My Commute: July 2012

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.

^__^

I just realized by now one of the factors why Filipinos' mentality of beauty connoted white skin, blonder hair & blue eyes. It must be because of Barbie!

Yeah the one we grew up with believing she was the epitome of beauty. However, I wondered why I didn't get too fond of it. I remembered playing with it once in a while but unlike other kids my age who couldn't go anywhere without it.