Dear Young Lady,
Yeay, I need to congratulate for our 10th letters!! Before, I just spent 3 days and 2 nights to finish a letter for you. Right now, I can finish it in 5 minutes without even check the lexical or grammar. I think my English is improving well! Yeay! Because this is 10th letter that I write to you, I will tell you special story, still about me, but out of my routinize, out of this place.
Three years ago, just like Alice who fell into wonderland, I also have been stranded in far far away places from Indonesia. Yeah, I have been living in Europe on 2014 till beginning of 2015. I have been granting an Erasmus scholarship and done my exchange under-graduate program for half of the year in University of Zagreb, Croatia. I know I know, it sounds so fancy right? You must be so proud with your mother now sweetie, I hope you just can do the same, even better!
You must be asking now, How could your silly mother could accomplish all of it?, but in fact, I manage it somehow! It was one of experience that changes my life forever! The feeling when you lived abroad, far away from home, by your own self was the best feeling ever for me. I found myself there! I found new home and new love there!
At the first time, everything feels so different and scary, but it was exciting at the same time. I found new friends, our friendship wouldn’t be last long but it was extremely intense. They helped me to adapt and to live there, I have so many best friends there that probably I did not contact often right now (I feel sorry for that) but I have a great time there. I found best friends that is really best one. I was consistently wear my hijab there, that probably would not so familiar for Croatian and some of rumors about mosleem and Islamophobia, and a good thing is my friends always support me for that. They guarded me in the road when we hang out and yelled back to people who tried to insult me in public? They asked many things about Islam and I was trying my best to give them good impression, I was told them the true, and simply be myself with them, put Islam as my first identity and I hope I was showing my best to represent a good mosleem. In the end, the accepted me just the way I am.
I studied in the oldest university in Balkan countries, have a difficult time to understand Croatian and English, all nighters with assignments and exam, spending all my weekends in laboratory near the forest. I also do my intern program in one of IB high school in Zagreb, I almost lose my sanity when I faced outraging students there with different kind of attitudes. I just remembered how we need to take at least three exams to pass one course and one oral exam. I failed for once and tried twice still failed but finally I am out of the string on third trials. Hw could not? It was Biology molecular that I knew a little and more like phD course instead of what bachelor has. But in the end, I have got excellent results for my transcript in the end of semester.
I traveled in many countries in Europe. Since it is pretty cheap especially when you got tremendous amount of scholarship fees and the distance among country is affordable to reach by bus. Your little mother has been traveled by herself from Zagreb to North Germany, she almost lost in Gronigen, left by train in Munich but she survived, amazing right?. She was in Italy, visit Verona, city of love, attended Masquerade in Venice, city of water , with amazing historical building. She she was in Austria, she has been in Amsterdam, walking through red light district and she almost travel in every parts in Croatia along north Croatia until Dalmatia parts and spent her holiday there. I was attaching pictures that probably not a lot because I’ve lost my memory card when all the pictures there was burned. Eventually I keep that as a precious memories that could not fade away.
Okay sweety! I will write more about my journey, but later.. I got to go! TTYL
Will always love you,
Your Mother
PS: Follow me on my Instagram account for more pictures @tifanychairunisa :D
