So kids, this story started 25 years ago, when I had only been living for three months in Australia. As you know, grandpa got a doctorate scholarship in Latrobe University back then, so all of us decided to move there for some financial reasons. I was reluctant to move because it meant I had to leave my SMA girlfriend, Andriyani. Well, we were naive and stupid so we decided to have a long distance relationship anyway.
When we first arrived there, spring had just started, the weather was still freezing for us who was used to live on the tropic, so I spent most of my time heating my body while blogging in my comfortable room. Yeah, blogging, on boleh.com. Boleh.com was a nice online place to hang around. The people were funny and friendly, just about everything a homesick person needed.
One afternoon, it was on December 2005 I think, I got an email from someone named ndie. I don't mean to brag, but she loved my blog and wanted to chat with me. No, I was serious when I said "I don't mean to brag", because after three years or so I read my blog again and I wanted to throw up for its super alayness and cheesiness and fuckedness. Anyway, we exchanged YM ID and we started to chat.
The first chat was hilarious. I couldn't remember the detail but we talked about a lot of things. Funny thing is, I didn't know that the girl I was chatting with was in fact, a girl. Y'know, "ndie", I thought it stands for Andi or something. Only after the end of that chat season I realized that ndie was a girl.
We chatted on and off for about 2 years. Our topics were ranging from religions to the stupidity of dating. I hadn't got any dibs for her at that time, but she seemed like a cool person. Within these period, I broke up with Andri because as any sensible person would agree, LDR just don't work. She was my first love. It really broke my heart coz y'know, first cut is always the deepest. It got me in a rut for months.
Still within these period, I had a new long distance girlfriend (I know, I know, I was stupid, give me a break, I was only 17 at that time, jeez), Rista. She was living in UK at that time. Well, we both felt like we were in the same situation: living in a country where we didn't belong. My mates used to tell me, "dude, move on, there are girls in Oz too" but no, I was still sooo Indonesian back then that the only thing I wanted was to go back to Indonesia and hang out with my Indonesian friends like I used to do in SMAN 2.
Anyway, after only three of four months I decided to break up with Rista, because I was such a douche.
After that I actually enjoyed living in Australia. The rest is history.
Back to Ndie. We kinda stopped chatting because for some reason my internet connection at home was cut down. But we texted sometimes.
On April 2007, I finally went home to our beloved country. So many things had changed. My neighborhoods had changed a lot. Geger Kalong Girang became so crowded. Daarut Tauhid was bigger than ever. And why the hell am I talking about my neighborhoods? Where was I? Oh, Indri and I were going to meet for the first time.
We met at the third floor of Gramedia. I was wearing a sweat pant, green t-shirt, hat, and sandals. I don't know why I wear THOSE. Seriously, it was weird. Maybe I just wanted to show her that I was indifferent about fashion and I don't care about other people's opinions.
She, on the other hand, put a lot of effort. I don't remember the detail (hey, I'm a man, I'm not supposed to remember details) but she looked pretty in that long dress/i don't know what's the name of that piece of clothing. Seriously, she looked muslimah-ish and stylish at the same time, and great one at that, too. That's one of the things I like about ndie, kids, she always know how to dress well, so well that it never failed to eclipse any other girls around her.
Anyway, we ate on AW (curly fries!) and watched Kala (a great film by the way, kids, if it wasn't for Joko Anwar, I wouldn't be a film director right now). Then bla bla, we went to SMAN 2 sitting under the canopy of the biggest rubber tree (?) on Bandung, like two innocent teenagers that had just been introduced to love for the first time.
You see, kids, universe had created plans for us. Or maybe not. But somehow, my SPMB score wasn't high enough to get me into medical science in Unpad, and somehow I refused to take my second course choice, Civil Engineering in ITB. So I decided to go to STT Telkom instead, where, coincidently, or maybe not, ndie was studying. I got a kostan in there and we were dating like the world was ours.
Now that I think about it, it was one of the happiest days of my life.
I'm not going to tell you the details, kids, you will experience them yourself when you have a boyfriend/girlfriend.
Unfortunately, three and half years later, we had to break up. It was a mutual decision and we thought it would be the best for both of us. It's a hard thing for me to do coz she and I had been through a lot of things. We even planned our marriage, kinda. But yeah, the universe had spoken. Had things ended differently, your name could be Chamomile, and yours, kiddo, would be Nero.
Anyway, a piece of advice, kids, when you're in a relationship, there will be a lot of problems, you might get hurt, or you might hurt your loved one. But no matter what, never ever regret. Because anything, EVERYTHING, that happens to you, good or bad, is the best lesson you will ever get in your life.
And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your aunt Indri.
sweeeeeet :D
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