Last Saturday, cat (mateo’s yaya), andrea, mateo and I went to SM Taytay to pay our bills, unwind a little and buy a few things. So before noon, we were already there. By 11, andrea was already at the bill payment section attending to our dues, while cat, mateo and I were just wondering around the entrance to the department store.

As we walked inside, we saw several items on display at the entrance. Mateo was already pointing excitedly at them muttering bo-bo-boooohh. (That’s he’s attempt at saying ball and he does that every single time he sees something round or spherical.) And because I was the one carrying him, I had to bring him a little closer to his newfound interest. That was my fatal mistake.
What exactly was he reaching for? It was one of those ceramic fountains that showcased a continuously rotating transparent sphere in the middle. And with matching lights dancing inside the sphere, mateo was simply no match for it. My crucial mistake was, giving in to him. You see, I let him touch the fountain. But he didn’t break anything then. It was right after he touched the fountain, just when I was about to pull him back, that he caught a figurine with his swinging foot and caused it to fall on the hard floor beneath.

The moment I heard the sound I knew we were in trouble. Cat immediately picked up the pieces, took the smaller of the 2 and slid it in her pocket. I told her to put the larger one back on the display table. But when I saw how much damage it had, I figured we would have to pay for it already. Fortunately though, by some weird luck, the group of salesladies beside the display, who I assumed saw the whole thing, motioned us to move away from the display discretely. With the hand motion and the thumb, they said it was alright and that they wouldn’t tell anybody about the accident.

Mateo, seemingly, aware of what had just transpired, looked eagerly at the salesladies. And just when we were about to move away from the display area, he flashed them his naughty grin, as if saying thank you for letting him off easy from his first mall accident.

For the past months, I’ve been waking up at around 3 in the morning because of the cold. It’s been unusually cold lately and I’m having trouble dealing with it. But because we’re not in a temperate country, it would be very awkward installing heaters in the house.

My cousin, on the other hand, lives in Canada. There, they have no problems getting one. In fact, a few weeks ago, he emailed me about his heater hunting expedition around the place. He said he was specifically looking for kerosene shop heaters for his store and he bought one through the internet.

I wish I could do the same here. Unfortunately, if I did, shipping alone would cover for more than double the price of the device. So for now, I guess we’ll just have to settle for thick blankets.

In my efforts to try to remain up to date with technology, the changes happening all around and my students, I’ve spent most of my free time (which actually just starts the moment Mateo goes to bed) surfing the net doing all sorts of catching up.

I read blogs, check out new technologies, games, read the latest Friendster updates, emails, and even entertainment news. But no matter what I do, I can’t seem to close in the gap in generation between me and my students. No matter how much of today’s ideas I assimilate or simulate, I can’t seem to understand them, nor can they understand me. Does this mean that we are really that far apart?

Back in our days, fear was an integral part of high school lifestyle. We studied because we feared failing exams. We dressed up because we feared getting humiliated by those more dressed up than us. We practiced and exercised because we feared getting left behind even in PE games. Everything we do, we had fear as an additional form of motivation. Well, of course we wanted to excel too, but fear is almost always part of the reason for doing things the way we did. Even in the way we communicated with others, we were, most of the time, careful with talking to fellow students and teachers because we feared offending them.

Today, however, fear seems to be one of the things that students have very little of. They don’t seem to fear a lot of things… like failing, getting left behind, offending others, or getting offended themselves. They don’t seem to care about the consequences of their actions. And no matter what I do to instill fear in them, nothing seems to work. It really looks like our generations are that far apart.

But is it bad? Does it mean that the young generations are inferior? or that ours is simply outdated? I don’t know. From our perspective, maybe. But from theirs, I don’t think so.

Perhaps this is the reason why more individuals right now are willing to break rules and limits, because fear can not hold them back from doing the things that previous generations were scared of doing. Maybe this is why they show more promise than any of the previous batches, because they’re willing to imagine things that previous batches would not even dare to consider. I don’t know. Maybe fear or the lack of it is the price for ultimate progress. I’m not sure. All I know is that this generation is way apart from ours. And between them and us, it’s a generation gap that will be almost impossible to close in.

After driving from Tagaytay to Manila, I realized I’m not suited for long driving. Well, to be more accurate, my back is not suited for long driving. Because after just three hours on the steering wheel, I could feel some muscle spasms in my lower back region.

Yes, I admit. Age is starting to catch up with me. And with the not to so regular exercise I have at work, it’s gaining ground fast. But even so, I still think there are other ways to address the matter without resulting to regular exercise… like comfortable Massage Chairs for example. Wouldn’t it be so much better for everyone if cars came equipped with these comfy chairs rather than those stiff, sporty bucket seats. Me? I would settle for massage chairs over racing seats anytime.

After much argument, andrea and I have decided that I should go back to school. Nope, it’s not like I thought of leaving teaching or anything. I meant studying. We’ve realized that it’s about time I took the education units I needed to get my license.

The truth is, I’m a little anxious going back to school as a student… not because I don’t want to but because I haven’t been at the receiving end for quite some time. The good part though is, with my experience as a teacher, I’m going back with a renewed respect for the facilitators that I’ll be meeting. The bad side, however, is I have quite high expectations for my facilitators. Also, at the same time, I feel anxious because I’m not quite sure how to handle being a student and a teacher simultaneously. You see, I plan to continue working while studying that’s why I’m taking night school. I am a little worried about balancing both loads.

But in the end, it’s something that I have to do. So whether I like it or not, I will do it. Hopefully, I’ll survive till the end of next school year.