11/2005 My Thanksgiving Version
It’s really big here, this Thanksgiving holiday. It’s actually an even bigger holiday than Christmas.
Being the curious cat that I was, I asked my officemate about the history of Thanksgiving. Like a five-year-old, I asked so many questions: Why is there a Thanksgiving Holiday? What is its significance to the American History? Why is it celebrated on November? Why turkey?
After he answered most of my questions, I realized that the significance of the holiday is not very much on how it started, but really about celebrating everything worth thanking for, like the year that was, is and will be, like family, like friends.
That sounded good to me, so naki-Thanksgiving ako kahit di ako Amerikano. Here’s my own list of thank-you-for’s (not necessarily by order of priority):
- Nino. You deserve an entire blog entry of thank you’s.
- Adam. You gave our family renewed joy and strength.
- Our apartment. kahit anong reklamo ko about how small it is, I’m thankful that we have a cozy little nook in one of the safest neighborhoods in Manhattan that really costs twice what we pay for, but because Nino’s ninang owns it, we got it for ninang price.
- Our ultra comfy bed. When it calls to you, it takes extreme will power to resist.
- My work (gives me shopping money and keeps my mind from rusting)
- Friends I made from work (I can engage in girl talk and chismis!)
- Friends and family who visited and/or stayed (and will visit and/or stay) with us in our little apartment (you all know who you are, ang dami nyo to enumerate here, eh). You make the loneliness bearable at least for a couple of days or weeks in a month.
- Friends introduced to me by those friends and family who visited (I know other people already!)
- Emails of kwentos and what not from all of you back home and from other parts of the US. I do appreciate your taking time to write me long, detailed letters, or even quick little hello’s.
- Nino’s safe trip to and from Mexico.
- Surviving Nino’s trip to Mexico – I had to be alone for the first time. Scary and lonely. But I made it and I’m still sane (I think).
- My green card. I can come home! I can visit my relatives in Canada (pero wag muna ngayon, the cold will kill me)! I can go practically anywhere and still be able to come back here.
- Seeing Mayick. As of this writing, we’re on the plane to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with her.
- My new-found peace with New York City. Bati na kami.
- Seeing the sun this morning. I missed you!
- Simply being alive.
This list can go on and on and on, even if I have an equally long list of rants being here in the US. But it is thanksgiving. I don’t want to ruin the thanksgiving spirit with whining. And thankfully, I guess I’m growing up.
11/2005 Di Ako Alien!
I am now officially a legal permanent resident of the United States of America. I got my green card (it’s not color green by the way) 2 days ago, exactly 8 months after I filed for adjustment of status (that was quick, considering I was advised about a month ago that it takes them 270-300 days or at most 10 months to process my case).
Congratulations to me, I can now come home whenever I wish. If only I already had money. Hopefully, that’s coming soon.
One plan down, 10 million to go.
11/2005 Peace, New York
New York City and I started on the wrong foot. Or rather, on the wrong weather.
Ang ganda kasi ng timing ng pagdating ko – January, smack right in the middle of winter. Being used to the sun and warm weather, winter (meaning minus-0 cold and NO sun for months) was a new unwelcome experience. Ginawin pa naman akong bata. I was a warm-blooded Filipina which meant my definition of “cold” was Baguio, my old Summit office, 19-degree celcius AC and Glorietta 4 cinemas. That drastically changed when I was introduced to the unpleasant, unforgiving NY cold.
Each time I left the warmth of our apartment, my focus shifted to getting warm, trying not to slip from the floor wet with snow and/or rain and keeping up with Nino (I couldn’t hold his hand, both our hands were in our pockets to keep them from freezing), weaving through a crowded sea of people walking from all directions. The subway’s warmth was no better – they were stuffy and not really pleasant to my sensitive sense of smell.
In other words, I had no chance to see the “beauty” of New York when I first came here. I never had that “Oh-my-gosh-I’m-in-New-York!” surrealism that my friends and family felt. I was not impressed with New York City at all. My drab wardrobe did not help either. “Wala ka pa kasing magandang damit,” said my friend Ige when I told him how I felt about NYC. Come to think of it, he was right, too.
Not that I had much of a choice with scoring fasyon winter clothes when I came here. I did not have much luck winter clothes-shopping mostly because all the winter stuff were left in the stores’ CLEARANCE section and because nothing fit me (they were either too big, or too big). I even had to buy a coat 2 sizes bigger because “warm” was my priority over fashion at that point.
And then came spring. I noticed trees sprouting more greens and flowers blooming in our street’s plant boxes. It was still cold, but the weather was kinder to me now. Then I started to notice that Central Park was pretty. And that there was a Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works store near our place. And that there were 5 bars in our area and hundreds of places to eat.
By summertime, I can identify favorite places like the moles on my hand. Towards the end of summer, Nino and I went on a NYC tour boarded on a double-decker bus. Like a first-time tourist, I was introduced to NYC’s noteworthy spots, landmarks, trivia and the magnificence of New York’s old architecture combined with the most modern establishments.
Fall came and the trees started to change color. There were greens, yellow-greens, oranges, reds, browns, pinks everywhere. Surprisingly, the cooler weather did not bother me that much anymore, maybe because the beauty of fall outweighed the chill (and also because I was wearing warmer and prettier clothes).
As I took the bus to work on 5th Avenue every morning, I enjoyed Central Park’s pretty fall colors on my right, and intricate architecture designs on my left.
Then it hit me.
I made peace with New York. I finally saw and appreciated its beauty, its diversity, its lights, its boundless energy. Maganda naman pala talaga ang New York. This city is cultured yet so wild, very old yet so modern, so diverse and so full of energy for its own good. What’s more, I already know where to find clothes I like that will actually fit. Yey!
After 9 months, we finally connected, New York and I.
New York, bati na tayo. Know that I will miss you when we leave. Pero I still have to say, sorry, overrated ka pa rin.
My Turn
You gave me a card as I passed your row right when I walked down from the stage during our High School graduation. It said “Thank You.” That was the very first card you ever gave me.
Now, after 9 years, it’s my turn to say thanks…
For your sweetness in your own weird way
For not pampering me too much. I became strong and independent because of you
For not giving up on me and our relationship
For trying so hard to be everybody I lost when I left home
For working hard for our future and our future kids’ future
For understanding how much I love my country
For loving my country like I do
For respecting my beliefs even if you don’t agree with some of them
For praying with me everyday
For trying to love my God as much as I do
For helping me be strong when I am weak and homesick
For understanding that I need to find myself in this strange and unfriendly place
For listening to me whine
For whining with me
For making me laugh when you dance
For replacing the toilet paper each time we run out of it
For replacing the trash cans with new bags and taking out the trash
For washing the dishes even if you, too, are tired from work
For fixing up the house when I am too tired and sleepy to fix up
For sweeping the floor
For doing laundry with me
For supplying me with the daily hugs I need that I used to get from people at home
For giving me medicine when you and I thought I was food poisoned
For laying beside me when you see me start to fall asleep
For trying to wake me up to brush my teeth when I fall asleep while watching TV
For getting up when I wake you up to brush your teeth (and wash the dishes)
For talking to me and being my best friend
For being a man. My man.
This list does not even make half of my entire thank you list after spending 105 months with you as a couple and 9 months together as husband and wife. In fact, this list will continue to grow longer as we spend a lifetime together, a lifetime that 9 years ago, I did not even imagine I will spend with you. I’m sure even you had no idea then that you will receive countless thank you’s from me.
For now, I’m saying “Thank you” for things I long wanted to thank you for. I’m giving you back your thank you card. It’s my turn to say “Thank you” back to that man I married, that little boy who gave me the first “Thank You” card I have ever received.
Baby Talk
Since we’re on the baby topic after my adorable nephew’s birth, let me announce that Nino and I are having our baby. Wait, wait, wait hindi pa tapos. I meant we’re having our baby, hopefully after June 23, 2008, to be exact.
Though Nino is an American citizen, he needs to be in the US for at least 5 years before his child automatically becomes a US citizen, even if the child is born outside of the States. June 2008 marks Nino’s 5-year stay in the USA.
That simply means gusto kong manganak sa Pilipinas but still keep our kid’s American citizenship (para walang hassle to go back and forth here).
After hearing mama’s stories about how Ate Anna, my sister-in-law, was showered with love and support from friends and family before, during and after giving birth, I got so jealous. I know I will yearn for that same love and support when it is my turn to have my baby.
Because of that, I know for a fact that I do not want to give birth here, not if I’ll miss the wonderful (and huge!) support group back home who will shower me with the same love and support Ate Anna received; and not if giving birth here would mean getting through my birthing pains without all of them.
So until 9 months before June 23, 2008, I hope my egg cells cooperate.
Our Siopao Baby
He has the biggest 1-week-old baby cheeks I have ever seen, like the cutest siopao in the world.
His name is Adam Christopher, my first pamangkin, born November 3, 2005, 2:53 PM Philippine time with all 7.75 lbs. of his pure innocence.
Thank God for digital cameras and my brother’s webcam, I can actually feel his kakagigil-ness. Kung pwede ko lang siya kurutin thru the computer. Maybe somebody has to invent allowing a user to feel anything one does on it, although that might not really be a good idea because it will encourage many issues I don’t even want to speak of.
Hay, Adam. You have no idea how much I am wishing to be there right now to personally witness your super cute yawning and stretching moments. Di bale. I will come home soon, though I’m not very sure about my definition of “soon” at this point.
I guess for now, I will have to settle with pictures and videos of you growing up, like these. Maybe if I get lucky, I will still be given the chance to brainwash you about having “Auntie Beauty” (sino pa nga ba yun kundi ako) sometime in the future.
I love you, kiddo!
11/2005 Shut Up And Go Shopping
“So, are you free tomorrow?” said my now supervisor who called me last Sept. 15, 2005, telling me that I was their chosen applicant for a part time copywriting job at one of the offices at the Diamond District at 5th Ave here in NYC.
Sounds big time? Not really, not if you’re working in a tiny room with about 100 surveillance cameras and a boss that smokes and the COO who is just that – the Child of the Owner. Let me start from the beginning.
I was hired to do descriptions (among others) part time for a start-up online fine jewelry store selling diamonds, gemstones and all other fine jewelry (fine jewelry website nga eh). I came into the office on Sept. 16, thinking that we were going to talk about the terms of my employment: work schedules, payment methods, job responsibilities, etc.
But when I came in that day, I was immediately introduced to the people (about 9 others), showed to my desk and was given work to do after a 15-minute crash course on every jewelry term there is to know like princess cut, invisible, pave, bezel-set, lever-back, push back closure, toggle. Wait! Pause muna. Whatever happened to the official “you’re hired” interview that I came for?
Amidst this information overload causing chaos in my head, I started thinking that talk was not going to happen. And so I asked my supervisor. She replied, “Oh, didn’t you know you were starting today?”
Galing. I was totally unprepared for this. I was interacting with other people, joking around with co-workers and eating lunch at a pantry all in one day. It was my first day of work and I didn’t even know it. Natawa na lang ako, si Lord kasi ang tindi ng sense of humor. I did ask for this, didn’t I? I just wasn’t expecting it to happen this quickly. I even had an appointment set for 3PM on that same day for a different racket, but by divine intervention, was fortunately cancelled at the last minute.
For 2 months now, I’ve been working part time only after I negotiated to work part time, because in the beginning I was asked to do full-time hours but with part time pay (which is close to minimum wage which is not commensurate to the mental job that I had to do – skilled position ito, noh). UNFAIR. So eto akong si Gabriela Silang, syempre nagreklamo. I almost quit, but they stopped me (magaling daw ako, naks!) and we agreed to a part time schedule, since that was the reason I accepted the job with that pay in the first place. I am paid by the hour, and each hour I spend working there is hour not worth my while.
I still have other rants about this job, but then again, I can always find something to rant about any job I get involved with for sure. So I’d rather not go on ranting (wow, is this me?). I guess I’ll just keep looking for another job that pays AT LEAST fair enough, but in the meantime, I can stick it out with this one.
At least I now interact with other people (other than my husband and the TV and computer at home) who come from diverse cultures and nationalities – Turkish, Syrian, Indian, Chinese, Burmese, Pakistani, American and Filipino. It’s interesting and enriching to know more about other cultures. Plus I now have girl friends (pinay pa yung isa!) with whom I can share my kakikayan and other girl stuff.
And because my husband can pay for our living, whatever I earn in this part time job is mine. That’s shopping money! That alone can shut me up.
