Ready(?)

We used to hold a 'despedida' party whenever a colleague of ours decided to go home for good. This was in the early part of our stay here and the situations then were better than today. Some can be said to be lucky as they were able to established a good business or were still able to land a good job despite their age.

This time it's different. I can't remember now when was the last time we held a 'despedida' party for somebody. Not that nobody now was leaving but the situation does not warrant any celebration. There are those who will be leaving or have to go because of illness or sometimes because of family problems. It feels very sad when you see some colleagues who have to go because of illnesses. All our lives we dream of spending the fruit of our sacrifice of being away from our families, longing that someday we will go home for good and stay with our families with enough savings to keep us moving.

Most of us here are waiting for the moment, but you will feel that nobody is raring to go. We have been here really for almost or more than half of our lives. One of my colleagues told me that when he first left the Philippines her daughter was five years old. Now he told me her grand-daughter with her daughter is now five years old. Most of his children have now finished their education, but still he said he doesn't feel it is time to go. It's difficult to live in the Philippines and as much as possible and as long as we are able and are allowed to work here we just keep on going and just enjoy a vacation every year.

I hope when the time comes, it is either the situation in the Philippines improve or we can have even just enough to make a living together with our families.

OLYMPICS: The Greatest Show on Earth

I hope and I wish it always remain this way. Every four years this is the time when and where we will be able to see the best athletes from around the world compete in their particular events to determine who is the best in the world. I hate to see something which would destroy these games like doping, scandals and cheating.

The first day of the competition is the one very memorable to me. Of course, the opening was very great but the first event, cycling, is how I wish all other games should be conducted. Except for some minor accidents, everybody did their best, have to struggle for some time and at the finish line everybody congratulated each other especially the winner. You can see the respect each participant give to each other and show how much they love their profession.

Another impression I would like to make is regarding the officials. Every athlete is given medal if they came out best for their particular event. I wish they would do the same thing with the officials. Everytime, we only notice the players or participants and give less attention to the officials. But every game cannot be complete without these officials. Though I admire those who did their job well I am very disgusted with those who acted irresponsibly. Every athlete spent so much time and dedication just to prepare for this event. The officials should see to it that the athletes will really have the chance to prove to themselves who deserve to be the winner. It is very unfortunate if the outcome will be affected by the decision or lack of decision of some officials. In my opinion there are some events which the officials should give attention on improving the scoring system to determine the winner. These are in gymnastics, diving, boxing, and tae-kwon-do. Usually the results in these games are controversial because most of the time it is perceived that the officials are the ones who are involved in the outcome.

I would also like to make an impression regarding the attitude of some players or athletes. It is as if “winning” is everything for them. Too much pride blinded them and this is not good for the sports. I hate it when I see a participant lose interest or suddenly stopped and quit just because he/she has no longer have the chance for the medals. I love those who even if they are more than four hours behind still strive and feels very very happy reaching the finish line. There are those who really handle defeats very well.

Lastly, I would just like to make some comments regarding our participation in this Olympics. Though I was only able to see one match, that is one match in tae-kwon-do, I have to say that I love the performance of this girl, the sixteen year old participant Ms. Rivero. Though she lost her match I can see that she did her best.

Every four years or especially after the games, we can always hear how disgusted our countrymen that our athletes again failed to win a gold medal. Some analysts have given their opinions on what is wrong with our preparations and on how we choose our atheletes. I would just like to add my one cent.

I think our officials should concentrate on establishing and improving sports programs and facilities for the athletes. Our approach is the reverse. I can see that our officials usually scout their talents first. Then train him/her the best way they can and there they go to the Olympics. My point is that the tools, facilities and techniques should be there first so that we can invite the interest of a larger pool of atheletes. We should follow what Romania is doing, a very small country but they are able to produce the best gymnasts in the world not only once but every time they compete they are competitive.

Everytime we can hear so much offer from individuals who will give millions of pesos to whoever wins a gold medal in the Olympics. I want to see if these individuals are sincere with their offers. Why not at least half of these pledges be put in the process of establishing and developing sports programs in the country. They should help the atheletes more in achieving their goals rather than rewarding them only when they have achieved it. We can start with those sports which we have the best chance of winning and then build up on to other sports as we gain progress. We do not have to hurry, what is important is that we are moving forward and making progress.

Though I love to see one of our athletes win a gold medal or see the country’s flag being raised at the top, I would like to say that we still have a long way to go to achieve this. The competition is getting tougher each time and this is not like some sort of lottery. Luck plays only a small part of it, always it has to be how well you have prepared for it. I hate it when our officials hope for a medal in some events when our athelete's best performance is way below the standards of other country's athletes. What is important is that we improve our chances everytime we participate and not just hope for a gold medal out of nothing.

Realization

There are many things I learned ever since I come to know Blogging. Aside from being updated and read the news in different perspectives, there are also those experiences shared by others which could be of help or could be applied on your own.

There was this entry I read in CafeineSparks regarding "Fathers and Sons" which really strikes me. It is good that I come to know this and made me realize about my situation. I know I have always been away and understand that I am not fully fulfilling my share of being a father. I saw also the fact that I experienced the same thing from my childhood, on longing to be and wanting to have a good conversation with my father. Not that we are not close, but there seems to be something and I am always aloof to approach him, always it is to my mother.

Now without realizing it, it seems that I am doing the same thing to my son. It is better when he was still young, where everything he wishes was to play and I could do that to him all day. As he is growing up, I notice that he is more with his friends and I can see myself when I was in his age. That tendency to be wanting or as if waiting for a chance but could not express it. One thing though that I am very thankful is that despite my absence as a father, my wife is doing a good job of guiding them and bringing them up as good kids.

On my next vacation, I want to do something about it. I will have to find a way that we can be more at ease with each other.

Quit Smoking: How Did I Do it

After twenty years, I finally was able to say no and I am happy I've done it. I am writing this so that maybe some of you (smokers) can have an idea and try it yourself if you also want to quit.

It is really a matter of choice, some sort of change of a lifestyle. This is one of the most important factor which can affect the success or the failure if ever you will also decide to quit smoking. Some can be said to try quitting just because somebody tell them or maybe one of the main reasons, conscious about ones health. Some reasons like I have to quit because it is very expensive now, or your wife or your mother telling you she doesn't like it so you have to stop it. There are some other more reasons, and what I want to say is that if your reason falls under one of these, I would say you are closer to failure than success. It should be that no other factors or persons could be the reason, but it has to be a decision coming from you. These external factors or influence can add to the pressure and the more they are putting you in pressure the more you would find reasons to smoke. I do not recommend patches or artificial cigarettes as these intend to cheat yourself. Also, you have to admit that the process of quitting will not be as easy as you want it to be.

I started it by using the delay-by-one-hour-a-day technique. This means that I have to postpone lighting one cigarette by one hour. After that I can smoke again as much as I want. The next day it will have to be two-hour postponement. Let me just remind you that it is always the second stage which will give you a problem. Then third day it will be three-hour, and so on and so forth. You will notice when you try this especially when you reached half-day postponement that you will feel something strange like being a little excited or your heart beating faster than normal. You should always remember this feeling and you have to say to yourself that this is a very good feeling. This is what I told myself that is why it became easier for me to quit.

You don't have to repeat the process continuously, usually after three or four postponement you will feel that it seems that your body is now ready to quit permanently. If not, you just have to continue it and the utmost will be trying to delay it for one day. So if you are in this stage and you have successfully avoid lighting a single stick for one day, you just have to say to yourself again that this is a very good feeling and you are glad you have not lighted a single stick.

As I've said the second stage usually is the crucial stage and as long as you are successful in passing this stage you will be more successful. It is actually a mind-set and this is the most important step in this process. At this stage it is better that you have convince yourself that you are already a non-smoker.

You have already passed the first day, after the first day you will be fine and you will tell yourself that if you light a single stick at this time you already have one day sacrifice and it is not a good idea to waste this and you will now attempt to pass one week.

My experience is that it is usually the second period (day, week, month, etc.) on which urges are stronger. But as I've find out, after successfully reaching the third, my conviction became stronger.

If you reach the second week you will again be fine and you will tell yourself that if you light a single stick on this day you will just waste one week of sacrifice, and you will try to pass one month.

If you reach the second month you will again be fine and you will tell yourself that if you light a single stick at this time you will just waste one month of sacrifice, and you will try to pass two years.

It has to be progressive like this as you have to convince yourself that every success you made should be followed by a longer challenge. Remember: starting from day one your mind-set is that you are no longer a smoker.

Finally, it has to be a continuous awareness that a single stick can ruin everything you have done. So it is important also that at any period you can just waste every inch of sacrifice you have made.

Here are some tips that can help you:

1) Avoid drinks that are usually good while smoking, like coffee, softdrinks, etc. Avoid also activities or situations which will induce you to smoke.
2) If your urge seems to be getting strong, frequent some place or do something where it would be not good reason to smoke like theaters, hospitals, libraries, etc. Or have a chat with your grandma or your child. There are some activities though like playing chess, mahjong, and other boardgames which can induce smoking.
3) Be or at least pretend to be an enviromentalist, that you are concern about the environment.
4) Complement your program by having a regular exercise (a simple breath in, breath out exercise is a good start)
5) Avoid near a smoker if you can, especially during the early stages. If you are a drinker do not allow yourself to get drunk or if ever you get drunk it is better to go to sleep right away than staying awake and make conversations. Usually trying to stay awake induce smoking.
6) Do not have a diary of your progress, always you have to be or act as if you were a non-smoker before.

These are the things I did and I am glad I quit and this is my third year now without a single smoke. I hope this can also be of help to others.

Go Here! Come There!

I read back my previous posts to see if I wrote them right. A sigh of relief, I told myself, not bad.

I am now on my sixth of my stay here and with only a month of vacation per year, I've just found out that I have been here for a very very long time. I remember when our superiors used to be Americans or British, at that time almost all the communications are in english. But now because of the country's Saudiization program communications in english become minimal. The Americans were all gone and there are some few British left. We are accompanied now with few Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Each one has his version of the english language. You can hear such words as, "You no go, I no go." And sometimes I did not noticed that I am beginning to speak the same way to, because if you speak it correctly they will not understand you.

This Blogging is a good release for me. Not only that I can practice my writing I am also enjoying to get to know some nice and/or some are even great people.

On Education

Unlike Tito Rolly who said he never dreamt of being a Teacher (but who is a successful one now), teaching used to be one of my dreams (though not really the one I really would like to be). But still, I really want to be part of any educational institution someday, either as a member, donor or active participant.

I've heard the government is studying to implement that kindergarten be made compulsory. This is instead of adding another year in High School. Before this, there was the Bridge Program.

While I commend the government for the effort in the improving the educational system, I still wish that some modifications be made for the effectiveness of teaching and for the real benefit of the children.

Elementary school students (especially in Public Schools) from Grade One to Grade Six are usually grouped into sections. On the next school year, it is either the student be promoted to higher section because of his good performance or to a lower section. My idea is that one whole school year is too long. What is happening is that it is either that the slow learner has to catch up with his classmates or the better student has to wait for his other classmates (depending on the way the teacher handles it).

Why not have the student undergo periodic evaluation (weekly or monthly the shorter the better) and then apply the promotion/demotion grouping on each period. I believe this is for the benefit of the children as the slow learner will really have to "learn" the lesson before going to the next or the better students can go as fast as he can. The school should then create a different set of learning goals for the "slow learner" and the "better students".

Another thing I would suggest is that besides giving scholarships to deserving students, the government should also give livelihood or employment opportunity to their parents or guardians especially those belonging to indigent families.

On Responsibility

Now that I have my own BLOG, it seems that I am now lost on what to say. I visited Doc Emer's BLOG and got an idea regarding "social responsibility."

Last month I've watched 'Le Tour de France'. I was amazed on how beautiful this country is. This is one of things the tournament is attracting a lot of people. One of the things I noticed is that along the road there is this adjacent river with its water flowing in the direction towards the city and wow they have maintained to keep this very long river very clean. Our own Pasig River comes to my mind. I just thought if only we were aware of the consequences of every action we are doing, we would also be proud to have a beautiful Pasig River. Pasig River is only one of them, you can also mention Hinulugang Taktak and also you can notice that beaches seems to be moving farther away from Manila. Did you know that just across Baclaran church used to be a Beach resort? Now not only reclamation move them farther but also oil spills and other forms of water pollution.

Going back to Pasig River, we cannot help to ask ourselves, "What happened?" A little imagination would lead us to think that it is all because of some thought to be insignificant action. One would say, "It is a very big river, a small piece of garbage could not harm it." Not knowing thru the passage of time, plus other persons have also the same thinking, what would you expect. Besides, the government allowed several companies to be built along the sides.

I am a sports minded person and more often I compare life to a game. There are three elements if you want to have a good game: good players and the officials and if you have these two you will surely have one group of lively audience. I am always awed by how the great players conduct themselves. They are aware that many fans are looking up to them and their actions can influence their behaviour. So it is not just they have to play their best but also has to see to it that they conduct themselves properly win or lose. Officiating should also be strictly by the rules otherwise the whole game will be ruined.

Police work plays also a very big part in our lives. They are the "referees". They are the ones who will have to see to it that what we are doing are within the bounds of the law. Not only that these policemen should do their jobs but they also have to do their jobs right and professionally. They should know their duties, know what to do and know if it is the right time to do it. Tolerance and understanding is good but it is better to take action when you know it is getting too much.

These are just few examples, one which deals with the environment and the other one with the people around us. So if we have to live our lives (like a good game), we cannot always afford to be tolerant and irresponsible. Little things, no matter how insignificant, has the capability to start a big problem.

Nothing is as good as...

...a good yawn and stretch in the morning when you wake up.

...a loud burst of laughter from your friends on your jokes.

...reaching the itchy part of your back.

...waking up and the first thing you see is the good smile from your own little daughter/son.

...sitting next with a young beautiful lady in a very long trip.

...the smell of your favorite food being cooked by your wife, your mother or your grandmother.

...watching your family really enjoy eating the food you prepare (cook) for them.

...being able to answer questions in a TV quiz show ahead of the others.

...a good massage after tiring onself in a game (basketball, tennis, etc.)

...a warm welcome and greetings of "we missed you" arriving from a vacation.

...being quoted by others.

...some people are praising you, not knowing you were around.

...listening to a long story from your "Lolo" or "Lola" whom you've not seen from a long time.

...being able to save someone's life.

...receiving plenty of comments to this entry and adding some of their own

Welcome To Me

At last I've created my own BLOG. After being a BLOG hopper for so long and contented on posting comments to different BLOGs I decided to create my own. Now I can say freely what I really want to say.