Switching Jobs (Ano Tingin Mo Sa Team8 Mo?)
Yesterday I attended my very first meeting with our team. It's no big deal really since I've had lots of opportunities to be with the team anyway.
Two weeks into the team, we had the "Team Retreat", although it was more of a teambuilding really. Then, there's the badminton and the basketball games. Of course, there's the usual merienda session with them, and just last friday we had a mini despidida for one of our teammates who will be moving on to another team within the company.
Anyway, the fun thing about this first meeting was the continuation of an activity from Baguio called "Ano Tingin Mo Sa Team8 Mo?" Here, we were asked to evaluate our teammates by rating them against these criterias:
| Humble | vs. | Hambog |
| Shy | vs. | Kapal-Muks |
| Knowledgeable | vs. | Nagmamarunong |
| Approachable | vs. | Isnabero |
| Funny | vs. | Korny |
Back in Baguio, our manager wanted honesty to be prevailent so we used codenames. Under these dosguises, we would be daring enough to really say how we felt about each other. Now, he wanted to promote open communication. Uh oh... We were to go around in circles and telling each other why we rated them that way. Yikes! It was a good thing none of them made a bad impression on me so I didn't rate them poorly.
As far as their rating on me, I wouldn't say that it was accurate but it was ok, I guess. I wouldn't know how to rate myself either. :) It was more or less consistent though. Everyone's rating were towards being Humble, Knowledgeable, Approachable and Funny. There was only one that went against the flow, so to speak. One actually said I was shy while everyone else tells me that I'm kapal-muks (in a positive way, or so they say).
Anyway, I still have lots of adjustments to make. For now, all I can say is that this team has yet to know me. They have only just began to see the tip of the iceberg.
No Worries, Mate!!!
I had heaps of fun last October when I went on my first mission trip out of the country. I am no stranger to mission trips, as I have been on two such activities during my YFC days when we went to Zambales and Burias Island to spread the word about our community, but this was certainly something new for me. I was actually going to fly off to another country, meet new people from a different culture and spread the word with a team that I have barely gotten to know. I was really excited!!!
That excitement suddenly turned to anxiety when, a week before the trip, I was asked to lead one-half of the mission team. It turned out that we had booked separate flights, one half going to Melbourne while the other (that's us) would be flying to Sydney. Back then, I really don't know why I was chosen to lead that team, apart from the fact that I was the one who gave all these suggestions and kept blabbing. I gotta learn to shut my trap! :-) Everyone in that team was far more experienced than myself. Then again, who was I to say no to a blessing.
I do not want to get into each detail since it was such a full trip that one single blog entry would not do justice to it. Looking back, it was amazing how God worked during the whole trip. The team leader of the whole OZ team told us during our pre-mission training that we should prepare ourselves yet be flexible enough to God's call because He is still in control. True enough, He led the way all throughout the trip.
He found a way for a mission team (that's us!) to reach Canberra on a weekend because that's when the SFC members are free. He made us go back to Sydney, even if we wanted to visit Melbourne, because we had a job to do their. We were to bring back the excitement into SFC Sydney and prepare them for the teachings that the second team was to bring.
We were sad that we had to leave Sydney because everyone there were so good to us, but still we are happy because we know that we had accomplished the mission that God wanted us to do.
To end this post, I would just like to thank some very special people who made our stay a truly memorable one. My hats off to Ian, Tristan, Jorge, Coy and Che. We will see each other some day. I love you all..
I'm coming out..
I swear I am not talking about myself. I am referring to Rustom Padilla's claims in
Pinoy Big Brother.
For those not familiar with the local showbiz scenario, Mr. Padilla was a matinee idol back in the 90's. A member of the Padilla clan (with the Bad Boy of Philippine cinema, Robin, as the most prominent among them), Rustom was once envied by many Filipinos because of his marriage to the beautiful Carmina Villaruel.
Anyway, that's enough about him, you can just do a search on him through google or msn. What I am more interested was his admission that he was indeed homosexual, a question that has been in the minds of many viewers even before his participation in the show. I have to admit that it was a courageous act. A lot of homosexuals remain in the closet because of fear and security. And for those who gather enough guts to do so don't really do it on a 24-hour show.
Yet, one thing bothers me about this revealation. The perfect timing.. Just when he was nominated for eviction from the house. It didn't stop there, the next day the famous brother I mentioned earlier visited them on the show! Perfect timing.. Just perfect!
Note: I wrote this entry as soon as Rustom made his statement but misplaced the file :-P
LoNG OVERDuE SeRiES
A lot of memorable events have happened in my life these last few months. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to really write about them. So, I will begin a serious of long overdue posts which will include (but not limited to.. I sound like some freakin' legal document..) the following (in no specific order):
- SFC Int'l Leaders Conference (ILC) in Bauio
- Switching Jobs
- Solvers Team Retreat in Baguio
- Aussie Mission Trip
- Happy Home Alone New Year
Please bear with me as I start to dwell on the past..
Note: No pictures for now.. I will include them in each part of the series.
Speaker @ PLM
This is long overdue since the event took place more than two months ago. To be exact, it was held last Nov 24, 2005 at the
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa.
Originally, they had asked my co-speaker,
Mr. Rey Mendoza, to talk about
Web Usability since this was his field of expertise. Prior to this, he already had speaking engagements at other institutions like
University of the Philippines and
De La Salle University. However, they needed some other topics to fill up the time slot for the symposium so they asked him to find another speaker. Guess who he found?
To be honest, I was pretty scared when he asked me to do this because this was something new for me. I've been asked to give talks before but this was a different crowd for me. I am used to giving talks in our community, but not to hundreds of strangers who might have been forced by their professors to attend. How do I keep them interested? How do I liven things up?
In the end, I accepted because I was not one to back out from a challenge. Instead of the fear, I chose to look at the opportunity of what was being offered. At some point in my career life, I am sure that I will have to do some sort of public speaking. This would be a perfect practice ground. At least if I mess up now, nothing major is at risk as compared to, say, making a sales pitch. At least I can learn from this experience and improve on my weaknesses in the process.
All in all, based on the reaction of the students and the faculty, I believe the event turned out well. For those who are interested, you may download my
Career Opportunities in I.T. presentation here.
Here are some more pictures during the event.
The Organizers
The Speakers
Despidida Video
I was feeling a little melancholic last week so I decided to go through the video that my former officemates made for me (the picture was the intro of the video). I just realized that I missed a lot of the messages that they gave me. I guess during that moment, my mind was wandering about the uncertainties of the future that I did not bother on the words but simply enjoyed the feeling that they actually time out to prepare a video for me.
It was the first time that they did this for a colleague who resigned, though this is probably because the technology and the gadgets were not available before. Still, it's heart-warming to know that people do care..
By the way, here's one message that really touched and inspired me:
"pero alam mo, hindi ikaw yung typical atenean na nai-stereotype ng karamihan ng mga tagaritong lasalista.. I guess much of it came from your involvement in SFC, sana dumating rin yung araw na mag-shift ka to Couples For Christ."
Forget the part about being CFC. Let's just talk about what he said about how being part of my community helped me become a better person. What made it more surprising was that it came from one of the supervisors who hardly talked about these things with me. It just feels good..
