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.