Okay guys, the Christmas vacation is coming to an end.
It'll be New Year's Eve this Friday, and by Sunday I and my siblings are going to be off to Manila again. Oh no, there's so little time left and yet still so much to do. For one thing, there's the upcoming Pasalubong Fest at Kalayaan Residence Hall. We still have to order, and transport to Manila, loads of kakanin for the Festival. And not to mention the academics-related work I have to pepare for. And to top it all, I don't feel like working on them just yet.
What is wrong with me?
Maybe I'm still in the "holiday/celebration/vacation mode." I'm just not in the mood to try familiarizing myself with the nuances of chemistry, or memorizing the terms used in sports climbing, or going into the details of our upcoming report and activities in Comm3, or getting the consensus of my provincemates to decide on which food to bring to the Pasalubong Fest, and who would order and actually transport the goods to Manila. Or I may just be too lazy.
Argh.
I'm hopeless.

It's raining outside and I'm here in an internet cafe in town, pounding away on a keyboard that has a few malfunctioning keys in it...
It's Wednesday today, more than two days since I arrived here in Surigao last Sunday night. For the past two days I haven't been doing much except for catching up on sleep and doing a few household chores. But now, I've resolved to get serious. There are just so many things to do that I could hardly call this period of time a Christmas 'break,' what with the assignments, the chores, the reports, quizzes and exams due when classes return, and the upcoming Pasalubong Fest in Kalayaan Residence Hall on January 3. Well, it seems obvious that I'm not really writing much of a blog here anymore, but rather a list of complaints and disgruntled mumblings.
Maybe I'm just not in the mood to write right now, and besides theres isn't much to write about anyway, lest you want to be bored by the things I do at home, but I'd rather spare you those gruesome details. Anyway, I plan to contact my provincemates so we sould finaliz our plans for the Pasalubong Fest. Tonight I also need to contact my partner from Laguna for our report in Comm 3 on the first day of classes next year. I also have to study for an upcoming long exam in PE and a long quiz in Chem1, read about two thinkers in Soc Sci2, compose my article for Eng1, all of them I have to do before classes resume.
Goodluck to myself this Christmas.

The week has flown by like a blur, and all the buzz and activities made me dizzy. There were exams, rushed classes, assignments, christmas parties, and of course the Oblation Run and the Lantern Parade, and everything else stuck in between. Whew! It's only now that I've found the time to write about my travails for the week. But there's too much to write about, so I'll just be telling you about all the things I had to do between Friday night and Saturday noon.

Dec. 16, 2005, 11:05 pm - I sat at the back of the van, my gift basket on my lap as I stared out at the famed Makati skyline. The skyscrapers were decked with glittering christmas lights that outlined their sleek contours; it was truly a sight to see. But we were too tired, everyone was silent as the van made its way out of Ayala Center. I, along with other Bank of Tokyo-Mistubishi Scholars had just come from the company's Christmas Party; and after all the food, our crazy presentation, and the preparations we had to do earlier that day, everyone was longing for the comfort of their nice warm beds. Unfortunately for me, I still had other things to do...

About an hour later, I arrived at the dormitory. After changing clothes, I got to the business of packing my stuff for the trip the next morning, or make that later that day. I was finally going home, but the problem was I still hadn't packed my things. After less than two hours of working in the dark - the light in our room had broken down and for some reason the dorm maintenance presonnel hadn't fixed it yet - with my trusty flashlight, I accomplished the task. It was now almost two o'clock in the morning.

Dec. 17, 2005, 3:45 am - I woke up to the sound of my cellphone's alarm clock. It was time for Simbang Gabi. After dressing up, my roommate and I head out into the cool night air towards the chapel. I'd hate to say this, but I was so sleepy and the mass was so boring. The priest spoke in a droning monotone, and I never liked his feeble attempts at humor. Finally after an hour, I went back to the comfort of my warm bed.

At 7:30 am, I woke up and had breakfast. I swear, my eyes were blinking like mad as I made my way to the mess hall. By 8:30, I was dressed up and ready to go. A few minutes later, my sister arrived and we went to Jollibee-PhilCoa to meet up with my brother and other sister.

9:16 am - My other sister was late, as it was already way past 9 am when she arrived from Los Baños. We hail a taxi and cram ourselves and our things inside. After about an hour of making our way through Manila's traffic-choked streets, we arrive at the South Harbor. And after a few more minutes of lugging our baggage through all those security and boarding procedures, we finally made it.
I was on my way home.

Days are noticeably getting colder here in Diliman and the Christams Season is definitely here. But it still isn't the right time to relax and enjoy the season - at least not yet for me. While the university has started decorating and lighting up the campus(and there are many more activities next week), I still have to contend with my classes and academic requirements everyday. Not that I'm complaining, though. It's just that sometimes you don't feel like getting up early in the cold mornings, among other things, if you know what I mean.
While I long for the much-awaited Christmas break, there's still so much to be done before I go back home. For one, some of my teachers are rushing to finish our lessons before the year ends. We're having a quiz in our last meeting for the year in Chem 1; I have a departmental long exam in Math 100 next Wednesday, and of course, we have our monthly project in Eng 1. Aside from my academics of course, things at Kalayaan Residence Hall are also picking up. Although we had just concluded the SportsFest yesterday(our team won the cheerdance competition last night AND the over-all championship), I still have to worry about corridor and dormitory activities, like the christmas parties, and the upcoming Pasalubong Festival on January 3 next year. And oh, I also have a report in Comm 3 on the first day of class next year, not to mention an upcoming long exam in Soc Sci 2, too. Whew!
It seems like I won't be idle at home this Christmas break. And there's a distinct possibility that I'll be spending New Year's Eve on a ship headed for Manila, if classes push through on January 2. So much for the vacation I'm so excited about.

This week has so far been a mixed one in terms of my academics. For one, our lessons in chemistry are getting a little bit more demanding, what with all the things to memorize. As for my math class, all's been well so far. I'm lucky we had already took up in high school the lessons we're tackling right now in precalculus and in calculus itself. Meanwhile, I'm having a lot of fun in my comm 3 class because of the games and activities. English 1 is going quite well, too. I liked the discussion on figurative language today; at least I'd no longer have to contend with all those mind-boggling collocations and context clues. Wow, I'm actually enjoying even my PE class. Although I'm not that good in climbing walls just yet, I'm starting to get the hang of it. And if I build up my upper body strength, I'm sure I'll do well.
But if there's one black spot in my academics this week, it would be soc sci 2. Well, the lessons and the professor aren't that bad, really. In fact, I like my soc sci 2 class. It's just that Prof. Tigno got mad at us last Tuesday because he noticed most of us weren't bringing our textbooks. So he dismissed the class right after he finished berating us and checking the attendance. Now, we won't be discussing Plato anymore, and we're already going to take up Ariostotle next meeting. Can you believe that? I don't know what happened, maybe something was just eating him up or he had a really bad day last Tuesday. But anyway, that reminds me to read the topics in advance because he doesn't it like when we don't speak up in the discussion.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Ciao.

And oh, the moral of my story? Expect the unexpected.