New Year's Resolution: Be Happy!

It would be nice if everyone would make HAPPINESS as his/her new year's resolution.
I admit that with our struggle to reach our goals and meet the society's standards sometimes we forget to stop
and smile and think of happy moments. When we feel happy things seem to be easy and everyone seems to be nicer and CNN is right, "Being UNHAPPY is NOT socially acceptable." We can always find things that can make us happy. For me, little things can make me happy such as my first train ride, my first plane ride, saying my first Chinese words, taking pictures, chatting with my friends, listening music, watching movies, talking to my family, helping my family,  doing my job to the best of my ability, eating peanuts and sunflower seeds, being in warm place in this cold winter, seeing snow, visiting new places and most of all spend time with someone I love.

Dream and Travel

My friends and I once dreamed of working abroad and visiting one of the wonders of the world. It was a dream that we knew would be possible by working since we don't have the luxury of money and time for travel abroad. Few years ago we all wanted to experience life away from home. Three of us realized our dreams. One found her true love and got married in India. She already visited Taj Mahal, which one of the 7 wonders of the world. Then the other one went to Seoul, South Korea to work as a private tutor. She visited many interesting places in Seoul. She was very positive about our plans and she said that if we should leave the Philippines, we should leave on the same day. We didn't really leave on the same day, but it was just 3 days difference. Before her trip to Korea, we went to many job fairs, agencies, bought newspapers every Sunday and use the most powerful took, the Internet. We often visited the internet cafe to search for ESL (English as a Second Language) job opportunities in any Asian countries. We responded to a lot of online advertisements and at the same we posted our resume to different free online job listings. I decided to buy a desktop computer and hooked it up with Smart Wifi Broadband so I could focus on my job search abroad.  We dreamed and we realized them. How? We set a time limit, we decided that before we reach our 30s we should at least visit one foreign country. Now, we are both in China and we have both seen one of the 7 wonders in the world which is found in China, The Great. It's such a great feeling when we fulfill our dreams.
To visit and live in another country is a challenging experience, culture is very different yet we learn to respect and understand them.

Happy New Year to all of my friends!To Leah in Indian, Neriz in China, Sai in Dubai, Jerry and Joy  in Philippines, my family in the Philippines and to the most special person in my life, the love of my life, FJR. I miss you and I love you all...

Merry Christmas Suzhou - 圣诞快乐苏州

As I walked in the city center in Suzhou yesterday, I was amazed with their Christmas decorations. Honestly, I was not expecting to see a big Christmas tree and a Chinese Santa Clause on his sleigh with a two reindeer. I noticed that their malls put some Christmas trees and Christmas lights too. I went to Wanda Mall and the first thing I noticed was the big Christmas tree right at the entrance. I went to another big shopping mall in Suzhou New District and I saw a big Christmas tree outside. I admit that it is a little strange for me looking at those Christmas decorations and feeling that something is  missing. I felt that the Christmas decoration  is just a picture or a plain poster which nobody notices that they're there. I didn't feel the warmth and joyful spirit. among the people around. According to my Chinese friend, the church near  her apartment was packed with people on the Christmas eve and most of them were Chinese. I wonder if Chinese people are beginning to celebrate Christmas because they believe in Jesus Christ or just because it's fun to celebrate it, or it's beautiful to see some colorful Christmas lights or fit's just for business. Whatever their reason is, I'm still glad that everyone seems to know the word "Christmas". They won't say, "Ting Pudong" or "I don't understand" if you happen to talk about it.  

圣诞快乐苏州- Merry Christmas Suzhou! -shèng dàn kuài lè sū zhōu -

(Is Santa looking at me? How do you say, "say cheese" in Chinese? Santa please say cheese, not kiss... hehe)

My Christmas Day

Christmas day activities.

8:00 AM-11:40AM: class with English level A students.
1:00 PM-4:00 PM: office hours, check for homework and update the class record files (soft copy and hard copy)
5:00-6:00PM:  dinner
6:00-7:30PM:  prepare for online lessons
7:30-8:30PM: online class (students didn't show up...FJR time :)
8:30-11:00PM...FJR time...makes my day complete!

.........I had a wonderful Christmas!

On Closing Doors...

I wonder why most of them (teachers,staff and students) never learn to close doors. We are supposed to be in the office after our class teaching hours. That is if we only have 2 teaching hours in a day, that would mean we have to stay in the office for 6 hours. Usually this is the time for me to prepare my lessons and check homework and do other stuff like chatting with students on qq. We just moved into a new office where I and my Canadian co-teacher are seated right next to the entrance door. In southern part of China, such as Suzhou, buildings don't have heating system. Usually they have to use air-conditioners heaters but they rarely use them, perhaps they consume too much electricity. I understand this since it's important to save energy. What I don't understand is that, no matter how big the sign, "Keep Door Closed" in English and Chinese, only few people seem to understand it. The temperature is really freezing and this month it's always below  zero degree Celsius, so literally I freeze my butt when I stay in the office. Canada is even colder than China, but my friend said, that this place is even colder that his country because people love open doors, breath fresh air and freeze during this winter season. I just wonder though, do schools in China teach this basic skill to close doors when they enter and leave the room? It's just annoying that you have to tell everyone to do it when you're busy doing something. We're lucky if someone is going inside so we could tell him nicely to close the door but if someone is going out, then my friend has to stand up and close the door. These days I've noticed that he's really being annoyed with his new job, being the door man.
I hope they would learn to close doors specially when air conditioner heaters are not on. It would really help a lot.

In China, Do as Chinese Do?

"In Rome, Do as Romans Do." Does it mean that in China, I have to do what Chinese people do? Well, I have this saying in mind before leaving for China last year. I have read about Chinese culture, specially when it comes to eating. I saw the exotic food in Beijing when it was shown on television before the Beijing 2008 Olympics. I was thinking that eating snakes and scorpions would be some of the exceptions of not being a Roman in Rome. I don't have any problem with following or respecting their culture at all. In fact, I tried hard, just like eating dog barbecue and going to a public bath. I couldn't say no since everyone was eating it and any dish with a dog meat is the specialty of Xuzhou, a city located in the northern part of Jiangsu Province. They asked me if I have tried and I said "No". I was about to add that I didn't have any plan to try, but before I could say it, they were asking me to try, saying that I would love it because it was delicious. It was the look on their faces that made me try. They look so sincere and anxious to see my reaction so I did it. When I started biting the barbecue I was thinking it was pork and I muttered, "hmmmmm hao chi." That simple statement made them smiled. So, they ordered more and put more on my plate. By the way, they love to serve you with anything, and even if you're so stuffed, you just have to try every dish that they would offer. Chinese people love having big meals during their Spring Festivals, so you don't have to worry about being hungry.

When it comes to trying their exotic food, such as beetles, scorpions, silk worms and snakes, I think I still need a lot of courage to do this. For now, I could say, that in China, I am trying to do what Chinese do.

New Divide (LP)

I just wanted some noise because silence is deafening and I found this new single by Linkin Park. Don't get me wrong, I love Linkin Park, this song is made specially for the movie, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.
This song states that there are two sides or differences among people which can result to disagreement and sometimes it's difficult to reconcile, thus creating a wall, a New Divide.

"So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes across this new divide"

Facebook Farm Store Useful in Teaching

I was searching for some items in ebay for my English class with a 9-year old Korean girl.

I copy pasted some, such as shoes, camera, and other stuff. I had to copy them one by one. Suddenly, I remembered Facebook farm store. I clicked the store and chose animals. I decided to use it  and used print screen to copy them. I used paint to delete XP points and just left the price which is in coins. I was the buyer and my student was the seller. I asked how much is each item and I then gave more than the price and asked her how much the change was. At first she had hard time saying the price in English because she said  that she only learned numbers in Math which is in Korean language. For 400 she would say, 4-0-0  or 4 and 2 zeros. I just discovered that she has a good mathematical skills. She was too quick to say, "your change is 4-0-0." The lesson was a good chance to teach her how to say numbers in English such as 100, 200, 300 up to 1000.

After I deleted the XP points, leaving only the price

First I used the animal category, but after we finished it she wanted to sell  more things and asked me to make another list. I quickly printed trees and flowers on paint and saved them in .jpg format so I could send it to her. During the lesson she asked me why the items were so expensive. I told her that they were only used as an example and in a game. She said that she likes selling something because when she grows up she wanted to sell bags and shoes just like her friend's parents.

 Sample of the lesson flow:

Teacher: How much is your chicken?

Student: It costs 500 dollars.

Teacher: Okay, I will give you 1000. How much is my change?

Student: I will give you 500.

We use this pattern until the last item, and later on she decided to change the price because thought they are too expensive, so she made the trees just 10 dollars from 1300 facebook price.

I also taught her the idea of bargaining. I tried to asked for a lower price and most of the time she said no and she would give the final price which is not too far from the original price.

The last part is using the superlative form of adjective, focusing on the words such as cheapest, most expensive, most beautiful and strongest.

According to the picture, the most expensive animal is the Bull and the cheapest is the chicken.

According to her, the most beautiful animal is the White Rabbit and the strongest is the Bull.

It was fun, I didn't think that my game could be a source of a 30-minute lesson.

When Did a Prison Become an Attraction?

I used to think that a prison is the last place that any tourist would consider visiting. I remember when one of my nephews had a field trip and one of their destinations was a jail in Zamboanga city. I was surprised the school included that place for their trip. There were many terrorists in that prison and most of them killed a lot of people in western Mindanao. My sis-in-law said that they just witnessed the prisoners making Christmas lanterns and other crafts. I was scared for them because I never wanted to visit a prison thinking that those people might escape and harm everyone around. I was always thinking that a prison is a hell on earth, the last place that one would want to live. How could one truly live when he is in a cage like a wild animal or a bird?  What difference does a man have from an animal when he is in prison? I also think that authorities beat them or are harsh on them when they break some rules in the prison or caught them trying to escape. There are also gang fights and bloodshed among prisoners and if they're serious it can cause one's death. I had a very negative image of a prison until I started watching Prison Break. Then I come to love the story of each character, specially the leading character, Michael Scoffield. The show somehow changed my concept about some of the prisoner's stories.

In 2007, one of our BPO clients from the USA said,

"So your prisoners there in Cebu are good dancers huh?" and he laughed.

I was puzzled so I asked him? "Have you visited the prison here in Cebu?"

He said, "No, I have never been to your city or any place in the Philippines."
"I have seen it from a tv news and from youtube that inmates in your city are all dancing."

"Oh, I see! Right, they just want to entertain the world." I replied quickly because honestly I didn't have any idea about their dancing performance and them being on the news. So after I hanged up I quickly search the information in youtube and I was ashamed because it's in my city yet I didn't know about it. I think that time I didn't know what is tv because I had to work at night talk to US and UK decision makers and my boss and our company managing direcror were always at my back asking for more closed deals......arrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggg! Then in the morning I had to rush to my part time job where I had to face my Japanese and Korean students. For 2 years in the BPO industry I could say that the tv missed me and I didn't know what's happening around, unless it concerns about the business SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).  The inmates dancing was becoming a hit in youtube. I think that the administrator has a very good intention for doing this, for he believes that letting these people dance would rehabilitate them. I also believe that making them follow all the dance steps is an achievement considering that these people are in prison because they're lawbreakers.

Now, many people, specially the reporters are interested in visiting the prison to witness their monthly performance. The prison has turned into one of the destinations that one should consider visiting when they go and visit Cebu. Well, dancing is better than sleeping in their cell. Great job Byron!

Here are some of their videos.

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson

"Jai Ho" from the movie, Slumdog Millionnaire

Untitled Spanish Poem

Author: Unknown

I was searching for a Spanish poem and I found one on a website selling poetry gifts so the poem was printed on a picture therefore copy-paste feature is not possible. I typed it on a notepad because I wanted to see the English translation. I understand some words, such as corazon, lugar, solo and a few more but I couldn't understand the entire message so I had to translate it using google. I was surprised with the result since the English poem is exactly the one I got yesterday. I just love this poem and it's funny how I found the same piece which was given and read by someone so special.  I think it has a very special reason.
Thank you so much!

Spanish version

Hay un lugar especial en mi corazon
Que solo tu puede tocar-
un lugar donde puedo ir y te siento cerca.
Durante el dia pienso en ti.
Miro tu sonrisa, oigo tu voz
Y en mis pensamientos apareces amorosamente.
La manera en que nos amamos uno a otro
Hace mas dificil estar separados
Por eso aunque no te puedo tener en mis brazos
Yo te tengo en mi corazon.

English version

There's a special place in my heart

that only you can touch -

a place where I can go and feel you near.

Throughout the day I think of you.

I see your smile, hear your voice

and in my thoughts you lovingly appear.

The way we love each other

makes it hard to be apart

so when I can't hold you in my arms,

I hold you in my heart

Bring Excellence to Life

Author: Ralph Marston


You cannot achieve excellence just by proclaiming it to be. Excellence is built in the details.

Attend faithfully and competently to the details, while staying true to your purpose. That is how to bring excellence into your world.

What is done with genuine love is done with excellence. Let love guide you in each moment, and you will consistently create excellence.

Excellence resonates with what is true, what is good and authentically valuable, with what is right. Work with honesty, integrity, and a commitment to truth, and excellence will permeate the results.

Intention is critical, yet excellence does not come from good intentions alone. Excellence comes from actions persistently and consistently guided by the highest and most authentic intentions.

In each thing you do is the opportunity to create excellence. Again and again, bring excellence to life, and live true to your highest purpose.

Philippines Call Center Bloopers

Source:internet/email

Actual c0nversati0n from a technical  acc0unt in C-Cubed (Cust0mer C0ntact Center)

TSR: 0kay sir, Let's check if y0u wiLL be abLe t0 g0 0nLine n0w...

CUST: yes... (yes Lang ng yes kase et0ng HAPON na it0... )

TSR: type in www.yahoo.com

CUST: what? yahoo.cot?

TSR: n0 sir... yahoo.com...

CUST: yahoo.cot?

TSR: n0 sir... com... C-O-M

CUST: cot?

TSR: (asar na) .com sir!

CUST: aahhh... yahoo.cot.

----------------------------------

TSR: It's C as in CAT.

CUST: what?

TSR: C as in CAT. C-A-T... me0w me0w...

(ayuz! very specific na yan ha baka hindi m0 pa magets...)!

----------------------------------

CS: Thank you for calling... this is Candy, how may I help you?

Cust: What did you say your name was... Mandy?

CS: No, sir, it's Candy...

Cust: Sorry, can't hear ya... didja say Mandy?

CS: No, sir.. Candy, sir... Candy... as in Storck!!!

(oohhh... now I get it!!!)

----------------------------------

CS: Was that a "B" as in boy or a "B" as in bravo?

Cust: Uhhmmm... how about "B" as in boy...

(good choice...)

----------------------------------

CS: Alright, let me verify that... Was that a "G" as in golf?

Cust (with a different accent): NO! That was a "G" as! in GEBRA! (z as in zebra)

Oh, Gebra!!! like the one in the Goo?!!!... Gusme... Gon't gou get git?)

----------------------------------

CS: Yeah, sir... sir... are you there?

Cust: Yes, yes, I'm there!

(siguro naglalaro sila ng Counter...)

----------------------------------

CS: Sir, do you have NET-ESCAPE there?

Cust: Huh?... Oh!!!.. No, I have MSN IN-NERNET EXPLODER here...

(... makes sense to me!!!)

----------------------------------

TS: Ok, sir... do u have a PEN and a PENCIL ready?

Cust: What?!!

TS: Oh, Im sorry, sir... Do u have a PEN and a BALLPEN ready?...

(klap! klap! klap!)

----------------------------------

ethernet cord connected???...

Cust: Tha Hwhut??? (with alabama accent)

TS: Yung yellow cord, mheem...

(oh-oow ngee nehmeeennn..)

----------------------------------

CS: ...That's E as in I-KOW... (echo)

(oki lang yan, Dong...)

----------------------------------

CS: I w! as hoping you can take this survey with me... Would you have the time to do that, sir?

Contact: How long is this gonna to take?

CS: Mmm.. MGA three minutes....

(ay shyet!!!)

----------------------------------

CS: ...I'd like to speak with Billy Thompson please???

Contact: He's not in. Would you like to leave a message in his voicemail?

CS: Sure, SIGE...

(ay shyet, ulet!!!)

----------------------------------

TS: Ok, sir... Could you please drag the icon UPSTAIRS?...

(... lemme try...)

----------------------------------

Cust (US): So how's the weather there?

CS: Well... it's kinda cloudy today, sir...

Cust: Oh really?!!!... So where are you located?

CS: Sir, your call has been re-routed in ORTIGAS!!!...

(... dats nir Mexico...)

---------------------------------

TS: Alright, we're going to perform a checkdisk... that is for us to see if your hard drive has errors in it.please type in C-H-K-D-S-K...

Cust: What is that again?

TS: C-H-K-D-S-K... that is... C as in Charlie... H as in Harley... K as in Karly... D as in Darley... S as in Sarley... and K as in Karly...

(gleng-gleng... bagong version...)
----------------------------------------
Tech Support: "O.K. Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
Customer: "I don't have a 'P'."
Tech: "On your keyboard, Bob."
Customer: "What do you mean?"
Tech: "'P' on your keyboard, Bob."
Customer: "I'm Not going to do that!"