A Long Road to Become An Air Force Wife

I am very addicted to Sherlock Holmes the series lately. Benedict Cumberbatch’ acting is so attracting. He played as Mr. Sherlock Holmes. My sister made me into him! Blame my sister for I could not move my eyes although for just a second. 

I haven’t finished the Sherlock Holmes in books yet.  I wish I could. But after seeing my bookshelf and considering I haven’t finished all of my books, the thought of buying the Sherlock Holmes needs to be postponed. [  ]

My sister and I just finished the first to the third season of Sherlock Holmes series. The third season is not available yet here in Indonesia, but we have watched in via youtube. [ A zombie like-laugh!] So much fun we had together! That is why I told my sister that we have never been this intimate before, but the Sherlock Holmes series has successfully united us in peace. [Hail, Sherlock!]

Okay, enough about the Sherlock Holmes. Hm, what to tell you next about my boring life lately? Ah, about marriage. 

Well, I have completed the requirements and also the documents before getting married with Abang. After completing all the Mental Building a.k.a Bintal [Pembinaan Mental], Intel, and Health Check [Cek kesehatan, I called it Pregnancy Test. A Kind of test to make sure that the officer is not getting married because the fiance has pregnant already. And what is gonna happen if the fiance has pregnant? Aha! I dunno and why should I care?] –I needed to go back to Jakarta to submit all the documents to GKPO [GKPO stands for Gereja Kristen Protestan Oikumene] Halim Perdana Kusuma. The church where Abang belongs to and the place where he grew up in, owns a system that requires him to complete the Nikah Kantor (legally married by the institution) first before the letter was signed. The letter itself is needed as an information that is required by HKBP Bandung Riau Martadinata before we get married. Confusing, huh?

Allow me to describe all the process into words. At least, it would give you an insight about how confusing you will be if you want to get married with soldier. And, you would probably have time to re-thinking to marry the soldier.

So, there are more than three steps before hitting the day. But, those are the things I have completed so far. Again, I have to remind you that I am about to marry the soldier, the Indonesian Air Force soldier to be exact. So the requirements and detail checks would be the priority!

Okay, there were three steps I need to pass. The first step and also the first test was INTEL. They called it INTEL. I was not very sure what to say it in English term. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sinaga [finally!]

I. INTEL

This test was my tremendous NIGHTMARE! I was given some forms. The forms itself consists of 2 parts. The first part was quite thick. Although I faced no problem in filling it, I hated it. Oh, I really hated it! How could you stand writing the forms with so many questions repeated, and so many rhetorical questions asked? Some questions really bothered my very fundamental understanding about this country, Indonesia. Those questions are: What do you think about other belief that is trying to replace Pancasila as our ideology?; What do you think about demonstration?; What do you think about communism? Do you think communism still a threat to the integrity of Indonesia? And etc.

My fiance insisted me to write quick response. He told me that this is only a standard procedure. They won’t check it for details. But, my heart told different. I followed my heart, instead of listening to him. So, I wrote down what my heart and my head told me. After that, I felt relieved.

If I could not marry my fiance because I failed the test, I wouldn’t mind. Because deep down, I know they will not fail me.

II. HEALTH CHECK

The second step was going to Abdulrachman Saleh Hospital. Oh, have I told you that I was already wearing PSK [Pakaian Seragam Kantor] uniform although I haven’t married yet? It was like a very formal uniform. Every Air Force soldiers wife ought to wear it for daily activities.

Okay, back to the health check. I passed the test, of course. I haven’t had hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotopin) in my blood and in my urine.

III. MENTAL BUILDING

This test was kinda absurd. I did not quite understand the purposes of the test. We were given a paper with some questions. Some questions such as: Write down the"I Believe In God" prayer!; Who is going to support the living of the whole of family members? and etc.

We passed it. Of course, we passed it! No reason for us not to pass the test.

* * *

Why did I name my wiriting today : A Long Road to Become An Air Force Wife

Because it is truly a long road. I needed to fly twice to Malang from Pontianak. We could not fulfill the requirements at our 1st meeting. So I needed to go back to Malang again in the next month. How much money I have spent for the airplane's ticket? Nah! Forget it. 

After completing the series of I-Thought-It-Was-A-Neverending-Step-To-Get-Married, we needed to face our 32nd Air Force Squadron' Commander and Wife. We get many advices, and I just want to run away because based on the advices I have been told, I think I can't imagine myself surrounded by rules and eyes watching over me. [Hoo, too over-reacting, Jo!]

And tadaaa... the series in Malang were finally done. The next step was completing the requirements in Pontianak and Jakarta to get the agreement letter for doing the holy matrimony in HKBP Bandung. Really really a long and quite tiring road! Fiuuuh...

January 16, 2014