Wednesday, January 28, 2004

A funny thing...

happened last saturday in class. we were reviewing all the kanji and vocabulary covered in our first lesson this semester, and then, the word 外交 (gaikou = "diplomacy") came up. sensei added 官 (-kan) to the end to read 外交官 (gaikoukan), meaning "a diplomat". then he told the class that i told him in a dream that i wanted to be a diplomat. i never told anybody that! but then again, sensei is not your normal teacher. it is only in his class that i get to hear about pranic healing, astral plane, meditation and all that jazz. woohoo! oh yeah, and he knows that i write a diary! uh-oh, looks like my secrets aren't safe anymore, hehe! no, seriously, last semester, his only target was gigi-san. he used to announce in class what he saw inside gigi-san's mind and we would all have a good laugh over it. now that the class has grown smaller (we're only 6 in class for this semester: gigi, maricel, grace, mae, myself and the new student, desiree. no guys!), looks like sensei will be reading everyone else's minds!!

well, yeah, maybe in the deepest recesses of my mind, i do want to be a diplomat and work for my country as a representative to japan and look after the welfare of the filipinos there. when you are a diplomat, you are a big-shot. but will that make a big difference to the millions of people living here? will we get better roads and bridges here if i work there? will more kids be able to attend school here if i work outside my country?

that's why i would rather work in development agencies like the asian development bank or the japan international cooperation agency. it will take a long time, though. but i don't care much; i'm willing to work and study hard to prepare for my future career! oh wait! where does teaching japanese come in? well, i might do it part-time, if the school is still existing by then and if my school needs me, then i will happily oblige!

i dream of japan...

and i look forward to the time when i can finally go back there and visit all the places i wasn't able to see last year and pose for pictures with my "PEACE!" sign. いつ日本に戻れるかしら?2年間ぐらい待たなきゃならないのかと思ってる。 それはとても長い待ち時間ね。 i have been browsing through many japan-related blogs and sites, and now, i wanna go there so badly! maybe i should just stop visiting all those sites...or maybe i should just go to japan -- NOW! hehe! fat chance *sigh*

pam asked me earlier...

if i wanted to live in vietnam. i said no, at least not now...i mean, the vietnamese are really nice people but sthere's bird flu there and i can't live without chicken!! NOOOO! chicken is probably the second most important part of my diet, next only to chocolate. i sure do hope we won't get avian flu here.

Posted by Unknown at 16:19 0 comments

Monday, January 26, 2004

last saturday, i was half-expecting that our class will be watching the first part of the kouhaku 2003. it's a japanese new year's concert where the two teams (red and white) of celebs are pitted against each other. at the end of the concert, the votes (from the judges, live and home audiences) are tallied to determine which team wins. it was my first time to watch the concert (only because mojica-sensei wanted to watch hirai ken sing).

anyway, we didn't get to watch the video's first part -- gackt and moriyama naotaro were in it too! darn! -- because we had to review last semester's kanji...which we already forgot. ^^;; sensei even called the class 勉強不足 (benkyoubusoku), a japanese word roughly meaning "lacking in study". ^^;; well, it's partly true...but we do get good grades too!!

speaking of benkyoubusoku, i did promise myself to try writing my blog in japanese, just as miho does with hers. well, as a new year's resolution, miho promised herself that she'd study english everyday and update her blog solely in english. well, i am trying!! i might post a japanese entry one of these days. do wait for it!

yesterday, i tried uploading my pics again from the digital camera to the pc. nothing happened; i'm not surprised. maybe it's got something to do with my stupid pc; or maybe it's the usb cable. i badly need some pictures on my web; it looks so boring with all the text. i needed to make them more interesting! not that i look interesting, mind you. but i did take lots of pics of my family and friends and i want to upload everything as soon as possible.

this morning, i tried tweaking with my blog*spot diary. i managed to apply a nice template and it's looking really neat right now. however, i can't seem to fix the commenting system. it's supposed to come after the date at the end of the posted entry. if anyone knows how can i fix this, please do drop me a line.

speaking of blogs, i see herb has updated hers, hehe. ever the chatterbox, i can almost hear her voice just by reading her diary. ^_^

friday five :: 2004 january 23
At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song??yuugao (moonflower) sang by seki tomokazu for the anime, weiss kreuz.

2. ...food? chocolate...don't look so surprised.

3. ...tv show? strangely enough, i am favoring "great teacher onizuka" over "saiyuki". maybe it's because i've been watching the latter for so many times now.

4. ...scent? that chinese medicine my grandmother is using for her joints, hehe. it's got a very strong menthol smell that's so relaxing, especially if you have a bad headache.

5. ...quote??"wearing a japanese shirt doesn't make you japanese" hehe, just came across this one from this page. ^_^ the guy does have a point!

Posted by Unknown at 13:17 0 comments

Monday, January 12, 2004

Another Monday...

another monday...but i am actually feeling unusually light today! why?? i don't know that myself, haha! but better giddy with no reason than grumpy, right??
i met with herb yesterday...it was my first time to see her after over 4 months and i was real glad! she hasn't changed much since i last saw her, except that her hair is longer now.?she got me a copy of "wei゚ kreuz: an assassin and white shaman". it was really sweet of her...she remembered that i liked that anime very much and that i am crazy about koyasu takehito. she also gave me a pic she took with her digital camera; it was our pic on the train back to rinku station...from nara!! i will have it scanned and uploaded to my website soon.?she also showed me her tons of pics during her 4-month stay in japan... thanks, herb! it was great to see you again! i'll be seeing you soon, i'm sure. ^_^
omg, i heard another gackt song today...he sings in chinese!! is there even a limit to this guy's talent?? i fell in love with his song "december love" and now i hear this "junigatsu tekijoka"...i'm just so overwhelmed by the song...GACKT, YOU RULE!!!?

friday five :: 2004 january 2
What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today? i was looking forward to?

2. ...over the next week? intermediate japanese class starts on saturday!! yahoo!! and i will be meeting rin and her husband hisao later that day. ^_^ we will go out for lunch with some of our other friends from school and after that, some people might request for karaoke so i need to practice my vocal chords...

3. ...this year? going to graduate school (but i have to decide if i will study development policy OR japan studies OR both), seeing corrie-sensei again, a career move

4. ...over the next five years? graduate school in japan and a nice career with adb or jica

5. ...for the rest of your life? simple: i want to have a happy family with 2 children and a career in development AND japanese teaching. ^_^


Posted by Unknown at 13:17 0 comments

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

it's a bit late but...HAPPY NEW YEAR! i hope the new year rings in a lot of happiness and peace for all of us.

yesterday was jervin痴 birthday so, happy birthday, bro! you're the li値 brother i never had and i wish you all the happiness and love you deserve. i hope you find the perfect girl for you. ^_^ or rather, i hope SHE finds you!! paging the pretty miss b! ^_~v

sweet birthday greetings also going out to my dear friend in italy, marina, who celebrated her natal day on new year's day. happy birthday, dear!! you deserve only the best in life because you are a wonderful friend. love you and miss you tons!! i hope to see you someday!!

this morning, as i was preparing myself to go to work, one of ken hirai's songs came into my mind. it was a song that i tried avoiding as much as i can. "ookina furu dokei" (grandfather's clock) is a lullabye sang with much emotions by the talented mr. hirai. it's a good song but since november or december, i did not want to hear even a single note of it. i guess at the back of my mind, i was imagining that the grandfather in the song was my own grandfather and i dread losing him. well, as you know by now, it has happened; he died and i wasn't able to talk to him before he went to the great beyond. i am actually seriously considering asking the help of my teacher...maybe he can help me find a way to talk to my dead grandfather. i know it sounds absurd but i'm desperate...i just wanted to tell my grandfather a lot of things before i can finally move on.

again, i am comforted by the fact that he did not have to suffer. last week, the nation was gripped by the drama about this young local actor who fell to his death from a building. it was a freak accident. then, i remember jonathan brandis. he was THE heartthrob back in high school. i was just shocked to find out that he tried to commit suicide by hanging himself. his friend found him still struggling to breathe but jon did not make it to the hospital alive.

i can enumerate more examples like these...but you get the point, right? death is inevitable...but let's not hurry it!!

Posted by Unknown at 16:51 0 comments