The CSB Experience: I’m Busy With 4 Things and I’m Hoping To Add 2 More

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    It is very much surprising that for being in benilde for only more than 5 weeks, I have already made myself busier with 2 orgs and a CoP commission plus being president of a block section. Now I’m gearing up on the possibilty on adding two more ocupations under my belt!

    During the Frosh Orientation, I have encountered Mediamax, an student organization for whcih they give its mebers training session, hold special events, and the like. Likewise, it is sort of a big advantage for me since I’m majoring Multimedia Arts, my course in CSB. The reason for it is that in time for my majors in my later years, I’d be able to be well-familiarized with the software programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Sort of like a big pre-major prepartion kind of thing. They don’t have,as far as I know, regular training sessions for all members but consultation are available on the SIU office (at the MMX cubicle that is), the block sections have their assigned gurus so that these gurus can help their assigned members on different things.

    Next is the CSB DebSoc or Debate Society. the org is divided into two, one is the org itself with set of officers and members, the other is the DebSoc varsity wherein they represent the college in various events in and outside the country. The varisty can pick any member of the org to its roster of debatees but of course they have to train their members on the field of debating. I’m currently “enrolled” on a Monday training period of 1:00-2:30 in the afternon just before my class in Filip11 would start. Once I’ve settled my schedule in Benilde, I could ad another day of training for me to catch ahead. The org itself is the varisty although the org selects members to represent the org itself and the school.

    Now being block president is not what I call an easy job. Add to the fact that there wasn’t a class election to select our president and instead have my blockmate Ferdz Lanusa say my name that made me president of the class. back in as early as high school, I have run for several political position in the classroom level but I didn’t aspire to become a president of a class. Now, I have this moral obligatio to control the behavior of my blockmates from further chaos and mayhem than it is now. It’s driving me nuts like crazy and be able to remind them on important stuff like homework, projects and the like!

    The good side on being president is that I’m automatically a member of CSB’s Council of Presidents, on their “Block Commission” for which we recently elected the block presindet of DV2 as our block commision chairperson. We discuss things on the block level but so far we don’t have any meetings as of yet. The block commission of CoP is expected to exist around the time that our block sections for the first term (or possibly until the second term) are abolished/dissolved.

Now for the possibilities:

    I’m planning on continuing my quest of joining the official school publication, moving my sights from SJA’s VOX to CSB’s Press Corps. this time, I applied for a position on literay writing. I have existing literary pieces (short stories, poems and personal narratives) for which I previously passed them as my entries for Palatak, a collection of literary works of the students of SJA (parang Literture Delight dati nung Grade 5 ako), which as of now I’ms till clueles as to when will it be available to us almunis of Batch 07. In case, my entries (plus 2 new pieces I made last week) went through the Literary editor of the Press Corps without a hitch, I’d be getting acall from them saying that I need to do a literary exam to rpove that i’m worthy to become a literary writer for the press corps. If ever I made it to the Press Corps, expect me to be all aorund super busy.

    Add to that si my intention on joining Benilde’s Taekwondo varsity team. Although my coach back St. James allowed me to continue on training in malabon, i don’t think it would be right for me to continue on since my team in SJA would represent the school on PTA events. I’m no,onger a sudent there so that would’nt be too fitting. According to the coach of the varsity, they have (like the varsity in La Salle Manila) trainings from 6:30 to 9 in the morning (M-W-F) at the La Salle Sports Complex (and the Bro. Andrew Gonzales Building of DLSU) in La Salle U. It’s a kind of good and bad thing for me. For the plus side, they start just before I have regular classes at 2:30 (Mondays), 9:20 (Wednesdays), and 10:30 (Fridays). the minus side of it is that I have to sacrifice waking up late on these three days to go to training, worse, waking up as early as 4:00 to gte in school before 6;30. For me to do that, I need to live in a dormitory but that’s plain exaggeartion and totally out of the question.

One I’m not so sure of, but the other depends on my decision to go on with pursuing it.

I have to make a choice, be busy or be no busy.

The CSB Experience: I Think I Speak Like A Coñotic

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    It’s been already 4 weeks since I have become officially a Lasalista, este, a Benildean (in Tagalog, it’s Benildano), but now I think the way I speak is getting pretty affected with the so-caled  “Lasalista” accent.

    At home, I unknowingly speak English more often especially during dinnertime where the whole Habitan household would gather (plus on family outings). I can;t really help although I still speak as much tagalog as then. Even so, me spekaing English is beginning to scare me.

    There was this time when we are having dinner that I began to speak Coño English, the most disgusting that I would have say is “Well, they make turo on the subject eh. We can’t do anything tungkol that…” but thank good ness I don’t. Just the extent that I make ideolectic terms when speaking in English. Good thing that my mom is a UP graduate so she knows how I’m experiencing (that’s why I call this series THE CSB EXPERIENCE right?).

More often than not, in class, I have the tendency to speak English more often when reciting than Filipino. I’mo not really sure if there is a provision in CSB where English is used as the medium but like I said, I can’t help it. Many of my blockamtes are from well-off families and they have English as a first language (this is the very subject that I used for my high school thesis).

    If my environment is very different to the one I’m used to, I have no choice but to be adapted to it in order to survive. And that is the exact thing that happend to me.

    I don’t find it wrong, it’s just that it’s very disturbing. Orally disturbing I mean since I don’t find it a problem if I my written English is what I’m more used to thsan my written Filipino (I can even type English fatser than Filipino which is, for my part, surprising, at an almost zero-misspelling probablity). On orgs where I’m at, English is the first language so just like what I’ve siad, I have to adapt.

What am I gonna experience next?

J.I.A. (James In America): Rainbow Class Part 1 [My Palatak Entry]

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Rainbow Class Part 1

By Jaime Luis S. Habitan

 

 

            May 18th, 2001 was the day I sat foot on a public school, the day I sat foot to an American school, and the day that I spent being a fourth grader once more.

 

            My parents brought my little brother, Jorge, and I to a FairfaxCountySchool office to have our documents finally approved and later had us enrolled to this called HaycockElementary School. Being a foreigner living in the Land of Milk and Honey, it’s a good thing that I’ll be able to meet up with a fellow Pinoy expat, Abe Guinigundo who is a grade higher than me (today he’s studying in Ateneo De Manila University but we still remained in contact with each other).

 

             We arrived at the school right on time before classes could start. A lady from the faculty talked to my parents. She showed us some papers and told them we were already assigned to our classrooms. I still wondered why we were to repeat (at least for the rest of the school year there)   since I already finished fourth grade and so does Jorge who finished 2nd grade. We went off first to Jorge’s classroom and we left him there (we later found out that he was on the wrong classroom so he was assigned to another one).  Then the lady brought me to a classroom on the other side of the school.  The classroom was empty because my soon-to-be classmates were on the other room studying for an upcoming Social Studies test. There was the class advisor and her name was Mrs. Shoemaker.

 

            Yah, I know it’s a funny name but she’s really nice if you get to know her better. She showed around the classroom and I was really impressed on how their classroom looks like. The whole classroom is decorated to all kinds of art stuff. It made the classroom more colorful. By that time, my parents already left and my teacher gave me a short tour of the school.

 

            Soon, the class came back inside the classroom and Mrs. Shoemaker formally introduced me to them. That time, I’m not really used on speaking English as much as I speak Tagalog. So when I began to introduce myself, my English was a bit whacked. I was very nervous but they accepted me anyway.

 

            The first friend I had there was a guy named Will Evans. He’s really cool and smart. He has a twin brother named Andrew and whenever they’re together, you can’t tell which is which. They usually have color-coded sweaters to tell them apart, or wear distinct clothes so you can tell who’s the who. I also made friends with classmates April Purdy, Clementine Milton, and a whole lot more. I found out that there also foreigners who go here, like Clementine who is a South African, Amani Radzi who is a Malaysian, Jungmin Park who is a Korean, Marius Staschen who is a German and Artium Aravelli who is a Russian. It’s a classroom of students from different races and religions which makes this class very colorful much like a rainbow.

 

           Many are very excited to talk to me. There were some shouting that there’s a new student, which is me. During lunch, they were asking me sorts of questions like “What’s your name (I’m James Habitan)”, “Where are you from? (I’m from the Philippines)”, and “What’s that place? (It’s country found in Asia)”. I tell you, the whole class is really into me.

 

            After lunch was recess, Will and the other guys invited me to a game of soccer, a game I was to play only for the first time. I shortly backed out since the ball made a strike on my you-know-what!

 

            There’s a lot of things that happened that day but I have to tell you in general what had been like during those two months as a fourth grader. 

 

Since I’m a foreigner who is bilingual in Filipino and English, I was required to be in the E.S.L. program with Mr. Branscomb as my ESL. Other ESL students who are with me always are Amani, Marius and Artium. Whenever we have English class, I and other guys would always go to the ESL room to meet up with Mr. Branscomb (there was a time that while on the way I accidentally spoke to Amani in Filipino). There, he would correct us with our fluency, giving us the right way of saying this and that. Perhaps the most memorable one was when he thought me the right way to pronounce the “th”-words.

 

There was also this system I discovered on how students learn their subjects. In major academics like Math, Science and English, each class (and sometimes half of them) would move to the next class to study major topics of that particular subject. By that time too, I found out that there were no quarterly examinations held since it is not required by the American public school system. They only have this year-end test called the SOL or Standard of Learning test. It serves as a final exam to many that’s why we were given notes and reviewers to be well prepared.

 

Mingling with the other kids was really that easy, you just have to be nice to them. Here, there are no bullies (those caught bullying are sanctioned with penalties, much like in Saint James except that they enforce it well), no vulgar words to be heard, nor talks about “guns, goons, and gold”, if you know what I mean.

 

June 12 of that year, just a few days before the end of the school year, the teachers hold their annual volleyball showdown to see who the best of the best are. BY that time, I really had a great time here in Haycock. I never expected that there’s a lot more here than one would expect, especially for me.

 

To be continued…

J.I.A. (James In America): How I Remembered 9/11 [My Palatak Entry]

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How I Remembered 9/11

 

By Jaime Luis S. Habitan

 

            September 11th may be remembered as the day that changed the course of history. Four airplanes, three sites, one tragedy. That’s how people described that day that no one ever expected it to happen unless it’s only found in the movies. But let me tell you how I experienced 9/11 from my own pint of view.

 

            It was , my mom woke me up and I have to take a shower. The TV is on and my mom’s watching FOX 5 morning news. I was very excited since tomorrow will be the day that our class was to have a field trip to the International Children’s Festival in McLean, Virginia. Ate Jade and Kuya Evan already left since classes in their schools starts earlier than ours. Breakfast was ready and I had a bowl of cereal filled with milk coming from a bottle. I still can’t get over that time on seeing bottled milk kasi I’ve been used to seeing milk I milk cartons except on those miniature ones I see in school (but that’s a different story).

 

            It was and my little brother and I have to leave to get to the bus stop on time. We live in an apartment in Falls Reach Drive but it looks more like a hotel. Falls Reach is complete with other apartment buildings and a neighboring complex that are filled with suites. By the time we got to the bus stop, we met up with our bus mates. Many are from different ethnic backgrounds, but I got used on seeing different people since we got here in Virginia a few months back.

 

            Among my bus mates are two guys from my class. They’re Andy and Jon. Andy lives in the apartment building in front of ours while Jon lives in one of the suites in the other complex. We got along pretty and sometimes I go to their pads to do our homework together, most especially at Jon’s since were both Asians, we had a lot in common, but enough about that.

 

            A few minutes before the strike of nine, we arrived at HaycockElementary School. Awe were sent to the cafeteria where all the other students meet up with their friends and talk a lot of things. When I’m lucky, get a seat on my classmates table since it’s like a “get your own, it’s mine” game. When you got nowhere to sit down, manigas ka diyan! Those who haven’t eat breakfast have an opportunity to catch up since the cafeteria offers styrofoam bowls with cereal and a small carton of milk (plain, chocolate or anywhere in between are your choices).

 

 

            By 9, I went straight to my classroom. My teacher, Mrs. Bachison, had already prepared some activities for us to do while waiting for the morning announcements. Five students volunteer every day to make announcements of the news. Our principal, Mr. Jay McLean, always have the last word starting after the recitation of the American Pledge of Allegiance (which I chose not to recite since I’m a Filipino citizen) followed by a moment of silence. By , classes officially start.

            I didn’t care at first when the secretary from the Principal’s office called one of my classmates that his parents are sending him home. Later that morning, a couple of my classmates were also called from the office for the same thing. By lunchtime, a quarter of the whole class was gone. I didn’t realize that the kids from the other sections of the fifth grade were being sent home too.

 

            It began to bother me when almost more than a dozen more from my class were sent home. By dismissal time, they were a handful of us left in the classroom from more than around 30 that morning. I thought was very wrong but I couldn’t guess what it is. We got back to the apartment along with little brother Jorge and as I open our door using my keys, I was surprised to see that Ate and Kuya looked shocked and speechless on what they saw on TV. I was almost surprised that my mom was home early. I took a look on the TV to see what’s going on and I was terrified! An airplane crashed into a building and it was engulfed with a thick black smoke. The video being shown was caught on tape by a tourist. Minutes later, a second airplane crashed into another building sitting next to the burning building. No later after that, both of them collapsed in a matter of seconds. From this collapse came out a big grey smoke full of debris (on later videos, that thick smoke began spreading like wildfire and bystanders who there at that time began running for their lives as the smoke began to engulf everything on its path).

 

The two buildings were the North and SouthTowers. They made up the World trade Center, New York City’s tallest building until that fateful day. I thought it was already bad enough until learned something for the worst! Two other airplanes crashed in two separate sites, one at an open filed in Pennsylvania (a few states away from New York) and another at the Pentagon in Arlington County which lies west in Fairfax County where we live! People panic, and ambulances came running out from nowhere and officials don’t know what to do. I don’t what to do and I’m not sure what’s with all the details.

 

Mom was sent home, along with other employees, by the World Bank’s main office in DC, not tom mention all other workers in other establishments were sent home. I later found out that it was a terrorist attack. Most programs on TV were held off for the meantime to give way for the ongoing coverage what could be the worst man-made human disaster in history. Hijackers took over four planes which, according to officials, to be used as large bombs and their main target was the nation’s capital, Washington, DC. Though they succeeded on hitting the Pentagon and New York’s tallest building, the cost of human lives lost were tragically great. Thousands died from the airplanes with many more from those who were at the Pentagon and at the site from where the two towers of the WorldTradeCenter once stood (now called Ground Zero).

 

Life will never be the same for many of my newfound American friends as many from my school, possibly others have lost their loved ones on those planes, on those buildings. I mean, many people died on that day, not only Americans but people from other nationalities including Filipinos. What kind of savage would try to do that? Why must he use hundreds or possibly thousands of innocent lives to do his evil bidding? These are all the questions people are asking to themselves even up to this day.

 

September 11, 2001 should not be the day people should mourn the death of so many people but the day that people must unite and work hard to make the world a safer place to live. That day shall be forever engraved in my memories of America for this when people from all walks in life united and worked together to save as many lives as they could. We should not let history repeat itself. It is in our hands that the world should head for the good and not for the bad.

C.A.T.ales: Suffering…Enjoying

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 I think it was great for us to take part for the Grand Marian Procession that Sunday because it will be the turn of our batch to experience this, such that this will be the last time we may take part of this as a student of SaintJamesAcademy.

 

            I was able to go to school in time before I went ahead of my family to go to church and met some of my friends who are also going to be part of the procession.

 

            I saw students moaning complaining on “why should we do this?” The reason for this because it is not only our requirement to do so but it also a chance to experience   being with the rest of the Dominican community united on celebrating the victory that Roman Catholicism in the Philippines was saved due to the miraculous help of the Our Lady of La Naval. We must come to observe this, especially now that we are now seniors. Other   batches gone before us have already got through with this so there shouldn’t any problem as to why we should.

 

            Although my feet hurt as we march on a long stretch of road, documenting the procession and at the same time saying the rosary with rest of the squad, I saw people lining up along the streets that we walked across and those holding candles near their homes.  Having being living right near with the sanctuary that houses that statue of Our Lady Of naval, had probably made the local residents get used to the annual celebration. It is a good thing for many of them have observed it very well, many lining up as we walk along the procession, holding either candles or rosary. There are also some who walks along with us. It is a great pleasure for many that Filipinos have even now, stayed connected with their fate despite all the technological advances that we have been experiencing in recent years.

 

As the sun sets and the night rises out, it became known to us that the procession have brought together many people, not students from Dominican-administered schools, but also ordinary people from all walks of life. United and bound by their devotion of the Virgin Mary.

 

In conclusion to my insight, it is now up to us to stay through to our religion, to live up to the faith and spread what is to spread and to stop what is to stop.

The CSB Experience: Peepz At The Cubicle

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I just got out from a meeting called out by my org and I was on my way to Matien Marie Hall when I had a divine calling to the boys’ restroom. Came along with me are some group of guys doing their business too.

    I went inside a cubicle to do my business there and as I was doing just that, some guys began peeking on the next cubicle wherein there making a sneak peak off their kabarkada.

    I’m just minding my own business really but I noticed, that one fo the guys outside the cubicle where I am in, is talking too near it as if he was talking to me. Mindless, I was already closing up my zipper and I feel that someone is closely watching me (I was of course facing the wall so they didn’t really see who I am). I guess they thought that I was one of their kabarakadas that’s why they’re making these mischievous activity.

I turned around so I can get out of the cubicle and at the most unpleasant surprise I ever had, some guy is taking either video or a picture of me from his cellphone. Dude, how wrong is that!?

    To show them I’m not who they think they are, I made an angry careless face, barged myself out of the cubicle and there!

They were all like “Oops, sorry….We just thought that….”. Yah, sorry on taking pics off the wrong guy, they’re sorry! I didn’t speak and just went out of that freak of a restroom.

I swear, I hope I won’t have a similar encounter like that again!

The CSB Experience: La Noche Solidaridad De Frosh Dela Colegio De San Benildo

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    Well, it’s a night of the most unforgetable series of events that I have ever expericed. Little have I knew that star-gazing is part of the Benildean curriculum. Although I’m perfectly aware that there are famous personalities who attend at CSb (there’s lots more who are all enrolled at La Salle U, State U and the Ateneo)

    June the 9th, everybody are all perfectly aware of the upcoming Frosh Solidarity Night. Many of the froshes (sorry I feel “froshes” is more suitable than “froshies” to say since it’s sound more proper) already had their tickets given to them for free. I was expecting some big event so I brought my mom’s digital camera so as not to let myself out on this event.

    The morning before, our adviser for ORDEV-A (Order and Development of Values-A) gave us yellow forms for which we are required to have at least three events that are Ordev-accredited events signed so as to ace this subject and move on to Ordev-B next term. Since I was th e class president (waah), I was given the task to collect these form and eventually giving them all out before the Frosh Night. My blockmate, Dino, was not in class that morning, so  I was pretty much surprised that he wasn’t able to get a copy.

It was already a minute passed six in the evening when our professor in NATSCA1 (Human Factors in Design) dismissed us. I have to give out their yellow forms so I told to them to not exit the classroom so I can give them their forms. However, many didn’t listen and I was left calling their names outside at the hall to make them come back. Two of my constituents, Jason and Jonathan, had already left and I don’t know how to look since I have the grueling task to get a copy of the yellow form for Dino (curse the mandate given to me!). I Asked my blockmates if any of them are Smart subscribers since Jonthan is one. Paul, in good grace, is one and I was able to have him text Jon so that Jason and he could get their copies. However, no word came from the two eventually. Since, many are already lining up in front of the CSB theater where the Frosh Night si to be held, I accompanied Dino abd found our way to the Office of Student Affairs located at Solomon Hall. We received a copy of the yellow form and made our way back to the CSB thater. There were several lines made of of froshes (I can’t tell if there are upperclassmen lining up too), all according to the alpahbetical order of their names. At the line which covers my last name, I gave my ticket with my student # written at its back and my yellow form which will returned to me on the 13th.

Once I got inside the theater, it’s not yet full but the influx of the froshes made go at the front so for me to see all the action onstage. The event already started with the opening act made by a Bandang Lasalista from across Taft Avenue, then the Footworx (?) team made a collaborative dance number cum FIRST DAY HIGH and TARA LETS.

    Next were a number of bands, starting with PInikpikan. This band I have already heard of during my Frosh orientation. It is a band where its members make use of Filipino folk instruments as well as traditional Western ones. The way they make music is a fusion of ethnic Pinoy and modernism, the product beinga  unique blend of sorts. One song that got stuvck in my mind are the words “Ungga ungga aya aya”. Their lead vocalist, which is a femme fatale, makes a good belly dancer and has one of the three main host tagging along with her.

The next set of bands made me like “HUH?! WHAT THE HOW!?”.  My mouth went open when the hostess suddenly called out the name of the next band: ITCHYWORMS!!! I was really like “HUH?! WHAT THE HOW?!”. It’s really them in the flesh so I was really surprised when their drummer appeared before the eyes of the audience. Then the rest of the band appeared and began to play two of their hit songs, “Beer” and “Loveteam”.

Before the next band would follow, a game was held. The three main hosts ( A CDA major, a Fashion Design Major, and a corporate attired-HRIM major) said it’s drinking contest, five froshes were called: one is an over-enthusiastic frosh, one is a cool-headed frosh, one is a maarte-looking frosh, one is a mostly-likely-not-the-one type of frosh, and last is a one is a underdog kind of a frosh. These 5 would be drinking cans of Cali and the one with most cans drank would be declared the winner. The last one I mentioned was proclaimed the winner was the underdog with six cans of Cali, followed by the cool-headed frosh with 5 cans, the over enthusiastic frosh with three cans, and the last two with two cans each.

Next band is something of an in-between metallic and pop-rock band. Their vocalist is a former MTV VJ who was not rehired by ALL YOUTH INC for MTV Pilipinas’ relaunch as a cable channel. The drummer is a happy go lucky loking bg guy with an Anglo accent. The guiatrist looks like a slight imiation of the drummer and the bassist looks like the guiatrist from SPONGECOLA. What am I talkintg about? Well, it’s KJWAN!!! And their vocalist is no other than the very MARC ABAYA! Well, his way of singing is comparable to the styles of Bamboo Manalac and Raimund Marasigan although Marc’s way is more gruesome (not gory gruesome but deoxyribose nucleic acid gruesome).They sang three familiar songs, one is their MYX-nominated piece, one is the theme song of Red Horse’s Musiklaband rock contest, and one is their latest single where their music video shows them as kids posing for them. Their music is the rockiest among the most rock acts that night. One moment I remebered that he makes slobber over the mike he’s using (talk about ewww…), next thing, he sucks his finger like the way we suck lollipops (that makes it double), and for one last act, he drank a bottle fo water that was left half-full and had the rest of it rained over the people in front of the stage, including me (I felt something like this will happen). Oh yeah, he wal already sweating, and with people taking pics of the one and only Marc Abaya (including this sucker of a writer), he did a pose which shows the full glory of being a man (see that pic on J-Pics).
 
The band followed was an upcoming band. I thought it was the Bloomfields (or Bloomfelds, whatever) since the drummer there was a former Lasalista from La Salle taft who transferred to CSB. but it was rather a neophyte band (sorry but although they looked kinda familiar like as if they were on Studio 23’s BREAKFAST). Good thing they have some fans who know the lrics of their songs.

Next band, I’ll let you guess who they are: it has something to do with the word CALI. Well, according to the two hosts and a hostess (hoy, don’t you make ‘hostess’ a negative word, it is us Pinoys that made that word notorious) said that from CALI, the next band is…………………………………….CALLA LILY!!!

    Girls around me were screaming right and left, from top to bottom. The curtains went out and so the four Thomasians and a Tamaraw began to swoon over the froshes with two of their hit songs. Good thing I recorded their last song (plus that of the Itchyworms) using my digicam.

Well, the “boring” part of the night would be the Fashion Show with some of us playing as models running at the runway, where for one night their IN, he next morning their OUT.

Then last would be the nonstop Benildo club myx musix played by none other than a “world-class DJ” who happens to be a Benildean. His name, according to the 2 hosts and a hostess. He played house music and brought the whole theatre upside down, Froshes were invited to dance at the stage.

It was already past nine, my parenst are waiting for me outside so I went off. At the exit, there was a hussle outside the Theater but eventually I got through. yah, I saw Liana and Ace going out. On the fourth floor, I went to a nearby vending machine to buy a can of coke. With a 20-peso bill, i  was slowly puting it on that thingamajig of the vendor but Ace’s hand swiped the 20-peso bill away from me, grrr…

Well, the batteries of my digicam went almost exhausted but I was able to get enough of its energy for the whole frosh night. hah, well, i expect the next one to be  the same as this although, I have to pay for the ticket. See you for now.