Just like the countless of funerals I've attended in the past for my own family, my tears waited until the final day to all fall. My heart ached wishing that all these positive things were said when he was still alive; that his being a father was highlighted rather than overshadowed by all the negativity; that his achievements were always in the spotlight instead of forgotten by the media whenever he was the topic for the night.
The tears and grief will fade away soon enough, but I hope I continue to be inspired to "give all that I have been given" just like what MichaelJackson had done.
We Had Him
by Maya Angelou
Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.
Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.
In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.
Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.
He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.
He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.
We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.
Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
To Be Content...Is Not That Easy
Why is it that there's always something wrong?
I had my first interview of the season today and since this job requires the same skills sets that I utilized at my previous job, everything is perfect...except that the job site is in the boonies. And I mean deeeeeeeep: forests, two-lane roads, ahh, you get the picture.
You might be thinking that this is a small price to pay for having food on the table, but it was such an issue that it was brought up twice by my interviewers today...because they know what traffic is like in this city. It took me 40 minutes to get there today traffic-free. Who knows what it'll be like during daily rush hours!
Other instances of such imperfections in the past:
1. Love what I'm doing and professional development opportunities, but horrible boss.
2. Love the city I'm working in, organization and my co-workers, but horrible salary.
3. Love the proximity of my workplace to home, but crazy co-worker and no opportunities for advancement.
Is there a "perfect" job out there for me? Will the stars ever align? Will my career stop mirroring my lovelife just this once? Ha!
I had my first interview of the season today and since this job requires the same skills sets that I utilized at my previous job, everything is perfect...except that the job site is in the boonies. And I mean deeeeeeeep: forests, two-lane roads, ahh, you get the picture.
You might be thinking that this is a small price to pay for having food on the table, but it was such an issue that it was brought up twice by my interviewers today...because they know what traffic is like in this city. It took me 40 minutes to get there today traffic-free. Who knows what it'll be like during daily rush hours!
Other instances of such imperfections in the past:
1. Love what I'm doing and professional development opportunities, but horrible boss.
2. Love the city I'm working in, organization and my co-workers, but horrible salary.
3. Love the proximity of my workplace to home, but crazy co-worker and no opportunities for advancement.
Is there a "perfect" job out there for me? Will the stars ever align? Will my career stop mirroring my lovelife just this once? Ha!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
EPIK Proportions
I wasn't even thinking about this, but I somehow ended up finding information about the 2009 EPIK Program after perusing through the Republic of Korea's Seattle Consulate website. South Korea's EPIK is what JET is in Japan.
For my veteran blog readers, you may remember that in 2005, after a long application process, I was accepted into the JET Program, but had turned the opportunity down due to what was then thought of as a "better" job ("better" meaning better-paying and more aligned with my marketing degree). The said job turned out to be a bust and I ended up buying a plane ticket to Manila instead and spending the next 22 months discovering how American I was in the homeland. ;P Regardless, it was the best experience ever and I wouldn't have experienced it had I not done the unthinkable.
So, four years later, EPIK enters the picture. Is this just a coincidence? Some issues to consider:
1. No teaching positions are in Seoul. There goes my BigBang concert opportunities. Ha!
2. Pay is quite low for me and my bachelor's-degree-holding-self.
3. Whereas JET's application process takes some 10+ months, EPIK's process is only 3 months and no, I don't consider this as a good thing.
4. This experience would be a lot funner if I were doing it with a friend.
I can't believe I saw this on the eve of my first job interview of the season. Aigoo! Let me know if any of you guys know anyone who has done this.
For my veteran blog readers, you may remember that in 2005, after a long application process, I was accepted into the JET Program, but had turned the opportunity down due to what was then thought of as a "better" job ("better" meaning better-paying and more aligned with my marketing degree). The said job turned out to be a bust and I ended up buying a plane ticket to Manila instead and spending the next 22 months discovering how American I was in the homeland. ;P Regardless, it was the best experience ever and I wouldn't have experienced it had I not done the unthinkable.
So, four years later, EPIK enters the picture. Is this just a coincidence? Some issues to consider:
1. No teaching positions are in Seoul. There goes my BigBang concert opportunities. Ha!
2. Pay is quite low for me and my bachelor's-degree-holding-self.
3. Whereas JET's application process takes some 10+ months, EPIK's process is only 3 months and no, I don't consider this as a good thing.
4. This experience would be a lot funner if I were doing it with a friend.
I can't believe I saw this on the eve of my first job interview of the season. Aigoo! Let me know if any of you guys know anyone who has done this.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Back to Life, Back to Reality
I'm back in Seattle...physically. Mentally, I'm still wishing I'm in Asia.
I didn't have internet connection anymore when I moved to my more expensive hotel for my last three nights in Seoul. And my days in Japan were too hectic to even try to sneak in some blogging time. Tsk. Must...back-blog...soon.
The verdict? I heart Seoul better than Tokyo. Crazy conclusion, right? Afterall, I've always had a thing for Tokyo. But as always, you never know what you really like unless you try it.
Tokyo to me is just pure chaos. I didn't dig dodging crazy salary men running down the escalator/stairs to catch the train. Kei and I kept saying, "Do they really need to catch THAT specific train?! The next one arrives in like five minutes!" In addition, being squished inside the subway everyday is not fun. If I wanted to be in that situation, just give me unlimited rides on Manila's MRT during rush hour. If Tokyo's subways were full of the oppas in Seoul subways, I wouldn't have minded getting squished, but Tokyo's subways are full of red-faced (read: drunk) middle-aged men starting at 5pm. Hardly fun, I tell you.
Coming from Seoul, everything was much more expensive in Tokyo. Come on, $7 for a KFC meal?! Really?! Where the hell did they get those chickens?! Seoul street food is so plentiful that you can make anything a meal for just $1. Plus, the subway rides were much more expensive than in Seoul. Okay, so Tokyo is way bigger than Seoul, but $3.30 for each ride does add up quickly. Compare that to my $0.90 - $1.20 subway rides in Seoul and you'll understand why I'm whining like a typical American.
And for some reason, Seoul appeared friendlier to me. I barely spotted people smiling in Tokyo; those in the subways were always asleep or looked just dead tired. And Kei would always point out to me when there's an announcement that a certain train is delayed because someone tried to commit suicide by jumping on the tracks. OMG.
Despite the jokes people make regarding Korea's tagline, "Korea Sparkling", I actually now understand it; granted that it should really be "Sparkling Korea" if anything. However, the city is really sparkling: the subways are clean; the people are ALWAYS dressed sharply (they seem to not know what jeans are); and cultural traditions are always combined with something modern, producing stuff that are new and authentically Korean (think JUMP and NANTA).
So, if God were to ask me where I'd like to work in the future, I'd pick Seoul, but this is not to say that I wouldn't think of working in Japan. Just please not in Tokyo.
I didn't have internet connection anymore when I moved to my more expensive hotel for my last three nights in Seoul. And my days in Japan were too hectic to even try to sneak in some blogging time. Tsk. Must...back-blog...soon.
The verdict? I heart Seoul better than Tokyo. Crazy conclusion, right? Afterall, I've always had a thing for Tokyo. But as always, you never know what you really like unless you try it.
Tokyo to me is just pure chaos. I didn't dig dodging crazy salary men running down the escalator/stairs to catch the train. Kei and I kept saying, "Do they really need to catch THAT specific train?! The next one arrives in like five minutes!" In addition, being squished inside the subway everyday is not fun. If I wanted to be in that situation, just give me unlimited rides on Manila's MRT during rush hour. If Tokyo's subways were full of the oppas in Seoul subways, I wouldn't have minded getting squished, but Tokyo's subways are full of red-faced (read: drunk) middle-aged men starting at 5pm. Hardly fun, I tell you.
Coming from Seoul, everything was much more expensive in Tokyo. Come on, $7 for a KFC meal?! Really?! Where the hell did they get those chickens?! Seoul street food is so plentiful that you can make anything a meal for just $1. Plus, the subway rides were much more expensive than in Seoul. Okay, so Tokyo is way bigger than Seoul, but $3.30 for each ride does add up quickly. Compare that to my $0.90 - $1.20 subway rides in Seoul and you'll understand why I'm whining like a typical American.
And for some reason, Seoul appeared friendlier to me. I barely spotted people smiling in Tokyo; those in the subways were always asleep or looked just dead tired. And Kei would always point out to me when there's an announcement that a certain train is delayed because someone tried to commit suicide by jumping on the tracks. OMG.
Despite the jokes people make regarding Korea's tagline, "Korea Sparkling", I actually now understand it; granted that it should really be "Sparkling Korea" if anything. However, the city is really sparkling: the subways are clean; the people are ALWAYS dressed sharply (they seem to not know what jeans are); and cultural traditions are always combined with something modern, producing stuff that are new and authentically Korean (think JUMP and NANTA).
So, if God were to ask me where I'd like to work in the future, I'd pick Seoul, but this is not to say that I wouldn't think of working in Japan. Just please not in Tokyo.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Nara
With feet that were about to fall off, I opted to go to Nara today since its sights seem to be all clustered together. However, instead of saving some foot energy, I wasted some right off the bat.
Instead of asking for directions when I got out at the JR Nara Station, I just started walking south, munching away on one of my baked goods for breakfast. It didn't dawn on me to ask someone until I got to a 7-Eleven realized that there hasn't been a single white person in sight. Sure enough, I should've been heading north, then turn east to get to Nara Park from the train station. Thankfully, the 7-Eleven staff was quite nice and pointed me to the right direction; she wanted me to take the bus, but I opted to walk instead like I always do (and I wonder why my feet were aching?!). And I really should get a darn compass so that I don't make these kinds of mistakes again.
Ahh, Nara. It was yet another city that was much calmer than Tokyo. My first stop after a long walk from the train station was Kofuku-ji Temple with its 50-meter-high five-story pagoda. I already started missing Kei with her DSLR because my camera can't really do these shots justice. After seeing more free-wandering deer, I headed over to Todai-ji Temple with the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), "57 meters long and 50 meters wide, making it the world's largest wooden structure. The hall enshrines a huge statue of the great Buddha. Weighing approximately 300 tons and standing some 15 meters tall, it is the largest Buddha statue in the world." Unfortunately, since the hall was dimly lit, my pictures of the Buddha was subpar. Sadness.
There were lots of school girls around, wearing their school uniforms, and whenever I would see one I swear that the Sailor Moon theme song kept popping in my head (...Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight...Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon...).
Before I left for my trip, Ed's sister-in-law kept telling me to go to the Omizutori, Water-Drawing Festival, when in Nara. However, I arrived in Japan way after the festival so I had to settle for just dropping by the Nigatsu-do Hall and imagine what that place might have looked like a few weeks earlier. The hall overlooks a cliff so it was nice to get fresh air and cool down from all the walking.
Further up was Mt. Kasuga-yama where the school girls ate their lunch. The very green hill, also the sight of the yearly grass burning festival, was a great backdrop against the very blue uniforms of the girls.
At Kasuga-taisha Shrine, another World Heritage Site, there were a million lanterns along the path. I do wonder what all these places look like at night, but I know that my chances of getting lost is much higher when it's dark; heck, it's usually daylight and I'm often treading the wrong path already. ;P
By 1pm, I started working my way back to the train station at a pitstop to eat a tendon in the city center. I also dropped by the local Starbucks to find a Nara mug, but unfortunately, there was none to be found.
I already knew which direction the train station was so I decided to take some of the little side streets along the way instead of walking along the main road that I took earlier in the day. I always love doing this because you get to see how the locals live. This is also the reason why I hate guided tours because you're always just looking out of a window instead of actually rubbing elbows with the people that actually make the place what it is. And just like Hiroshima, I do like Nara better than Tokyo. It's small town Japan and more laid back.
By 2:30pm, I was already on a train heading back to Osaka. I was going to make a stop at Horyuji for the Horyuji Temple, but I really think that the last 13 days have taken a toll on me: I wanted rest instead of adventure.
When I got back to Osaka, I had planned to take a short rest, do my laundry, then head back out to explore the area of my hotel. However, a sucky thing happened.
After paying more for doing my laundry in Osaka than in Seoul, it didn't seem like any soap actually dispensed out of the washing machine like it should've and after 30 minutes in the dryer, my clothes were barely dry. When I took them out of the dryer, they weren't even hot. So instead of spending another round of yen for another cycle, I grudgingly brought my clothes to my room and tried to figure out how to hang them in my room with only two hangers around.
With no jeans or socks, I couldn't go out for the night like I had intended since I only had my khaki skirt and flip-flops on. So, I just headed over to the Yoshinoya across the street for dinner and called it a night. Unfortunately, when I got there, they didn't have a vending machine so ordering was a little trickier than usual. "Gyudon...take-out." Plus, all the seats were taken by men and one of them who looked quite sleazy was looking me up and down. Eww.
By 7pm, I was already twiddling my thumbs, trying to figure out how to entertain myself. The TV in my room only had a handful of crappy channels, none of which were in English. Ugh! But then again, I did wish for rest and sure enough, I got some tonight.
Instead of asking for directions when I got out at the JR Nara Station, I just started walking south, munching away on one of my baked goods for breakfast. It didn't dawn on me to ask someone until I got to a 7-Eleven realized that there hasn't been a single white person in sight. Sure enough, I should've been heading north, then turn east to get to Nara Park from the train station. Thankfully, the 7-Eleven staff was quite nice and pointed me to the right direction; she wanted me to take the bus, but I opted to walk instead like I always do (and I wonder why my feet were aching?!). And I really should get a darn compass so that I don't make these kinds of mistakes again.
Ahh, Nara. It was yet another city that was much calmer than Tokyo. My first stop after a long walk from the train station was Kofuku-ji Temple with its 50-meter-high five-story pagoda. I already started missing Kei with her DSLR because my camera can't really do these shots justice. After seeing more free-wandering deer, I headed over to Todai-ji Temple with the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), "57 meters long and 50 meters wide, making it the world's largest wooden structure. The hall enshrines a huge statue of the great Buddha. Weighing approximately 300 tons and standing some 15 meters tall, it is the largest Buddha statue in the world." Unfortunately, since the hall was dimly lit, my pictures of the Buddha was subpar. Sadness.
There were lots of school girls around, wearing their school uniforms, and whenever I would see one I swear that the Sailor Moon theme song kept popping in my head (...Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight...Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon...).
Before I left for my trip, Ed's sister-in-law kept telling me to go to the Omizutori, Water-Drawing Festival, when in Nara. However, I arrived in Japan way after the festival so I had to settle for just dropping by the Nigatsu-do Hall and imagine what that place might have looked like a few weeks earlier. The hall overlooks a cliff so it was nice to get fresh air and cool down from all the walking.
Further up was Mt. Kasuga-yama where the school girls ate their lunch. The very green hill, also the sight of the yearly grass burning festival, was a great backdrop against the very blue uniforms of the girls.
At Kasuga-taisha Shrine, another World Heritage Site, there were a million lanterns along the path. I do wonder what all these places look like at night, but I know that my chances of getting lost is much higher when it's dark; heck, it's usually daylight and I'm often treading the wrong path already. ;P
By 1pm, I started working my way back to the train station at a pitstop to eat a tendon in the city center. I also dropped by the local Starbucks to find a Nara mug, but unfortunately, there was none to be found.
I already knew which direction the train station was so I decided to take some of the little side streets along the way instead of walking along the main road that I took earlier in the day. I always love doing this because you get to see how the locals live. This is also the reason why I hate guided tours because you're always just looking out of a window instead of actually rubbing elbows with the people that actually make the place what it is. And just like Hiroshima, I do like Nara better than Tokyo. It's small town Japan and more laid back.
By 2:30pm, I was already on a train heading back to Osaka. I was going to make a stop at Horyuji for the Horyuji Temple, but I really think that the last 13 days have taken a toll on me: I wanted rest instead of adventure.
When I got back to Osaka, I had planned to take a short rest, do my laundry, then head back out to explore the area of my hotel. However, a sucky thing happened.
After paying more for doing my laundry in Osaka than in Seoul, it didn't seem like any soap actually dispensed out of the washing machine like it should've and after 30 minutes in the dryer, my clothes were barely dry. When I took them out of the dryer, they weren't even hot. So instead of spending another round of yen for another cycle, I grudgingly brought my clothes to my room and tried to figure out how to hang them in my room with only two hangers around.
With no jeans or socks, I couldn't go out for the night like I had intended since I only had my khaki skirt and flip-flops on. So, I just headed over to the Yoshinoya across the street for dinner and called it a night. Unfortunately, when I got there, they didn't have a vending machine so ordering was a little trickier than usual. "Gyudon...take-out." Plus, all the seats were taken by men and one of them who looked quite sleazy was looking me up and down. Eww.
By 7pm, I was already twiddling my thumbs, trying to figure out how to entertain myself. The TV in my room only had a handful of crappy channels, none of which were in English. Ugh! But then again, I did wish for rest and sure enough, I got some tonight.
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