Just Starting...

I am starting a new journey with this book that my new employer has given me. 

Actually, I was quite surprised to when on my first day of work..they gave me a set of office stuff inluding this book. It was such a warm welcome that I almost cried. 

HEE!!!! 

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On a different note, I am happy that more & more stores are using the recyclable paper instead of plastic bags. Just imagine how greatly it'll lessen our non-biodegradable wastes. I saw MINI STOP & JOLLIBEE starting this campaign a few weeks ago. 

By the way, how's everybody doing? I don't have that much time to stay on the world wide web so I rarely get to update this & the rest of my social networking sites. 

I miss you all!! 

Let's all stay happy & healthy!! 

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Paalam CDP!

I really wanted to blog about this last Wednesday, January 4, but I couldn't bring myself in front of my Blogger dashboard. 

Anyway, last January 4th, I was told that I'd be joining another team. That was very heartbreaking for me since I've already gotten very comfortable with my EBean team. But who was I to complain? Prior to that, a lot of transfers have already been made so it shouldn't come as a surprise. 

hmm...I don't want to make the short story long so let's just skip a few details & head to my final decision. I've decided to just immediately resign. It was so not me. I would usually freak out with this idea but somehow, I felt genuinely happy! Maybe I was looking for an adventure. Anyway, I thought I was crazy but I found myself already doing the proper procedures for resignation. I only gave a 2-day notice but I wouldn't suffer the consequences of not following the 30-day notice since it was a transfer. A different case daw. 

These pictures were taken on my last day, January 6th. 

Medyo malayo pa ang sahod so lahat kami di mapera. But I was quite surprised when 2 of my teammates prepared a cheap meal. It was just pancit canton & pandesal from Pan de Manila. I was really touched & happy. But I couldn't help but feel the reality sinking in. I realized that I'd be taking an unsure path & that I'd be leaving people I've come to love. It was really sad. 

This was my last schedule. 

This was our supervisor Jon. 

Gizette & Ran.

When I arrived nga pala on my station that day, I saw this one. A present from Gizette. So sweet. 

So there was my farewell with Chungdahm. It's just been almost 8 months but I  have a lot of good & bad memories to treasure. 

I will miss this aisle....

...and of course these people. 

2011 Halloween

Yesterday, October 31st the management decided to have a small gathering for the Halloween in our pantry. There were contests for costumes (male & female), pair & the creepiest station. My team decided on a theme, The Plants vs. Zombies. I was assigned to be the sunflower. I was told to wear any green top and make a head piece resembling a sunflower. However, I got so many things to do last weekend so I wasn't able to come up with any but I made sure to wear something unusual from my common outfits.

 So I wore this.

1. White Bolero 

2. Green sando

3. High-waist & laced black skirt/tutu(?)

I was a little bit anxious at how people in the office will think about it but when I arrived in the office I was t he one who got surprised. They were all clad in real costumes. So I was happy cuz my outfit didn't seem out of place & a lot of people liked the skirt. 

Me posing with Mark & Gizette

Here's Jon acting on his character. The 'zombie'

Mark & a colleague

The Creepiest Station

WOW! As in WOW! Super in character siya. She's from another team.

Gem in Jessie of Toy Story. 

The Lafang! 

Ms. MJ looking like SADAKO

Mark who's supposed to be a Zombie looked like the Dark Knight

My good friend Tina.

Ms. MJ in her SADAKO character

Roma looking scary. 

I had so much fun looking at the pictures on Facebook. Unfortunately, I had early sessions so I wasn't able to roam around the office to personally see my colleagues creativity & efforts. I so like their dedication.

On a different note....

I've just been pondering on why Halloween is celebrated. Why do people need to wear costumes? Is it some kind of marketing strategy for costume & pumpkin stores? I don't want to go into details of how or when it originated. I just wanna know what's the sense? So I came up with  my own assumptions. 

Perhaps it is for people to be crazy once a year & be someone else. The need to break out & free yourself from who you are. 

Special  thanks to my colleague Lara pala for all these wonderful pictures. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Stress Medicine

During the first few weeks of August I was having a hard time adjusting to the new work environment. Di ko alam but I felt so drained. Super pagod pagkatapos ng 9 na oras na pagtatrabaho. I admitted that there was something wrong with me. Life was boring, including weekends. 

Then one day, as I was cleaning the house and rummaging through my old stuff, I found a piece of paper that reminded me of a very important thing. It was a small note from my Korean manager from the previous company. It was to relay a message from a student. It was from someone named Mr. Crom and it said


"Thank you for making me confident enough and I wish you good luck."

It was just very simple but it reminded me why I am still in this kind of job. I teach English to Koreans online. 

I know that I'm not the smartest....I know that I don't have the best teaching style..I know that I'm not excellent in grammar...but I can feel that I can make my students very confident in speaking English. And I think that's my forte. 

Upon realizing these things....I came to realize what I promised myself way back. 

"I will make my students the most confident in speaking English with me..and that's where they will get strength and motivation to continue with the learning process."

..and this is what I'm going to do with my new students. 

When I started doing it, I found my job less stressful and more at ease. I saw everything in a different light. I din't get easily cranky with 'bobo' learners. I get to empathize with difficult and impatient clients.

That's why I always keep this note. I even put in my wallet to always remind me of my promise to myself. 

And this is the story of the small note on my wallet my colleagues are curious about.