December 2010

Let me tell you about something.
It is something that was happened more than a year ago. I joined marching band competition in Jakarta, it is called Grand Prix Marching Band. It is held annually and some schools and universities in Indonesia usually join this competition. It is an important event for all marching bands in Indonesia.
I left for Jakarta a week before the day of the competition. We were all more than 90 people consisted of players and crews, in 3 buses. We had to be quarantined for few days in Jakarta. I could say that this quarantine was very severe because we actually have not reached the target. What target? So, in showing our performance, we had to prepare 12 minutes that consists of about 3 or 4 movements. We had 4 movements plus percussion feature. In performing it, we should also have a theme. We chose Tom and Jerry at that time. So, from movement 1 to movement 4 told about the story of the theme. We had the characters of Tom and Jerry, which were characterized by my friends, Dita and Santi.
Talking about the quarantine, we had it for about 3 days. We had to practice from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. We were accustomed to practicing for more than 12 hours in a day. All we did were just playing the 4 movements and drills. We did it over and over again. Of course we felt bored but we realized that we have not done it well that was why we always repeated the same thing every day.
The day came. We were totally ready for the 12-minute performance. I was so nervous and trembling when I entered the stage. It was held in Tenis Indoor, Istora Senayan Jakarta which was very big, wide, and cold. I couldn’t stop praying and when the music was played, I tried to forget my nervousness and perceive it. Finally, 12 minutes was nothing for me, I couldn’t say that 12 minutes was too long because it was happened quickly. I was so relieved after leaving the stage.
We had to wait for the announcement for about 3 hours. When it came, I had a seat with a special person in my band, he is my boyfriend. We couldn’t wait to know who the winners were. We were sure that we would be one of the winners because our coaches said that we performed well and optimally. Marching Band Universitas Gadjah Mada was called as the second place. YES, that was my band! We applaud and cheer happily. Finally, we were the winner. We were not disappointed because of being the second winner, we were proud of our selves. Without winning the second place, we were still the winner for ourselves.