Friends on Natha's Archive

My heart is scattered across countries

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Some thoughts from an ex-international student who’s currently missing their friends

It’s been almost two months since I left my postgraduate program in Trieste. I found myself thinking about that sentence in the title, once in a while, as I’m continuing my life back in Indonesia. I try to be mindful, to cherish the opportunity to be present in my own home country. Then, I learned to find a balance, to also keep nurturing my connection to the friends I lived with for a year before.

The City of God's Smile

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I spent three nights and two nights in Bandung with my college friends. This journal entry was a reflection from that trip, thinking what Bandung and my friends mean to me. The name that I gave to the city was inspired by a famous quote by M. A. W. Brouwer, “The Land of Pasundan was born when God was smiling.”

I’m writing this with you in mind because I’m a coward. I’m a coward because I’m afraid to wear my heart on my sleeve–to say the words and let myself feel everything. Maybe I just feel too much hence I could not bear everything in my chest. Thus, I write–and I do it with you in mind.

We ran from ITB Ganesha to ITB Jatinangor

Sat, 04 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I did my undergraduate study at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) located at the city of Bandung. Locals often call it as the Indonesian MIT. ITB is also a multi-campus, meaning they have different sites across West Java. In Bandung, I was based in its central campus, ITB Ganesha, close to the city’s center. To the city’s border, a charming twin of the campus was built on Jatinangor. ITB Jatinangor was huge with parks and lakes. During my freshman year, I often dreamt of studying there so I could run there daily. This is a short documentation of our ambitious 22K run to explore our other campus.