada Place Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3E1

The World Trade Center

It was Monday 14 July at 8:00 am, we left the house to get a bus No. 4 down town Vancouver. We were so tense in the bus worrying about being refused again as what happened at the Netherlands consulate. We printed a map about how to get to the German consulate. We got to the World Trade Center, office complex at about 9:00 am, that meant that we had plenty of time to go around. I took a few pictures at that area.


The World Trade Center from the distance

View from the Pan Pacific hotel near the World Trade Center

We entered the World Trade Center and looked for directory to get to the German Consulate. It was on the 7th floor room no 704. Feeling nervous, my husband push the bell next to the door. A man came out asking about our purpose going there. We gave him my booking confirmation. He took it and brought it inside, he told us to wait until he called us. While waiting for a call from him, there were a few pople coming and entering the office with his permission. At that time I felt like being discriminated for not being allowed to enter the office. Not long after he took my confirmation, he came out asking us if that notification was the rescheduling from the Friday 13th. Jeeez....we were so angry. how could that be? Did we read the booking incorrectly? My husband asked him to recheck the confirmation. He did not come out for a while which made us more and more nervous. 

Finally, he came out from his office saying, " I am sorry for misreading the confirmation. Yes, you are right, it is today at 10:30 am, please come in and take a seat", he said. What a big relief! We sat down and observed around us and saw how nice people at the consulate. It made us a bit easy knowing that they are friendly and not very strict.

I was called by one of the officers. I showed her my booking and handed in all the documents. She checked everything and asked me a few questions. 
"how long will you be in Germany?", "Will you travel to other European countries as well?", "where will you stay while in Germany?", etc

After replying to all her questions, she asked me to put my four fingers on the finger-print machine; left, right and followed by the two thumbs. Done with the finger prints, she asked me to pay CAD$88 cash. She issued the receipt and told us to pick up the passport with the visa in two days from that time. 

Today, Wednesday 16 July 2014.
We went back to the German consulate to pick up my passport. We rent a car this time because we needed to do a few errands in town. We left at 10am and get there at 10;30 am, we went directly to the office. The security man still recognized us, he told us to wait for the next person to be called. 

Yes, I got my visa to Germany only in two days. Germany is the best, thanks for your kindness. See you in Heidelberg in July 19th. 
Being happy after getting the visa to Germany




   

Santa Lucia, Venice

Santa Lucia 28 July 2014

After three days in Venice, now we are heading to Florence, we woke up at 6am to get ready to catch the water bus. I took shower and cleaned our room a bit. I checked emails and Facebook of course. It was 7am, which meant that we still have time for breakfast. It opens at 7am. The dining room was still empty, we both had cappuccino and orang juice. Kadek had a piece of bread with butter and cheese.
(A picture of dinning room and Kidok)

After having a cup of cappuccino and a glass of orange juice we checked out from the hotel, the man at front desk was very friendly. We returned the key and said good bye. We walked along the allies toward the Plazza San Marco. It was very quiet in the morning, there were only a few people around n many turtle doves eating from people who fed them. (Insert a picture of empty park).

We arrived at the San Marco water bus stop, we validated our tickets but they were expired, which meant that we had to buy two new tickets. There was one ticket vending machine around that area, and the ticket office was not open yet. We put ten euro to buy one way ticket, for some reason, the machine didn't give us any change, then we put another ten euro to get another ticket, again there was not any change given.

A few minutes after getting the tickets, the water bus arrived at San Marco. There were only a few people in the boat, so we had a chance to sit in front on the first row of the chairs. The water traffic was still very quiet at that moment. I took a few more pictures on the way to Santa Lucia bus stop.

Getting at Santa Lucia, the place has been busy with many people. I really needed to pee, but I had no coin to open the door to the public toilet, nothing is free in Italy. We had to get a one euro coin to open the door to the toilet. We walked around and got a bottle of water for our trip, but the main point was to get a coin.

Inserting a one euro coin at the machine, the door open by itself. The toilet was very clean, everything is automatic. We don't need to flush the toilet, the water run automatically after we pee, and the water also run automatically when we wash our hands, just need to put our hands under the tap. When we need to dry our hands, just put our hands under the hand dryer. However, when we get out from the toilet, the doors won't open by itself. I got confused for a while, I tried to read the sign about how get out. But before I finished reading, a lady who smoked outside the toilet before I went there, pushed the red button on the right side of the door which opened by itself.

"Thank you!"

Curious eyes

A chubby girl

I was very chubby when I was a girl. I was chubby till I was a student and the Udayana University. People sometimes looked at me in certain feelings. One day I was standing in front desk at the BII office in Denpasar, a woman next to me pinched my chubby cheeks very hard, it hurt, but she laughed and said,"menggemeskan sekali pipinya". "maaf, sakit ya?"

That's a long time ago, but now I am not very chubby. While having breakfast in Stollhofer hotel in Inzing in table Zimmmer 7, there was a chubby girl, curly hair, chubby red cheeks, in long pants kept looking at me from top of my head to my toe. I felt funny that a girl was watching me with curious look. Her mom called her and she went to her mom but not long after that she came back watching me again.

Maybe she has never seen an Asian people before. A short, with black gray hair, flat nose, mata sipit, she must have wondered what kind of creature I was. I smiled at her which made her run to her mom.

There were 8 of them actually, four adults and four children. The adults were all large both men and women, the children were between 5 to 10 years old. They were very loud indeed but it did not bother me at all seeing my communal society background. I got used to being in the crowd ness areas.

That girl came back once more time watching me for the last time before they left the breakfast room. She kept looking at me. I was totally fine with it.

The next morning I had breakfast, that girl was not there anymore, I kind of missed her. No one was curious watching me anymore. 

Kidung Sudamala and Kidung Sri Tanjung

Summaries of the Kidung Sudamala and Kidung Sri Tanjung

(excerpt from my dissertation in CDU, Darwin, Australia)

I. Summary of the Kidung Sudamala

Episode 1: The three great deities Sang Hyang Tunggal, Sang Hyang Asihprana and Sang Hyang Wisesa once gathered together in the dwelling place of Bhatara Guru, the Supreme Deity. They were discussing the misdeed of Sri Uma, wife of Bhatara Guru, whom they heard had “shared her beetle-nut quid and face-powder” with Sang Hyang Brahma, that is she had committed adultery with Lord Brahma[1]. Bhatara Guru was furious upon hearing that news, and so cursed Uma into becoming Durga, a terrifying demoness. Uma then transformed into a demonic figure with long dishevelled hair; her eyes were like twin suns; her mouth was like a cavern with protruding fangs; her two nostrils were like the holes of twin wells and her entire skin was covered with spots and blemishes.

In that form she was called Ra Nini and sentenced to reside in a cremation ground called Setra Gandamayu. She must dwell in that cemetery for twelve years together with her followers until the time came when Bhatara Guru himself would exorcize her with the assistance of Sadewa, one of the twin sons of Pandu and Madri.[2]

It is said that there were also two celestial beings named Citranggada and Citrasena who committed the misdeed of flying above the head of Bhatara Guru while he was with his consort, Uma, in their bathing place. They too were cursed by Bhatara Guru to become twin demons, named Kalanjaya and Kalantaka[3] and sentenced to serve the Kaurawa, the evil cousins of the five Pandawa brothers for a period of twelve years, the same period of Uma’s punishment in the form of Ra Nini. They are told to reside with Ra Nini in the Setra Gandamayu cremation grounds.

Episode 2. Kunti, the mother of the Pandawa brothers, heard the news about those two powerful demons (Kalanjaya and Kalantaka) and grew worried about the safety of her sons. Without the knowledge or permission of her sons, Kunti planned to pay homage to Ra Nini at her shrine (kahyangan) in the cremation ground of Setra Gandamayu. She entered the cremation grounds and worshipped Durga or Ra Nini. The terrible goddess then appeared to Kunti. Kunti implored her to help her sons to destroy those two demons, but Ra Nini refused her request because those two demons were none other than her own two sons.

Episode 3. However, Ra Nini said that she would fulfill Kunti’s desire if she were willing to sacrifice a “red-goat”, that is a human being. She specifically asked that the victim be Sadewa because Sadewa was a “hot person” who jeopardized every person who was close to him, because he was the second-born of a pair of twins.[4] First, Kunti refused Ra Nini’s request because Sadewa was not her biological son, and instead she offered her own sons, Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna as a sacrifice to Ra Nini/Durga. But then Kalika, a loyal disciple of Ra Nini, “entered” (or “possessed”) Kunti, and so she immediately came under Ra Nini’s power and went home to bring Sadewa back as a sacrifice to Ra Nini.

Episode 4. When they arrived at the Setra Gandamayu, Kunti tied Sadewa to a randu tree.[5] Sadewa was then assaulted and tempted by many types of ghosts and demons of the cremation ground. When Ra Nini/Durga saw Sadewa she was ecstatic and immediately tried to eat him, but she found she could not do so. Then Ra Nini/Durga took out her long sword and tried to kill Sadewa, but still in vain. Ra Nini/Durga could not consume Sadewa because Bhatara Guru had given him the power to be invulnerable.

Episode 5. Durga then asked Sadewa to exorcize her, so that she could return to her form as Uma, but Sadewa refused, explaining that he lacked the ability to do so. Then Bhatara Guru arrived and “entered” Sadewa’s body in order to exorcize Durga. After being exorcized by Bhatara Guru through Sadewa, Ra Nini/Durga turned back into the goddess Uma. To show her appreciation to Sadewa, Durga/Uma blessed him in two ways. First, she gave him the name “Sudamala” that means “purified or released (suda, shuddha) from sin or stain (mala)”. Second, she advised Sadewa to go to a hermitage in Prangalas to propose marriage to Ni Soka, the daughter of the sage Tambrapetra and assured him that he would be successful in his aim.

Episode 6. The Sudamala story continues with the wedding of Sadewa and his twin brother Nakula with the two daughters of Tambrapetra. This is followed by the war that Nakula and Sadewa wage on the twin demons Kalanjaya and Kalantaka which comes to a climax with the death of the demons, who are then also released from the curse and assume their original form as two celestial beings.[6]

II. Summary of the Kidung Sri Tanjung 

Priyono (1931) worked extensively on the kidung Sri Tanjung, providing a critical edition of the text, Dutch translation and commentary. According to him, the tale of Sri Tanjung is the continuation of the tale of kidung Sudamala, because tale narrates the story of the marriage of the children of Nakula and Sadewa.

The story goes as follows:

After Sahadewa exorcized the demonic Durga and transformed her back into Uma, Sahadewa went with his brother Nakula to the hermitage of Prangalas to cure the blind sage Tambrapetra, which he succeeds in doing. As a reward for exorcizing the goddess and curing the sage, Nakula and Sadewa are granted the daughters of the sage, Ni Padapa and Ni Soka. There were two famous children from these marriages, a son Sidapaksa born from the marriage of Sahadewa and Ni Soka, and a daughter Sri Tanjung born from the marriage of Ni Padapa with Nakula.

When they attained maturity Sidapaksa and Sri Tanjung were married.[7]At this time Sidapaksa devoted himself entirely to serving his king, King Sulakrama. But in time, seeing that Sidapaksa had a wonderfully beautiful wife, the king became jealous and desired to possess Sri Tanjung for himself. First he sent Sidapaksa on a mission to the abode of Indra, and during his absence of Sidapaksa the king attempted to seduce Sri Tanjung. But being faithful to her husband, Sri Tanjung refused to obey the king. Because he felt humiliated by Sri Tanjung, when Sidapaksa came back from the abode of Indra, the king slandered Sri Tanjung by reversing the facts and claiming that she had attempted to seduce him. In a blind rage Sidapaksa confronted his wife and dragged her to the Gandamayu cemetery where killed her. But when Sidapaksa washed his clothes after killing his wife, he noticed that the bloodstain still smelled fragrant, and immediately realized that he has killed an innocent person.[8] Upon realising what he had done Sidapaksa went mad with grief and resolved to go to the underworld to seek the return of his beloved wife. At the same time Dorakala, the doorkeeper of the afterlife, however, refused to allow the soul of Sri Tanjung to enter because it was not yet time for her to die. At that moment there was also a severe earthquake that turned the world very dark. The gods in their abode were startled at this situation. At that time Ra Nini (Durga), who was in her heavenly abode (Kahyangan) was also startled and tried to find out what has happened. She saw the body of Sri Tanjung in the Gandamayu cemetery, and went there to revive her and bring her back to life. Following this Kalika, the loyal servant of Durga took her to Prangalas.

Sidapaksa tried to find the dead body of Sri Tanjung in the Gandamayu cemetery, but of course, his search was in vain. He then tried to kill himself with his kris knife, but the goddess Durga saw it, and stopped him from killing himself, though she did not reveal herself to him. He was amazed that an invisible spirit had saved his life, and so immediately carried out an act of sincere worship. The voice of the goddess Durga then informed him that Sri Tanjung is still alive, staying in the hermitage of Prangalas. The voice told him that he must kill the evil king, Sulakrama.

Works Cited:

Padmapuspita 1977, Candi Sukuh dan Kidung Sudamala, Komentar, Teks dan Alih Bahasa. Jakarta: Proyek Pengembangan Media Kebudayaan, Ditjen. Kebudayaan, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan R.I.

Priyono 1938, Sri Tanjung, een Oud Javaansh verhaal. The Hague.

Santiko, Hariani 1987, “Kedudukan Bhatari Durga di Jawa Pada Abad X-XV Mesehi.” (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Indonesia, Depok)

Stein Callenfels, P. van 1925, “De Sudamala in de Hindu-Javaansche kunst.” Verhandelingen van de Bataviaasch Genootsch



[1] David Shulman (1985: 304) notes that the close relationship of South Indian kings with the goddess can easily lead to the idea that the goddess is “fickle” or even fond of adultery. He points out that: “No less ambiguous is the king’s intimate relation with the goddess, either in her form as Sri, ‘royal splendor’ - a notoriously fickle figure - or as the warrior maiden Durga or Durga-Laksmi”.

[2] Sahadewa and Nakula, the sons of Pandu and Madri, are half-brothers to Yudhisthira, Arjuna and Bhima, the other members of the famous “five Pandawa brothers” who are the heroes of Indian and Indonesian versions of the Mahabharata.

[3] Their names mean “Victory of Time or Death” (Kala-n-jaya) and “End of Time/Death” (Kala-antaka), but the second name could also be understood “One Who Brings an End Through Time/Death”.

[4] In a later chapter I will discuss the way that plays like Sudamala and similar tales like the Javanese Murwakala and Balinese Sapu Leger (and Sudamala) are used as a main element of rituals aimed at purifying several kinds of ritual impurity. One of these is the birth of twins, which brings about an inauspicious state that is “cured”  in Java and Bali through performance of a wayang play like the Sudamala story.

[5] A randu tree a large, tall tree with flowers red as blood that is closely associated in Java and Bali with cemeteries and cremation grounds.

[6] My sources for this synopsis are van Stein Callenfels (1925: 10-25), Santiko (1987: 79-80) and Padmapuspita (1977: 64-110), as well as the oral tradition of Bali. The Sudamala story is very popular in Bali to this present day. Narrative reliefs of the Sudalama story can be found in quite a few villages, where they engraved on the outer walls of the Pura Dalem, the temple that protects villages from the dangerous influences of the cremation ground and cemetery. As I have noted above the Sudamala story is also important in wayang plays performed as part of the rituals exorcizing the dangerous power of children born as twins.

[7] There have been several studies of the importance of cross-cousin marriages in South India, and of the fact that this pattern that is so popular in the Dravidian South India is at odds with the Indo-European prohibition on close-cousin marriages that is prominent in North India. It is significant that several of the great kakawin of ancient Java (Hariwangsa, Krsnayana, Ghatotkacasraya) are about cross-cousin marriages that have to be accomplished through abduction or elopement because the parents cannot give public consent to the marriages.

[8] Man y of the basic elements of this story are repeated in the nineteenth century Balinese tale of Jayaprana, which is well-known from many versions of the tale in geguritan form. In that tale, however, it is the male (Jayaprana) whose death is brought about by the king, who is ultimately destroyed through his actions of killing Jayaprana and attempting to seduce his wife, Layonsari. The element of blood that remains fragrant after the murder of an innocent person is found in both works.

Social Customs in Indonesia


Social Customs  

The Indonesian people, in general is very friendly and very polite. It is the inheritance from the past that the younger must respect the older or the lower status people should pay respect to the authority. In Hindu society, the lower caste pay respect to the upper caste in the way of addressing, use different level of language, body gestures or the place where to sit and the way they sit.

To show how polite and respectful the Indonesian society we can observe from the formal context like a meeting, seminar or conference where the Indonesian greet those who are considered having high-status or VIP must be addressed by saying, “Yang Terhormat” or the Most Respectful then followed by the honorary title, name and occupation. Not just in spoken language, but also in writing a formal letter they always put the abbreviation of “Yth,…” (Yang Terhormat…) before or after the name of people.

Since they are so polite that they will never criticize people directly, not honest in telling the negative truth. From this custom then appeared the term ABS (Asal Bapak Senang) that means “as long as the boss (father) is happy”. The Indonesian people try to please their authority for a few reasons, for examples: in order not to get fired, not to hurt someone’s feeling. There are many ways not to hurt people’s feeling. By not telling the truth, not criticizing them, not shouting or not whispering to other people while looking at someone. Some people do not look at straight at your eyes because in some parts of Indonesia looking at someone’s eyes while speaking is considered rude and have no respect. The body gestures are also crucial while engaging a conversation with Indonesian. They will consider you rude if you talk with akimbo positions, if receiving or giving with left hand or pointing out something with a foot.

For the sexual behaviors, the Indonesian people do not hug and kiss in public but hold hands with each other of the same gender is very normal. Even boys sleep together in the same bed is also very normal, so do the girls as long as with the same sex.

a very common scene in Indonesia


Fee to pee and sit in Italy

You wanna pee?

Get ready with your coin.....:)

Get ready with small changes for  toilet

Florence, 29 July 2014

When you travel in Italy or maybe in other European countries, make sure that you always have a one- euro coin with you, because anytime you need to use WC (that's the sign they use) or toilet you have to pay one euro either to the keeper of the WC or to the machine that guard the door to the toilet. It is a good business indeed, since people can't hold their pee after a long trip, especially when we travel by a bus without any WC in the bus. However, there are a few WCs in the train, so that we can pee in the train for free. 

I just found out today (at that time) that the cost/fee for using toilet are different depending on where you are. It cost 0,60 Euro at the Santa Maria station. In that area next to Mc Donald, a lady with her machine charge those who want to use toilet. If we use one Euro, she will give change. It is a fact that the line to the lady's room is always longer than to the men's room.

The lady with the machine will give us a ticket to the WC


Later on at Il David, I found out that the cost of using a toilet is 0,70 euro. In that place you need to use the exact change otherwise you won't get the change since no one is there for that. (Insert a picture of toilet at Il David)

While in Venice, we have to pay extra one euro if we want to drink or eat inside a cafe. The waitress will ask us, "to go or here?". If we say here, she would say,"you have to pay one euro extra for that!"

Being tired from walking around, of course we would say, "okay!"

So, things are expensive and nothing is free. By this time I wrote this, I have been tired translating the prices into my own rupiah currency because they all are very expensive. 

Today, Wednesday 30 July, we had early dinner in one of the restaurant near the duomo. We had pizza, a quarter of rose wine. It was great that we had meals after such a long day of climbing 463 stairs to the duomo and another 414 stairs to the Campanile, the bell tower. 

When I asked for the bill, I expected to pay Euro 9 for the pizza + Euro 5 for the wine which made Euro 14. But the waiter brought us bill of Euro 18, I asked him if he made a mistake to his calculation. He said, "no, this Euro 4 is for sitting in our cafe"
"That's okay then", I told him handing him Euro 20 which included Euro 2 for the tip. 


So, life is not easy. Nothing is free.