Survivor

I'm back! I survived my first business trip! Hooray!

Yesterday, I went to Brugge. I had special permission from The Boss to miss the last day of the tradeshow and so I did. This was my first real solo adventure outside of the country; I only had myself to rely on to figure out how to get from one place to another and back. The result? I got lost. HaHa!

I took the wrong Metro (subway) so I ended up going the wrong way and had to ride it all the way back to where I started plus two more stops. You know, it was then that I realized that knowing English is really a powerful thing. As long as you know English, I think you'll always find your way to where you need to go. After a quick talk with a Metro attendant, I was on my way to the train station.

At the train station, I relied on myself to figure out what to do. Who knew I was smart enough to figure out where to buy the ticket and which platform to go on! LoL. After an hour on the train (sitting next to youngins on a fieldtrip, Pen!), I got to Brugge successfully.

The first thing I ran into was Michaelangelo's "Madonna and Child," his only masterpiece outside of Italy. The church where this is located is great in itself. I can't believe that churches could have so many religious masterpieces. I swear, the churches in Manila and Seattle are so plain compared to the ones in Europe!

I didn't have a map with me so I just wandered around until I found the next tourist-y thing. After walking endlessly and ending up in so many back alleys, I found my way to the center of it all: the market place. I gasped upon seeing it. The Grand Place in Brussels is nothing compared to the one in Brugge. The architecture is amazing; it was vibrant with all the flags; and it was lively with all the people. Simply beautiful!

After eating frites for lunch, buying souvenirs, and seeing some more churches (they get old after awhile, and yes, that was a pun!), I started heading home. Well, sort of. I got lost again. Seriously, the skinny European streets all look alike and trying to memorize the names aren't that helpful because they're usually long. I wandered for maybe 45 minutes and found my way to what I called "downtown Brugge" where all the restaurants and hotels were. I finally gave up being my own radar and went into a hotel and asked where the train station was. The front desk lady was nice enough not to roll her eyes at me and told me that I just needed to follow the street in front of the hotel.

After walking forever, I almost passed the train station. Thank God, I turned back and checked it out first before walking another mile and a half. There was a point in time when I thought I would have to cry my little eyes out because I had no idea where the hell I needed to go to catch the train. And I thought backpacking in Europe would be easy!

Once the train arrived, it was easy as pie. When I saw the Hilton after hiking up the subway stairs, I breathed a sigh of relief. Being lost in a foreign country is a bit scary. I don't know how non-English-speaking people travel the world. If anyone cares to enlighten me, please don't hesitate.

Anyway, we all gathered for dinner again to celebrate the success of the tradeshow. There was some drama that came up which I shall talk about in the next few days. I actually cried in the hotel room before going to bed last night. Tsk. Tsk. Let's just say that I'm having doubts about what my position requires, most of which were not listed in the job posting when I applied. How difficult it is to be a businesswoman!

For now, the important thing is that I'm home...for one week. HeHe.

Say Yes To Sleep

Nyquil is my new best friend. We shall travel all over the world together. I highly recommend it to those jetlaggers out there. Nothing beats over-the-counter drugs!

Here Fishie, Fishie

Today was the first day of the tradeshow. I can’t believe that such events exist in this world, let alone have so many people interested in seafood. It’s like a Star Trek convention, but with fish (not like I’ve been to a Star Trek convention before, okay?).

It’s a little bit frustrating for me since I don’t know too many people yet in the industry. And with a name like mine, people tend to forget it easily. Tsk. Tsk. Anyway, I’m glad that the EU is not my area. There are just too many people from different areas to deal with. I'm also quite a retard when it comes to understanding people with strong accents.

I’ve also met my overseas marketing representatives from China and Japan. I just came back from having dinner with them. I’m very glad to be working with nice people, both locally and internationally. Let’s hope that the feeling is mutual.

Le Hotel

It’s 9:24 p.m. Brussels time. What did I do all day? Sleep and watch MTV.

I slept at around 10 p.m. last night. I woke up when my sister-in-law called. I thought it was early morning already, but it turned out it was only midnight. I stayed up until 2 a.m., watching CNN. I woke up at around 8 a.m., but decided to take advantage of free day and slept in. Hence, I didn’t wake up until 1 p.m. By that time, I decided to not go to church or do anything touristy. I just stayed in the hotel room and relaxed. Thank God for cellphones; I was able to call Pen and finally have someone my age to talk to. *SNIFF. It’s lonely here! LoL. Now, I understand why business people take their families with them on business trips. If anyone wants to join me in Hong Kong, please make travel arrangements now! My bribe? You get to stay at 5-star hotels!

Although, I found out that hotel ratings don’t mean much in Europe. Hell, I don’t even have internet connection here in my hotel room. I have to dial out to the U.S. to write on here. Tsk. Tsk.

I saw/heard some French-speaking Asian people. Cool deal. There is also an Esprit store across the street. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see that store open while I’m here.Work starts tomorrow for tradeshow booth set-up. My two overseas marketing representatives from Japan and China will also be here by tomorrow. During dinner, I was the only one reppin’ the Asia region since all the European reps are already here (and yes, I said “reppin’”!).

What I’m trying to figure out right now: How does one become a better participant in a group conversation when he/she can’t relate to anything they’re saying due to generation and experience gaps? How does one maintain his/her personal values without being a party pooper (ex. How do you avoid second-hand smoke and being around drunk people? Why do you have to pay 22 euros when you only had spaghetti with clams for dinner while everyone else had an entrée, wine, and coffee?)? I knew things were too good to be true!

First European Day

Bonjour from Brussels!

I got in at 7:30 a.m. today. Since I want to make sure jet lag doesn't get the best of me, I've already done the following instead of sleeping in my hotel room:

• switched to Euros
  
• ate a Belgian waffle
  
• ate Belgian chocolate
  
• visited Grand Place
  
• saw Mannequin Pis (U.P.'s Oblation still tops my list of best nekkid statues)

I still have yet to taste the infamous "french fries with mayonnaise," though, but I got plenty of time.

European men? Still looking.

Packed

I'm packed. Nevermind that I still have all of my toiletries in the bathroom...I'm still trying to figure out where the hell I'm going to stuff them all in my already full 26" luggage. Don't even try to suggest my carry-on because that's already full, too. If this is the situation I find myself in for a one-week trip, dare I even think about what it will be like when it's time to pack for Hong Kong? I'm seriously considering bringing two luggages for that trip, but I just don't know how I'm going to manage to get in/out of trains and whatever transportation I'll find myself in with so many things. It's a problem only because we don't get reimbursed for drycleaning/laundry. Blasphemy!

But for now, it's all about Brussels. I'll try to blog using my cellphone when I get to my layover. If not, I'll be blogging from my hotel room. Have a great weekend and wish me luck that jet lag doesn't get the best of me.

Scream

One of our directors said that I'm too quiet, that he hasn't heard me yell out of frustration unlike everyone else. Well, tomorrow, I might do just that.

Due to bureaucracy (and someone dropping the ball at our other office), I still don't have my state-issued credit card nor will I have it in time before I leave for Brussels. So, in order to make me happy and not cry my eyes out, yesterday, we had agreed that I will get a cash advance. I was told that the check would arrive in the office today. Did I get it? No!

Son of a gun. I don't want to put all of my expenses on my personal credit card! This is the very reason why I haven't gone backpacking to Europe and now they expect me to shoulder all the expenses and get reimbursed later? Hell no!

I'm only going to be in the office for half of the day tomorrow so that check better be there before noon tomorrow or I'm not going to be a happy camper in Europe!

The Little Things in Life

Yay: My fishies are now in Hong Kong, safely kept in a freezer and away from Customs.
Nay: I found out that I'll have to make a 5-minute speech at one of the China events.
Me?! I've never spoken to a room full of Asian people; heck, I've never even been in a room with just Chinese people! Dare I include "Wo ai ni, Ken Chu" in my speech, though? HeHe!

Yay: Brussels in four days.
Nay: Packing is such sweet sorrow! Packing light is not in my vocabulary; Pen can attest to that. Plus, how do you make sure your business clothes don't get wrinkled?

Yay: I finally bought Sunsilk shampoo and Cream Silk conditioner at the local Asian store (which I shall bring to Brussels).
Nay: Each 200 mL bottle is $3.99.
If anyone in Manila cares enough to send me the very best, please send me some bottles! Shoot, I'll even accept those sari-sari sachet packets (Belle, I've finally found something much heavier than Chalk magazines! LoL). I swear, ang babaw talaga ng kaligayahan ko!

Home Sweet Home

This is from Rosa's blog. In a nutshell, the article hits home. However, unlike the original author, I've only been "talking the talk," but haven't "walked the walk."

For someone who has spent more than half of her life away from the Philippines, I don't know why the yearning to go back and live there is still so strong. I'm the only one in the family who feels the way I do so I don't know where it's coming from. Anyone care to enlighten me on this topic?

Hail, Bill

I finally parted ways with my Dell computer of three years and gave it to my brother; I am officially a Mac girl now. Well, when I'm home that is.

Papa the Powerbook and I are still in our getting-to-know-you stage. I guess a lot of things has changed in the last ten years since I had a Mac. Things are definitely much "cuter" now, but that also means more expensive. I won't even get into the issue of my unopened/uninstalled legit copy of Microsoft Office 2004 Professional Edition that I bought some two months ago; I'm still in utter disbelief that in order for me to use my Mac like my old pc, it will cost me more than an arm and a leg. My gosh, this is probably God's way of making sure that I don't make the mistake of having a high maintenance boyfriend in the future.

My current obstacle right now is figuring out how to make exact copies of DVDs. Apparently, you can't just save the DVD on your desktop, insert a blank DVD-R, then drag the files onto the blank DVD-R and burn. Apparently, I'm missing a step because I already wasted two of my DVD-Rs by trying to be a genius about it. And that's another thing about having a Mac, you can't just ask anybody for help and the ones you think would help you aren't doing so. It's been frustrating to say the least.

Boo hoo hoo, I know. You'll just have to excuse me; I'm still mourning the loss of my uber easy-to-use pc.

Sounds Fishy To Me

During the latest round of e-mails on the cousins listserv, it was announced that I have the most glamorous job out of all the cousins. Glamorous? Hardly.

During the past three weeks, I've been preoccupied with worrying about getting a fish from Alaska to Washington. Yes, fish! Who cares about finding a boyfriend? I care about my sablefish being caught and flown to Seattle before I leave for Brussels! Who needs an iPod when it can't get me a fish that I need for work! Oh, the life I live! LoL.

And contrary to Pen's belief, we do not have a talipapa in our office, okay? We market seafood; we don't sell them! Hmph! LoL.

One week until Brussels! Bonjour, je m'appelle Mina...and that is all the French I know. I'd like to thank my 8th grade Language Exploratory class for that one. HeHe. Why I took Spanish in high school, I will never know.

Life Worth Living

I'm starting to learn what people mean by not having enough hours in a day. How does one maintain a balanced life?!

I wake up at 6:15 a.m. While eating breakfast, I'm cooking my lunch to bring to work. While it's cooling, I shower and get ready for work. I leave the house at 7:15 a.m. After surviving the madness called Seattle traffic, I get to work at 8 a.m. and start the grind. After all the e-mails, phone calls, and writings, I start my journey home at about 4 p.m.

I get home at 5 p.m. I sit down and try to relax. At about 5:30, sister-in-law calls and asks if I want to go with her somewhere. Fine. After we eat dinner and shop, it's already 9:30 p.m. I get home at 10 p.m., leaving me with no time to do anything else. If I want my eight hours of sleep, my butt has to be in bed by that time.

So where does exercise fit into this picture? When do I read a book? When can I call a friend? When can I update my website?

Hence, my silence for the past three days. On Monday, we ate out for dinner. On Tuesday, we bought my luggage for my upcoming trips. Yesterday, we shopped and ate out again.

Aren't I allowed to do more than one thing after work? Help meeeeee!

Knowing is Half The Battle

I was out of the office today, thanks to the Crisis Communication Training I had to go to. I know that I'll have to deal with foreign press as part of my job, but today made me realize how big that responsibility is especially when bad things happen.

So after three weeks (that flew by), this is my "Things to Still Learn" list:

• seafood industry
  
• international business/exporting
  
• government
  
• intercultural communication
  
• public relations/media

And let's not forget, eating with chopsticks and drinking. Someone send me back to school!

Jetsetting without JET

Didn't I declare some months ago that I would have to decide on other things before I found out about my JET application? I swear, I amaze myself sometimes. =)

Well, after all the drama of finding a new career, after all the dust from the job hunting have settled, I finally got my JET letter today: I passed the interview with flying colors. I meant to blog about the interview way back in February when I went through it, but we were specifically told not to talk to anyone about the details. Well, two months later, I can now exercise my free speech.

It was one of the most horrific interviews I've ever had. At least, that's what I thought at the time. I was almost kicking myself by the time I left the consulate. Why? Because Sean was nice enough to write me these long e-mails about what to expect. Did I listen? Of course not.

He told me that they might ask what I would bring to Japan to show what America is like. Did I prepare for that question? No. He also told me that they might ask me to conduct a lesson right there and then. Did I practice at home for such a thing? No. Hence, I wanted to kick myself into oblivion. I was fine with the regular question-and-answer portion. But then, just when I thought the interview was over, they made me look behind me. And there it was: a whiteboard with some markers.

Now, I've tutored little rugrats before when I was in high school and college. Reading? No problem. Math? No problem. I'm also used to speaking in front of classes, complete with very professional-looking PowerPoint presentations. But actually drawing on a whiteboard while talking?! Never!

But I guess, I didn't do so bad afterall. Am I sad that I won't get to do JET? A little bit, but I can always re-apply in the coming years. I went to the interview for that very purpose: to go through the experience in order to be prepared for whenever I decide to pursue JET again. I hope that whoever takes my spot now will be grateful for the opportunity.

Now, where the heck am I going to get a Japanese boyfriend? ;P

Office Space

Help me decorate!

Goodbye, Job #2

Today was my last day at Job #2. It's been four years (six, if you count my volunteer days during high school) of working in a hospital, one and half years of working on the weekends, and one year of working seven days a week. It's not like I want to leave, so it's a bit sad that I have to.

In a nutshell, the place was kind to me. Working at a hospital has helped me see my life in a different light through the years. When you meet people on a weekly basis who have dying/ill loved ones, somehow one's flat hair or wide hips doesn't matter anymore. Personal problems? Compared to what these people are facing, they can't be that bad. Yes, as hard as it is for me to admit it, Calculus wasn't really that bad!

I also had great bosses. I have realized just in the last year that having immediate supervisors who are fair, compassionate, and great leaders is really something to be thankful for. These "mothers" have seen me grow up and just like my own mother, I'm having a hard time cutting that umbilical cord! (Ever had a boss who, instead of saying hi to you like normal people, played with your hair to convince you that you should spend half an hour in the morning styling your hair? Or, who would rather have you wear tighter fitting clothes in order to improve your lovelife? Like I said, I don't call them mothers for nothing!)

And yes, it was easy money. Those who have kept me company through AIM on the weekends know that I got paid to chat and surf the internet (except for eBay because it's blocked). I will miss those times when people in Manila stay up late to keep me company. HeHe!

But yes, bittersweet moments are such because they have a bitter side. In Oprah's April issue, she writes, "The ultimate in being healthy is to operate at full throttle-physically, emotionally, spiritually." I've lost interest in the things that I used to like because I had no time for them anymore. When you're tired, it's very easy not to care anymore.

There are also more fulfilling things to do in this world than sit on your butt for eight hours on the weekends waiting for time to pass by. Learning something new would be nice rather than continously doing mundane things. Money has limitations; time is priceless. My spiritual side has been jumpstarted. Hopefully, my physical and emotional side will get better now that I have free weekends (when I'm not flying to other places).

The time has come to erase the terms "Job #1" and "Job #2" from our vocabulary. I'm free! And as a parting gift, my bosses got me a Swiss Army watch to wish me luck in my new career. I told you guys they loved me! =)