Being the only Muslim in the Group - Touch Korea Tour

Yes I am a Muslim!

Muslim preparation in Indonesia…

 I still remember the question that was asked by  KTO staff Jakarta when I did my interview as a Top 5. She asked me,”So you are a Muslim right? As a Muslim, are you afraid of going to Korea and had to deal with their food?”

Persiapan dari Indonesia sebagai seorang Muslim…

Gue masih Ingat pertanyaan yang diajukan oleh salah satu Staff KTO Jakarta ketika mengikuti interview 5 besar. Dia bertanya, “Jadi lo kan Muslim yah? Sebagai Muslim, lo takut gak pergi ke Korea dan harus berhadapan dengan makanannya?”

At that time, I answered the question with full confidence, “Well, I think ‘afraid’ is not the right word. But I will be aware of my food. And I am sure that, somehow, God will help me to handle the problem”

For your information, as a Muslim, I am not allowed to eat pork and drink alcohol.

Pada saat itu, gue menjawab pertanyaan tersebut dengan penuh percaya diri, “Gue rasa sih, sepertinya ‘takut’ bukanlah kata yang tepat yah. Tapi gue akan lebih waspada dengan makanan gue selama disana. Dan gue yakin, bahwa entah bagaimana caranya, Tuhan pasti akan membantu gue untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut kok”

Sebagai informasi aja, sebagai Muslim gue tidak diijinkan untuk makan babi dan minum alcohol.

And as a Muslim I also have to do my daily prayers, called Shalat. I have to do it 5 times a day. I have prepared everything to do my prayer in Korea. I even asked my husband to install the Qiblat direction at my tablet. Qiblat is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays. Actually Qiblat is also the direction of Kabah in Mecca.

Dan sebagai Muslim, gue juga diwajibkan untuk melakukan Shalat, sebanyak 5 kali sehari. Gue udah siapin semuanya lah. Gue bahkan minta suami gue untuk meng-install arah Kiblat di tablet gue. Kita diharuskan untuk Shalat menghadap Kiblat, yang mana sebenernya merupakan arah dari Kabah di Mekah.

Usually we just have to face the west side for Qiblat. But sometimes I can be really stupid with the direction. I only know right, left, up and down. So don’t even bother to ask me where is west…hihihi...

Biasanya sih kalo di Indonesia, ketika Shalat gue cuman tinggal menghadap barat aja yah, atau nyontek ama orang lain. Tapi kalo di Korea, entah bakalan ada Mesjid atau Mushala, dan mungkin bakalan Shalat sendirian pula, gimana cara nyonteknya yah? Lagian kadang gue suka rada bego kalau menyangkut soal arah. Gue hanya tahu kanan, kiri, atas bawah. Jadi jangan sekali sekali nanya am ague dimana ituh barat..hihihi…

So I have prepared myself to do my daily prayer in Korea. But the day I reached Korea, I had my period, PMS. Well, in Islam, women are not allowed to do the prayer during her period. So, I didn’t have to do the prayer then. But I am well prepared…

Jadi gue sih udah siap siap aja buat Shalat sendirian disonoh. Tapi ternyata, di hari ketika gue nyampe Korea, gue datang bulan. Di Islam, wanita yang sedang datang bulan tidak diperbolehkan untuk Shalat. Jadi gue gak Shalat deh selama disonoh, padahal udah siap banget lho…

Korean Food and Muslim

According to historical records, relations between Korea and Islamic Nations first began when merchants started visiting Korea during the Silla Dynasty. Since the founding of the Korea Muslim Federation, a growing number of Mosques have been established throughout the country. However, due the dietary requirements of Islam, is not always easy for a Muslim to comfortably have meals in Korea.

Makanan Korea dan Muslim

Berdasarkan catatan sejarah, hubungan antara Korea dan Islam diawali dari kedatangan para pedagang selama Dinasti Silla. Dan sejak didirikannya Korea Muslim Federation, sejumlah Mesjid pun telah dibangun di seluruh penjuru Korea. Tapi, sehubungan dengan beberapa batasan terhadap makanan yang terdapat dalam agama Islam, tidaklah mudah bagi seorang Muslim untuk bisa menyantap makanan dengan nyaman di Korea.

Actually, the most notable characteristic of Korean cuisine is that its healthy. Meals are made up of mainly vegetable dishes and natural ingredients are flavors with traditional seasonings. Korean seasonings are characterized by fermentation. I have spent more than 6 days in Korea, and I have a very good digestion there. Thanks to the fermentation methods and lactobacillus…hahaha…

Delicious Healthy Korean Food!

Sebenernya karakter yang paling utama dari makanan korea adalah, sehat. Bahan makanannya rata rata adalah sayuran dan bumbunya pun natural dan tradisional. Ciri khas dari hidangan Korea adalah fermentasi. Gue tinggal di Korea selama lebih dari 6 hari, dan pencernaan gue lancar banget bok! Bisa ke toilet tiap hari…hihihi…Makasih banyak buat metode fermentasi dan lactobacillus – nya…hihihi…

Being the only Muslim in the Fun Team…

Before my departure, I filled so many forms. And the PR staff already asked me so many questions about my habit. Do I have any allergy? Vegetarian? Any kind of illness?...etc…

Menjadi satu satunya Muslim di Fun Team...

Sebelum keberangkatan gue ke Korea, gue telah mengisi berbagai macam form. Dan para staf PR pun telah menanyakan berbagai macam hal tentang kebiasaan gue. Apakah gue ada alergi? Vegetarian? Punya penyakit berat?...dll..

They dig detail information about me. So I am very comfortable to inform them about my Muslim dietary requirements. I read in the briefing pack, that they arranged lunch schedule at Jeju Black Pig BBQ. I told them that as a Muslim I am not allowed to eat pork and drink alcohol but I don’t mind to participate in the event. I just don’t eat pork. So I asked them nicely, is it possible for them to prepare different menu for me.

They were very nice and kind. They make sure that they will prepare different menu for me in that particular lunch.

Mereka benar benar menggali informasi yang sangat detail tentang gue. Jadi gue merasa sangat nyaman untuk menginformasikan kepada mereka mengenai batasan gue terhadap makanan sebagai seorang Muslim. Gue baca di briefing pack, bahwa mereka mengatur jadwal makan siang di Jeju Black Pig BBQ. Gue bilang ama mereka, bahwa sebagai seorang Muslim, gue tidak diperbolehkan untuk makan babi dan minum alkohol. Tapi gue tidak berkeberatan untuk berpartisipasi dalam event tersebut. Gue cuman gak makan babi ajah. Jadi gue tanya mereka secara baik baik, kira kira mereka bisa gak yah siapin menu lain aja buat gue.

Mereka semua sangat baik dan ramah. Mereka meyakinkan gue bahwa mereka bakalan siapin menu yang beda buat gue selama makan siang tersebut.

And during my stay in Korea, all the staffs especially Rachel, Amelie and Laney always informed me about the food. They whispered me during the meal, “Don’t worry Erry, there is no pork in this table”, or sometimes they said, “Those plates are pork Erry, just put them in the different table”.

All of my friends in Fun team were also kind to me. If they saw me a little bit hesitate with the meat, they always tasted first for me, to make sure that it wasn’t pork.

Dan selama gue berada di Korea, semua staff terutama Rachel, Amelie dan Laney selalu menginformasikan gue tentang makanan disana. Mereka suka bisikin gue sebelum acara makan, “Lo gak usah khawatir Erry, di meja ini gak ada babi nya kok!” atau kadang mereka ngomong, “Piring yang itu ada kandungan babinya, pindahin ke meja lain aja yah!”

Semua temen-temen gue di Fun team juga pada baik semua. Kalo mereka lihat gue sedikit ragu ama dagingnya, biasanya mereka suka nyobain dulu buat gue, untuk sekedar meyakinkan gue bahwa itu bukan babi.

Dinner at Yacht

I remember our dinner in the Yacht. The Galbi looked veeeery delicious. But I was hesitating because I read that sometimes Galbi were made by pork. Rachel and Amelie were not in the Yacht, so I can’t ask them about the food.

And I think Ricky saw my face, and understand my hesitation. Here is the video where Ricky tasted the Galbi for me, to make sure that it wasn’t pork. But the funny thing is, he tasted the meat about 3 or 4 times before he confirmed that the meat is the beef. Okay Ricky, that was not tasting…that was eating…hihihi…but thanks anyway. You were so kind.

Dinner At Yacht *I feel so rich*

Delicious Galbi, beef - no pork for me

Gue ingat makan malam kita di Yacht. Hidangan Galbi-nya kayaknya enaaaaak banget. Tapi gue sedikit ragu, karena gue pernah baca entah dimana, bahwa kadang Galbi suka terbuat dari babi. Rachel dan Amelie waktu itu gak ikut di Yacht, dan sepertinya mereka gak sempet kasih tahu gue tentang hidangan makan malamnya.

Dan sepertinya Ricky ngelihat ekspresi muka gue, dan merasakan kebimbangan gue. Ini adalah video ketika Ricky lagi nyobain hidangan Galbi itu buat gue, untuk memastikan bahwa itu bukan babi. Tapi yang lucu adalah, dia nyobain nya sekitar 3 atau 4 kalian gitu deh, sebelum meng konfirmasikan ke gue gue bahwa itu adalah daging sapi. Okay Ricky, itu mah namanya bukan nyicipin…itu mah namanya makan aja kali…hihihi..tapi makasih banyak yah. Baik banget deh!

Jeju Black Pig BBQ

The time before we arrived at the restaurant, Rachel told me that they will prepare beef for me, no pork. Since Dondre didn’t like pork too, I will share my beef with Dondre *damn! I thought I am gonna have the whole beef for myself…hihihi…*.Everybody was busy with their pork, but I was very happy with my beef, so juicy and delicious. Okay, nobody touch my beef!!

Ops, I have to share my beef with Dondre;p

I am happy with my beef! Nobody touch my beef!!

Ketika akan makan siang untuk Jeju Black Pig BBQ, sebelum tiba di restaurant, Rachel udah bilang am ague bahwa mereka akan siapin daging sapi buat gue. Karena Dondre juga gak suka makan babi, jadi gue bakalan share ama dia.*sial! Tadinya bakal gue sikat semua aja tuh…hihihi…* Semua orang sibuk menyantap daging babi yang katanya lezat itu, tapi gue merasa sangat puas dengan daging sapi nya yang juicy dan ending bambang ituh! Jangan ada yang nyomot daging gue yah!!!

Heavy question!!

At that lunch time, Ricky sat next to me in the restaurant and asked me, “So Erry, why are you not allowed to eat pork?”...okay…I know the answer, but I don’t know how to explain it in English…hihihi…

So I think I just babbling to him…blablabla..the main point is, because there is a certain thing in the part of pork that is not health for our body...blablabla…

He just seriously nodded, and asked me more questions,

Ricky : So you never eat pork?

Erry : Never

Ricky : and you never drink alcohol?

Erry : Never

Ricky : even a sip?

Erry : yeah…

Ricky : that’s great. Its not healty. I should stop too…

Everybody were looking at me. Did I say something funny?

 Pada suatu makan siang, Ricky duduk di sebelah gue dan nanya, “Jadi Erry, Kenapa sih kok lo gak dibolehin makan daging babi?”…okay…gue sih tahu jawabannya yah, tapi ngejelasinnya pake bahasa Inggris inih yang rada ribet…hihihi…

Jadi sepertinya gue ngoceh dan nge bacot sana sini mencoba untuk menjelaskan…pokoknya mah intinya gue bilang bahwa ada beberapa bagian dari tubuh babi tersebut yang kurang baik untuk kesehatan tubuh kita,..blablabla…

Dia cuman manggut mangut serius, trus kemudian nanya nanya lagih,

Ricky : Jadi lo gak pernah makan babi?

Erry : Gak

Ricky : Gak pernah minum alcohol juga?

Erry : Gak

Ricky : Walopun seteguk?

Erry : Gak…

Ricky : Baguslah, gak sehat juga sih. Gue harusnya berhenti juga yah…

In the dinner time, the guys ordered Soju. Ricky already knew that I don’t drink alcohol. Dondre didn’t drink alcohol too, because he is Adventist, *right Dondre?*. So Ricky poured a mineral water to my soju glass and then we had our cheers.

And the photographer took our picture while we were cheering and holding our soju glass.

SOJU!

 Pada saat makan malam, mereka mesen Soju. Ricky udah tahu kalo gue gak minum alcohol. Dondre juga gak minum alkoho karena dia Adventist. Jadi Ricky menuangkan air putih ke gelas soju gue, terus kita cheers.

Dan Fotograger pun ngambil poto kita yang lagi cheers sambil megang gelas soju tersebut.

After I did that, I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I didn’t drink any alcohol. It was only mineral water. But there was a picture of me, where I was holding a soju glass and there were bottles of soju in the tables. I don’t want to be misinterpreted. I don’t want people misunderstand me after seeing my picture.

So I told Rachel about it. I asked her nicely, is it possible for them, not to publish that picture, only one particular picture where I was holding the soju glass. Rachel was veeeeery nice to me, and understood my feeling. And she promised me to talk to the photographer about it. Thank you so much Rachel!

Thank you Rachel!!

 Setelah melakukan itu, gue jadi berasa kurang nyaman sendiri. Gue gak minum alcohol,itu cuman air putih doang. Tapi ada poto gue, ketika gue lagi pegang gelas soju, dan ada botol soju bergeletakan di meja. Gue gak mau disalahartikan. Gue gak mau orang yang melihat poto tersebut jadi salah paham tentang gue.

Jadi gue pun ngobrol ama Rachel tentang hal itu. Gue ngomong baik baik, kira kira mungkin gak yah buat mereka untuk tidak mempublikasikan poto tersebut. Cuman satu poto itu doang ketika gue lagi pegang gelas soju. Rachel baiiiiiik banget dan sangat mengerti perasaan gue. Dia berjanji ama gue untuk ngomong ama fotografer tentang hal itu. Makasih banyak ya Rachel!

Funny Story about being drunk!

There is one night in Jeju Island, in our free time, there’s no camera, no crew, only the 6 of us.

 *I will write about this in the special post later*

We bought some drinks and firecrackers in the Family Mart *Tim’s favorite store*. And we walked to the beach just to hang out. We talked about a lot of things. We played firecrackers. So much fun.

But, actually it was very dark there. And there were statues near the beach. At first Dondre thought that there were persons just standing there.

Cerita lucu tentang MABOK!

Ada satu malam di Jeju Island, di waktu bebas kita, dimana gak ada kamera, gak ada kru, cuman kita ber enam doang lah, nongkrong pinggir pantai. *Ntar gue bikin posting khusus lah tentang ini*

Kita beli minuman dan kembang api di Family Mart *kayak semacam Indo maret gitu lah*. Trus jalan jalan dan nongkrong aja di pinggir pantai. Ngobrol tentang banyak hal, main kembang api. Pokoknya seru banget lah!

Tapi, sebenernya disono ituh gelap banget. Dan ada patung gede di pinggir pantai. Pertamanya si Dondre pikir ituh adalah orang yang lagi berdiri diem, tapi ternyata patung bok…

Hang out near the beach! It was DARK!

Firecrackers!

I kept looking at them and said with my serious face, “Hi guys, did you see those statues over there?”

They nodded!

I pointed to a certain way, “I think they were moving!”

They looked at me in a strange way and started laughing!

“Seriously, I think they are waving. I am not joking! I saw them waving their hands, creepy!”

But, they were just laugh and said, “That is sooo Erry!!

What? I am serious!!!

Gue terus terusan melihat kearah situ, terus ngomong dengan wajah serius, “ Hi guys, lo lihat gak patung yang disonoh ituh?”

Mereka mengangguk!

Gue nunjuk ke arah mereka,”Kayaknya mereka gerak deh!”

Mereka cuman melihat gue dengan tatapan yang aneh, trus pada ketawa ngakak!

“Eh, serius, kayaknya mereka melambai gitu deh. Gue gak bercanda! Gue lihat mereka melambaikan tangan gituh. Serem ih!”

Tapi, mereka cuman pada ngetawain gue sambil ngomong,”That is soooo Erry!!”

Apaan sih? Gue serius nih!

On our way back to the hotel, Ricky asked me,

Ricky : Hi Erry, you said that you didn’t drink alcohol right?

Erry : yeah…

Ricky : You never drink alcohol right?

Erry : yeah

Ricky : What did you buy for drink just now?

Erry : I bought banana milk!

Ricky : Well, you know what? I think you are drunk!

Erry : WHAT? HOW COME? Is there any alcohol in this drink? I didn’t know!! Why didn’t you tell me!! I never drunk before!! Am I drunk? *panic attack*

And Ricky laughed so hard!!

Ops, it turned out that Ricky just teased me being drunk because of the statues thing…hihihi…

Sometimes I can be very slow!...hihihi…

NO ALCOHOl in banana milk!!!

 Ketika kita berjalan pulang ke arah hotel, Ricky nanya ama gue,

Ricky : Hi Erry, lo bilang kalo lo gak minum alcohol kan?

Erry : Iya…

Ricky : Lo belum pernah minum alcohol kan?

Erry : iya…

Ricky : Trus, barusan lo beli minuman apaan?

Erry : gue beli banana milk!

Ricky : Tau gak sih? Kayaknya lo MABOK deh!!

Erry : HAH? KOK BISA SIH? Emang banana milk ada alcohol nya gituh? Gue gak tahu lho! Lo kenapa gak kasih tahu gue sih? Gue belum pernah mabok lho? Ini gue mabok gak sih? *panic sendiri*

Terus, Ricky ketawa keras banget!!!

Ops, gak tahunya Ricky cuman lagi nge godain gue ajah, gara gara omongan gue tentang patung tadi…hihihi…

Kadang-kadang gue emang suka lelet banget deh…hihihi…

The Conclusion

I am considered myself to be very lucky, being chosen to be part of the FUN team! All of the staffs and my FUN team were very helpful to me. And respect my religion.

I remember my answer in the KTO Jakarta interview when they asked me about how to deal with Korean food as a Muslim, “I will be aware of my food, and I am sure that somehow God will help me to handle the problem”

Yes, God helped me, through their hands. All the crew, staffs and FUN team!!

My deepest gratitude to all of you, for making me easier to be a Muslim in korea!!!

*group hug*

My deepest gratitude to the whole team!

 Intinya adalah, gue menganggap diri gue sangat beruntung karena bisa jadi bagian dari Fun Team! Semua staff dan temen temen Fun team gue sangatlah menolong. Dan sangat menghormati agama gue.

Gue jadi ingat jawaban gue saat interview ketika ditanya oleh KTO Jakarta gimana caranya nanti menghadapi makanan Korea sebagai seorang Muslim, “ Gue akan waspada dengan makanan yang gue santap, dan gue yakin entah bagaimana caranya Tuhan akan membantu gue dalam menghadapi hal tersebut”

Ya, Tuhan telah membantu gue melalui tangan mereka. Semua kru, staff dan Fun Team!!!

Rasa terima kasih gue yang paling dalam untuk lo semua, karena telah mempermudah gue, untuk menjadi seorang muslim di Korea!!

*group hug*