Confessions of an Elder Sister

Being the eldest sister is the toughest role I've ever been given by God. My mom is also the eldest in the family and had me before the rest of her siblings had babies so I was practically the eldest grand child of the whole family.  It's kind of tough to have this role.  I don't even know how to get myself to do things correctly.  All I know is I'm the eldest and I must set an example for my two little sisters.  It's great that I have a family that doesn't give me pressure.  You know, they are people who positively reinforces, unconditionally supports you and automatically is there whenever you need them.  That goes to both my little sisters.  They are one of the few best and loyal friends I have in this lifetime.  They understand me the most.  They give me reason to do my best in being professional but still keep this "kid at heart" attitude.  They really help when I'm stressed out from my job.  My sisters are just there, listening and comforting.  They give me time to be weak and toughen me up when it's time for war.  As the saying goes, "When mom and dad don't understand, a sister always will."

And they always do.  Thanks for always being there for me Aiko and Elie Mei <3  I can't think of a life without you.

Rupert Grint and Obsession

I recently saw this video for Ed Sheeran's new single, "Lego House". Guess who's in it? Rupert Grint! It's a very nice song with pretty simple lyrics; nevertheless, the song is meaningful. I was just a little surprised seeing Rupert Grint there and not to mention his wonderful portrayal of someone obsessed with a musician to the point of chewing up used gum.

As far as I can remember, people suffering from these obsessions are most likely be erotomanic people. They are individuals who have reference ideas that they are liked by a certain person - most probably someone he/she has already met. I remember this article I've read before by Kathy Ramsland, "Stalkers: The Psychological Terrorists" that these particular people undergoes a process illustrated (and rephrased) below in a very simple flowchart:

But you know what I think Rupert's case in the video was something different despite that he obviously he has shown signs of obsession and compulsions such as thinking about Ed Sheeran all day long and going inside Sheeran's truck to do stuff. It's the most crucial thing in to the illness, "Initial Contact". So, probably celebrities have these "stalkers" despite not knowing them at all because the initial contact was probably through media. It got me thinking whether human ingenuity has made these stalkers come alive or not. But it's just me talking about weird stuff again. Please don't mind.

As an occupational therapist, I would probably arrange him a leisure or work exploration intervention. We can probably work on breaking down his 24/7 obsessive thoughts into 23 hours then until we make a lovely milieu for his entire day. Sounds pretty easy but it's not. Working with a psychiatric client takes a lot of patience. But then again, if you truly care about your client, you'll be capable of anything :)

Humanap ka ng Panget at Ibigin Mong Tunay?

Mahaba-haba din ang oras ng biyahe mula Vancouver pabalik ng Pilipinas - lalo na kung may stopover pa ng isang oras at kalahati sa Taipei. Marami kang taong makikita - Intsik, Amerikano, Hapon, Koreano, Canadian atbp. Pero karamihan sa kanila, mga Pilipinong pabalik din ng bansa upang magdiwang ng Pasko at Bagong Taon. Pagsakay namin ng kapatid ko sa eroplano papuntang Maynila, may kumausap sa aming foreigner. Tinanong niya kung saan kami galing bansa. Ang sabi namin Vancouver. Matapos nito ay tinanong niya naman kami kung kamusta daw ang experience namin doon sa Canada.

"Nice place, right? How do you find it?", sabi niya.

Ang sabi ko, " It's very clean there. Despite being an urban area, they have many trees.", sagot ko.

Madalian niya namang sinabi, "Many parks right?"

"Yeah.", sinabi namin. "

But they have Rizal Park in the Philippines too." 

"Yeah but the place is unkept, dirty."

"You call your own place dirty?" sabay snicker.

Sabi ko yes I do.  Tanging yung mismong parke lang naman talaga yung nililinis.  Tama ba?

Hindi ko nais pasamain ang imahe ng Pilipinas sa mga foreigners.  Lalo na sa katulad niyang mukhang sanay na sanay na pumunta ng Pinas.  Wala ka rin namang matatago.  Tunay na madumi ang Pilipinas lalo na ang Maynila - basura dito, basura diyan.  May mga lugar na di mo maatim ang amoy.  May mga tao din na di mo akalaing mabubuhay doon.  Minsan nga, kung napapanahon may mga bangkay pang lumilitaw sa tabi-tabi.  Taga-roon man siya o ibang dayo at "pinalipad" lang sa Maynila.  Malalaman mo yun kung tumira ka sa Manila o nagtagal doon at kinayod ang mga sulok nito tulad ko.  Ayoko lang itong itanggi, ayaw kong itanggi ang isa sa mga problemang puno't dulo ng karamihan ng problemang nasa siyudad.  Naniniwala akong sa pagtanggap sa problema ang unang paraan sa pagbabago nito.  So, ayoko lang itago.  Pero alam ko din na masama yung ginawa ko kasi kahit anong anggulo mo pa yun tignan, tila ba ikinahihiya ko ang Pilipinas.  Pero sa totoo lang... sa loob ng labing dalawang oras na biyahe ko mula Vancouver patungong Maynila, wala akong ibang iniisip kundi,

"Pauwi na ako."

Dahil kahit gaano pa pumanget ang itsura ng Pilipinas.  Uuwian ko pa rin ito. Dito ako lumaki.  Dito ako nagsaya kabila ng kahirapan.  Kung tutuusin, kung isa kang banyaga sobrang maninibago ka pag tumira ka sa Pinas - lalo na sa siyudad.  Tila ba impyerno sa init tuwing Marso hanggang Mayo.  Pero kung natutunan mo itong tiisin, kahit saan ka mapunta sa mundo ay paraiso na.  Ang nakakatawa pa dito ay sa kabila ng polusyon at usok, sabik akong bumalik.  Sabik na sumakay sa dyip na ipitan kung bumiyahe.  Yung tipong dikit pisngi na kayo ng katabi mo e hindi pa ito bibiyahe dahil kulang pa daw.  Pero higit sa lahat, mamahalin mo ang mga tao.  Wala ka nang makikita pa sa buong mundo na kasing "warm" nila.  Totoo yun!  Lalo na sa probinsya.  Hay naku maniwala ka sa akin.  Pag tag-siyudad ka tulad ko at pumunta ka sa probinsya - ROYAL TREATMENT!  Sa pakain, palagi kang invited.  At hindi ko rin alam kung bakit pero pag bagong dayo, talagang ikaw ang "star".  Masayahin kasi sila palagi.  Sa totoo lang, kahit yung mga taga-siyudad din naman mababait at maasikaso pag pumunta ka ng bahay nila.  "FILIPINO HOSPITALITY" nga ika nila e di maikukumpara sa iba.  Dahil totoo! Ang tao ang uuwian mo dun.  Ang babalik balikan mo!  At kahit ano pang sabihin ng mga matatanda sa akin na huwag ng bumalik doon, alam kong hindi ko ito maatim. Dahil doon ako isinilang at doon ako lumaki.  Tanggap ko lahat-lahat sa kanya - panget man o maganda.

Bow or Shake?

"Oops! Wrong greeting..."

I've been in Canada for 2 months now and I've noticed the big difference in how people interact with each other. Here, the people greet you even if you don't know them. I was fairly surprised by an Indian lady living in our apartment when she greeted me and asked me if I was going to my job today. I cautiously pointed myself (parang tanga lang haha) and said in a whisper, "Me?". She smiled then I smiled as well and told her that I was not going to work and that I was going back to my home country, the Philippines. I asked my father if she knew a woman like that or if he talked about me in particular but apparently he doesn't. My father doesn't even know anyone here in the building except for the new Filipino family in Suite 112 and the other Filipino family above us. Anyway, people here are definitely more "casual" than the Filipino or rather, the Asian casualty we practice back home. We practice a lot of mannerisms or etiquette as some would prefer to call it.

In the Philippines, for example, it is common knowledge to address people with older stature using some of the following words:

OLDER MAN

1.) Tito - equivalent to uncle

2.) Kuya - older brother or can be used to a stranger older than you by a couple of years

3.) Manong - now considered equivalent to "old man" but back in the days it was considered to be equivalent to "sir or mister"

OLDER WOMAN

1.) Tita or aunty - equivalent to aunt

2.) Ate - older sister or can be used to a stranger older than you by a couple of years

3.) Manang - now considered equivalent to "old Lady" but back in the days it was considered to be equivalent to "miss"

It is also important to remember to use "polite language" such as po and opo. But that's just one level of politeness for you. Imagine having different levels of polite language like the Japanese or Koreans. They have like three levels of politeness - the informal level, polite, formal and an additional super formal as I'd like to call it. People who have experienced and lived with this kind of culture will probably perceive the Canadian way of greeting rather rude. This also accounts even if one knows it - like me.

Anyway, it's very different here compared to the experiences I've had back home but I find experiencing other cultures a wonderful thing. I'll probably experience more awkward situations but hey, that's life - live it while you can, the way you want it.

OT vs PT

"Occupational Therapist versus Physical Therapist"

This is a funny animation about a physical therapist wanting to discharge a client despite having poor safety awareness. Quite a laugh when you're an OT. No offense to PTs though, I respect your job a lot.

Snowboarding: A Cultural Activity for Canadians

"Cypress Mountain - November 26, 2011"

Today, we went to Cypress Mountain to learn how to skateboard. I was pretty excited to go there that I've dreamt about it last night. Although, I really can't remember my dream at all. Anyway, despite the wet weather, we still pursued our very first snowboarding expedition. I can tell you, it was hard for me - a female with a sedentary lifestyle - to even slide my snow board while practising walking with the board strapped to one leg. And here I thought that we were going to join those people already sliding down the beginner slope immediately after arriving. I WAS WRONG! My goodness! DEAD WRONG! I couldn't even manage to glide on the surface perpendicular to my snow board. I wondered how could those Canadians do it so gracefully. Then I thought, " Oh...maybe it's like a cultural thing. I bet they practise it all the time." And this cannot be ignored by an aspiring occupational therapist such as myself, especially if I plan to practice here in Canada.

Culture - something integrated in society that is practised and maintained by the people in the country. Hey, they have mountains with confectionery snow for months. So, snowboarding must be an activity preferably done in winter by a wide variety of people. Well, supposedly I have a client who wants to learn snowboarding. As the client's occupational therapist, I must know how to snowboard at least. Not that I'm saying that there will be such but it's better to know than be ignorant. As we all know, this profession transcends all human - meaning even multicultural activities as such is possible. I really am glad I took this day to learn how to snowboard. Hope that in the near future, I will come to use it in my profession. (And I hope to be better in the snow boarding aspect too)

SNOW!!!

Today, I saw snow for the first time. It was like someone opening the freezer and scraping the shaved ice from the sides. I thought, "Hey, how high does the snow fall from?". When I checked to look, snow got into my eye. The kids from the apartment next to us played after 7:30 pm. Geez, how late are they allowed to play? But I guess, every Filipino or rather, every kid would be too excited to think about the time when they see snow piling up on their porches.

I think I'm inspired to make a poem about it. I'll post it if ever with another picture.

P.S. Yes~! finally my dream to see snow came true!!! But still, it would be different if I were in the Philippines.

VOLUNTEER WEEK IN PGH

So, I've been volunteering in PGH Ward 7 since I have free time and I'm wondering if I should still continue. :( Having second thoughts

Sabaw!

"SABAW!!!"

Fourth week na sa PGH grabe! sabaw hehe pero carry lang. Go me and go Boom~!

Confidence pa!

I administered my first group earlier this morning in PGH Ward 7. Had my feedback and guess what? I still need to work up on this problematic self-confidence of mine. It has been my problem for as long as I can remember. I'm gonna try my best~!

First Week in PCMC

Yehey~! My first week in my new rotation is over. It was very fun~! I met cute kids and learned a lot about FMS and Play. Hopefully next week all my kids are present.

Dear God

So, bukas po eh Admission Conference (AdCon) sa school ko. Ako po ang napiling occupational therapist (dahil ako lang naman talaga mapipili) na mag-present ng case. Sana po bukas ay maging maayos kahit na alam ko pong magigisa ako (AS IN GISA TALAGA, TUTONG NA TUTONG). Alam ko pong magiging learning experience to pero sana meron akong mabalingan bukas after ng lahat. After ng lahat...patnubayan niyo po sana ako sa laban bukas. Ipinagdarasal ko po ito sa ngalan ng aming Tagapagligtas na si Kristo Hesus.

Amen.

PS Sana po yung mga kasama kong magpepresent din ay maging okay din :)

OTzibit 2011

For half a year now, the Occupational Therapy Students Assembly have been promoting the first ever OTzibit - an assistive device making contest. It has been decided in December 2010 that it will be in Emilio Aguinaldo College on February 12 but circumstances came up and suddenly (and thankfully *phew*), it has now been moved to UST~! They'll be having it on their OT day celebration. Of course, the date is moved as well. It will be on February 26, 2011 - Saturday from 6 am to 9pm. This week, we will meet up with the officers of the schools and have the final round up on things. I pray that things would go well (@^-^@)

After that meeting, I'll disseminate new letters for sponsorship and make calls to the sponsors whom I've already given the letters. The OT council in my school has decided to require the students to participate. I just wonder if I should say that it has incentives or not. I really want them to move on their own accord. Perhaps, I'm too much of an idealist or is it just that I wasn't convincing enough...perhaps, I wasn't much of a pursuader as I thought. I required two (2) for each year starting from the freshmen. I've been informed that Alched Obejas and Peter Ian Capocao will be the sophomore representatives. We'll meet as early as next week to discuss the prceedings. I hope that they will appreciate this as much as I do. I plan to do one myself, an assistive device that is but I still think that it'll be pretty tight on my schedule especially with the Talakasan nearing. I'll be in the women's basketball and in chess. Sir Leo really really wanted me to be in chess. He said that since I was the champion last year I had to join. It was a fair explanation but I really had wanted to join both basketball and volleyball this year. It was pure luck last year anyway. I was minding my own business when Alen Giorgio Villamin dragged me down to the 5th floor to play chess. How will my performance be now that the coach, Sir Alfred quit last year? I hopw Mico Caleon could teach me stuff like last year.

Anyways, I'll do my best.

If you're an OT and you're interested in joining or attending, please see the link below for more information. Have a nice day!

OTzibit 2011