My family just finished welcoming the new year! Almost everyone had fun. It was a quite evening for us as we waited for the countdown. We are happy to be together during new year celebrations! Just the four of us at home but we simply enjoyed it!

Happy new year!

I just watched 5 Centimeters Per Second a few minutes ago. It’s an anime by Miyazaki. This may sound a little cheesy but I really remembered someone while watching it.

The song also gave me LSS hahaha…Anyway, it’s a good film.

Hmm…how come when I already want to write something here I could not find the right words? hehehe…Nevertheless, I already did share my thoughts to a friend before I wrote this down. That would be enough.

I’ve been really really excited! Really really looking forward to the Christmas break this year! Why? Well, I didn’t regret a single thing I accepted as assignment in school but I believe this break is a much deserved one for me. I did several things this year and I am very happy I did!

I learned a lot! I discovered a lot about myself! I made the right investments! I met new friends, developed deeper friendships and honed my talents!  Christmas break remains my only time to look back, to review my year and to check myself. This is my much-awaited break!

Looking forward indeed to giving time for myself!

I was reading my students’ Palanca letters for me from last last week’s D3 celebration. I just realized how much my students really mean to me. I had all sorts of positive reactions while reading them. There were funny entries, serious ones, and even “bola” ones! Haha. I just realize how much I really really love them.

Now, I just realized that my drive to work again came from their Palanca letters. I hope one day they will know that their letters brought me back again to my old “teacher” self. 

So, no time to lose. I better get back to work…to my passion.

Thank you my dear students, my dear friends!

I thought I’d be able to get enough rest this sembreak. However, I have too many tasks to do which means I have to stop wishing I’d have three consecutive rest days. 

I will be out of town with work colleagues beginning tomorrow until Thursday. It’s part of PROMDI of which I am very proud to be a member of. I do hope that it will be something fruitful and fun for us all. 

Immediately after that, it’s important to be back immediately so as to make sure that the SophNight event will be taken cared of. Naku, kinakabahan na ako pero sana it will be one great night. The SophComm worked hard for it. We are all STILL working hard for the event to be really really one great night.

On another note, I listed down the books I have read this year. I have to still work on it. I want to accomplish my 50 book challenge this year! I hope I can find time for that.

More work to do when I get back. Hay….

Well, I have to look at the brighter side of things.

If I am to choose one material gift for Christmas 2008, it would be this….

 

 

I want an iPhone 3G!

When asked what I want for Christmas, I immediately answered BOOKS! I want books for Christmas! But what books in particular? Here are some of them:

- Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

- Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

- Children of Jihad: A Young American’s Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East by Jared Cohen

- The Google Story by David Vise and Mark Malseed

- The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall by Ian Bremmer 

- Think India by Vinay Rai and William Simon

- India after Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha

- A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The Story of the Taj Mahal by Diana Preston and Michael Preston

- China in a World History by Samuel Adrian M. Adshead

- Return of the Middle Kingdom by Yuan-tsung Chen

- Tibet by Thomas Laird

- Wild Grass: China’s Revolution from Below by Johnson

- Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China  by Leslie Chang

- The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan by Christopher Benfrey

- The China Price by Alexandra Harney

- China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century’s First Great Epidemic by Karl Taro Greenfeld

- In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce

- Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia 

- The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple

- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan

- Gem in the Lotus: The Seeding of Indian Civilisation by Abraham Eraly

- Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus

- The Last Oil Shock by David Strahan

- From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map: Essays by Edward Said

- Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy by Noam Chomsky, Gilbert Achcar, and Stephen R. Shalom

- Megacommunities: How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together by Reginald Van Lee, Mark Gerencser, Fernando 

 

The ones in blue are what I really want to have before the year ends. They’re all available at FullyBooked. Hmm…how come I did not include Murakami? I also like Coehlo’s books since I’ve only read Veronica Decides to Die, Like a River Flowing, 11 Minutes and The Alchemist so I can take in more. I actually want to have a copy of Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running or any of his stories except Kafka on the Shore (since I already have it). 

Other less expensive books? I like Orson Scott Card’s books. I have the trilogy after Ender’s Game but I don’t have his other books yet. I have Seventh Son and Wyrms, Speaker for the Dead, Children of the Mind, and Xenocide. I have Ender’s Game but it’s still with my ex’s cousin (who is a very good friend, someone I consider a family)  so I welcome another copy. I love Umberto Eco’s books, too. I lost my only copy of Traveling with a Salmon so any of his books are also welcome. I’ve read Freakonomics but I don’t have a copy so I want one, too!

What else? I enjoy sci-fi books really. Pau’s fault! Hehe. And more so, I like books about politics, China, India, SEA, Japan, Korea, etc.  Gaiman’s ok. He’s cool so it’s good to get books he wrote. Ayn Rand is cool, too! I have her book Fountainhead. I love books about International Relations, too! 

So what do I want aside from books? Hmm…I have to think about that. A good idea for my next entry….

Sembreak is fast approaching. However, I will not be staying home to read all day. I will be in Quezon with co-teachers for a PROMDI trip. Even so, I started catching up on books I want to read. It was a relief when, for a short while, I won’t be preparing LPs for next week. My students will be presenting their projects for the second term. While my students perhaps are all busy preparing for their presentations, I tried to squeeze in some time (in between “checking papers” sessions) to visit bookstores, to do some errands with my mom, and to read.

I finished Coehlo’s book Like the River Flowing a few days ago. Right now, I am busy devouring India Booms by John Farndon. I will be following it up closely with The Making of A Nation, a book by Fr. Schumacher. Why the sudden shift? I was e-mailing with Fr. Schumacher. I asked his help if he can further give me points and answer some of my questions about Philippine history (of which I am not really good at). I even asked if he can sign my book of which he said YES! Great to hear that from him! Now, I know before I see him I must brush up on my readings again on Philippine history. I was rereading his book so as to make the meeting an intellectual exchange of ideas and maybe insights. 

On the other hand, my mom and I went to UP Diliman today. We both need to photocopy some materials. In my case, it was a good time to visit a second hand bookstore at SC (Shopping Center). To my surprise, there were book on global politics, two good books by Umberto Eco and a few more great finds. Unfortunately, I did not bring enough money so I ended up just browsing the pages and hoping that when I visit again they’d still be there.

More good news: I was able to eat at Rodics again! Good tapa! Then, I had my fave fishballs near PNB. Plus, purchases of two small boxes of Papelmerotti (I hope I spelled that right) with game tips and Philippine trivia/info. I bought the latter to remind me of an idea I have for a project for AP. I will not be able to execute what I have in mind this school year but I know next school year I’d be confident to present them to my colleagues in the department. I am excited about it. 

Anyway, this entry wasn’t supposed to be about what transpired today. Haha. But I just realized something about me. I can’t seem to go out unless I have to drop by a bookstore. Reading has become not a habit but an addiction…and yes, I mean that in a good way. I’ve been reading books and devouring them voraciously. For instance, I just realized I accummulated so many books that I need to catch up on my readings. 

I don’t feel frustration. Nevertheless, I will have to double my time to finish all the books I purchased. 

So, reading becomes an addiction indeed for me. Yet, it’s a must addiction!

I have been trying to write in this blog the past days but I just couldn’t do so. It’s either I am too tired to write or I eventually forget after facing my computer. There’s just soo much to do. I accepted too many committee work at school (but I did not regret accepting any of them) and I became too involved in my topics recently.

Even if my classes were late in terms of topics that need to be covered for a certain week (well a big part of it was because of the shortened periods and a week when I got really really sick) I am very pleased with the experiments I made this school year. I had my students undergo a mock peace talks which I have never done before in my classes. The students appreciated it well. They love it and they learned so much from it ( I hope so). I did not regret spending two sessions for it for my balitaan class. On the other hand, mentioning earlier that I became too involved in my topics, yes I got too involved. I like discussing about imperialism and its effects on different Asian countries. Moreover, I certainly like it when students themselves ask very sensible questions and when they themselves realize its effects. I will have to put the discussions on hold. We will have project presentations next week and I also look forward to how my students will be presenting different cultures of Asian countries assigned to them.

FULLYBOOKED SERENDRA

Finally, I was able to visit FullyBooked Serendra. It was marvelous! I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. Half-day isn’t enough for me then. I just realized how much I love books when I saw an area devoted entirely to my fave finds. In the end, I ended up spending soo much including books bought by my dad and brother. Well, when your loved ones make lambing you just can’t say no. Hehe.

So what did I get for myself? Hmmm…Great to share this with all of you..and I am looking forward to sembreak…my moment to read, read and read…

John Gaddis’ Cold War
Samuel K. Tan’s A History of the Philippines
Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities
John Farndon’s India Booms

I got Tan’s and Anderson’s books so I can have my own copies. On the other hand, Gaddis is one of my fave authors and so is Farndon.

It was a great Sunday bonding I had with my family. My mom joined us for lunch, too, at Abe’s. I had lamb adobo! It was yummy! Then, my brother and I decided to walk around. I got the chance to visit A Different Bookstore there. I was actually craving for more time to stroll the shelves of the bookshops (but I never paid attention to the shops there).

LIKE THE RIVER FLOWING by COEHLO

Oh, and before I forget, I finished reading Coehlo’s book Like the River Flowing. This book is an easy read. A must read for those interested to know more reflection pieces. I regret not having read it earlier for I could have used the entries for my moderating class and even my subject classes. Anyway, it’s not yet too late I think.

My Christmas Wishlist?

Hmm..this one’s coming up pretty soon here. I just decided it would be better to put them up so when I don’t actually get them for Christmas then I can be reminded of how to find means to get them next year.

Excited about it.

It’s funny! The week that passed was a good week. However, it was well-balanced. It was also a bad week because I was down with coughs and colds, and flu. Haha, funny week.

SOPHCOMM Proposal

Very proud of the SophCom. They presented their proposal last Wednesday in front of the A-team. They were all wearing their barongs and were speaking in straight Filipino. The written proposal was also in Filipino. It was their idea according to Mem. It was one good idea and they were really great! I am very very very proud of them.

Ateneo won the UAAP Basketball Championship

Also very proud of Ateneo. Champion for both Junior and Senior UAAP Basketball. Ang galing!