Confession of A Binge-Watcher Who Hasn’t Quit Binge Watching (and oh my god this title is so long)

Binge watching is so bad. Even Mark Manson says in his book, that it’s the Big Mac for your heart and your brain. It tastes good going down, but in reality is nothing more than empty calories that make you emotionally fat and bloated. (umm, he actually doesn’t say it regarding binge-watching tho, but i like that statement and i think it’s still related so i’m just gonna put it there.)

Binge watching is so bad. “I shouldn't keep doing this because this is gonna mess my bedtime and my health in a long run.” will pops out in my head, many times. Yet after deciding for no logical reason to re-watch the whole seasons of Narcos for the 3rd times, i’ll end up sleeping at 4am then waking up in a great anxiety and feeling lost track of time.

Binge watching is so bad. It’s like voluntarily jumping into a river with a waterfall in the end. I know i’m gonna have to swim against the flow, but i still do it anyway. It consumes all of my energy and my time. In the end, there’s only regret and me promising to myself that i’ll quit (well, after 12 episodes of Young Sheldon.)

I’m sorry self, but we still have a lot to watch.

I swear in the name of the Queen

Its almost a week since I left London. Two weeks in there, where everywhere you look there's always something fun to do, has been an exciting journey for me. Moreover, I've been very impressed with all of the unexpected things I've learnt from this MUN thingy in the past 6 months.

However here is the thing, I swore a lot when I was there. A lot. And those "oath" that I screamed in my head was the reflection of my situation at that current time. So lets do a recap and take a guess why I swore that :)

1. I swear I wont complain about Jatinangor's weather ever again.

2. I swear anytime I get the chance to pee or poop, i'll just do it!. Holding it up doesn't make it any better.

3. I swear I'll religiously drink 2 litres of water a day.

4. I swear I will only buy good quality shoes. Bad shoes is a bad investment. 

5. I swear I'll learn to be a better public-transportation-user. 

6. I swear I'll learn to love my physical appearance more.

7. I swear I'll listen to more music.

8. I swear I'll watch more movies.

9. I swear I'll take more pictures.

10. I swear I'll read more books.

11. Last but not least, I swear I'll try another MUN :)

P.S : I have a theory. These Londoners walk fast not entirely because they believe in "time is money" concept. They walk fast because they're cold. They're freezing, especially in winter. While in Indonesia, where it can be 40 degree celsius all year long, when you walk fast you'll be sweating like a fat guy in a sauna and that's really uncomfortable. Wdyt?

Legalitas Cinta

Genre : Drama

Sutradara : Jeff Nichols

Pemain Film : Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Michael Shannon, Nick Kroll

Tanggal Rilis : 4 November 2016

Rumah Produksi : Raindog Films, Big Beach Films

Durasi : 123 Menit

Proud to say, I’m such a cynical romantics. And yes gw gak pernah nolak kalo diajak nonton film romance. Jadi pas tau Jeff Nichols bakalan bikin film drama romantis, fix gw kebeli. Karena ketika Jeff Nichols udah turun tangan, jangan harap ini cuma sekedar film drama romantis sepasang kekasih yang penuh haru biru.

Film Loving dibuka dengan scene Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) dan  kekasihnya, Mildred (Ruth Negga) lagi duduk-duduk santai pada malam hari di teras rumah ditemani bunyi jangkrik, beberapa detik kemudian sepotong kalimat keluar dari mulut Mildred. Kalimat “I’m pregnant.” inilah yang menjadi turning point bagi hidup Ricahrd pun Mildred. Yaps, Loving menceritakan tentang pasangan interrasial Richard dan  kekasihnya Mildred yang diceritakan udah pacaran sedari SMA, hingga suatu ketika mereka memutuskan untuk menikah. Eh baru juga nikah, mereka udah ditangkap dan dijebloskan ke penjara. Why? Simply because he’s white and she’s black.

Tahun 1958 di Virginia, pernikahan antar ras bukan sekedar suatu hal yang seru buat jadi bahan gosip ibu-ibu kompleks pada masa itu. But it’s a crime. Dan sepanjang film kita diajak buat mengikuti perjuangan pasangan Loving ini memperjuangkan pernikahan serta anak-anak mereka.

Film Loving ini temponya lambat, menurut gw. Dan kalo lo berharap film ini bakal banyak adegan-adegan ngehe, kubur harapan lo dalam-dalam. Keintiman yang dihadirkan di film ini bukan keintiman yang penuh nafsu birahi dan adu bibir, but the kind that’s expressed less in words and more in how two bodies fit, as if joined by an invisible thread. Richard dan Mildred merupakan sejoli yang udah nyaman dengan kehadiran satu sama lain, yang gak perlu saling ngomong i love you tiap dua menit pun lo percaya mereka saling sayang (yes, I’m looking at you all Nicholas Sparks’s adaptation films)

Dari segi cerita, to be honest gw gak banyak tau tentang sejarah hukum pernikahan antar ras Amerika pada waktu itu, jadi gw gak bisa banyak cakap tentang ini. Tapi alurnya cukup mudah untuk dimengerti kok. Sedangkan Joel Edgerton dan Ruth Negga really gave such a strong performances. Joel Edgerton emang udah ada potensial buat jadi keren sejak muncul di Warrior, meskipun tahun lalu agak di “misused” di Black Mass, but he came back this year in such an outstanding way. Sedangkan Ruth Negga, oh well gw selalu menikmati scene doi teleponan, super believeable! Jadi ketika dua aktor ini ketemu dalam satu frame, kelar idup lo. I mean, gw aja seexcited itu waktu Richard ngelamar Mildred dengan tanah-buat-bikin-rumah sebagai mahar kawinnya, those little gestures between them killed me. Oh dan yang gw suka juga adalah karakterisasi Richard dan Mildred yang multi-dimensional. Kadang gw bisa suka dan setuju sama keputusan mereka, tapi di lain hal gw bisa sebete itu sama mereka. But that’s what makes them human afterall.

Overall, kalo aja gw ngerti tentang sejarah sebenarnya kasus Loving ini mungkin (mungkin loh ya) film ini bakal lebih ngena ke gw. But dengan visual yang ciamik dan performances super dari Edgerton-Negga gw udah sangat menikmati film ini.


Stray Observations
- demi ampun, perasaan gw aja ato emang dari awal ampe akhir film kaga ada satupun rumah yang kelar dibangun
- kalo jaman itu udah ada Youtube dan Richard-Mildred bikin vlog diary “Richard-Mildred Against the World” pasti gw bakal nonton

young in this era

Igor Pjörrt

I've heard hundred of times some older people talk about how easy the young people life are. Everything is easy, instant, connected, so on.

My dad likes to tell us how he has to walk a long long way to go to school over and over again every time he has the chance, while now he says so easy because there’s public transportation, car, motorcycle, etc. Or my mom expressing how kid now are so addicted to technology. Some of my friends complaining how today kids only play with their gadget, that they know nothing about traditional games (games that involve physical/outdoor activity)

Every generation has it’s own good and bad. Well, maybe they are the instant generation; it’s so easy for them to do anything because there are technologies around them. Like its so easy to find everything that they need online, especially on Hari Belanja Online Nasional. As easy as going on Zalora and hunting for discount at Zalora Harbolnas :)

But its not always easy for them. Life has become faster. They didn't make it faster. The old ones made it faster by bringing in a broad range of activities and changes in human lifestyle + new kind of jobs in the market and new innovations. Unemployment rates have increased in many countries triggering frustration in young people. Even it scares the hell out of me (which not that young anymore), going to college seeing a lot of smart af kid. I can't imagine what kind of future the younger generation must deal with.

George Nimeh on his Tedx Talks once said that "Its the human behavior, its just the way we are. So don’t blame the digital technologies for it." 

The thing is parents these days like to lock their children indoors, because they think the physical world becomes more dangerous. They limit their children’s time to play, to socialize. That’s why they turn to tech. They aren’t addicted to the computer, they’re addicted to interactions. They want to play with their peers, that’s how they make sense of the world.

So dear the older generation, please move on.

Dear my fellow generations, if you hate when the older people bragging about their generation then please please, i beg you, don’t be like them.

Dear younger generation, be strong.

And to you all human beings, every generation's struggle is different. So stop comparing your generation to other generation. 

Pre-Intern 101

Martin Parr, 1997

*written using bahasa*

In order to prevent this blog turns into a visual spider-cave, so here they are my 10 tips on facing pre-internship phase.

1. Make an outstanding CV

Tips on creating one :

- Personal information, education, experience & achievement : 4 hal yang menurutku wajib ada di  CV, sisanya optional. 

- For education, masukin dari SMA aja. Trust me they don't wanna know kamu smp, sd bahkan tk dimana  

- Gak semua achievement dan experience harus dimasukin. Kalo bisa yang paling baru dan related sama posisi yang kamu incar. No need to tell kamu pernah menang lomba mewarnai waktu SD, buang-buang space...

Bikin CV juga sebenarnya depends on the perusahaan dan departemen yang mau kamu apply, kalo kamu mau apply ke perusahaan kreatif seperti industri media, agensi iklan, dsb dan terutama ke creative  department nya, then make your CV as creative as you can, tapi jangan lebay juga yak. Tapi kalo kamu mau apply ke perusahaan yang formal or resmi gitu kaya ke institusi pemerintahan, bank, dsb, usahakan CV kamu simple & clean gitu. Jangan lupa juga lampirkan hasil karya kamu (portofolio) kalo mau apply jadi graphic design, illustrator, writer, etc. Nih kalau-kalau mau lihat contoh cv gw awal tahun ini.

2. Find companies that offer an intern position

Ada banyak banget website yang bisa kamu kunjungi. Misalnya di @idstudentsjob, Kampus Update, dan masih banyak lagi. Sering-sering search di Twitter deh pokonya.

3. Send it directly to the HRD’s email

But sometimes beberapa perusahaan gak masang iklan kalo mereka lagi ngerekrut anak magang (close recruitment), jadi kalo misalnya kamu udah tau pengen magang kemana, langsung aja buka website mereka lalu ke bagian career/recruitment, biasanya ada dicantumin email HRD nya, trus langsung aja deh kirim CV kamu.

Another tip, akan lebih bagus lagi kalo misalnya kamu kirim CV kamu secara personal ke salah satu tim HRDnya. Jadi bukan ke email perusahaan atau email buat ngedrop CV gitu, karena yang ngirim itu pasti banyak dan biasanya numpuk. When you send your cv personally to one of HRD staff, chances cv kamu ketumpuk sama cv-cv lainnya akan semakin kecil.

Ngirim email secara personal gini agak tricky, tpi kalo gw biasanya buka linkedin perusahaan yg diincer trus liat di list who’s working here nya trus cari deh tim HRD nya, mereka biasanya suka nyantumin email mereka on their linkedin page. Kalo mereka ga nyantumin email mereka di linkedin page mereka (which is bizarre for a HRD staff to not put their email), go google “nama lengkap mereka + email” ntar suka keluar deh tuh email mereka entah dari facebook twitter atau manatau.

4. Email’s subject? Body email?

Keep it simple. Bisa kaya “Application for INTERNSHIP”, “Copywriter INTERN”, etc. Kalo buat body text email wajib hukumnya harus ada, don’t you dare kirim attachment CV doang tanpa basa basi. Bisa di liat contoh-contohnya banyak kok di google. Jangan lupa input your phone number, biasanya di bagian email signature, supaya memudahkan mereka kalau mau menguhubungi atau nanya-nanya langsung ke kamu.

5. Cover letter, is it necessary?

Dulu waktu gw browsing info tentang permagangan katanya akan lebih baik jikalau memakai cover letter, tapi akhir-akhir ini kayanya udah gak perlu lagi sih karena kebanyakan cover letter sama semua gitu isinya. But ya, mengingat masyarakat Indonesia masih banyak yang konservatif, gw tetep masih nyantumin cover letter sih, just in case.

6. Prepare for the interview or the test

Ya at least, baca2 tentang perusahaannnya, produknya apa aja, siapin pertanyaan yang bisa kamu tanyain. Di beberapa perusahaan ada yang banyak banget tahapnya buat magang di situ, misalnya  pas gogirl kemarin ada 3 tahap prosesnya (tes psikologi, skill test, interview), atau kalo di MullenLowe ku dengar-dengar ada dikasih tugas bertahap-tahap gitu kalo mau magang disitu, atau di LeoBurnett my friend said they literally ask you super detail questions about the company dan tentang pekerjaan yang kamu mau. This is the part where they wanna know your willingness and commitment, so don't give up easily. 

Kalo udh kaya gini, berbahagialah kalian yang lokasi perusahaannya dekat dengan domisili atau kampus kalian. Gw kuliah di Jatinangor (aka Sumedang), dan perusahaan-perusahaan bagus tuh mostly located in Jakarta, jadi tiap mau interview harus berjuang dulu naik bis primjas 4 jam ke jakarta. Bahkan dulu buat gogirl gw 3 kali PP nangor-jkt ditengah-tengah masa UTS :")

7. Will I get paid?

Saat pertanyaan-pertanyaan seperti ini muncul, saya menyadari bahwasannya idealism dan  capitalism tak akan pernah bisa berdamai lol. Bisa di google dulu sih buat tau hal-hal kaya gini, atau nanya senior yang pernah magang disitu, atauuuu just simply ask them when you did the interview. Well, kalo di Gogirl! dan di Fortune, they did pay me.

8. I want to do an intern, but I don’t know in which position.

Beberapa perusahaan berbaik hati menjelaskan di websitenya lowongannya ada apa aja dan menjelaskan jobdesc nya ngapain aja, so you can do a further research about the job. Tapi ada juga perusahaan yang tidak menjelaskan. There’s a website called google, caritau dulu aja di perusahaan bersangkutan ada departemen apa aja. Kalo masih tetep bingung juga, just say that you’re willing to learn and the purpose of you doing an internship is to learn. 

But kalo kamu magang karena kewajiban dari kampus untuk matakuliah gitu, jangan coba-coba daftar ke posisi yang kamu belum tau atau yang ga sesuai sama jurusan kamu. Takutnya ntar laporan magangnya sulit or even worse disuruh magang ulang sama kampus...

Dulu waktu gw daftar magang di gogirl, I don’t even know copywriter itu apaan. Pas ditanya mau magang jadi apaan, dengan begonya gw nanya balik emg ada apa aja sih kak pilihannya. Untungnya kakak nya baik dan menjelaskan tiap posisi beserta deskripsi singkat kerjaannya. Akhirnya asal tembak aja gw bilang mau copywriter. Dan akhirnya pas skill test, gw improvisasi setengah mampus haha. Intinya kalo emang lo niat dan punya kemauan belajar, you’ll be fine kok.

9. Sell yourself!

Especially on creating CV or on the interview. Not saying to be exaggerating, but come on, everyone has something good to sell! Selalu lihat dari sisi bagusnya. Jangan menulis atau mengucapkan kalimat-kalimat negatif atau yang terkesan negatif, di sugar-coating gitu deh pokonya. Misalnya seperti kata seorang teman saya instead of saying “saya orangnya gabisa multitasking” just say “saya tipe orang yang fokus dalam mengerjakan suatu tugas”

10. Send it to them all!

Kalo tujuan kamu magang cuma buat isi waktu liburan dan bukan bukan kewajiban mata kuliah. Kirim CV kamu ke sebanyak mungkin perusahaan. Bahkan ke perusahaan yang ga ada hubungannya sama jurusan kuliah kamu. Jangan pilih-pilih, belum tentu juga mereka mau terima. Gausah sok jual mahal, yang banting harga aja belum tentu dapat. Tapi jangan lupa ganti body text emailnya ya, jangan sampe salah sebut perusahaan… (personal experience HAHA)

Sekian. Hanya ingin berbagi, semoga bermanfaat ya!

Ps: Percayalah bahwa dunia perkuliahan lebih menyenangkan daripada dunia kerja. Magang tidak selalu menyenangkan, and this will be told on another post ya :)