I Wish I could have a Normal Work Day

Lately I've been feeling the stress of my job. The meetings, the paperwork, the extra work...the extra extra work. I didn't mind doing it before, but now, I'm starting to resent it. Sounds really bad but trust me you'll feel the same way if you were in my shoes.

Sunday nights are always a struggle for me because I know I have work the following morning. Sometimes I would find myself wishing, in the middle of the workday, that I was somewhere else.

Before, I used to think that it was enough that I love my profession. That I love working with my co-teachers. And that I have students who respect me. The sense of fulfillment is still there but I'm just too tired to recognize it.

I wish I could have a "normal" workday. A day wherein I can leave work to have lunch out for a full hour at any place I want to. A day wherein my job expectations are given to me in black and white. A day wherein I can work uninterrupted. A day wherein I can forget and leave my work behind after 8 hours working.

PAL-pak

I was lucky enough to book 4 tickets to Palawan in October before everyone else knew about their 788 promo. Our internet connection at work is slower than a sloth so I decided to call their booking office. It took me 20 to 30 minutes to connect to an operator. It was so long I was able to memorize their packages for Hawaii, Ho Chi Minh and Sydney.

I bought tickets for my mom, sister #2 (Kookee) and nephew (Ethan) for Php1592 each…not bad! They gave me my confirmation code and told me to pay at the nearest PAL office. I was a little bit surprised ‘cause in Cebu Pacific you can pay direct even through phone bookings. Anyway, I asked for their nearest office because I live in Cavite. The operator told me the nearest one was in Padre Faura cor. Adriatico. Padre Faura? Nearest ba yun? So I asked, “Don’t you have an office at NAIA 2?” Operator replied, “Meron po ma’am pero pinaka malapit po yng sa Padre Faura.”

Ummm…hello? Mas malayo kaya ang Padre Faura. It was “Nice-To-Be-Everyone Day” that day so I just “Okay.” But on normal circumstances, I would have said…

“Excuse me iha. May map ka ba jan ng Luzon? Hanapin mo yung Cavite. Tapos hanapin mo kung nasaan yng NAIA 2 and Padre Faura St. Using your finger, trace the way going to NAIA 2 from Bacoor and Padre Faura St. from Bacoor. Anong mas malapit?”

Moving on, our deadline for payment is tomorrow April 30, 2009. So I told my mom yesterday that I have to pay for our tickets today.

We left the house before 10:00am for NAIA 2. After meeting a lot of idiotic people on the road, we finally reached the PAL office.
The guard asked me, “Ma’am ano po yung business nila?”

I replied, “Magbabayad lang ng ticket.” He then gave me a pink stub. The stub said I was number 39. I glanced towards the counter meter and it said that it was serving no. 2.

WHAT THE HECK?! Number 2 palang?! Nagugutom na ako!

We had no choice but to wait. Mom and I went to look for vacant seats. Malas! We sat beside an Ilocana who just came from “ELAY.”

I wish I brought ear plugs with me.

She was carrying on and on about PAL being delayed (I agree)…her dauter (daughter)…roundtrip ticket…the weather…Pangasinan…waking up early…the ants who bit her. Ah basta! Nakwento na nya buong buhay niya. I glanced sideways to see how my mom was reacting to this lady…she also had her fingers pressed to her ears.

I almost jumped when Ilocana Lady suddenly asked me my number. I said, “Thirty-nine po.” She replied, “Oh may, your eeben purder dan me. I’m number chirty-tree.” The Chinese dude beside me suddenly stood up…and transferred seats. Crap! Naunahan niya kami!

After two hours…

We were still there. Waiting…with fingers pressed to our ears. ANU BAZ?! Ang tagal tagal! My mom was super irritated she went up to one of the counters already. They were getting the numbers mixed up. Some people were already making “singit.” Some customers were just booking the flights there. Hello?! MAGBABAYAD LANG KAMI. The LV lady beside me also went there just to pay for her tickets. She was on the phone from 9:30 PM to 12:00AM to confirm her flights. Bwiset talaga!

Finally, my number was called. Guess how long it took them to process my payment…

10 MINUTES.

TEN MINUTES LANG! I firmly suggested, after I paid for my tickets, that they should have had a separate counter to deal with those who have confirmed flights already. Of course the PAL attendant didn’t reply.

Ang galing galing talaga.

What-a-day!

It's December 24 and I needed a manicure and pedicure.

I decided to brave the sea of people at SM Bacoor. I went to 3 different salons and they all said I had to wait for an hour before they can accommodate me...HELLO!?! One hour...no way man! It's a good thing I saw this aromatherapy salon and there were a few people inside.

The receptionist was very accommodating and managed to convince me to get a manicure, pedicure, foot spa treatment and a foot & leg massage. (galing mag sales talk) It was worth it! They have this big Lazy-Boy type chairs and they give you two fluffy pillows. Sarap! I could stay there the whole afternoon.

It was 5 pm when I left the salon.

I stopped by SM Department store to buy a table for my room. Nothing fancy. Just a square monobloc beige table.

I was suppose to meet my older sister in SM but I forgot to bring my phone so I didn't know how I was going to bring the table home. Riding a jeepney with a 30 x 30 inch table is not easy so I decided to just ride a taxi going home.

After passing through a maze of people on the ground floor of SM, the attendant and I arrived at the taxi lane.


I told the driver my address (2-3 kilometers away from SM). He nodded, moved closer to me and said "Ma'am minimum po namin 300 Php."

THREE HUNDRED PESOS! WHAAAAAT!?!

You have got to be kidding me! With three hundred bucks I could have rented a coaster going to my house!

After recovering from my shock, I immediately told the driver "Bawal yan ah!" He just kept smiling and shrugging his shoulders. Argggggh! AZAR! I would have wanted to give him a piece of my mind but I told myself that it's Christmas...I'll just hunt him down after tomorrow. *snicker*snicker *

So how did I go home?



I rode a jeepney carrying my 30 x 30 inch beige monobloc table, only to find out that my older was in SM waiting for me to text her.

what a day...

Doing Something Because You WANT To NOT Because You HAVE to

I just recently had an exposure trip with a couple (there were 40+ of them!) of students from school and I realized how different our views were when it comes to community service.

I remember doing community service back in high school. It was so much fun not because we got to get out of school but because we got to experience something unique and very humbling.

During my first year in high school, we had a market exposure. We had to buy ingredients in a wet public market for our cooking class. We were suppose to make pancit canton. The school made us ride a jeep...take note...no security guards. When we got there, our teacher instructed us on where we were suppose to meet and then set us loose at the market. It was funny at first because most of my group mates have never been to a public market. I think the tinderas were secretly laughing at us because whenever we would ask for the price of the ingredients they would answer in Spanish (e.g. kinse, kwarenta, singkwenta). We'd look at each other and say "Ahhhh kinse" and then someone would whisper "What in the world is kinse? How much is that?" Some of us would mimic the other buyers and start sniffing at the vegetables so that we wouldn't look stupid. That really was a great experience. Even though we smelled bad and the place was really hot.

On my second year, our exposure trip was cancelled due to the lahar flow in Central Luzon. Sophomores would always go to San Simon, Pampanga to meet with our sister school there and interact with the farmers. It was a bit disappointing but we got to go to San Simon on our junior year. It was a short exposure but meaningful. We ate with the family that we were assigned to and brought them lunch. One of my groupmates, Sasha, brought Jollibee hamburgers and fries with her and for them eating Jollibee was already a feast. They could only eat at Jollibee once a year because they couldn't afford it. Some of my classmates went home muddy that day because they actually walked the rice fields with the farmers!

But nothing could beat my senior year in high school. For fourth year, we were to spend 3 days with a family who lived along Boni Avenue. We didn't sleep there but we got to spend 8 hours a day with our foster family. We accompanied our foster moms and dads (and even siblings) to their daily activities. My foster dad was a tricycle driver so I spent one morning riding at the back of his tricycle waiting for passengers. My foster mom was a stay-at-home mom so I did chores with her around the house. I ironed clothes, cooked Adobo, swept the floor, washed the dishes, solicited money for a funeral, etc. As we went around the barangay, I would see some of my classmates chatting and working with their foster parents. One was even washing clothes because her foster mom was a labandera. At three o'clock we would hang-out at the nearby sari-sari store and drink Coke from a plastic bag and play watusi with the kids in the barangay.
I am so proud and thankful that I was able to go to a school who had a heart for service and was able to instill in their students the value of humanity. In all our exposure trips, no one ever complained of the heat, the smell, and how tired we all were. That was all part of the experience. I have batch mates who were the daughters of politicians and business tycoons but you would never hear them complain during our exposure trips.

No one complained at all.

You're probably wondering why I wrote this blog...I'm just frustrated. Frustrated because some of my students chose to complain when we went to "camp." They complained so much they were not able to appreciate what was right in front of them. They complained so much they lost the essence of what the activities were all about. They complained so much that I was ashamed to be their teacher for that day.

You Think You're So Cool...

I was surfing the net and going through the profiles and pictures of some of my students in school and to say that I'm disappointed is an understatement.

They post pictures of themselves drinking alcoholic beverages...smoking in public...partying at places where they're not even legally allowed to go inside...kissing and smooching each other...calling each other foul names.

I keep asking myself "Why?! Why do they have to do these things?" I've gone through high school and college and never did I allow myself to be so reckless and stupid. I guess it was because my mom's sense of values was deeply rooted in me and my siblings.

I don't smoke 'cause I'm asthmatic and it's a nasty habit. I don't drink alcoholic beverages 'cause they taste bad to me and I'm allergic to it. I don't go to noisy clubs because I'm not a fan of chaos. To say that I have not used foul words is a big lie so I'll just say that I use some discreetly. Some of you might probably think that I'm some weirdo nerd who has no life at all. Maybe I am. SO WHAT? I'd like to think that I just made the right choices for myself and I don't regret any of it.

I just don't see any reason why these kids have to do it. And then it hit me...they think it makes them look cool.

All these things done for the sake of "coolness." Being "cool" won't get you accolades (worth getting). Being "cool" won't get you a fulfilling job. Being "cool" won't get you real friends. Being "cool" won't set you as good example for your kids in the future. Being "cool" is not cool at all.

Someday some of you are going to look back at the things that you did and grimace at the fact that you were so ignorant...that you wasted your time doing nonsense...that you hurt a lot of people... and that you thought that THAT WAS COOL.

Diner Mania

Woohoo! Classroom decoration time! I don't know about the other teachers in school but I love it when it's time to decorate our classroom.

I originally thought of going with an Underwater theme because my class's country assignment is the Solomon Islands but I wanted something different this year. So, I spent a whole weekend looking for inspiration...and all I got were orange stars dancing in front of my eyes. Orange stars because I spent too much time on the computer. (heehee)

It's weird when you sometimes find what you were looking for when you're NOT looking for it. There was nothing good on the TV that night so I got into my rare "I've-got-to-organize-my-things" mood. I started with my digital pictures. I was going through my recent family pictures at Gram's Diner when it hit me. WHAM!(Ouch!) 1950s Diner theme!

Check it out!

What's a diner without the "Welcome" sign?

My mom, Kookee and Ethan helped me out (again) with decorating.
Here you can see my homework board labeled "Take-Out Counter."




Today's Specials = Diary Entries
What's Cooking = Subject Teacher's Workplan



Some institutional icons that all of the classrooms have to have.



I'm not too fond of cutting so I painted these on the wall with the help of an overhead projector.



House Specialties = Best Works of my advisory class

I was hoping to take more pics...but I was super tired. I spent three whole days making sure that my classroom was ready for the first day of school.

Every day...Every day...Every day...the Magic is here

For our annual faculty outing, the school decided to have us wreak havoc at Enchanted Kingdom.

I've been to Enchanted so many times so I wasn't really excited to go. There was nothing new so how could I have possibly have fun?

Yup...it sure looks like I didn't have fun...;-)