The Monday Dinner-ers

[2/30] The Monday Dinner-ers

When I moved here almost one year ago, I was like that girl described in Journey's song Don't Stop Believing: felt lonely, tried hard, and I literally took a lot of midnight trains going anywhere. I was so excited about living a new chapter of my life far away from home but also confused that I became suddenly distant with my inner circle.

The first two weeks wasn't so enjoyable. I've been 'kicked' here and there during the process of securing my life on papers, felt insulted, got yelled for not knowing things, and so and so. Yet, I took that as Berlin sincerity in welcoming me. Till the day my school day began, I started meeting people with whom I feel belong. As a person who can't really enjoy the meal alone, life was restarted at that point.

This particular group isn't about a bunch of people having dinner every Monday. It just happened that our first 'officially planned' dinner was on one winter cold Monday evening some months ago. Some of our dinners wasn't even that kind of meal session you have in your thought; we supposed to study for the next day exam (we did study, of course), cooked (mostly pasta), played some games (ugh..should I skip this one?), and spent the long nights together. It really warms my heart that this Monday dinner thingy has developed into some routine get together for any reason we could find.

Yes, people do come and go. That's how the world works, face it! Every single person belongs to the same cohort with mine bond with each other in such ways I wished I had a little bit more time with them (not for the core course, please). This Monday dinner-ers? We can't stand not hugging each other and throwing "how are you?" although we just met a day before. That what makes them one of my lovely support systems.

Later later, there will be no more midnight rush to catch our ride home, there will be no chaotic drinking games while arguing about some sense to nonsense, and enjoying the grilled cheese-stuffed bell paper will never be the same. Anyway, it would still be a Monday Dinner as WhatsApp group and would always be one jewel in the crown of my exBerliner journey. Thank you!

(Too much for a sober toast, huh? 😆😆 )

The picture was taken by Mr. Santiago on Badeschiff visiting day, after a big portion of schnitzel, and those smiles plus blushing cheeks.. entirely sober.

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Waktu pertama kali menginjakkan kaki di kota ini, aku benar-benar seperti sosok yang dideskripsikan di dalam lirik Don’t Stop Believing miliknya Journey: merasa sendiri, mencoba stabil dengan isi kepala yang mondar-mandir, dan benar-benar sering naik kereta sampai tengah malam tanpa tujuan yang jelas. Yah, semacam kombinasi dari semangat yang menggebu sekaligus juga perasaan yang tiba-tiba jauh dari rumah.

Minggu-minggu pertama terasa kurang mengenakkan. Selain dilempar kesana kemari untuk urusan legalitas, kala itu aku belum terbiasa dengan situasi dimana orang benar-benar tidak saling menyapa di jalan raya (ya kali Nya di jalan raya minta disapa). Tapi begitulah cara kota ini menyambutku tahun lalu. Hingga kemudian masa perkuliahan dimulai, aku mulai kenal teman baru (sebelumnya hanya kenal Jojo, my hero…). Sebagai orang yang tidak suka makan sendiri, hidup mulai terasa lebih baik.

Tentang grup Monday Dinner, bukanlah sekelompok orang yang kerjanya makan setiap malam senin (walaupun senin memang selalu makan, gimana sih Nya). Kebetulan makan malam bersama kami adalah pada salah satu malam senin nan dingin di musim bersalju. Jangan bayangkan makan malam yang mewah atau semacamnya, pada dasarnya hari-hari tersebut adalah malam dimana kami harus belajar untuk ujian hari besoknya, sementara kami lapar jadi masak pasta, kemudian kami bosan jadi kami main-main (sambil belajar tentunya), dan pada akhirnya mengobrol (semoga tentang materi ujian) sampai pagi. Yang aku suka adalah Monday Dinner bertumbuh menjadi pertemuan regular tanpa alasan yang jelas dan semata-mata karena kami saling membutuhkan satu sama lain.

Ini hidup. Orang datang dan pergi silih berganti. Aku sangat beruntung karena kelompok kuliah kami yang berjumlah 26 orang saling terikat satu sama lain dengan cara yang menyenangkan. Sayang kini sebagian besar dari kami sudah terpencar di berbagai belahan bumi padahal lagi saying-sayangnya (eh). Ah ya, tentang manusia-manusia Monday Dinner ini, kami selalu saling memberi pelukan hangat dan bertanya kabar, tak peduli kami baru bertemu di hari sebelumnya. Menurutku itu manis sekali.

Ah, nanti nanti di masa mendatang, tentu tidak lagi kami berlarian mengejar kereta malam agar bisa pulang, tidak lagi ribut-ribut mendebatkan hal penting tak penting, juga paprika panggang isi keju tidak akan pernah sama lagi. Akan tetapi, Monday Dinner akan tetap jadi Monday Dinner di grup WhatsApp (kecuali ada yang iseng mengganti namanya) dan juga akan selalu menjadi bagian dari ceritaku sebagai exBerliner.

Cheers,

A.