[Japan 2008] Tokyo: the Harmony of Mind and Heart

My first impression about Tokyo is that the diverse charm the city enlights.

Traditional and modern building blend together everywhere, law and local tradition is upheld consistently by everyone, and even in the highest pride of human logic, the Japanesse are able to respect their inner limitation, the border between human and the Creator.

Tokyo is vast.

and indeed cool, though calm.

The calmity, i think, is created from the politeness and the sympathic way the Japanese have toward guests. We feel being welcomed and respected anywhere in this city, and i believe, in this country.

The coolness is inside. The coolness is though hot and burning.

And Tokyo as the capitol city, as a metropolitan, as a society shares this paradox.

The city bursts, the city calms. On and on, that it spins, and becomes constant.

The city then can offer two extreme for stranger: lost or meditated

the Language of Enthusiasm

it's holiday, and just as usual, it's the peak season of volunteering in AFS and Bina Antarbudaya,
and this is how i feel, and i think, the same feeling nurtures all other volunteers in AFS and Bina Antarbudaya, the feeling that makes us strong to hold on to our dreams, vision and determination despite all threats and temptation of materialism, individualism and apathism..

From the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho:
"But the sheep had taught him something even more important: that there was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired."
[p.62]

ilmu vs filsafat

Di salah satu malam ujian tengah semester yang lalu, ketika Rani mencoba mengerti dan memahami mata kuliah “Filsafat Hukum” dan Kiki melakukan hal yang sama untuk “Makroekonomi 2”, terbangunlah suatu percakapan kecil. Kiki dan Rani bertukar kekisruhan ujiannya masing-masing, dan Kiki yang sudah hampir menjadi pemikir kaku sedunia dengan segala pemahaman tindak tanduk manusia dengan pendekatan matematis super canggih nan sophisticated, Rani mengutip satu ucapan dosennya:

Oleh Theodorus Sarjito, S.H., M.A :
“Ilmu mendeskripsikan dunia secara lengkap dan rinci, tapi filsafat membangun dunia secara utuh dan menyeluruh.”