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Say Cheese!

The days leading up to the trial schedule made the busyness of Aurora and her friends increased many times over. They must make sure all the thoughts and ideas that exist can be contained in structured written writing. Before it is decided worthy of a trial, each student is required to submit a draft thesis to the lecturer who is appointed as the second reader. Based on the input from the selected lecturers, improvements were made so that their thesis became more perfect and ready to be accounted for.

The clouds faithfully accompanied Aurora while working on the thesis, whenever she had time. No wonder the Clouds can be easily found in the Aurora unit, whether it's in the room or in the kitchen. If Aurora concentrates in the room, then the Clouds are there, just present her figure because occasionally she is found asleep while hugging her reading book. Aurora is often moved to see how the Clouds supported her during the course of this thesis. Although the Clouds were silent, but considering that his figure was near Aurora, Aurora's heart was excited.

Sometimes Aurora feels tired in the room and chooses to work in the kitchen, especially if the work is more done editing. When in the kitchen, in addition to the clouds there will usually be Saras also who work together. Interspersed with chatter and laughter, fatigue is not too pronounced. The work also seems to be lighter and real progress.

Aurora and her friends must be smart to take advantage of the time available during the completion of this thesis. It's nothing, getting closer to the last day before leaving for Indonesia, it just feels there are many places that have not been visited and there are many activities that have not been done.

At the end of the week, they plan to go to Volendam, a small fishing village that becomes one of the must-visit places when going to the Netherlands. In this village, visitors can have unique photos by wearing traditional Volendam clothes, lined with paintings of the atmosphere of the family room or terrace typical Dutch houses.

Before Volendam they decided to stop by Edam, a small town that is very famous as a producer of cheese, so that the existing cheese is also known as Edam Cheese. To reach Edam they have to go to Amsterdam first, then continue the journey by bus.

There is Edam Cheese Market or Edam Cheese Market which is not just a market because there are interesting cheese making and selling attractions. Aurora and her friends were shocked to see the shape of the cheese on display. The whole is still intact with a very large size, there is even a shape that almost resembles a wheel and can indeed be rolled when it needs to be moved.

In addition to being able to buy cheese with various variants and levels of maturity, visitors can also try to weigh the body using a cheese scale that is not like ordinary scales. The data on the scales is poured on a certificate that can then be taken home as a memento. It really makes them interested to try to weigh the body, not alone, but all three.

The distance from Edam to Volendam is very close and only takes about 15 minutes by bus. Tracing souvenir shops on the open sea, Aurora and her friends do not forget to shop, choose unique and interesting objects typical of the Netherlands to be used as a handpiece when returning to Indonesia. Rows of similar stores with arrangements made as attractive as possible indeed make Aurora and her friends quite confused to choose which store they need to enter.

Finished struggling with choosing and sorting souvenirs, they also carried out their main purpose of coming to Volendam. The photo! Indeed, not only one or two stores that provide photo services in traditional clothes, but they are not confused because they have received advice from the Cloud which is also derived from the seniors. Look for the store at the end of which there is a photo of Alm. Gus Dur in his etalas! That's the message they received. Each store does display the results of photos of famous people in the front window as a lure, including important people and celebrities from Indonesia.

Because so many tourists from Indonesia, the waiters in this store can indeed speak a little Indonesian. In the storage of goods and clothes, it says “Awas Copet”, a warning that can only be understood by those who understand Indonesian. This place is the choice of many similar stores because in this place visitors can take photos using their own camera using the available background.

The opportunity is certainly not wasted by Clouds and Aurora, as well as her friends. While waiting for the photo service to be ready, they took a picture with the camera on HP each. The photo pose that is official and they have to pay is a photo together and Saras who wants to be photographed alone. At first, Awan felt bad to take pictures with them because actually only Aurora and her friends were really college friends.

When the Clouds revealed his discomfort, Luke simply said, “Nothing, Wan ... You're the twins of dempet.” At that moment all his friends laughed except for Cloud and Aurora who blushed because they were teased.

Satisfied to enjoy the experience of using traditional Volendam clothes, they decided to go to the food vendor and intend to try to eat raw herring only given onions. In the end, only Lukas and Singgih dared to try to eat Dutch-style fish. Iqbal who had originally intended, turned out to retreat when he saw directly silvery fish that fishy smell could still be smelled. If it was Cloud, he had tried it before and did not want to repeat it a second time. While Saras and Aurora, just imagine it they are not interested.

The way to eat this fish is a little unusual. The herring that has no head should be held on the tail, then the fish is inserted into the mouth of the head first and continues to be chewed and swallowed until the tail is left.

“Kas, seriously want to try?” Saras ensured Luke's determination when they both saw how a local demonstrated how to eat raw herring.

Lukas was grinning but answered Saras steadily, “Iya doooong ... when else? Loss, already far to the Netherlands cook not nyoba.”

Iqbal who had declared retreat even prank to challenge Luke. “Turned out yes, Cash. If I succeed, I will buy it at Kim Foei.”

Luke responded quickly. “Bener yes. I tagged!” Iqbal chuckled at the excited Luke.

Singgih who heard the challenge Iqbal joined nimbrung, “Bal, why am I not offered? Do not dare to bother me yes, because it must be exhausted.”

“Yes, you are all eaters!” saras said then laughed Singgih.

Singgih began to take fish that had been provided on a paper plate equipped with onion pox and cucumber pickle strands. Seeing Singgih already raising the raw herring with his fingertips clasping the fish's tail and starting to raise his head, Aurora inched into hiding while peering behind the Clouds. Saras covered his mouth with both hands while looking at his expression that showed anxiety, while Iqbal was ready with HP in his hand to make a video of the seconds herring swallowed perfectly in the throat of Singgih.

Just like Saras said, Singgih is indeed an all-eater. He did not have any difficulty when starting the first chew, it even seemed like he could enjoy, like the locals. When the entire body of the fish was no longer visible, Saras along with Awan and Aurora immediately clapped. Stop by with a proud expression bowing his body as if he had finished showing his best performance on the luxurious stage.

Next is Luke's turn. Seeing Singgih smoothly once ate the raw herring, his confidence increased. A very strong fishy scent entered Luke's sense of smell as the fish began to approach into his mouth, but Luke tried to hold on. As soon as the headless part of the fish began to be felt by his tongue, as quickly as possible Luke tried to swallow without even trying to chew properly first. Quickly the whole body of the fish was exhausted and Luke forced his throat to swallow the whole flesh of the slightly chewed fish and pushed it into the digestive tract. Fishy taste of fish mixed with raw onion fill the entire oral cavity and as it concerns can not be eliminated.

His eyes were firmly closed with an entirely frowning face while shaking his head quickly and stomping his feet, trying to remove the scent and taste from his senses. Quickly he picked up the bottle Saras offered and finished almost a bottle to remove all the remaining flavors.

At first his friends were concerned but soon one by one began to laugh at Luke's expression and mannerisms. It is inversely proportional between the Singgih who is so calm with Luke who shudders. Although full of struggle, but Luke is proud of himself who managed to resolve his curiosity.

“From on not dare at all!” luke taunts Iqbal who still can't stop his laughter.

As the afternoon approaches and they must return, Aurora and her friends return home with carefree hearts. At least they can enjoy the freshness of the sea breeze and excitement in the fishing village before the scheduled trial is announced.

Aurora and Singgih turned out to get the opportunity to account for their thesis on the same day. It's just that Aurora gets a turn towards noon, while Singgih is on schedule in the afternoon. As the trial unfolded, Clouds were present among Aurora's college friends. The presence of the clouds gives its own spirit to Aurora and also adds to her confidence.

With steady and confident Aurora presented the results of her thesis and firmly also she answered the questions given by the examiner lecturer. Hansen, his supervising lecturer, paid tribute to Aurora's hard work in completing her research which made Aurora a little proud. His efforts were not in vain. As soon as Hansen declared the Aurora trial over, immediately he offered a prayer of thanksgiving, “Yes Allah, thank you for your help.”

As he sat back in his place, the Cloud next to him immediately clasped Aurora's hand and could feel her cold hand. While leaning her body to the side, Clouds whispered close to Aurora's ear, “You are great, make me proud.” The praise of the Clouds makes Aurora more youthful and grateful for the existence of the Clouds accompany her days.

That day Aurora and Singgih were able to breathe freely and sleep soundly, while Saras, Lukas, and Iqbal still had to pound waiting for their turn. The three of them also get a schedule on the same day, alternating from morning to afternoon. Like the previous day, the trial was also followed by students, including those who had finished first such as Aurora and Singgih.

The trial that Saras, Lukas, and Iqbal went well, all managed to explain their thesis well without obstacles. Returning from campus with a feeling of relief mixed happily, the six Indonesian students also chose to enjoy food in an Asian restaurant located not far from the apartment, to celebrate their success in completing the struggle of college to completion even though they do not know the final value. This restaurant is also what Iqbal promised as a place where he treated Luke for the success of Luke to answer the challenge of spending herring in Volendam.