My Blog

I could never claim that I am a people person.  I can’t make a good first impression on people, and I don’t warm up to people easily.  Well sometimes I do, but most of the time, I don’t.  However, I noticed that despite my seemingly standoffish nature, there are still people kind enough to get to know me better and treat me the way I want people to treat me.

When I was about to leave home for college, my biggest fear was to deal with people outside my family circle.  Growing up, I was everybody’s baby, and going away from home meant that that privilege would have to be waived.  I was terrified of the thought that people might treat me roughly.  That fear was soon put to rest as I’ve so far met the most wonderful people on earth.

When I arrived in Baguio for my freshman year, I sensed that a lot of people were looking out for me.  My classmates were absolutely supportive and the upperclass students helped me cope with the difficulty of being away from home.  Baguio life was far different from my life in San Carlos.  I was expected to wash dishes, help clean the dormitory, clean toilets, wait tables–things that I never had to do growing up.  But looking back, I realized that people gave me the least strenuous jobs.  Hmmm…I feel so lucky.

When I started teaching at Silliman, I didn’t know what to expect in my department.  When I was a student, I heard talks about how difficult the people were supposed to be at the department.  The running joke was that if you belonged to that department, something must be wrong with you.   Well, I can’t prove or disprove that joke, but one thing’s for sure, I’ve only met the most interesting people there.  And definitely, I have found my second home in the department.

Here in California, I feel that a lot of people really make an effort to make me feel at home.  People call me constantly asking me how I am doing and others pick me up at my place to bring me to places.  At school, I’ve befriended the cashier at the cafeteria.  I remember that we clicked because one time, I bought a slice of cream cheese cake at the cafeteria and she was raving about how good my choice was.  Anyway, since then, we have been making small talks whenever I am buying something.  Last Friday, she gave me a slice of the same cake and she said she wanted me to have it since it’s the weekend and it would take me two days before I could buy another slice.  Sweet.