• Today is my last day for the conference. I have to leave tomorrow because my school starts next week. This part of working with university students sucked. They all have long holidays up until September; while the only thing I have left is these two days in Bandung. I didn’t even get the chance to finish the conference tomorrow.

    My body was aching so badly from last night. I was excused to wake up later that morning. Dania, Alma, and Uncle Tata agreed that I was the most physically exhausted. They even let me treat myself a foot massage before returning to the venue –how lovely would that be?

    They left home already when I was still in bed, gathering my consciousness. I was officially home alone. I felt a surge of independence. How proud was I to become more like my friends –those college girls who lived alone all these time. I knew I would be looking up to them all in the end.

    I toasted a cheese sandwich on our old trusty grill. It was an ancient machine, formerly used by my grandpa before he handed it over to my uncle. I ironed my shirt and pants by myself, and took as much time as I want in the shower. It was just a second later before I remembered my dear toast –now burnt and bitter. Quickly, I flop them inside my mouth.

    I got myself to Salon Nurita by cab, and once again took my time in the foot scrub and massage. I kinda feel bad about my friends. They all worked as hard as me –if not harder. Alas, only I got this pampering treatment. I made myself another mental note: whenever anyone of them comes to my island, Bali, I must take them to the best spa places I know…

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    I realized that I had missed Nancy’s presentation when I got back to the venue. Everyone admired her presentation, they thought it was phenomenal. How I wished I was a little bit quicker that morning. Then, I wouldn’t miss her presentation, and not be here just for her Q&A session.

    After watching the remaining session of Nancy’s presentation, I stayed in the main hall with Echa and Irene who were supervising the area. We watched some participants presenting their papers during the pararell session. I was rather shocked because some of them seemed familiar to me.

    It was not that I knew them from somewhere, but it’s their way of presenting that reminds of some people. Again, although I may not understand what their paper is about, I could see how well their attitude is when presenting. I really hate to come across as the-teen-who-thinks-they-know-better-than-these-adults, but I’ve always done plenty of presentations since I was in junior high school or younger. I hate to say that some of these adults can’t present any better than my eighth-grader classmates. It’s almost like I could read through them as easy as I could read through myself or my friends.

    One of them clearly stands out from the others. I knew that they understand nothing about their so-called project. They read through slides that contain a few texts as they appeared on the screen, and skipped the rest. They made barefaced comments about the pictures and draws absolutely obvious conclusions. The whole presentation was far from being lucid and clear. Moreover, judging by their ability to answer questions, they would probably embarrass their selves in front of my eight-grader classmates. If my teacher saw that, she would most likely paralyze them with complicated questions and remarks that would certainly make them dumbfounded.

    Another presenter looked like she is reading her boss’ essay with a certain air of poetic vibe. She reads through her saturated power point presentation –probably copy-pasting it straight from her report. Literally, she did nothing for the audience but reads her slides out loud. I always despise this type of presenter. Come on girl! The audience is not that stupid. They can read by themselves!

    It’s just another epiphany of mine, watching these presenters. I was rather shocked by how much resemblance there is between the attitude of these adults and my 14 year old friends. Tailing your teammates, being a so-called co writer just to get your name up there, relying entirely on the leader for your project, and procrastination. These habits grow in with you through adulthood, don’t they?

    Echa kept elbowing on me. We both knew how ridiculous they were. I borrowed Echa’s Blackberry to text Irene who was supervising across the hall.

    “ A+ for reading..”

    “How sarcastic are you, sis..!”

    I knew that she’s struggling as hard as we were to keep her composure up there. It’s hard to stay silent with these people only a few steps before you. We did our best –after all, the whole crowd can see what we’re doing.
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    It was the afternoon of my last day here. I was hanging around the office helping Raras and Asha printing out certificates when Dania texted me:

    “Let’s go home…”

    WHAT? Not now! I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to anyone NOW!

    But I knew I couldn’t argue back because she was certainly following the speaker’s schedule. But I can’t go now.
    But who am I to ruin our honorary guests’ schedule?

    In the end, I gave up. I hugged and said goodbye to everyone in the office. This sucked. Being a high school student sucks. I don’t care if I am abusing that word in any point right now. It sucked. It sucked so bad.

    We gave each other’s phone number and facebook address. I told them that they could come to Bali whenever they want and call me. I would be honored to be their Liaison Officer during their stay in my island. Then suddenly someone sparked an idea about having a picture together before I leave. I was very flattered. Everyone agreed, and we began huddling up –that is until they all tumbled next door to the main hall.

    Apparently, Ibu Dhian was practicing Legong Dance for our closing ceremony in the main hall. Legong was the hardest Balinese dance there is –as far as I know. The dance lasts about seven minutes long and the costumes were the most complicated yet. Ibu Dhian said she will be dancing for the closing ceremony since many people regretted missing our welcoming dance. Who wouldn’t like to see our chairman strutting her style and swaying her hips? There was not a moment to miss.

    After she finished, somebody reminded us about my farewell picture. I smiled sheepishly. We gathered closely, and I was in the middle. We began to attract attentions, hence many other people gathered in front of the camera just for the sake of being in the shoot. I smiled extra wider. Ibu Dhian sat next to me, while still commanding the to-do list for Maya beside her. No squinting. No squinting. This is a very important photo.

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    I said goodbye to other committee members in the main hall.

    “So what time are you leaving tomorrow?” asked Maya hugging me

    “It’s early.. like seven in the morning..” I replied, recalling the departure time of the shuttle bus.

    “Oh, okay.. I’ll miss you Dear..”

    “I’ll miss you too.. If you are in Bali, please call me! I swear to God, I’ll take you everywhere!”

    I said goodbye to Cio, Irene and Uthe, my fellow dancers. Goodbye to Andin at the front desk. I said goodbye to everyone else that made these days unbelievable. I learned so much from them and from this event as a whole. My maturity, independence, and outgoing personality were challenged, and therefore I grow. I made plenty of intimate friends, impossible for me to forget. This is an utterly incredible experience –I never thought it would end in the first place.

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    No, my job is not over yet. For my last service as a Liaison Officer, my cousins and I went for a dinner with Professor Eku Wand. He requested to have sushi for dinner. Unfortunately, there was no space in Sushi Tei for us. A group of young students were having a party, and they took up most of the space. I called Maya to ask for another sushi restaurant in Bandung. She told me the only other restaurant was Sushi Groove in Paris Van Java.

    “Eh, what time are you leaving tomorrow again?”

    “Seven, Maya. I told you. Seven in the morning”

    “Okay then. Safe trip. I miss you already! ”

    “I miss you too!”

    Hence, we drove to the crowded streets towards Paris Van Java. That particular ride was one of the best rides I’ve been in. We laughed loudly, throwing random jokes to each other. We teased Alma for crushing on Sergio, an Artepolis participant from Mexico. Professor Wand and Alma formed an astonishingly cohesive duo: both restless, impulsive, random, and can’t be bothered to act their age. They are made for each other, but not to be seen in public.

    We ordered a feast. A serving of clam sushi that reminds me of eating in Jimbaran Bay; a piled stack of spicy sushi called Krakatau; a couple of crispy sushi made from salmon skin; a classic unagi topped sushi; and to top it all off, two servings of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two crisp wafer fishes.

    Alma and Professor Wand were still making ridiculous faces, growing chopstick moustaches, and playing with the candles. Dania and I were left with contained laughter and embarrassed smiles. My mind couldn’t help wandering about what happened during the whole day. Then, I grabbed my hand phone and impulsively texted Maya something that suddenly struck my mind:

    Just in case you want to pay a ‘surprise visit’, I’ll be leaving the house at 6.30. JUST IN CASE. =)

    A few seconds later, I cursed myself for being so big-headed. Oh, I really wish this night would never end.