2020

Nadira and Bima began their master’s study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. They met for the first time at an Indonesian Student Association event in Rotterdam where they got to know each other briefly. It was a really quick meeting and they barely had a long conversation. Although there were several offline and online gatherings held by the Indonesian Student Association in Rotterdam, Nadira and Bima didn’t really talk that much to each other.

2021

In this year, their journey began. They met again for the first time on a basketball court in the beginning of 2021, playing with some of their friends. In fact, it was this meeting that commenced the many more meetings they would have this year. Shortly after, they started to talk more often and started to spend more time together by doing various activities, such as cycling, playing basketball or even just strolling around Rotterdam.

Then, Ramadhan came. They spent even more time together within this period. Nadira and Bima did quite a lot of ‘ngabuburit’ together - the period of killing time before iftar. They also did iftar quite often together in Nadira’s place with some of Nadira’s friends where they often cooked some of the snacks together. They made risoles (traditional Indonesian snacks), mixed fruit ice, red bean ice, and matcha latte to make the ambience ‘feels like home’. Indeed, this was a pretty intense month for them.

Approaching mid 2021, both of them got busier. They started focusing on their thesis and their self-development. Bima was busy with his thesis while Nadira was busy with her thesis and internships. Hence, they didn’t really see each other intensely during this time.

At last, they finished their master’s study in September and they came to each other’s graduation ceremony to celebrate! Afterwards, both of them were busy looking for jobs and settling down until Bima got a job offer while Nadira was still looking for a job. It was a tough time for her due to limited job openings during the pandemic. Nadira was a bit down after a lot of rejections until the beginning of 2022.

2022

In the beginning of 2022, Nadira finally got an offer. She was thinking it would be a good start, but on the other hand, she was still in doubt and there was something that didn’t suit her perfectly. During this time, Bima gave her positive emotional support to keep her motivated. Nadira’s journey on looking for jobs in the Netherlands was not easy until they decided to go to Indonesia in April for holidays after the pandemic.

They visited each other while they were in Indonesia; Nadira went to Surabaya and, likewise, Bima to Jakarta. Then during this period, the moment that Nadira waited ultimately came. She finally got an offer working in Amsterdam that is more suitable for her.

As both of them have started to progress in their personal life, they also realized it is time to continue their life and their relationship onto the next stage. From that moment on, the story continues until today and will continue indefinitely.