Mr. Right?

This is a re-post from my old blog.

He is tall, fair-complexioned, handsome, athletic, smart and multi-talented. He is one 'HOT' guy. He is among the most popular basketball players in school, consistent winner of various Quiz Shows and recipient of various awards including the prestigious Leadership Award. We met in the university when we were 20 years old.

From a distance, he seems to be SO charmingly MAGNETIC. With his neat, regularly shaven face graced with thick, curly lashes, perfectly sculptured nose above full lips, he is simply gorgeous.

When a girl sees a guy like that, the first question that pops her head is 'Does he have a girlfriend?' If the answer is 'no' well, then, that would be great, it means she has a chance with him. But if the answer is 'yes' well, the girl thinks 'who cares, all is fair in love and war.'

In this particular case, he didn't have a girlfriend. I was curious. I befriended the guy which was not at all difficult for a straightforward, uninhibited girl like myself. I found out in no time why he didn't have any girlfriend. In fact, he never had one, yet. He was the MOST BORING person I have ever met in my entire life.

For one, he didn't seem to know how to start a conversation, so I have to do that. I did the asking and he simply did the answering. If I didn't ask, he wouldn't answer. Then we wouldn't talk at all. Second, when I asked, his answers were very short as if he was thinking that I didn't need any elaboration. Third, his answers were too technical as if he was actually reporting in class and not talking to a real live girl.

That's when I realized that 'LOOKS' isn't all that matters. As I walked home that day, I was somehow satisfied with what I did for three reasons. First, I was able to talk with the popular 'heart throb', second, I found out why he didn't have any girlfriend and finally, I found out that physical appearance doesn't matter much when it comes to having a relationship. Yes, it does, but not THAT MUCH..

Who Was Embarrassed

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Little Ronnie* is an energetic boy of 3. To prepare him for the preschool, his mom let him ‘sit-in’ our play school, a program which involves singing, coloring, tracing, pasting, painting and some activities which aim to develop the psychomotor skills.

His mommy actually wanted to enroll him in a ‘higher program’ because according to her, Ronnie already knows all the lessons in the play school like the colors, shapes, numbers and letters of the alphabet. I don’t doubt her, Ronnie really looks smart, still, I recommended an assessment.

By the looks of it, Ronnie seems to be used to being the only child. He wants ALL of the toys around him, he doesn’t want to share, he doesn’t want to play with the other kids, either. He doesn’t want to listen to the teacher. He just wants to knock things out of the way and enjoys the sound of toys crashing down the floor.

About 15 minutes before the end of the session, he spotted Annie, a little girl, smaller than he is, playing a plastic toy pot. He smirked, went to Annie and snatched the toy away from the little girl. As expected, the girl cried. Ronnie’s mommy, getting frustrated with his son’s behavior comforted Annie and asked her son to give the toy back to the girl adding that she would buy him a dozen of it later. Ronnie screamed ‘NO!!’ and punched his mother hard in the face.

The scene got very uncomfortable, with Ronnie still screaming, and his mommy red in the face, with embarrassment and pain (I supposed). I no longer remember what happened after that, but I never see Ronnie or his mother again.

*not real name

Solitude Incarnate

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Elisa* is a member of a popular clan in our place. That fact, in addition to her being the topnotcher in her class made her extremely arrogant. When she went to college, among those very few who did, her arrogance became even more defined. She took up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and, after her graduation, was able to work in a company in Makati. I was in high school at the time and for me it was simply.. IMPRESSIVE.

Her parents, more arrogant than she was, looked down on people and began to talk more sarcastically than they used to. It was as if having a piece of agricultural land, a small 'sari-sari' store and a Makati girl for a daughter made them lord over people. Some of us talked among ourselves, some cursed them behind their backs and even some anticipated that the time will come to these people to learn a lesson in humility.

Time elapsed and soon, we, younger people got older and got married. Elisa, however, remained single. Some said she was too picky, while meaner people said nobody wanted her, lol! I vouched for the former.

About 8 years ago, I heard that she was finally getting married. The lucky guy was  a member of an even more popular clan. He was born in our place but studied and lived somewhere else. We personally knew him and for us it was a perfect match. Though I wasn't there, I knew the wedding was a HIT. My relatives kept talking about it for weeks.

After a few months, however, the groom bid his bride goodbye to visit some relatives. He never came back. Elisa followed his husband and learned the truth. Her husband was married to someone else. She didn't see them though, as the family moved out a week earlier. Furious beyond belief, Elisa hired a lawyer intending to file a case of bigamy. She went to the local civil registry to get a copy of their marriage contract as evidence that will incriminate her husband. There was NONE. Their marriage was a big, expensive hoax.

Elisa left our place for a while and stayed in Manila longer than she used to do. I didn't know what happened to the case. I didn't ask. For me, everything was impossibly outlandish. Was everything planned to put Elisa and her family to shame? Or did the groom really love her but simply happened to be married to someone else?

Whatever it was, I'm just thankful that my life is less complicated than hers.

*not real name

Little Lyra

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Lyra* just turned 4 recently. She’s a cute little thing with shiny straight hair and big expressive eyes. She’s very talkative and outspoken. It was pretty obvious that her aunt (I never met her mom) and her grandmother and maybe the rest of the family, adore her and that they are very vocal about it.

They enrolled her to my reading and writing class. Apparently, they all think that she is old and smart enough for the program, and why wouldn’t she? It’s just letters and tracing, how difficult could that get? They didn’t even have her assessed. They simply enrolled.

The moment she sat beside me I smelled trouble. She was extremely talkative, for one, and she was SO AT EASE with adults, which is not SO COMMON with kids her age.

And I was right, she may be smart, but she didn’t want to work… AT ALL. She just wanted to talk, and she wanted to talk about things about her, and nothing else. As a teacher, I tried to assert my authority by reminding her from time to time to finish what she’s doing and all that. The following day, her aunt talked to me and told me NOT TO PUSH Lyra too hard, and that they are worried that she may be traumatized if I do that. I told her my observation of her niece, but she just smiled and said that Lyra is just like that because she’s a little spoiled. 

Lyra’s program ended yesterday and I was left frustrated knowing that I wasn’t able to teach her anything she didn’t know yet. Her writing got a little better alright, but it was something she could have done even if she stayed at home..

*not real name

Messing Up with DepEd?

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Besides tutorial center, our company also has a preschool and a grade school. Last Friday, a mom asked me if our formal school offers subjects like Filipino and Sibika, subjects taught in Pilipino (Tagalog), our native tongue.

So, I answered ‘of course’ as we follow the curriculum of the Department of Education. She smirked and said  something about Tagalog subjects being irrelevant since they wouldn’t be used when a child grows up and that we should concentrate on a child’s English proficiency.

I was outraged. It took me an enormous amount of self-control not to tell her that that’s what being educated is all about, knowing THYSELF, thy culture and therefore thy language.

Just because I’m an English teacher doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on my native tongue. I love it as much as I love my country. I looked at the woman in front of me and answered as politely as I could that our school tries to train students to be intelligent and responsible future leaders of our country. I don’t know if that was the answer I should have given, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.

I felt sad about the whole thing.. I do believe we should love our language more than that woman did..

The Bride

This is a re-post from my old blog.

The bride was Aling Luisa* 50 plus years old getting married to Mang Tibo* a few years older than she.

Aling Luisa has been a widow for as long as I can remember. She has 2 children that she sends to school by selling groceries in our local market. Her daughter was one of my personal acquaintances.

During the late 80s, the wife of a known businessman in our town died. Mang Tibo, the widower, was left with 3 grown up children. He was in mourning for a year. After another year, he asked the hand of Aling Luisa in marriage.

I was astounded.

But the older generation seemed not to be surprised at all. So, I asked the story behind the 'wedding' and so I was told. Aling Luisa and Mang Tibo used to be sweethearts. But Aling Luisa's parents preferred a different man for her. So, the young lovers broke up and lived separate lives. Aling Luisa's husband died while their children were but young. She struggled and fought her way to provide for them. Because of her still visible youth, she was courted by widowers and bachelors alike, but she politely turned them down and focused on her children's education.

Then, Mang Tibo's wife passed away. He sincerely mourned for his wife and took care of their children. After a year, he went out of mourning and courageously expressed his intentions to marry Aling Luisa after all these years. Aling Luisa happily accepted and they got married.

That was about 20 years ago. I don't know if the two old people are still alive, but their story remains in my mind until now..

*not real names

Is Your Child 'English-Speaking'?

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Our center offers Speech and Communication Program for Kids. Well, I  enjoy teaching this program less than the one for Adults but I sincerely find it.. FUN.

I don’t have any trouble teaching this program, my trouble involves parents and their UNREALISTIC expectations from it. When I ask clients why they are interested about the program, they normally answer that they want their children to be ‘English Speaking.’ They obviously overlook the fact that the entire program runs only for 12 hours, that is 1 and a 1/2 hours for eight days ONLY. Surely, they don’t expect their kids to talk in spontaneous English after 12 hours.

Some people just don’t get it. If they want their children to speak in English, then, they, themselves, have to talk to them in English at home. They don’t necessarily have to really talk, as in conversationally, teaching the children common English words will help. They can start with the things found at home like chair, bed, spoon, anything…

Cartoons need not be TAGALIZED so kids would enjoy Spongebob, Dora, Wonder Pets and the like. Education starts at home and parents do not need Education units to teach their children.