Journal #3 2009

HOLIDAYS

The first thing that comes to my mind when I here holiday is “Fun”. I still remember when I was granted free math training in Cebu, Philippines. I didn’t really take it as a weeklong seminar but instead I spent most of time touring the place. It was one of the great holidays I ever had. Given the fact that Cebu has many historic sites that made it varies in culture. Moreover, people were very hospitable and amazing. They were so friendly when in times you needed help. Funny though, their language was so difficult to understand but fortunately most of them are fluent in tagalong and English as well. Technically, those who had been participated in that Math Seminar was considered the most intelligent group of youngster in Mindanao region and I was flattered so to be among them. To tell you the truth, I left that title and because of my curiosity of fun and travel, I focused more of my time in recreational things than learning math theory. That results me and my group to be the lowest and weakest team. Nevertheless, we had fun and friendship after the seminar, and I think that matters most.

Since I am a Roman Catholic and the “Holy Week” is fast approaching let me tell you about my experienced about those days. When I was kid, “Holy Week” for me and my sisters was the most boring week ever. Aside from not having an allowance, there were no television shows throughout the week and all the stores and public chains were closed that led us to stay home every second of the week. Basically, we just had a couple of board and card games and eventually it turned out to be gambling. Then one day our mother noticed us playing with money, and she scolded us. From that day on, we had never been exposed to card and board games anymore. I have grown up from a religious family, and I think that’s the reason why when it is “Holy Week” we always go and climb the mountain cross in Zamboanga, Philippines to penitent. It is not as easy as you think, simply because we need to walk on sloppy mountain until we reached the top. Adding the spice of it, that mountain has fourteen stations and every station we need to stop and pray afterwards we light a candle until we reach the top to see the cross. I didn’t still mention the crowd when we were about to go down the mountain. So physically speaking, it was really a penitent moment. To sum up everything, I have learnt a lot of things in my childhood that makes me who I am now today.

The latest holiday in my life was this week. Malaysia celebrates Chinese New Year annually, and for this country it is very significant unlike in the Philippines. Our college imposed a one week holiday and that leave me and my co international students doing nothing most of the time. Some of them spent times in doing part time jobs, some are loitering around in computer shop to contact their families, and most of them (I am one of here) were just watching movies at home. It is not that too boring though, because just last 14^th of February we went to the “BED” and spent our Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year at the same time there and we were partying together all night long.

For me Holiday can be spent a lot of ways, you just need to appreciate even a small thing that is happening to your life so that you can cherish every moment from it. In any circumstance, there will always be an end upon it, so does “Holiday”. After all the fun or boring days, there will always be an end of it and you will always be back to your normal life. One thing that I will never ever forget about “Holiday” is that after I spent it. It replenish myself to a new me, it is merely like an essential process so that I can discover myself more and more.