I've just returned from a week of adventure. Well, it was 2 days ago actually that I returned already, and that's not really an adventure (I was just exaggerating it a bit).
It was a debate tournament, BIND! If you've already read some of previous posts I made, you should know that I went to Jakarta to participate in BIND. Finally, after 1 year I hadn't debated and after 2 years I hadn't come to Binus International (the last 2 years was also BIND), I just had my debate again and it's BIND!! The British Parliamentary System and for this time, the scope was international one. Not to mention, but there were teams from Japan, Thailand, and Bangladesh. Supposedly there should've been 2 other teams from Korea, but somehow they hadn't told anything to the committee regarding to their cancellation (they had made their payment already, though).
After joining this tourney, I've realized that debate has become part of my life which I honestly don't want to lose it. BIND has made me understood how much I felt terrible for not joining any debate tournament for a whole year. Regardless of my degraded skills on debate, I feel so regretful to have let go of my own passion, and to have not cared about my own self. I can no longer let things this way to keep happening.
I, now, have just made a very hard decision.
I will stop being active in AMSA, and start to concern about debate. I think now the members of AMSA-UNS are good enough to maintain everything on their own; I don't have to worry about whether AMSA-UNS will sustain or not anymore. Now all I have to do is to concern about SEF-UNS. I will have to revive it and make it sounded in Indonesia's debate world. No, honestly this is for my own sake, to be able to join many debate tournaments and to be one of the well-known debaters of my era.
I still find it hard to tell people that I want to stop being active in AMSA, but I just will soon or later.
Debate is not only about skills or glory for me, but it's more about seeing a lot of amazing and inspirational people and sharing thoughts each other with them. Not easy to describe how amazed I feel if you've never joined any debate tournament. I myself have also become the current me because of them.
On one previous post, I've mentioned about Mark Solis, a very great debater from Phillipines who is now studying in Kyushu University (Japan) for one year of student exchange. He is indeed briliant not only in term of debate, but also personality. In BIND he could be friends with so many people and he always wanted to take pictures of every moment he got with people. He always smiled and looked grateful for anything and more importantly, the two quotes he put on his facebook information must be a very thoughtful one from him.
There was also someone else I met in BIND that has very influenced me in the way of looking upon the world, Stevensen Eisei. He originally is from Indonesia (Medan), but 2 years ago he got scholarship from Monbukogakusho to study in Japan. Based on my instict, I was already interested to him from the very first I saw him in @america, Pacific Place. And up until now, my instinct has never let me down.
It turned out he was an ISDC debater from Medan. He got scholarship to Japan as I've mentioned above. And many more interesting things I found about him as we got along (such as drinker, karaoke-man, eating a lot, mastering 5 different languages, etc). Oops, I must not forget about how he could easily be known by people and it made him like a social-butterfly, if you know what I mean.
It seems they all aren't enough to make me envious; well, my instict was just too good apparently. Despite of his kindness and sleepyhead-ness (sleepyhead-ness is the only our likeness, I guess), He's got a blog he runs. You probably don't see it as special thing for someone to have a blog, but just wait until you see it yourself.
One of his post that I favour the most (and probably many people do) is about teaching. Yes, you should know that he's also a teacher/tutor; he's an English teacher/tutor in Japan. Uhm, probably he used to be (from 2009 - 2010 based on his facebook information I happened to wander). Reading his post about teaching has just made me really want to teach as well; I've ever wanted to be one, but just never realized.
It's hard to explain, better you read it yourself.
Stevensen Eisei's Blog
Stevensen Eisei's Post about teaching
don't forget to wander to his "about me" because you will also find how brilliant and thoughtful he is.
Nonetheless, reading his blog not only makes me envious to his language skills (you'll see that he does blog with four different languages), but also to his English skills. Not to mention, but I think I'm good enough among my friends in term of using English to write; still he's just way incredible. Take a look at the style of writing, the vocabularies, and also the phrases/idioms he uses. I do believe he reads a lot of English book, especially the literature ones.
Have I mentioned above the 5 languages he masters? They are Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, English, Japanese, and of course Hokkian. You can find in his blog that he sometimes uses Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, and Japanese to write (when English is the most frequently).
I really recommend everyone to read his blog. You guys can really be inspired, motivated, and illuminated in many ways by just reading. It's also interesting to know about his opinion towards Bahasa Indonesia (believe me, he made it in intellectual way), and also about how he described his friendship.
To be honest, now I'm motivated again to keep posting things on my own blog after reading his. I also now start to think to find job to earn money so that I can afford many tourneys of debate. In BIND I happened to know that many people, in fact, paid their own registration, transportation, consumption, and accomodation fee of any tournament, even for international tournaments. They did a lot of things to get money just in order to be able fulfilling their passions. At the time I found it, it was like I talked to myself "Shame upon you, Liswindio!". Now I realize that I have to do something in order to strive for myself, my passion.
Wish me luck please that I can join many other debate tournaments, and more importantly meet many more amazing and inspirational people! And of course to be able to meet again those whom I've ever met before. For you who have ever debated in a tournament should know how it is to feel so connected to those you've just met in debate after the days you spent together getting along with them.
Anyway, I also met a very nice and kindhearted Monk from Thailand who debated as well in BIND. He was also very good. We talked a lot too (I asked him many questions actually regarding to debate and his life as Monk). Just so you know, He made it to Grand Final. Despite of his holiness, he's a world-level debater. His teammate, was no any less than him. The only difference they've got from each other is their haircut (Bald v.s. Afro). It taught me how in life we should be very determinated and total though it's only about hair (I'm sorry LP and Mabrouq, I have no intention to make fun of you. I admire you both, in fact).
One more thing I'd like to tell. I somewhat feel guilty to have not let people know about my blog while they simply are letting theirs to be read by people (me). They seem to just take it easy to let people read theirs and still they post whatever they feel like posting. They don't care about people stalking themselves; in fact, they let them know themselves. They also seem just fine if probably there'll be someone dislikes their posts and gets negative mind upon. This is just my opinion, though. This regards to Stevensen's blog too. He himself told people and let them know about his blogging-activity. I thing he's just confident enough and does not feel shamed about himself. He's also fine when people tell him they read his posts, or even when people post comments on his posts. Well, people so far -- regardless on how amazing and full-of-achievements he is -- look saluting his blog, after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment