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Showing posts from March, 2016

A Good Friday Afternoon in Devonport

Easter holiday started and it's also my husband's day off, so we decided to jump on a ferry and went to Devonport. Ferries in many destinations from and to Auckland accept AT Hop card. The adult fare is NZD 6.20 in cash, or 4.50 (3.60 for tertiary students) with AT Hop. The child fare is 3.70, or 2.30 with AT Hop. Seeing AT Hop applies to many type of transportation, it might be one of the indicators that Auckland public transports (buses, trains, and ferries) are pretty well-integrated. Ferry ride During the ferry trip, Keke and Firyal very excited and stand still on the deck to see the sea. My mom, she also enjoyed the view, while crying. This crying is a happy one I guess, since she had the tears in the same time she had those big smiles. My husband, as usual, sat near the window and observed everything with his handsome-ness (ignore this one, his handsome-ness can only be detected by his wife, who is happened to be me). Me? While enjoying the sea view, I googled and down

Preparing Your Kids for a New Place

Get nervous and anxious in a new environment are normals. To reduce it you might need to provide some psychological preparation for your kids. In experience with my children, and in consultation with a child psychologist (candidate), teh Feti, here I summarized some of the key things. Get them involve in the decision making process We explain the available options, including the option to stay in Indonesia without me, or with me which means I am not continue the masters study, or join me in NZ. We could also explain the strengths and weaknesses if we go or not go to NZ. When they involved in the decision making process, they will understand and try to be ready for the consequences. Describe further about their decision Before the departure, introduce them about the place we will visit. How is the situation, its people, its culture, and other information related to the place. This introduction might help children to illustrate what it is going to be in a new place and they will tr

Bring Family to New Zealand

After 1,5 years, alhamdulillah my whole family finally come to NZ. My husband already here since my 2nd semester, and I believe his presence helped me to optimize my brain during masters study. And after passed postgraduate diploma study, I became more determined to prepare my kids and my mums departure. Here are the details. Husband's Visa NZ, as well as Aussie and UK (I don't know about other countries), can grant an open work visa for student's or worker's partner. This is a great opportunity since to have a work visa usually requires certified skills demanded in NZ and letter from the employer. Meanwhile, my husband just need to attach my student visa in his work visa based on partnership application. Although the work mostly casual, but we believe this experience is valuable, insya Allah. Children's Visa Kesturi and Firyal have different visa types. While Firyal has visitor visa (dependent), Kesturi has student visa. Again, alhamdulillah, because my

Diary of a Thesis - Day 253

I just decided to write my journey after 252 days of quirky contemplation. Quirky here means I finally got approval from Ethics Committee after three months of my author's thinking, revising, waiting, bewildering, negotiating, and loving myself to grow without hurting anyone. Quirky here means I finally collected all the data after three months of my author's works: traveled Bandung-Tanjungsari on weekdays, spent time with her daughters during the nights and weekends, and did the sometimes-frustrating trials and errors. Quirky here means I was becoming one of the tiring processes in my author's life, but in the same time, both of us gain many wonderful experiences.  It's been 30 days (approximately) since my author started to change me from memories into scientific words. Until now I've got my initial intro, method, results, and discussion parts which still require more development. I want to help my author, but I don't know how. I just try to be more attra