Arisan

An "arisan" is a form of Rotating Savings and Credit Association in Indonesian culture, a form of Microfinance.^[1  (from Wikipedia)

Generally the arisan is a social gathering that takes place at a fixed interval (this being an informal social network this may be variable), at each member's home in turn. The rotating arisan holder (drawn by lots) receives payment from each other member and provides food for those members. In the course of the arisan the amount paid to other members will equal the amount received when the arisan is held (Wikipedia)

That's it, Indonesian culture. I keep wondering is there Arisan in other country. When I was a kid, I feel funny to see my mom went from one Arisan to another. Maybe 3 or 4 times arisan in a month. Neighbourhood, family, my father's office even a village arisan. A lot of arisan and my mother is a housewife.

Then now, I feel her. When there are a lot of invitation of Arisan are coming on my way. Family, neighbours, relatives, high school friends, college friends, office, my ex co-workers at my previous office, moms from schools, etc. etc. Here in Indonesia, we have something called "silaturahmi'. Means we can't stop seeing everyone we know on purpose and we have to maintain the relationship. 

All this time, I try to manage my arisan by only pick two arisan this year. One that arranged by my neighbourhood,since I have to keep updated about what's going on in our neighbourhood. And one that arranged by my high school friends, since it  only take every two months. Another form of arisan is what me and my two best friends did lately. We collect the money every month to take a trip Bali.

What I love about arisan is all the laughters and chit chat that refreshing so I can a little bit loosen up.  In my neighbourhood arisan, we usually move from one house to another. Sometimes we took trip like to Bogor, Bandung, pekalongan, Surabaya and Malang. And it's really fun. But lately we booked a restaurant nearby our houses. It also happen to my high school girlfriends, since the traffic is getting crazy and house of every member is all over Jakarta, arisan no longer held in one's home but from one restaurant to another. 

And I love to try new restaurant :)