when you least expect it

they say that love comes when you least expect it.

and for me, i really didn’t.

performing on stage

i was a shy person when i was growing up. i usually have stage-fright when in front of an audience. the only time that i was not that scared was when i was tasked to play the guitar in our community in college. so when i was asked to join a group of Filipinos from Church to perform in the Unity and Bonding celebration at Nagoya, I was a bit hesitant.

The preparation for this event was not easy. The planning took months and we practiced for more than 2 months. It was hard for me, since I was tasked to facilitate the practice and to teach and conduct the songs that we’re going to sing. It was particularly hard because the people in the group were not from my age group. they’re older than me, old enough to be my mom. So personally, it was a difficult task to rally these women. Whenever I had to correct them, I had to consider their feelings and how I would say these to them.  i feel uncomfortable telling those older than me that they’re wrong.

the whole event was a success. everyone liked our presentation and i don’t think we did any major mistakes during the presentation. the audience enjoyed our presentation and we also had fun performing. and that’s the important thing right? building camaraderie with the other Filipinos and to be united as we live in a foreign land.

blog needs some upgrades!

okay.. this blog really need some upgrades and some make-over..  i wanted to change my template, but no time for this.. and maybe i should post more pictures (well.. no pictures right now hahaha)

i also need to upload pictures.. update websites.. update network sites..

hope i won’t be too lazy to do these.. ganbare!

birthday celebration

it’s been almost a month since i had my birthday celebration. this year, i had a two-weekend celebration. compared to my previous birthdays here in japan, i spent the day alone. it fell on a weekday, so i had to go to work. i just cooked some pasta and bought myself an ice cream for dinner. my mom cooked something in the philippines to celebrate my birthday. then we just chatted for a while and then i just watched hell’s kitchen.

the sunday before my birthday, we had a practice for our presentation on Unity and Bonding Celebration last June 29. some of the members brought some food, since they knew that my birthday was 2 days after the practice. ate noemi brought some kaldereta/mechado and macaroni salad. ate monica brought paella. i’m not sure who brought the pansit. and i brought some donuts. it was fun, and we’re so content with what we’ve eaten. with regards to the practice, we were so productive.

the next sunday after my birthday, the mikokoro saturday choir (with jay’s officemates) celebrated at outback. finally, i was able to claim my birthday steak! it was fun and i was so happy to be able to spend it with my friends. it’s a pity that milady and melany weren’t able to join us. but still, it was really fun.

overall, i am happy with how i celebrated my birthday. somehow, i managed to spend it “with” my family, and i got to spend it with old and new friends.

expectations

sometimes, we easily get hurt by the people around us. even if it’s trivial or petty, for us, it’s already a big deal.

words coming from someone close to me hurt me more than any physical injury. Unkind words, discouraging remarks, broken promises. Even if the person meant no harm, if he/she tells it to me in the wrong tone or wrong choice of words, i get hurt.

it’s not only words, but also in gestures and in actions. a forgotten date/anniversary/birthday. a change in the way he/she talks to me. an ignored request/favor. things like that.

i asked myself, why do i easily get hurt by these? a simple thing that another person does, then i already have tampo. then i realize, i get hurt ’cause i expect them to be this person, and they fell short of that person. and i also realize, i also expected them to think like it do. i expected them to be that person, because i know that i would do that to them. i will remember dates/anniversaries/birthdays. i take care in the words and tone i use to avoid offending anyone. i do my best in keeping my promises.

right now, i learned that to avoid any kind of disappointments from people, i should stop expecting. they don’t think　like i do, and they probably don’t know me that much to know if i’d be hurt/disappointed with what they’re going to say or do.