I called a place as my hometown if I feel comfortable living in that place and I don’t feel like a stranger or foreigner there. I actually come from a pure Batak family, a tribe from North Sumatera. My father’s job forces us to move from one city to another city or even island. I ever lived in Manado (North Sulawesi), Medan (North Sumatera), Magelang, and Semarang (Central Java). As a Batak person I should choose Medan as my hometown but I’d rather choose Semarang instead because I lived in Semarang longer than I did in Medan and I spent my high school, regarded as the happiest time in life, in Semarang, too. So, now Semarang is my beloved hometown.
Semarang, the capital of Central Java province, is a comfortable city to run daily life. It has been a big and modern city but the situation there is not like other big cities. It is not too crowded. We seldom face traffic jam because the number of vehicles is not as many as it is in other big cities and the street is relatively wide. Many people there also choose to use the public transportation. It can also decrease the risk of pollution. Though, it has been a modern city, it hasn’t left the traditional touch of the city. We can still find old buildings in area called ”Kota Lama”. They are the Lawang Sewu building, Blenduk church, and the Ronggowarsito Museum. They used to be used by the Holland government when they colonized Indonesia. We can feel like being in the past time and learn about the history. Nowadays, the local government starts to launch them as tourist destination. In addition, if you wish you would have a special amusement by living in Semarang, you’d better throw away your thought because Semarang could be a wrong place for you to get what you want though it is a modern city. Semarang can be considered as a very quiet city and doesn’t give you special entertainment as in another big city. You won’t find luxurious shopping centre or many night clubs. Most people choose to have a simple life.
Semarang is also known as a beach city. There is a famous beach there. It is the Marina Beach. Many family come to the beach to have recreation at the weekends and this is very advantageous because automatically it can increase the income of the region but this situation makes Semarang has a very hot weather. Semarang also faces an annual flood disaster. People whose house located near the beach could have been accustomed with this disaster. The biggest flood happened at the year 2002 that caused big lost. It became a very serious problem that made the local government think of ways to minimize the risk of flood. They have started planting trees at the bold land and also stricted the regulation that forbid people to throw garbage in any place. Then, they work. Flood still happens but doesn’t cause deep impact and big lost anymore.
Semarang is well-known for its many traditional and delicious foods. The most famous one is Loenpia but people usually say it as Lumpia. It is made of flour that covered what we say as rebung inside. We usually eat it as snack accompanied with a special sweet sauce. There is also a famous traditional food called Bandeng Presto. The Bandeng fish is pressed by a special pan in high temperature that makes the fish bone tender. So you don’t have to be worried to get choked by the fish bone while you are eating. Actually, there are many other Semarang traditional foods.When you come to Semarang, just visit the Pandanaran street, as an area that sells gifts from Semarang, then you can find them all and buy them as gifts for your friends and family.
I’m grateful for ever spending my life in Semarang for its many comfortable things I may feel there besides the inconveniences that I may also feel. Wherever I am now, I always miss it. For me, hometown doesn’t have to be a place where you were born or you come from. It can be a place that you always want to come back to when you are far away from it.
Good, please avoid using spoken language in your writing.
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