#880 - So, This Is How Monday Will Look Like

ENGLISH

I did write two weeks ago that two of my courses this quarter are both held on Monday, but they are held in two different cities: Utrecht and Delft. At first, I thought the first Monday I would experience this thing was last week's Monday. But apparently, the morning course at Utrecht did not start last week, but it started this week. I was not complaining last week, as it meant that I had an extra time to relax, lol.

Anyway, so, this Monday came. I was kinda excited, to be honest, as it was literally the first time ever in my life I had a regular class that would be held in different city and I had to come back to Delft in the afternoon!! I would be part of the morning rush (which turned out that it was kinda not fun)!!

So, this morning I got up pretty early (because I also had to cook my breakfast and prepare my lunch as I did not want to be starving during the course). At 8, I met my friends at the station and we left Delft catching train at 8.15 to Rotterdam (we had to transit once at Rotterdam). Being part of the morning rush was very not fun. Just for you to get a seat, you need luck, let alone you want to sit with your group of friends! Beside, my kortingkaart (discount card) is not valid during morning rush before 9 (although it does not really matter as my ticket will be reimbursed by the university).

Anyway, so we finally made it to Utrecht, sitting separately but we all got our own seat (thanks God for that!). From the station, we caught a frikkin' long bus (it looked like three buses joint together) to get to the university. As predicted, we got lost just to find the frikkin' building in which the class would be held. There was no clear sign about the location of the building. Well, I did survey it on Google Map before going, but I forgot to mark which one was north, south, etc, so it did not really help, lol. Twenty minutes getting lost, we finally found the building and subsequently, our class.

Then, I expected the class to be interesting. I read the class' description so I pretty much had an idea (supposedly) about what to expect. However, in the first class this morning, the professor talked about something completely different (from my perspective)! I mean, well, I understand that what he explained today might be, in a way (supposedly), the very very very basic of all things that we might need. I thought it was supposed to be "brief", but I just felt it was not brief at all. Even at one point in the middle of the lecture, he said that he just compressed a 5 classes (which objective was really that field he explained) material into a 90 minutes lecture. Well, for me, it was like a slap in the face! How was I supposed to absorb all those things, plus the fact that we were preparing ourselves for something else! It was like you were ordering pizza for a meal in a restaurant but what you got was a big pile of cheese. Well, hopefully the next lecture will be better though.

Anyway, after that class, we went back to Delft. This time, because it was not the rush hour anymore, it was easier to get seats. Short story even shorter, we arrived at Delft at 2.45 PM. I went back home and prepared myself for my evening class which started at 4.45 PM: Dutch class. And as written here, this class is demanding as we have exams right after EACH class.

So, that was it: my Monday this quarter: getting up early - catching early train to Utrecht - being part of the morning rush - class in Utrecht - rushing back to Delft - preparing for Dutch test - Dutch class - Dutch test. Now, when I still basically have no big assignment due in the near future, Monday already looks demanding. Well, but I know I can beat it!! :-)

::: Long bus in Utrecht. Picture was taken from here. Well, next week (if I do not forget about it) I will try to take a picture of this frikkin' long bus.



note : illustration was taken from here.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Dua minggu yang lalu aku menulis bahwa dua kelasku kuarter ini diadakan di hari Senin, tetapi mereka diadakan di dua kota yang berbeda: Utrecht dan Delft. Awalnya sih, aku kira hari Senin pertamaku dengan jadwal seperti ini adalah Senin minggu lalu. Tapi ternyata, kelas pagi di Utrecht baru dimulainya minggu ini, bukan minggu lalu. Minggu lalu sih aku nggak protes soalnya jadi ada sedikit waktu ekstra untuk santai-santai, lol.

Ngomong2, akhirnya, hari Senin ini tiba juga. Aku lumayan bersemangat dalam menghadapi hari ini, jujur, karena ini adalah hari pertama dalam seumur hidupku aku ada kelas reguler yang akan diadakan di kota lain dan aku harus balik lagi ke kota asalku (Delft) di siang harinya!! Aku juga akan menjadi bagian dari morning rush (jam sibuk di pagi hari) (yang ternyata tidak menyenangkan loh)!!

Jadi, pagi ini aku bangun lumayan pagi (kan aku harus masak sarapan dan menyiapkan bekal makan siang soalnya aku nggak mau dong kelaparan di tengah-tengah kelas). Jam 8, aku bertemu teman2ku di stasiun dan kami meninggalkan Delft naik kereta jam 8.15 pagi tujuan Rotterdam (ya, kami harus transit sekali di Rotterdam). Menjadi bagian morning rush ternyata sangat nggak menyenangkan. Untuk dapet kursi aja membutuhkan keberuntungan loh, apalagi kalau mau duduk bareng sama sekelompok teman! Disamping itu, kortingkaart-ku (kartu korting) nggak berlaku ketika morning rush sebelum pukul 9 (yang ini sebenarnya nggak masalah sih soalnya ongkos transportnya bakal diganti sama universitas).

Ngomong2, akhirnya kami tiba di Utrecht, duduk terpisah di kereta tapi setidaknya semuanya dapat kursi (untung banget deh!). Dari stasiun, kami naik bus yang panjang banget (penampakannya kaya tiga bus digandeng) untuk pergi ke kampusnya. Seperti yang sudah diduga sebelumnya, kami kesasar dalam upaya pencarian gedung tempat kuliah diadakan. Nggak ada petunjuk yang jelas sih. Memang sih sebelumnya aku sudah survey peta di Google Map dulu, tapi aku malah lupa ngecek mana arah utara, selatan, dll, makanya nggak terlalu membantu deh, lol. Dua puluh menit kemudian, akhirnya kami menemukan gedungnya dan tentu saja, kelasnya.

Trus, aku berharap kelasnya menarik. Aku membaca deskripsi kelasnya jadi aku memiliki bayangan lah (seharusnya) akan apa yang bisa diharapkan. Namun, di kelas pertama tadi pagi, profesornya malah membahas hal yang sangat berbeda (dari sudut pandangku)! Maksudku, ngerti sih kalau materinya tadi itu, mungkin di satu sisi, akan menjadi hal yang sangat amat dasar sekali dari apa yang akan kita bahas nantinya. Cuma saja, aku rasa seharusnya cukup "singkat" saja lah, dan aku sih nggak merasa yang tadi itu singkat. Malahan aja di satu waktu profesornya bilang dia baru saja memadatkan materi 5 pertemuan di kelas yang memang membahas materi itu, menjadi penjelasan selama 90 menit. Yah, untuk aku sih, rasanya seakan-akan kaya baru ditonjok, gitu aja! Bagaimana deh kita harus memahami semua materi itu, disamping fakta bahwa bukan materi itu yang kita persiapkan! Bisa diibaratkan kita memesan pizza untuk makan di restoran tapi yang keluar adalah keju sepanci. Yah, mudah2an kuliah selanjutnya akan lebih ok deh.

Kemudian, setelah kelas itu, kami kembali ke Delft. Kali ini, karena bukan jam sibuk, lebih gampang deh dapet kursinya. Memendekkan cerita yang udah pendek, akhirnya kami tiba di Delft jam 2.45 sore. Aku balik ke apartemen dan langsung mempersiapkan diriku untuk kelas sore hari yang mulai jam 4.45 sore: kelas Bahasa Belanda. Dan seperti yang kutulis disini, kelas ini tuh lumayan menuntut karena kami ada tes di akhir SETIAP kelas.

Nah, jadi ini deh: hari Seninku kuarter ini: bangun pagi - naik kereta pagi ke Utrecht - menjadi bagian morning rush - kelas di Utrecht - langsung balik menuju Delft - mempersiapkan tes bahasa Belanda - kelas bahasa Belanda - tes bahasa Belanda. Sekarang dimana aku masih belum ada tugas besar untuk dikumpulkan dalam waktu dekat aja sudah kerasa nih tuntutannya. Yah, tapi aku pasti bisa melalui semua ini! :-)