Where are You Going?

When you ask the people of Yogyakarta the question 'Where are you going?" The most probably  answer will be one N among these four Ns, namely: ngalor (to the North), ngetan (to the East), ngidul (to the South),  ngulon (to the West).  Those 4 Ns actually the dialect of saying the cardinal points:  North (Lor), East (Wetan), South (Kidul), and West (Kulon). 

I have spent a half part of my life in Yogyakarta to study at first and make a living later on.  While studying, it was  not really necessary to use the cardinal points for my daily trips because public transportation were  available to deliver us to every corner of the city and it was cheap. I could just sit and surrender my life to the drivers and the conductors of the buses or station wagons who would bring their passengers to the chosen destination.

I must learn to get accustomed to the cardinals points when I became the coordinator of video shooting especially when we went to outdoor location. As the coordinator, I must sit next to my friend who drove the car and served as a navigator. Google maps was not popular at that time, so every time we got confused with the direction of the places, I must get down from the car and ask whoever I met  first at the street about the direction. The challenges was began, I must understand the language (Javanese) and the cardinal points at the same time. It was quite confusing at first but I learnt to master both because I didn't want us to get lost. 

While walking in the morning, I overheard the conversation of two women, one of which asked the question where are you going this afternoon? The answer was "I would go ngalor." I know that the lady will go to the direction of Kaliurang. I am happy that I can be considered as a Yogyakarta citizen a little bit,  though to be honest, I prefer to use right or left to give direction.

Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away

(Diana Ross)