Jatinangor's Lifestyle

I do not know if you guys say that this is a ‘transition period’…

But, you know what? Screw it!

After graduating from high school and got accepted in a university–which is Padjadjaran University (as I already mentioned in my blog)–I had to leave home, family, friends, and my luxurious life. Instead of being sad due to far away from hometown, I was so happy back then that I finally live alone for (temporarily) four years to study and no parent around to scold me when I am playing games/watching animes on my laptop. And to be honest, this experience is not very new to me since I already did the homestay at a host family’s place–which is a village that located in the border of Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta–for a week.

And the place that I am staying right now is Jatinangor, which is a small village but looks like a suburb and has a pretty lively nightlife. Yes, like in my hometown Tangerang, Jatinangor also has cafés/restaurants–but not as much as in my hometown. Jatinangor also has a mall that become a runaway place for students who are already tired of studying in class and doing projects from their lecturers. Despite being a lively nightlife, I heard that there are a lot of bad guys who will come after every person who passes through them–especially women and in fact, I am a woman. They will either tease you seductively or touch your sensitive parts of your body. Also, since Jatinangor has few lights, it will make the bad guys easily do that to everyone who passes through them. Aside of that, I have to walk with my eyes looking down otherwise I will be stumbled by something invisible. For me, being safe and sound when going home is very important, otherwise your parent will get worried at you.

When I was still a high school student, I always hanged out at different malls every weekend. I also had lunch/dinner in a fancy café/restaurant, whether with family or friends. But now, I have to learn how to set expenses whether I eat at a café/restaurant or buy something. And because of that, I started to learn cooking for myself after I live in Jatinangor. Once, I was afraid of fire from the stove, but now I am getting used of it–except the oil that suddenly splash from the frying pan. For the ingredients, I usually buy them at the supermarket. And when I am cooking, I care about the taste, yet I do not really care about the final result. In the end, I must dig in my own dish until the end. If I crave for something and/or am too lazy to cook, I will go outside and visit a stall around where I live to buy the dish.

Oh, and by the way, there are two things that make me shocked that time.

The first one is when I talk with someone in college, they always use aku-kamu instead of gue-lo. “What the f*ck?” I mean, I am so disgusted with aku-kamu and it also makes me want to vomit in front of that person. In my hometown, aku-kamu is a calling for those who are in dating or in family (brother/sister is an exception), and because of that, aku-kamu is rarely used for conversation there and always use gue-lo. While on the other side, my friend said that in rural areas–especially the place with strong culture–gue-lo is impressed as a rude way to talk to someone, especially those who are absolutely just met that day. Since that, I tried myself to use aku-kamu when in conversation with someone. Sometimes, I accidentally use gue-lo, but I really hope that my interlocutors understand what I say–and why I am usually use gue-lo in every conversations.

The second one is the thing that makes me feeling disappointed until now. And it is when all online transportations are not allowed to operate in Jatinangor due to the protests from the conventional transportation drivers (such as taxi-bike and mini bus) who felt that their land was taken away. “Why, b*tches?” The online transportation drivers are also looking for their income. For me, the world is gradually changing and it will never stop, so you must find a way to survive yourself. And then, we have Indonesians who are afraid of change but wanted to be like other country. Well, accept it. After all, this is Indonesia–a democracy country. “So primitive,” according to Okoye in Black Panther. In Tangerang, even once the online transportations were also unacceptable by the conventional transportation drivers, but they finally accepted that and started to make a territory–so that the online transportation drivers do not come near them to pick up a passenger.

Aside from all that I have mentioned, I really like the weather here. Whether in day or night, the air is cool–since Jatinangor is located near mountains. Sometimes, it can be very cold at night, but I do not mind that. While in Tangerang, aside from the hot weather, vehicle smokes everywhere and it truly makes me sweating and wants me to take off my clothes. Ugh…

Right now, I have been lived in Jatinangor for (nearly) a year and I am soon will become a second year student. Wow… I cannot believe that time flies so fast. Ugh… But, here is a self-note reminder, “Enjoy the process and be happy with it.”

-Shane Tommo
July 07, 2018; 11.58 PM (West Indonesia Sea Time)

Picture: Samsung Galaxy 3 Neo (feat. VSCO)