Universe Conspiracy on IKYEP 2013

"We are the sum of all the moments of our life,"

As a self centered girl, I’d like to know what is going to happen next, in every shape and mold of my destiny. I have always wanted to know beyond it, like one step earlier before the universe gave the sign. I always fail, of course. Life just can’t stop throwing you surprises. But I never gave up. Until it happened, a beautiful twist that changed my way of thinking. Long story short, I passed a sequel of test to join IKYEP —Indonesia-South Korea Youth Exchange Program— which was tough, let me define tough; “something that you were confuse about, when you were a girl who always desperately begging for a sign from the universe, and not going through anything without a guarantee slash sign that you are going to get the thing that you pursue, but somehow you stayed”.

I took it for granted. I met so many inspirational person, most of them was like a key that trying to open a door but it didn’t work, I mean you could met a lot of inspirational person or read a lot of motivational books but not one really give you a change in your life, it just end up making you think that its actually cool to see things the way they did, but you didn’t really change the way you see things the way they did. Its impossible anyway, we have this very unique way of thinking that differ us from others. But there is this one that satisfied my thirst of sensational things. Might be not very sensational for you, but for me it work just perfectly sensational, like I said. Your mind works uniquely.

the bell

It was my 10^th day in Korea, I will have a flight back to Indonesia the next day, so I was hoping for something more to be remembered, something special, maybe? That day we were scheduled to visit Dukpojin Museum, on the guidance book we were given, it says that it’s an educational museum that build by a husband for his wife who is originally a teacher blinded by an accident. It has been established for almost 20 years, built in 1996. I thought the place would be a big and spacey with a lot of books and maybe some stuff about education. And it turns out to be a very small house which filled with old elementary school desks, old uniforms, old bags, old footballs, and old books of course, plus with dust everywhere, smoke that comes from fireplace with a boiler hung on top of it in the middle of the class room. These have surprised me enough but yet the universe hasn’t finished the conspiracy of surprising this snobbish girl.

There wasn’t so many people coming to this museum that day, maybe because of the weather which is getting colder, it was 0°C and the fire place doesn’t help much even though I sat right beside it. On these tiny elementary school desks, I feel how warmness doesn’t always come from sun or fireplace. It comes from inside.

fireplace and the boiler

The old man showed up and took place in front of the class, playing his role as a teacher, we recognize him as the owner or the man who build this magical museum. I don’t know Korean language, but this old man has a charm that made us smile when he smile, confuse and curious when he put mysterious facial expression, and again, surprised when he took things out from the magic drawer, sometime it bags and ask us to wear it, sometime its old drawings and asked us to guess what was on that drawings, and sometime it’s a lunch box but not giving us food from it. We were having fun, I can feel the warmness burst out from my inside, I forget the smoke from the fireplace and that its actually freezing here.

old uniforms

And then she came, walked down the aisle like a bride, all shiny with her smile. There was no doubt, no wrong steps, she walked towards her husband like she wasn’t blind at all. She then said something to us, of course I don’t really understand, but I guess it was something about games and fun, and then she sat in front of a very old and small sized piano and played a song, it sounded familiar that I could even hummed along.

The old man taught Maya how to wear the bag.

When I saw that old lady, I wondered how does it feel to be her, such as unrequited love, when her eyes blinded by an accident she had to stop teaching, because a blind is considered not able to teach in public schools. And just right there! I can see how the universe played its role in creating such a lovely twist for a lovely lady. Her dearly husband decided to build an Education Museum, starting from the class room, the books, the uniform, and all it takes to have a thousand years of education history into one place. And now that she had her own class room and the chance to teach all the visitors, the unrequited love towards education seems to be gone, it was two sided love, or let say… three, four? When you had the pure love to education, all you need is a little magic dust from the universe delivered by dearly love of live. At least, it worked for her.

Lee In Sook

It might sound weird, but it is good to have something to be optimistic about. Like when the world collapsing and you know you are tired of talking about how it is actually turning worst day by day so you decided to stop talking about it and do things —anything— that you could to fix. I am on my way to fix something in you my dear INDONESIA, endure the pain a little while.

That time I was very grateful that the universe created a very beautiful conspiracy to surprise me, and definitely gave me a beautiful moment to sum into me.

Love,

Ade Nilam Sari Putri

IKYEP 2013