December is not exactly the most festive month here in Brunei. This is especially true if you grew up in a predominantly catholic country like the Philippines where people consider the last month to be synonymous to the greatest celebration of the year – Christmas. And you know what makes it even lonelier? – not being able to go anywhere else, that’s what.

Andrea and I were thinking that the Christmas break would be a lot more bearable if we could at least go to the mall, or the park, or anywhere else besides home just to break the monotony. The problem is our family (with anika and mateo) makes it quite inconvenient to take public transportation. And with our regular service drivers going back to the Philippines for the vacation, even special transport services are not an option. This is the reason why we’re seriously pursuing the alternative of getting our own car by December.

I know it would probably set us back a few hundreds, but getting one seems to be the practical choice. It’s not like we can assemble our own ATVs even if there’s a surplus of polaris sportsman parts here in the country. And even if we can construct one, we’d probably be covered in cakes of dust and smoke before we reach the closest supermarket riding the thing.

Anyway, there are still a lot of things to consider – budget, requirements, models, and so many more – before we can decide if we really can get one. Hopefully, if all the considerations permit, we’ll have our own ride as we celebrate Christmas.

Moving things around is taking a toll on my body. First, there are the books. With more than a hundred books to carry home and then back to school, my back now hurts regularly. Second, there are the accessories – visual aids, speakers, laptop, and whatever else is needed. Good thing I’m now taking the service otherwise I would have to joggle everything while figuring out how to cross over the fence on the way to school.

Still, I’m thinking of having a few of my accessories permanently stay in the workplace not only to ease the moving back and forth but also to prolong the life of my electronic gadgets. (Moving around causes a lot of wear and tear because of the constant shaking and banging when being transported) Currently, I’m looking for an Energy subwoofer speaker dealer to purchase a set of sounds from. My old speakers I’m willing to leave in school while the new ones I plan on setting up at home. (Since we don’t have any TV yet, the laptop doubles as an entertainment system so we really need the speakers.)

Hopefully, I lessen enough load to keep my back ache-free for a long time.

It’s a good thing roadside assistance in the Philippines is always present. It’s either just a phone call away or just a few minutes apart (roving wreckers I mean). The likelihood of an accident in China, involving a child being run over twice by vehicles and  being ignored by passersby, happening in the Philippines is fortunately quite small. At least that’s one good thing about having a lot of nosy people around – there is always someone that would mind what’s going on.

It’s just extremely heart wrenching watching the surveillance video of the incident and seeing so many people ignoring what should have been a very basic, almost instinct-driven reaction to a person – more so to a child in such a predicament. Heck, never mind about being prosecuted for helping incorrectly. Any help would probably have made a big difference in this case. Aaarrrgghhh! Damn those who saw and didn’t do anything. Damn them all.

Health is a serious issue wherever you are. And now that we’re here in foreign soil, it just gets a little bit more cumbersome. Differences in medical procedures, treatment, and doctor-patient relationships can give pause to anyone who seeks medical attention in an unfamiliar place.

This is why andrea and I are trying are best to keep everyone in the family in top shape. We teach the kids to regularly wash their hands, bathe daily, and to recognize when they needed cleaning. Andrea and Arlene attend dance fitness lessons every week. I, however, just try my best to relax and keep my blood pressure leveled. As much as possible, I don’t want to end up on medication or as another Crestor lawsuit so I veer away from medication first. I employ more traditional, and less invasive methods such as reading a book, walking, and sleeping.

I hope none of us gets sick or would require medical attention anytime soon. We have very little support at the moment nor the means to seek medical aid at home.

For the past how many months, andrea and I have been looking around for a school for our little boy. However, there are a couple of considerations that make the search even more difficult that is supposed to.

First, since mateo had to stop schooling for over a year, we’re suspecting some difficulty in readjusting himself back to a routine. He’s been quite active lately and has started becoming more and more insistent especially when it comes play. I fear that school, especially the wrong one, might end up ruining the love of studies for my child. Even now, as he hungers for story books and drawing blocks, I’m worried that unstructured play and learning will make it even harder for him to adjust to the structured system of a classroom.

Second, since only a few schools here  are courageous enough to embrace the progressive approach, the chances of getting my son into one that will not choke his interest is admittedly slim. Perhaps, when he’s old enough I wouldn’t be so worried. Heck, he could choose to enter a cosmetology school if he so desires it, and I wouldn’t give him a second’s pause. But until that time, he should be well placed and his potentials nourished in an institution that will best recognize his strengths.

I only pray we find the right one quickly. School starts on January.

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Although I’m not a snake enthusiast, I’ve always appreciated snakes. No, I don’t feel drawn to them. I just simply admire the patterns and the behavior that they exhibit. So, imagine my surprise when a commotion at the rear side entrance of the school gave me a close encounter with a real wild specimen.

It happened about two days ago. My supposedly quiet (boring) but rainy afternoon was interrupted by one of the cleaners barging into the kitchen. Christopher, the said cleaner, was asking for help on how to deal with snakes. I asked why. He said he needed to take care of one ASAP. So I reluctantly went with him to the rear area of the school. Then there it was, a green, scaly viper, complete with the characteristic spear shaped head and a tongue flicking in and out of its closed mouth. It was on on the concrete floor just a few feet away from the grassy flanks of the walkway. It wasn’t scurrying away from us despite the 4 people around it. Instead it was almost motionless (well except for the forked tongue), but poised and ready for an attack (the neck was coiled in a striking pose).

I told Christopher not to do anything because I’m almost a hundred percent sure that it was poisonous. It had a slender body decorated with a captivating light green stripes alternating with thin white or yellow bands. Since I know that slender bodies are usually for snakes built for speed (and not for constriction), I was very hesitant about moving closer than 4 to 5 feet from the reptile. But my fascination kept me from running away from it too. I kept on thinking of a way to capture the marvelous serpent.

Christopher distracted me with a question. Will it die from getting smashed, he said. I answered him with a yes, but depending on what you hit it with. Before I knew he took a long pole from one of the rooms and then whipped the pole straight into the unsuspecting snake. And with a single hit, it was dead.

I made my disappointment known after I saw the creature wriggle and slowed down to a permanent halt. I told the cleaner how very uncommon it was to see a wild snake, especially something so magnificently decorated, this close and not in captivity. However, their concerns seem to be more practical in nature than mine. The snake was dangerous, it was blocking the walkway, and the kids might get bitten by it, so the quickest and most effective way to dispose of the problem was to eliminate the snake there and then. How could I argue with that? I didn’t exactly have an alternative to present.

So, my brief encounter ended sadly. It was quite memorable and exhilarating but it was also tragic. My only consolation was that the snake I saw was not of an endangered species, and they are pretty common in the jungles of Borneo. You don’t have to own a gps handheld garmin to tread the green backyards of the school in order to see another one. I was told that a lot of teachers have seen similar snakes so maybe I might just get another glimpse. Who knows.

Aside from the huge fact that Christmas isn’t popularly celebrated here, another thing reason why we really want to visit the Philippines this December is because andrea wants to personally help her sister in the wedding preparations that she plans to undertake during the holidays.

She still has a ton of things to book and reserve – reception venue, catering services, honeymoon stay, and so many more. Add to these all the dresses, the invitations, the giveaways, videos, and all the other details. I understand how frantic she must be feeling sometimes because until now, Andrea and I still remember how it was when it was our turn to get married – all the details, the last-minute changes, and the killer anticipation.

Although i haven’t seen invitationbox.com bachelorette party invitations from her friends yet,  I’m sure all of her friends back at home are more than willing to pitch in if given the chance to do so. So I’m quite confident that even if andrea and I can’t help her this December, she’ll manage to do well herself.

Around a decade ago, my phone was nothing more than a means to talk or text andrea; and my computer solely a workstation. Then, I got hooked to the internet and they were never the same.

First, there was blogging. Then, there was blog reading. Afterwards, I’ve subscribed to plenty of RSS feeds that I’m getting my daily news from the computer already instead of the TV or the newspaper. Even my phone which used to be solely for talking and texting became my daily entertainment console, especially after I took on twitter as well.

However, things were only as fast and as fun as communication technology allows  them to be. Since there were several companies competing for internet and communication services in the Philippines, technology was always up to date and blazing fast. That was until I moved to Brunei.

Since internet and communication services are monopolized by only two companies, competition is not so evident. And the race to improve services is quite slow. That’s why I haven’t been able to surf and twit as much as had before. Hopefully though, things change for the better soon. I’m really missing fast com speeds.

There was a point in time when I strongly considered  finding a different field of work. It’s not just because teaching is a thankless job, but mainly because it doesn’t pay as much as teachers would want to. Aside from the fact that parents often use teachers as escape goats for several things, teachers would often carry the brunt of excuses and blames for all shortcomings and mistakes that students do. We carry the work way past school hours, sacrifice most of our sleep time and even family time, and exhaust so much emotional energy on optimistic ideas that often get us burned in the end. Yet, we don’t get paid as much as those working in the corporate world – those with IT related jobs, Application Development Jobs, even call center agents.

But how can we change what we are? I can imagine doing other kinds of work but I cannot imagine myself not teaching. For seven years I’ve lived and breathed children and teaching. I’m a teacher and that’s something I cannot just simply change.

Ever since I moved out of my own home, when andrea and I got married, we’ve never really owned a permanent place to call home. We’ve rented 2  houses back then, each of which became witness to the birth of each of our kids. The first house we rented was mateo’s first home. The second one, anika’s. Afterwards, we all moved back in to andrea’s old place before I left for Brunei. And now that we’re all here in Brunei, we’re still renting yet another place. But which one should we call home?

When I look back, I can’t help but feel a longing for the places we’ve been to. Does this mean that Brunei still isn’t home for us? Well technically it can’t be. We’ll never get any resident status here because none of us were born here. Heck, we can’t even talk in Malay yet. Do I regard our places in the Philippines more suitable to be called homes? I still don’t think so because we cannot call any of them our own. So the question remains – where is home really?

The truth is I still don’t know exactly since the full meaning of the word escapes me. However, when I think about where I feel most comfortable and relieved, I can’t think of any other place but with my family. So I guess wherever they are, that’s where home really is. Never mind if there is no titled land that goes with it, or if we have to pay for living there. I don’t care if it is littered with lexus custom floor mats, or contains no floor mats at all. For as long as it’s where my family stays, I’ll call it home. Wherever it may be.