Reading Al-Qur’an
First of all, reading is something that I really want to do but have difficulty in getting accustomed to. Just reading about everything. But reading is, i believe, a must. Specifically here, I would like to tell you a bit about my experience in reading the Holy Book of Islam, Al-Qur’an.
I am sure that each and every human wants (deep in their heart) to be better everyday. I am also sure that each and every Muslim wants (deep in their heart) to be better everyday as a Muslim. As now is the Holy Month of Ramadhan comes, people even want to do everything and something better. You want to be as pious as you can possibly be. So, before It came this year, I said to myself, i wanted to read Al-Qur’an… not just reading the Arabic text of the Qur’an, but getting deep into the essence of it. I started reading from the very beginning, the History of Qur’an and then Al-Fathihah, etc. Now I’m still on the mid part of Al-Baqoroh. I started to think that every single verse written is really BEAUTIFUL, LOGICAL, and things that you just can’t explain. But when I say ‘reading’, i am saying about the connection between the written Qur’an and the reality. I’m telling you. It is soooooo beautiful. Everything seems to be very understandable. All that happens in this earth and universe is understandable in a sense. This is why Allah demands us to seek for knowledge wherever and whenever. It is because Al-Qur’an is the law of Allah… and everything that happens everyday happens under the law of Allah. All the connections seem to u to be very much incredible. You just cannot stop to acknowledge Allah’s greatness.
Reading the Holy Qur’an does not only mean reading the written text of the Qur’an, but getting deep into what each and single text is all about by finding out what happens in this nature. Allah creates heavens and earth. All works under the law of Allah. It really occurs to me that Allah just wants us to do something simple. But we, as humans, are always complaining every single day.
In all, I just wanna say… Let’s read the Qur’an together. I assure you that you’re gonna be blown away… 
I also want to encourage myself to just read, in general…:D
Summer schools and stuff…
Everybody just wonders why I really like being in such a summer school a lot… Well, let me tell you… First and all, It’s all about intercultural experience and all stuff like this. From the beginning to the end of the journey, it’s all about the experience. You get to meet different people from all over the world, exchange knowledge with them and all the benefits that u can get. I mean, not just summer school, but intercultural event alike as well, like the one that i experienced in December 2007 called ‘Social Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED)’, involving students of SBM-ITB (Particularly MSM students), University of St. Gallen and Singapore Management University (SMU).
We really had a great time, despite all the work we had to do. I mean, i got a chance to create bonding with them in a way. This July/August (2008), i got a chance to visit several of my Swiss friends in Switzerland before heading to Helsinki to have another summer school there. It was really nice. The fact is that you’ll have friends everywhere in the world so u don’t have to worry about where you’ll stay or something like that.
Like u can imagine, from this year’s (2008) Helsinki Summer School, I even made more friends, from broader range of nationalities. It’s really great. They’re from India, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Japan, Greece Taiwan and Spain… I even met others (in the same summer school but difference courses) from Italy, China, others from Spain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, and other countries… These all adds to the ones the i met in the previous summer schools, who are from Greece, the United States, Portugal, Estonia, Belarus, Romania, Turkey, etc. These experiences that I have are really something that can broaden up your horizons, make you think more carefully in a way.
So, in short, summer schools and/or intercultural events are media that can bring you into a broader idea of things, human relations, culture and stuff like this. Take the best out of it, you may learn something. For me personally, it is also something that allows you to practice your religion in a more challenging way:D in a way…:D There are several things that u just don’t wanna do and see, but I try to always take the best out of it…:D Always ask for His Guidance…
