July
15, 2012 @11:48PM
Hmmm…
what is there to write about? …..hmmmm…. I guess that shouldn’t be a long thinking
time since I think a lot of interesting things have taken place this weekend.
Let’s
start with Saturday.
Part 1
– A Trip to the Hospital
As
usual, the first few hours of my Saturday was spent in running errands; fixing
my things, cleaning up my space in the dorm, bringing my used clothes to the
laundry shop and buying groceries. At around 10AM, I decided to keep my word
about donating blood for a colleague’s friend’s mother who was in the hospital.
It so happened that my blood type is A and they needed an A+. Though I wasn’t
sure if our blood types would match I defied my lazy self, kicked my butt out
from my comfy bed and went out for it. We went to San Jose Reyes Memorial
Medical Center in Tayuman which is more than
45
minutes away from where I reside. I was a little bit nervous since it would be
my first time, but I knew I would be doing the right thing plus there would
also be some health benefits for me… or so I convinced myself.=)
Upon
entering the hospital premises, I was shaken by what I saw, heard, smelled
& felt. Everyone seemed like carrying a very heavy burden, like ‘I’m in so much pain right now. Please don’t
talk to me.’ was plastered all over their faces. Although I could see a few
hospital staffs smiling, I could feel the negative aura oozing from the
patients’ watchers. I don’t know if I was just imagining it but I could feel
the calmness and silence in people’s gestures betrayed the chaos lurking inside
them just waiting to explode. I genuinely felt bad. It was so painful to see
panicky faces while the other side of the street, the other side of the
country, the other part of the world was partying & celebrating. I thought
& felt it was utterly unfair. That while they are worrying about hospital
bills, while their loved ones were on the brink of death, while their worlds
seemed crashing down, others…others…others (painful but true) like me worry
about mundane problems. It was a very poignant feeling I couldn’t shrug off. I
felt like I wanted to cry for them, though I knew it wouldn’t make any
difference.
How
could life be so unfair? T.T Ah…how could this be? Is my laptop monitor wet?
Why are my eyes leaking again? [I-cnt-see-clrltt]
I felt
a little relieved knowing that somehow I could help someone through blood
donation. Unfortunately, the hospital blood bank was closed so they couldn’t
accommodate me. I was like WTH? I heard that the patient I was donating blood
for direly needed the blood or else her condition would get worse, why couldn’t
they be considerate?
Grrrrrrrr…
I couldn’t do anything. We were very disappointed. My colleague who accompanied
me was a little embarrassed by the inconvenience the trip has caused me and I
couldn’t hide my disappointment either. I couldn’t reassure her that my
disappointment was for a different reason so I just stayed quiet.
On my
way home, as I gazed at the Quiapo area from a jeepney window, it was the first
time I saw the beauty in the slums, the traffic, the noisy people and the
different kinds of pollution around me.
I felt
the world outside was…a pure bliss.
I
didn’t get paranoid of ‘holdapers’. I
just felt a very unusual peace inside me while I was in a spot I considered
extremely dangerous. It pains me so bad to admit that I felt it after seeing
others’ misfortune. It is the truth I wanted to burry.
Part
2 – “I’m going back to school… well sort of.”
Have
you ever realized how lucky we Filipinos are for being bilingual? For aside
from our mother tongue, we also know how to speak & write using the English
language?
If
your answer is no, then please welcome me to the club! –or should I say “You
should have welcomed me to the club”?
I
have taken for granted the fact that I can speak another language aside from my
mother tongue. Pompous and racist as I may be, I honestly thought that it
should be part of our nature as a human being, not English per se but at least
another language. I thought it’s as natural as breathing so I didn’t quite get
it when some of my classmates before – (elementary to college) had a little
hard time grasping the most important things about grammar. I didn’t understand
why most of my online students before couldn’t clearly distinguish the
difference between the long and short ‘e’ sounds. I’m not saying I’m very good
in English. It’s just that we should have at learned the basics.
Typing
the previous paragraph, and realizing I honestly thought and felt this way
before made me berate my old self for having been so narrow-minded.
Well
at least I can say now that this is in the ‘past tense’ right?
Yes
it WAS!
Realizing
it took me 23 years. Well at least it isn’t too late thanks to a Korean
Language Class I signed up for.
Last
Saturday, I joined this class in UP Diliman. It’s organized by an org named UP Arirang which aims to promote
the Korean culture to Filipinos and vice versa. Though our teachers aren’t as
fluent in the language as I expected them to be, I didn’t regret I decided to
spend few hours of my Saturdays in this.
In
the class, another painful realization hit me. I came face to face with my mockery
when I found myself in the shoes of people whose intelligence I used to
question. I found it absurd not to pronounce ‘kamsahamnida’ without emphasizing
the letter ‘k’. I heard my previous thoughts berating me… hehehe this is karma
punching me in the face but I like it. I feel good being figuratively
masochistic sometimes.
Anyway,
I think I’m done with the realization stuff and back to the class.
The
class was a group of more than 50 ‘18 to 20 somethings’ and would be regularly
held in the campus’ Palma Hall. We will be divided into 2 groups since some
already knew how to write and speak a few words. I am very proud to say that
after almost 4 years of following Kpop…… I still belong in the Super Beginner
group. (Hahaha) That’s what I got from just relying on subs and just staring at
my favorite Kpop idols. But to be honest, though I like Big Bang so much, they
weren’t the reason why I decided to learn this language. Well, maybe a little
bit…hmmm..no…Okay yes. I’d be a hypocrite if I’d say they didn’t influence me
somehow. But knowing more about the culture that fascinated me… and the fact
that the lessons were for free…(well who wouldn’t grab that opportunity right?)
wouldn’t that be enough?
Kidding
aside, I just really like the sound of people speaking in Korean. It’s like
music to my ears. And who knows? I might be able to put it into good use
someday.
I
guess that would be all for now. But before I end this post, let me share a few
Romanized Korean words/phrases I know.
1.
[hal-mo-ni]
– grandmother
2.
[harabussi]
– grandfather
3.
[noona]
– older girl to a boy
4.
[kamsahamnida]
– Thank you
5.
[song-saeng-nim]
– Teacher
6.
[jilmuni]
– question
7.
[ta-ra-ha-seyo]
– Repeat after me
8.
[tara-ha-jima]
– Don’t repeat after me
9.
[op-seoyo]
– not have
10. [i-sseo-yo] – have
Yey!
Congratulations to me. Considering how short term my memory is, remembering
these words & phrases is already such a very big accomplishment.
^__^
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