From: nuria
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2003 5:09 AM
To: Ralph Stuettgen
Subject: On vacation!
Dear Ralph,
How�re things with you? Hope they�re as great as the you I
know.
I�m in Barcelona now, coming to the end of my one-month
journey in Europe. It is nice being away from the hot,
humide, and hustle bustle of Jakarta for a while.
I presented a paper in a conference in Pori, Finland, then
"ran away" to Tampere before the conference finished, then
off again to Helsinki. After that, cruising to Stockholm and took
a train to Aarhus, Denmark. Spent one night in Copenhagen
then took a bus to Goteborg, Sweden. Stayed in Kungsbacka
(20 minutes from Goteborg by train) longer than I thought
'cos small pox got me. A week laying on the bed there,
then continued the journey to Leiden, stopping by in Copenhagen
again for another one night. From Leiden, I was off to Den Haag
and here I am now in Barcelona. Will be in Paris the day after
tomorrow then back home to Jakarta. Long way, eh?
The best experience I had is in Copenhagen. I was there
only for passing by so I didn�t plan to find a place to
stay the night. And the result was wonderful. The first
time I stopped by, I was eager to enjoy the Copenhagen Jazz
Festival that lasted until 4 in the morning.
I was looking for a good bar that presented this jazz music
when I met an American street musician who had been living
there for more than 10 years. He asked for my company
which of course I agreed. We spent some time looking for
the right place to play his guitar+harmonica.
After a while, he wasn�t really satisfied that he asked me whether
I would like to go with him to this hippies environment. When I said
okay, he took me to a wonderful open air cafes with great light and
music. And the most fascinating thing is, there were plenty
of kiosks that sold cokes and other kind of that stuffs. I
didn�t need to buy those things to get high since the air
was already �polluted�with the smell of them. There was a
big hall with hip-hop live band in the area but we ended up
in a little jazz bar. Cool..! So, I stayed with him until
late in the morning and jazzed the night away in that bar.
The second time I passed by, I was confused on where to
stay. But then I met a postman at the train station. We
talked a little bit. He said he was waiting for his family
although he wasn�t sure they would come. Then he asked
whether I would like to stay at his place that night. I
said okay (taking the risk on staying with a stranger!). He
then happily took me to his place. We talked about film,
dance, and music until about 3 in the morning. The discussion
ended up with him giving me 3 CDs that I liked so much.
Then I slept in a couch while he took his own bed.
At 5.30 the next morning, he took me to the train station again,
waving me goodbye.
I now believe that a good person always meets good persons, too.
Or perhaps, God loves me so much that He wouldn�t let me live
alone. Anywhere.
That�s the experience I wanna tell you for now. Maybe later
I will tell you some more.
By the way, I think I will go to Colorado for Vittachi 2
conference. Any chance for you to be there, too?
Miss you,
ns,-