“The First Duty of Love is to Listen – Paul Tillich”
Have you ever heard a belief which is said, “In the foreign country, stranger from the same country as yours is your family”?
If you ask me that question, my answer is “yes, I do and I know it better than most of the people”.
I have been living in Singapore for half a year. I just knew about the Singapore and also about my school. I had just heard that there would be some groups of foreign students from different countries would be staying in the boarding. I gave no respond about it. At first, I found that there was a group of exchange students from China. The first thought went through my mind was I want to be their friend as my main reason coming to Singapore from Indonesia was to create my way to the global world. I was trying to start conversation with them, but it is hard for me to create a close relationship with them as I could not speak Mandarin. I thought of a way to get along with them, ask my friend from China staying in the boarding to ask me to go with him whenever he wants to go with the exchanges student. However, when it finally happened, I got depressed. As my friend started talking with them, they were just ignoring me. I envied my friend. However, I could not do anything.
One day, I was surprised when I heard that exchange students from Indonesia would be staying in the same boarding as mine. I was very happy. I hoped those students could redeem my feeling of missing my hometown. It came to my surprise when I saw a group of girls was included in this exchange program. All of sudden, I caught of a glimpse that might be my dream girl, a white slender girl whose hair was as beauty as silk. This time, different from the China exchange students’ case, I spoke in the same language as them, Bahasa Indonesia.
The first four days since their coming to Singapore, I could not do much. They were really taken care by my school and the exchange students from my school. To my shock, when I found that one of them was having a same crush as me. I could not hold for any longer. The day after that, I started doing some introduction to one of the girl. I was easily get to a close conversation with her as we were speaking in the same mother tongue language.
A few days after that, there was an event for the Indonesian exchange students. I, as a scholar from Indonesia and some of the Singaporean students needed to accompany and guide them to the place of Interest in Singapore such as Orchard Road and Sentosa Island. When we went there, there was a accident that I would never forget. We were divided into a few small groups. Accidentally, I was in the same group as my crush and the Singaporean who had the same crush as me. Whenever she wants to ask something about Singapore, she preferred asking me to the Singaporean though she knew that my knowledge of Singapore could be wrong as I was new to Singapore. When she wanted to buy something she asked me to stay with her and then bargain for her. She did not want the Singaporean to accompany her shopping. She preferred me to accompany her to the Singaporean whom she had known since one year ago. Eventhough it might not be truth, I kept thinking that she was giving some respond to my feeling to her. It was most likely that she could tell me all things about her although I just knew her. I just needed to listen to her and then she would slowly but sure gain her feeling toward me. However, the Singaporean who had done everything for her was only ended as friend of her.
Since then onward, whenever I remember that moment again, I will always be proud to become an Indonesian. My mother tongue had decided my destiny and my soulmate.
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