Finding My Soul Mate (Part 3)

Here came the third candidate. The first time I talked to him was on the day of his graduation ceremony. It was in 1996. I came to my University with some of my friends. I saw there were some of my seniors wearing their academic gown and toga in a festivity around the hall. The graduation ceremony had just finished. I came there to congratulate them. Then someone called my name. I whirled and saw him “Hi, I’ve been waiting for you. “ He said. “Can we talk? I want to tell you something, an important thing.” I looked into his eyes, and he stared at me. He looked so serious. I said,” Yes, you can talk to me right now.”

He looked around and said,” Not in here. Would you follow me?” He walked down and sheer off the crowd. I followed him with a big curiosity. I’d never talked to him before. I didn’t even know his name. I just knew him as one of my seniors, and that’s all. I wondered what he would talk about.

Finally, near a big tree away from people, he stopped. And I did too. He gazed at me thoughtfully. His face was slightly flushed “Well, actually I really wanted to talk to you long before this day. I couldn’t because I didn’t have any courage. But I have to do it right now. I have just graduated, and I have got a good job. I am going to go to Kalimantan this afternoon to start working there. I don’t care if you have a boy friend or not, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?.” He said. He breathed a sigh of relief, just like a heavy burden had just been released.

“What?!” I didn’t believed what I’d just heard. How could it be? It might be a mistake.

“I know you must be surprise. But please think of my offering. I will be a good husband for you.” He sucked in his breathe.

“How can you say that? We don’t even know each other. Deciding to get married is not a piece of cake. I need time to know you and you do too…”

“That’s it. I don’t have time. I…” He couldn’t finish his words. A car stopped on the road side next to the tree, honking. The driver said to him,” Come on, hurry up! You don’t want to miss the plane, do you?”

He stared at me,” Give me your phone number. I’ll contact you soon after I arrive in Kalimantan.”

I gave him my phone number. He nodded. “I have to go now. See you!”

He ran fast to the car, and then they went away.

I stood there for a while, trying to digest what had just happen. I forgot to ask him his name. I kept thinking, and finally I was sure that it was just a mistake. It was absurd. He did not know me; he positively did not love me. A marriage without love, what would it be? I was scared. I decided to refuse his offering. I was not ready to be a wife; more over to someone I did not know at all. But then I did not get the chance to talk to him. Several times he called me, I was not at home. The other time he called, I was out of town, under went on the job training. At that time, the using of phone cell was not popular in Indonesia. So, in short, we lost contact. And, time passed by. I thought he had already forgotten me.

One year later, in 1997, I was at home. It was on the day off. My phone rang. Then my sister picked it up. “Hi sis, come here. Someone wants to talk to you!” She said. I took the phone, then say hello. Someone there, a man, said that he called from Kalimantan. My memory flooded back. He mentioned his name. Oh God, that was the first time I knew his name. He asked how I was. I told him about my job. He said he was grateful that finally he could talk to me. “Do you still reconsider my offering? Listen, I need to see you. I’ll be home next week. I hope we can arrange a meeting. I’ll come to your house and meet your parents. I want you to know that I am serious. What do you think?”

“ Hold on, please. Give me a chance to think. Ok, of course we can arrange a meeting. Tomorrow I’ll go back to work. I will take one day permission next week so that we can meet. But can we choose another place for the meeting? Please, let me talk to you first before introducing you to my parents. “I said.

“ Well, ok. No problem if that’s what you want.” He said.

After arrange the meeting, he said good bye.

I received a piece of paper from the fourth candidate trough one of office boys. He wrote:

“ Hi, can I come to your dormitory to have a chat with you this evening?”

I replied with “Ok”. I gave the note to the office boy who smiled meaningfully at me.

That evening, he came to my dormitory. He sat at the veranda, wearing red jacket, smiling at me when I came to see him. Then we have a chat. Actually, we had one way conversation, because he was the one who talked much. He told me about his job. He worked at the company which was the main contractor of the project. He was a schedule controller who dealt with all of the companies that involved with the corridor block gas project. His duty was to supervise the work progress of all the sub-contractors and make the report to the owner of the project. It seemed that he had a good technical skill and wide knowledge about working on the field, especially on oil and gas field.

The first visit soon was followed by the second, the third, and so on. One day, when I got the note from him asking me appointment to meet, I said I couldn’t. I had to go home, because I get my day off.

I went home that day. I was surprised when he came to my house in the evening. Day by day I knew him more. He had a strong character, and strong confidence, supported by his physical appearance which was muscular. He also smart and really liked to learn anything new, especially anything dealing with his job.

One day, he came to my dorm. He looked serious. After talking about his daily activities in the field, he said” I had several time seeing you here. I believe you understand the reason why I am here. I don’t want to be your friend; I want more than just a friend. In short, I want to be your husband someday. Now I need you to decide if you accept me or not. I don’t want to waste my time waiting for you if you are only able to offer me a friendship. So, please answer me.”

I was a little bit surprise. How could he say that? He was so straight to the point. He was not a romantic man.

“Well, I don’t know what to say. I can’t give an answer now. What had happen to me recently was confusing. I need time to think about it. Why don’t you let our relationship just flow? Let it flow naturally.” I said.

“ I need a commitment. I want to know where you will bring this relationship. I don’t want to spend some time together with you if someday when I ask you to marry me you will refuse it, or you’ll marry someone else. I will make it simple, just say yes or no” He insisted.

I breathed a sigh. It was odd that four men asking me to marry them almost in the same time. I couldn’t think clearly. I knew that the decision was so important. My soul mate could be one of them or none of them. Oh God, what would I do?

“ I’m sorry I can’t answer it now. But I’ll think of it. Give me one week. Just seven days to find the answer. I need to pray to the God. I believe God will lead me to the best choice.” I said.

“Ok. I’ll be waiting for your answer. I’ll see you again next week.” He looked into my eyes, and smiled.

Finding My Soul Mate (Part 2)

I was just an ordinary woman who dreamed of being a wife and a lovely mother. People lived in happiness or hopelessness based on the single decision of a life partner. A person’s sense of meaning and success were forever influenced by this decision. That’s what I believed. That’s why I took it seriously. So, I began with a standard of my husband-to-be.

I was not a perfect woman, but I thought I deserved to have a husband that had attributes such as maturity in character, emotional stability, and spiritual values. I hoped he would have respect for my parents, honesty, integrity, and responsibility. It sounds perfect, isn’t it? I my self was not sure I could find someone with this quality.

Ok, let’s go back to the candidates.
The first one showed that he had been interested on me since the first time I joined the company. He gave me attention more than other girls in the office. He gave me souvenirs when he returned back from Jakarta or other places. Often I caught him red handed staring at me and smiled. He spoke with nice and sweet voice when he was talking to me, but it would be different when he spoke to other people. I saw the sign but I did not reply it in the way he wanted me to. Actually I didn’t see something interesting on him.

One day, he came to me. He said he needed to talk. It was in the evening, after working hour.

“I believe you know what I feel for you. Well, I know it is too fast since we’ve been known each other for only several months. My age is 30 years old now, It is more than enough to start having a family. My parents ask me to get married soon. Since I knew you I believed that I have already found the right one. I want you to be the mother of my children in the future. I am ready to be a good husband. I have a good job; I have a nice house, and car. And I guarantee you will never live in poverty as long as you are my wife. What do you think? “He said assuredly.

I looked into his eyes. Many things came to my mind. I said silently “What kind of man are you? You’re so arrogant. No one can guarantee what will happen to other person, even to your self. Only God has the authority to guarantee someone’s livelihood. What if you get fired? What if the house is burned down, and you lost all your money? Can you keep your family away from poverty? Who do you think you are? “

I was thinking of choosing the right words to respond. Then He said confidently “ I need you to say yes, or no. If you say yes, I will contact my parents soon so they come to your parents to propose you.”

I had just wanted to refuse his offering, but then I remember my friend’s advice to consider any man. Maybe the first impression of him was not so good, but who knew he was the right person for me.

The second one was my old friend. We’d been friend since we were in elementary school. He was nice, smart, and unique. He was talkative person. As long as he was with me, he always talked and talked about many things such as politics, economics, latest news, philosophy, etc. He liked reading, so he was knowledgeable. His English was excellent; actually I was turned green with envy because my English was not really good. And also one thing, he liked singing. He was like a singing machine or something. What a unique person!

When he gave me a sign of his feeling toward me, I began to feel anxious. The truth was I felt comfort to be his friend, and I wanted to keep it that way. I was afraid I would ruin our friendship and moreover I didn’t want to hurt him. He was such a good man.

When I worked in the field, he sent me letters, and gifts. The more he gave me those gifts, the more I felt guilty that I couldn’t reciprocate in the way he wanted me to. In one of his letter, he told me that I had made him crazy because I did not reply his letters. I didn’t reply them because I hoped he would gradually understand that I couldn’t be his girl. I hoped he would forget me, and found someone else.

TO BE CONTINUED

Finding My Soul Mate (Part 1)

On this coming June, I and my husband will celebrate our 10^th wedding anniversary. We’ve been married for almost 10 years. I am so grateful for everything we’ve reached. I am so happy to be his wife. Hopefully we can maintain our marriage, love, compatibility, and faithfulness till death do us part.

I am neither a consultant nor a competent adviser. I am just an ordinary woman who wants to share my experience when I under went the process of finding my life partner. I don’t mean to show off my happiness and to be proud of it. I just hope that the readers can learn something from what I had been trough. As a Moslem, I believe in God. Its power had leaded me to find my soul mate.

It was in the year of 1997. At that time I was mentally exhausted after the failure on maintaining a relationship with a man. I said to my self “That’s enough. I don’t want to have another boy friend or any intended husband. Getting married is not the main priority anymore.” I just didn’t care. I just enjoyed my job in a foreign company in the field.

My office was located in the middle of the forest on South Sumatera. It’s like a small city, or a small community in the middle of the forest. The Company was doing a corridor block gas project. There were many companies involved in this project.

Then, life was full of choices. At least, it was the condition that I faced. There were 4 men trying to get my attention at the same time, while I was not interested. I felt reluctant to begin a relationship again. But one of my friends said that I had to consider those men. She said,” You’ll never know what will happen to you. Maybe one of them is your soul mate. The fact that you don’t have any special feeling towards them is good as a basis to select the best one. You can be more objective. A life partner should not be chosen on the basis of feelings.”

Ok, I will tell you about the 4 candidates.

The first was one of my colleagues. We worked at the same office, but actually his company and mine had a kind of join operation. His company provided workers for my company such as carpenters, welders, workmen, day laborers, crane operators, drivers, etc. He was the supervisor of those workers who was also responsible for their salary payment.

The second candidate was one of my old friends. He worked in Palembang. He used to send me letters and gifts through the driver at Palembang office. Then the driver brought it to me.

The third candidate was one of my seniors when I was a college student. He contacted me again, after our last meeting one year before.

The fourth was an employee of the other company. His office was beside mine. I knew him when I came to his office to give a report. We actually graduated from the same University, and the same faculty. I was from Civil Engineering, and he was from Mechanical Engineering. But I had never known him before.

TO BE CONTINUED

What Your Name Means

What you'll read bellow is called Numerology. It is any of many system,tradition or belief in a mystical relationship between number and physical object of living things. I do this not because I believe it. This is just for fun.

The meaning of: Juliana Dewi Kartikawati

There are 22 letters in your name.
Those 22 letters total to 89
There are 11 vowels and 11 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:

Latin	Female	Youthful. The feminine form of Julian. Famous Bearer: Former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
Anglo-Saxon	Female	Name of a poem.

Your number is: 8

The characteristics of #8 are: Practical endeavors, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals.

The expression or destiny for #8:
Your Expression is represented by the number 8. The 8 Expression is well-equipped in a managerial sense. You have outstanding organizational and administrative capabilities. You have the potential for considerable achievement in business or other powerful positions. You can expect to receive the financial and material rewards. You have the skill and abilities to establish or operate a business with great efficiency. You have good judgment when it comes to money and commercial matters, and you understand how to build and accumulate material wealth. Much of your success (or lack of it) may come due to your ability (or inability) to judge character. With the number 8 Expression, you exercise sound judgment in most of your affairs; you are realistic and practical in your approach to business matters.

The positive 8 Expression produces individuals that are very ambitious and goal-oriented. If the 8 energy is not in excess in your makeup, you will no doubt express these traits to some extent. No one has any more energy that a person with the 8 Expression who has a plan laid and is starting to work. No one has any more self-confidence, either. If you are expressing the positive qualities of 8, you are an outstanding manager because you can plan, initiate, and complete projects; you are very dependable and determined.

As it always happens, there can be too much of a good thing. If you have too much of the 8 energy in your makeup, you may express some of the negative attitudes. A negative 8 can be very rigid and stubborn. Ambition sometimes has a way of becoming over-ambition, and you may express an unreasonable impatience with the lack of progress. If your negative side is showing, you may be too exacting, both of yourself and of others. Sometimes this can even becomes a case of intolerance.

The number 8 is very materialistic and also very desirous of status and power. Neither of these drives are inherently negative unless they are taken to an extreme. You must avoid the tendency to strain after money, material matters, status, or power, to the detriment of the other important factors in your life.

Your Soul Urge number is: 4

A Soul Urge number of 4 means:
With the Soul Urge or Motivation number of 4 you are likely to strive for a stable life. You tend to follow a rather orderly pattern and systematic approach in your endeavors. You have an inner desire to serve others in a methodical and diligent manner. You want to be in solid, conventional, and well-regulated activities, and you are somewhat disturbed by innovation and erratic or sudden changes. Excellent at organizing, systematizing, and managing, you have a way of establishing order and maintaining it. You are responsible, reliable and in the final analysis, practical. Highly analytical, you can see your way through all sorts of situations and generally have a clear understanding of the issues. You are a very honest, sincere, and conscientious individual.

The negative side of the 4 is rigid, stubborn and somewhat narrow-minded. There is a tendency to hide feelings, or to really not be aware of real feelings. Avoid being too rigid and stubborn in your thinking, and try to always see the big picture rather than becoming to involved with the detail. Don't be afraid to take a chance once in awhile.

Your Inner Dream number is: 4

An Inner Dream number of 4 means:
You dream of being a very solid citizen that people can depend upon. You strive for organization and predictable order. You want to be recognized as a person with a plan and the discipline to make that plan work like clockwork.

If you want to know the Numerology of your name, just click in here

Computer Jokes

Since I created a blog, I spent a lot of time in front of my laptop or my PC. It seemed that become a blogger had changed my life. Computer and I had became inseparable.

It’s amazing to realize that I can do many things in front of the computer. I can browse the internet, I can type a post, I can learn, I can read, and I can even laugh!

Here are some computer jokes taken from “ 101 Wacky Computer Jokes” by J.B. & G.C. Stamper. Enjoy it!

Where do computers go to dance?
The disk-o.

What did the spider do inside the computer?
It made a webpage.

Where do the computers go on vacation?
The Big Apple.

What do you call a computer superhero?
A Screen Saver.

Where do the computers go to shop
The Hardware Store.

What did the customers do in the busy computer store?
They got on line.

Why did the witch buy a computer?
She needed spellcheck.

How can you tell your computer is getting old?
It loses its memory.

What is the computer’s favorite movie?
RAM-bo.

What is the computer’s favorite TV show?
The Text-Files.

Why can’t the computer play tennis?
They try to surf the net.

What did the shoe salesman do when he got a computer?
He booted up.

What did a prisoner do when he got a computer?
He escaped.

What did an astronaut’s favorite place on a computer?
The space bar.

What do you get if you cross a computer and one million mosquitoes?
A gigabyte.

Computer : Did you know that computers are smarter than people?

Human : No, I didn’t know that.

Computer : See what I mean?

The President of Computed States of America
George Washdiskton
Abmodem Lincoln
John Quincy Apples
Warren G. Harddrive
William Mouse Kinley.

You know you’ve been using your computer too long when:

- you double click the floor button on an elevator.

- you try to push escape to leave a boring class

- you try to call up a different menu when your mom serves meatloaf again.

- you try to brighten the monitor when the sun starts going down.

- You try to delete your little brother.

Proyek Link Cinta Mei 2008

I’ve just visited other blog, then I red the latest post about “ Proyek Link Cinta Mei 2008”. The purpose of this project is to increase the traffic and to get free back link faster. The procedure is simple. You just write a post which accommodates the list as follow :

1. As Long As I Can Dream by Jed Revolutia
2. Paint Your Life by Icha
3. Inspirasi Blog by Tony
4. Anda Cantik by Anda Cantik
5. Yoto by Yoto
6. My Life by Tekywidjaja
7. Michael Jolivan by Michael Jolivan
8. Write Whatever Like Water by Putra Eka
9. A Women After God Own Heart by CaCa
10. A Special Gift For Everyone by Rafki Rasyid
11. GratciaNulis13@BigKampoengJakarta by Gratcia
12. My Life My Story by Juliana Dewi Kartikawati
13. A15Minute Team by a 15 minute
14. In Christ Alone by Laurencia
15. Davlin's Room by Yoseline Adams
If you want to join, you should make a post like this, then copy-paste the list.Don't forget to put the links. Write down your blog's title with your URL and your name . You should write a message or comment below this post(not in the shoutbox). Then you have to visit the other blogs to ask them adding you on the list.

Interested? Hurry up !

The Beautiful Place for Vacation (2)

BALI

Vacation is the word that my family likes the most. I am grateful that my country, Indonesia, has a lot of beautiful places to visit. One of them is Bali Island. Bali is popular not only because of its beautiful panorama, but also because of its culture. The facilities there are complete to support tourism. There are many hotels and cottages with various rates. We can choose the appropriate one base on our need.

Last time we spent our vacation there, we chose to stay in Hard Rock Hotel, in Kuta. The hotel was near the Kuta beach. We should across the road and walked about 3 minutes to reach Kuta beach.But we just stayed there one night.

KUTA BEACH

GARDEN VIEW AT HARD ROCK HOTEL, KUTA

On the next day, we moved to Sheraton Laguna Hotel, at Nusa Dua. This hotel was on Nusa Dua beach. The scenery was so beautiful and romantic. But since I came there with my kids, the situation was a far cry from being romantic. I didn't even have special time with my husband. You know kids... they kept me busy looking after them.

GARDEN VIEW AT SHERATON LAGUNA NUSA DUA

I remember when we went shopping at the traditional market " Pasar Sukowati". I was so excited, because there were so many artistic souvenirs with cheap prices. I felt a little bit hysteric that I would buy all of them! But then Dea cried, she said " Mama, I want to pup!" Then everything went wrong...

My husband found Bali was a paradise for photographers. Here are some photos he captured that show the beautiful view of Bali. Someday if my kids have grown up, I want to go there again, just the two of us, me and my husband…

PADDY FIELD AT KINTAMANI

THE SHOW OF KECAK DANCE AT ULUWATU

BEDUGUL

I LOVE THE BLUE OF INDONESIA

The Beautiful Place for Vacation (1)

PAGAR ALAM


Do you see the photo in my header? It was captured by my husband.That beautiful scenery is Gunung Dempo Tea Plantation in Pagar Alam. I and my family really love that place. We often spend time there on our week end.

Pagar Alam town is one of the towns in South Sumatera province, Indonesia. It is located about 298 km from Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatera.

Pagar Alam has an area of 633.66 km^2. Its height is 100-1000 m above the sea level. The temperature is 14⁰ C- 34⁰ C.

There are some tourist’s areas there such as Lematang Indah water fall, Gunung Dempo tea plantation, Liku Lematang, and Gliding sport area.

Lematang Indah water fall

You can rent a villa or you can stay at the hotel there, they are cheap, really!

The Villas

My husband is very fond of photography. He likes to capture beautiful scenery of this place. Here are some other photos:

A Piece of Note from My Diary ( 1 )

Especially for a pure housewife....

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

When I arrived at Dea’s school, my friends there told me that Lina’s husband had just passed away because of thunderstruck. Lina is my friend, his son is Dea’s classmate.I was shocked. Inna lillahi wa inna illaihi rojiun.

I could imagine how she felt. Then I and all of my friends went to Lina’s house ( actually her mother-in-law’s house). I couldn’t stop crying when I saw how sad Lina was. She lied beside her husband’s body, hugged it close, crying.

The death came suddenly, no one could predict it. I could feel the sadness. I did not ask why this happened to her. But what I could learn from this was as a human being we should be ready to accept whatever the reality.

Lina is a housewife. Her husband was the only breadwinner who support the family.What came to my mind was how she and her son could survive. How about their future? I knew his husband did not prepare insurance, or investment, or anything to back up the family .

Lina, and I, and many other housewives should be ready to face anything like taking over the responsibility to become a breadwinner. To become a breadwinner, a housewife should have skills. She has to learn anything, and to be able to do something that can produce income to support the family.

The death of a husband is not the only thing that can force a housewife to become a breadwinner. What if her husband get sick, so he can’t work and earn some money anymore. Or, what if she gets divorce.

Even if her husband is still with her, safe and sound, it will be better if a housewife has her own income. Two sources income are better than just one source.

I myself convince that it’s better to have a skill that can support me to earn money than just to rely on my husband. But then what comes to my mind is, what kind of job that I can do to earn money? I am still searching….

The Silly Love Stories (Part 2)

That experience didn’t change my belief in love at first sight. I still believed that someday I would find my soul mate through the beautiful moment and the miracle of love at first sight. It was such a cloudy day. The sky, covered with clouds, grumbled at me as I stood there in the street corner. The weather began to get cold, and small droplets of water started to fall from the ocean-like sky. I ran into a small café nearby where freshly-brewed coffee and the spicy smell of food mixed in the air arousing my appetite. A maid welcomed me and let me choose a seat. I looked around. The café was almost empty. There he was. A young handsome man who had a tall and athletic body, pug nose, and flawless skin was sitting there, staring at me. I had never met someone who was so stunning that I was amazed for seconds. His gaze was soft, full of warmth and I couldn’t do anything else but smiled at him. He suddenly stood up ” Would you please sit here with me?” He said politely. Calmness floated in the air as if it had given a cognitive reasoning. My heart beat faster. “Is this love?” I whispered in my heart. I approached him, couldn’t resist his charm. He pulled a chair and asked me to sit down. “I am so glad a beautiful lady is willing to accompany me. “He said.

That was the first time I met him. Soon after that day, we became closer and closer. He often came to my house, brought me flowers, candies and sometimes a box of chocolate. He was so romantic, gentle and kind. We had interesting conversations. He said he worked at IT department, where he had a very good career development. He told me many things about his job. Day by day I admired him more. Until one day, he told me that he loved me. I was so happy, I thought this was it, the moment I had been waiting for all of my life.

The day started like any other, except my cousin came from Jakarta. She was an accountant. She said she was on duty and she asked me to accompany her. She was a member of the auditor team that had to scrutinize the financial report of a bank. The morning sun conveyed the warmth of its light from the East as I drove the car with my cousin to take her to the bank. We drove through the entrance gate and I parked beside a security post. I stepped down from the car, then my cousin asked me to come inside the building. “Come with me”. She said.”You can wait for me there in the lounge. It won’t be long.“ We walked through the front door which opened automatically, when I captured someone was standing there. The sight surprised me as I saw him, my dear boy friend was standing there wearing a security guard uniform. He gaped, couldn’t say a word.” You said you worked at IT department…” I said. He altered his gaze to the floor, kept silent. His face was pale. My cousin took my hand and brought me to the lounge in a hurry. I sat on the sofa with a surprised expression still on my face. She looked at me. “What’s wrong? “ She said. “Do you know that guy? The security guard? I knew him; his wife was still in Jakarta. They’ve just gotten married a couple of weeks ago” She explained. “What?!” This time I was not surprised, but absolutely shocked.

It was the storm which broke my conviction on love at first sight. It was just a foolish and naïve thing I experienced. Yet if it really exists, it doesn’t work for me. Those silly love stories have proven that attractive physical appearance can be absolutely deceiving, because the good-looking appearance cannot reveal someone’s true personality. And the attractive feeling I felt towards those handsome men was just a temporary emotion, not really love. These experiences taught me much about being realistic and thinking logically, because life is a reality and totally different from the fairy tales or romantic films.

The Silly Love Stories (Part 1)

When I was a teenager, I believed in love at first sight. It sounded romantic just like the Hollywood stars in the movies, or graceful princess in the fairy tales. A beautiful woman with a perfect body was walking in the flower garden. Her long and straight hair hung down to her shoulder, shimmered like a pearl. The woman enjoyed the beautiful view from various colors of flowers. The delicate fragrance of Roses, Lavenders and Jasmines filled the air. She closed her almond-shaped eyes, took a deep breath to smell the scent of flowers so that she didn’t notice someone’s coming. They collided. She almost fell down, fortunately his strong arm held her from falling. Their eyes met for the very first time, and then their hearts began to thump rhythmically like the beat of classical music. She was amazed at how handsome the man was. He was tall, athletic and macho. His big and blue bright eyes glittered when he admired her beauty. Then it happened, they fell in love. During the next meeting, they became more intimate. They shared their life, walking hand in hand near the ocean shore on the soft-sandy- ground while the sun went down. Having candle light dinner, they danced under the moonlight with the rhythm of melodious music came from their hearts that beat as one and declared their feelings by saying “I love you “.Then in a white castle on the top of the green hill they were married and live happily ever after. . How romantic!

At that time, when I was amazed by the good-looking boy, I thought he was the one. He was handsome. His eyebrows were thick and he was pug-nosed. He had thin lips which always smiled at me. We were in the same senior high school. I was a new student in the first grade, while he was in the second grade. He looked at me with his glittering eyes, I smiled at him then he approached me, walking down slowly towards me with pronounced steps. He took my hand and shook it tightly. When he mentioned his name, I looked into his eyes where I could feel the warmth on them. We talked about the school, the teachers and other things. Soon after the first meeting he came to my house on the next Saturday night in order to know me better. Before he went back home, he took my hands and gazed at me, “Would you be my girl? “, whispered he. I was so happy, I felt like Princess Cinderella, or Aurora or Rapunzel who had found her soul mate prince charming. So far was so good. I thought I had found my love.

The following meeting was not as good as I expected. Our conversation was boring, he was just sitting there in front of me, kept silent, didn’t know what to say, so the situation was a far cry from being romantic as the love scene I saw on the movie. He often gaped when I talked about the latest news, or the music genre that was popular at that time, or any other things. From the gaze of his eyes, I knew that he didn’t understand at all, he didn’t get the point of my words. The day after that he came to me and asked to teach him mathematics and English. He had homework but he couldn’t do it. I wondered why he couldn’t answer such simple questions , which were too easy to solve even for the first grade student like me. On the next two hours I tried hard to explain how to solve the problems until finally I was blue in the face. It was futile, he couldn’t understand at all. I began to ask myself, “Is this love?” Why are my feelings for him gradually turned off? Is he the one I should share my life with forever? Can I live happily ever after with this stupid, handsome guy?” Not too long after that day I broke up with him.

( TO BE CONTINUED)