The Manila Standard Today

First published 6 June 2008

INTEGRATIONS
Maya Baltazar Herrera

Voyage

There are no children here.

This week, I went to a meeting at the UP School of Economics and came away with renewed belief in the value of the UP experience.

If you speak to anyone from UP – student, professor, alumnus - you will get no Latin slogans or apologies about how the school teaches values inspite of its outward materialism. This is not a student population that thinks about basketball games or memorizes school songs. This is not a school that chooses one statement to drill into the minds of its students.

This is not, of course, to say that UP does not care about values. It is that UP, in its own inimitable way, believes that values cannot be force-fed. The statue of the naked man that guards the entrance to the campus in Diliman best represents UP's approach to all education and the respect for students that is the center of its educational philosophy. All who come to this university, regardless of origin, bring themselves naked, carrying nothing but their thirst; like the proverbial empty teacup, making an offering of self, waiting to be filled.

Adults

For many students from private schools, the first lesson that is learned here is that this is a school for adult education. There are no children here, and that is why no parents are allowed either at freshman orientation or during enlistment.

The spirit of the oblation lies not in a mother or a father offering up his child to the world, it is that of the newly adult, freely offering of his self.

I remember quite vividly that moment that drove home how different the UP education continues to be. It was my daughter's first semester in university and she had invited a group of her high school friends to our house. One of them asked a classmate whether she had gotten her parents permission form approved for that weekend's outreach activity. From the UP population around the table came the mock horrified responses of: "Permission? " and "Outreach?"

I thought about it and realized that all of these students were, in fact, legally adults. I thought it interesting that only the UP students appeared to appreciate this fact.

Even more interesting was the "outreach" comment. I think back to my own university years and the last three years that my daughter has been in UP and am certain there is no lack of civic activity. There are medical missions, house building projects, tree planting, community work and barrio work and so on. I realize now that the reaction was not to the activity as much as it was to the use of the word.

One of the most important differences of the UP campus from all the other campuses my children considered going to is that this campus has no walls. Many parents fear this. They are afraid their precious children will not be protected from the ills of society in a campus that is so open to the rest of the world. But UP is open to the world in more ways than just not having the physical walls.


Community

Being in UP means much more than being a student. This campus is enmeshed in a community. This community is made up not only of the transient population of students who go home at the end of each day. It includes the many, many students who lay their heads on dorm pillows every night, enduring time away from families in the firm belief that this campus will bring them closer to their dreams. This community includes the families of faculty and employees who live on campus. It also includes the many people who do not work for the University, but nevertheless work on campus. This community includes the lady who remembers the brand of cigarette you smoke and automatically hands it to you in the morning. It includes the gentleman who remembers you like pepper on your egg sandwich or the one who knows you will dip your fish balls into two of his sauces and patiently waits for you to eat your three sticks before being paid. It includes the woman who saw all her children through college by selling peanuts every day on campus.

To a UP student, the daily heartbeat of the school is never far away from the realities of the country. The word outreach suggests that civic activity is something outside of the normal, something you do once in a while. It must be immensely difficult to think of community as a thing apart when your campus experience brings you face to face with all of the world's realities every day.


Character

All of this probably explains that unmistakable sense of self that you will find from students who come from this campus. Here is a campus where all have the same opportunities to learn. But, also, here is a campus that will give all the same opportunities to fail. There are no guidance counselors who will chase after you because you have been skipping classes. The attitude this university takes is that you must take the initiative – for learning, for seeking help, for realizing you need help.

That is not to say that no help exists. But it is help that is not forced upon you.


This is a university rich in both introspection and conversation. On this campus, the student is constantly exposed to people – faculty, administrators, community members, other students – who care deeply and passionately about the world. The conversations are almost never purely cerebral. A single graph can provoke comments about government policy and its effects on people.

As a result, UP is home to a student population that looks at the world and cares. It is easy to see pictures of protesting students and dismiss it as radicalism. But there are few campuses in this country where students go beyond a passing curiosity about what is happening in the world beyond their own lives. There are even fewer universities where students not only care but also actually believe they have a responsibility to make a difference – not in some hazy future – today.

And that, I believe, is what truly forges character. Character is not molded by speeches or long classes in ethics or theology. Character grows from within. It begins by being handed the keys to your own self and being told you are in charge; you now have power over yourself and your own actions – and with that power, you take on responsibilities.

Each student in this university goes through his own unique voyage of discovery. On this voyage, as he decides what he cares about, what he will fight for and what he will sacrifice, he crafts his own personal values. That is what education is truly about.

Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example,’The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another. She will be another. Like my kisses before.
Her void. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my should is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

~Pablo Neruda

4:01

Happy Christmas

Baby Jesus, you're always here in my heart. Amen.

Humility

Fwd: bookF1.com - Christmas Newsletter

Anyone who's thinking of sending me a gift package this Christmas, you might want to consider this option. I will, of course, not complain about it :p


Begin forwarded message:

From: support@bookf1.com
Date: December 17, 2008 9:47:47 PM JST
To: marrihliesse@yahoo.com
Subject: bookF1.com - Christmas Newsletter

Christmas Presents

If you're still looking for Christmas presents then giving tickets to the Formula 1 should send you straight to the top of Santa's 'Nice' list. We offer a personalised gift certificate service to cover you until the tickets are printed or if you're not sure which tickets to choose then we also offer bookF1.com gift vouchers.

We'll continue sending out certificates and vouchers until 23rd December, just in case you're running late.

New Race Openings

I'm pleased to advise that in the last month we have also opened sales for Bahrain, Italy, Japan, and Brazil. This means that tickets for the majority of 2009 races are now on sale. Check out the bottom of this email for a complete season list.

Paddock Club Hospitality

Exclusive, exhilarating, elite. With all the credentials of the finest establishments, the Formula One Paddock Club welcomes visitors for the ultimate in world-class hospitality. Get close to the action with unrivalled access to the roar of the race and the heat of the pits. Meet the drivers and hear their strategy then watch the drama of the track unfold from the perfect vantage point.

2009 Paddock Club tickets are now on sale! For further information and prices, see our VIP and hospitality tickets page.

Transport And Parking

Don't forget to plan your transport and, if necessary, purchase parking for any race you attend. We provide information on reaching the circuit under 'Travel Advice' for each race. And for those visiting Silverstone 2009, we're also running a London coach service so you can sit back and relax whilst we do the driving.

Merry Christmas

On behalf of all of us at bookF1.com, we'd like to thank you for your interest and support over the past year and wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kindest Regards

Paul Deason
Support Team

e: support@bookf1.com
t: +44 (0)1371 879868
f: +44 (0)1371 879955
w: http://www.bookf1.com

2009 F1 Calendar

Date	Race
29th March	Australia
5th April	Malaysia
19th April	Bahrain
10th May	Spain
24th May	Monaco
7th June	Turkey
21st June	Britain
12th July	Germany
26th July	Hungary
23rd August	Europe (Valencia)
30th August	Belgium
13th September	Italy
27th September	Singapore
11th October	Japan
18th October	China
1st November	Brazil
15th November	Abu Dhabi

You have received this email because you have subscribed to the bookF1.com newsletter. To unsubscribe, please click here.

Kanarazu

My dreams are composed of you and no one else. I only see you and don't want to wake up. You steal my night. And you capture my day. Now I'm lost because I only want to be by your side.

Zutto anata no soba ni itai desu.

Grip

I can't put into words what's really bothering me these days. I don't like my job, but if I would have to quit now I will be more lost. I am exhausted. I am depressed. I hope I'm still sane. Am I missing anything? And if I make sense at all, ain't I?

The Alphabets

A. Attached or single? Attached to myself.
B. Best friend? In my lifeline... Lae and Gneiss in Illinois. Don in Singapore. Kokim, Naomi and Tatsurou in Japan, Tobias in Europe. By the way, you can still submit your resume. A decade or two await your full service.
C. Cake or pie? Cake, chocolate cake.
D. Day of choice? Sunday.
E. Essential item/s? Inside my bag... a prayer booklet and the holy rosary, my pink digicam and black iphone, usb, lip balm and milk cream, pen and small notebook, wet tissue and pads, my personal stamp and still the old green passport, electronic dictionary/tool whenever I'm lost in translation, some vitamins and hemoglobin tablets, wallet and a wallet for cards, and oh, itouch and chocolates.
F. Favorite color? Pink.
G. Gummy bears or worms? Both.
H. Hometown? Pagadian City, Philippines. Google map, quick!
I. Favorite indulgence? Books, chocolate and ice cream, milk lotion.
J. January or July? Well, I can't relate. Can I opt for April?
K. Kids? Coooming soon, yet soon. Wait, seven years ago I thought it was the right season to nest. I thought it was the ideal age to cuddle my own mini-me :) But only I waited for a divine intervention that happened thousands of years ago.
L. Life isn’t complete without? ...me being complete.
M. Marriage date? Please wait for the next attraction :p
N. Number of magazine subscriptions: I don't invest on RD and the Times anymore.
O. Oranges or apples? I can't make a choice.
P. Phobias? Getting drown. I can't swim without a life vest, honest! But I can float or bloat :p
Q. Quotes? God is the strength of my heart.
R. Reasons to smile? Life is beautiful in spite of its literary irony and the flattery of human follies.
S. Season of choice? Spring.
T. Tag 5 people. I grab this from donG. So anyone, please yourself.
U. Unknown fact about me? I still want to keep it for myself, even if it's also unknown to me.
V. Vegetable? Tomatoes. Any green or color as long as I could gobble it down.
W. Worst habit? Bags. Books. Chocolates. Couch-potato. Dancing. Derision of wit. Gibberish. Growing up. Henpeck persistently at God knows who. Hit the road and getting lost. Insomnia. Jack Osbourne wannabe. Learning. Lethargic/super-lazy sometimes. Milk lotion. OCD. Persistent, did I say that again? Rapt in thoughts. Sarcasm. Shoes. Singing. Sleeping. This list could go on... I think I'm the worst habit myself.
X. X-ray or ultrasound? My first memory of x-ray was when I was 6 years old. There was an accident, and I suffered a fractured bone in my left leg. With ultrasound, I went back and fro to a gynecologist since I first had my red blot on my skirt. My ovary's troubled. Whatever, but did I go through the deep heat? Poor brain fizzle out.
Y. Your favorite foods? I can't specifically point my favorite. I love to eat though it doesn't show :p Oh, I love seafood.
Z. Zodiac sign? Aries.

Each Time

I was just blog surfing when I stumbled onto this. It reminds me of a dear friend, Rosee, who would always scream whenever this song's aired on the radio. She'd wake up the whole house in the early morning and disturb the croon of a good night sleep. My door was right next to hers, so I would always end up rushing to her side ever willing to come to her aid, only to comfort her high-pitched giggling and progressive addiction to the song, and that I was powerless to stop her euphoric state of the moment. But I love her just like that.

I so miss Browngate, the most coveted place in UP Cebu neighborhood. It was when I was there. Winks. Really it sheltered 12 creative young minds, a dwelling of qualities that delight the sense of sight. I just got lucky to be part of this harem. Anywho, I miss these girls a heap.

Bestfriend's Prayer

I am sensing just the deepest cuts of your heart as of this moment.

I cannot quite put a finger on what it is, but gut-feeling tells me it's more than what you are saying and not saying.

Always, remember my love, that I am always willing to listen to whatever it is that you need to spill just for the sake of spilling, no judgements nor criticisms will ever come from me.

In your tears, however wet your blankets may get, I am there with you in your sorrows.

I am constantly thinking of how you are and how you are faring with your battles, even as I am sure you are already winning as we speak.

Take your time to grieve for whatever, and until you are ready to share, I am more than a welcoming ear. I will give you the warmest hug that has seemed to be in utter oblivion between us these past 3 years.

I say prayers for your safety and your heart that seem to always grapple emotions so heartbreaking.

I pray for rest, that you may find it in your aloneness in Him, who gives us more than rest, the peace that our hungry hearts clamor for.

I pray that He continue to wipe your tears dry, as you shudder from the situations you are facing.

I applaud in the strength that you constantly muster, it is only through Him that you are facing life boldly in the face.

I am here, so ever willing to listen.

I am backing you up in prayer my friend.

God is leading you to do whatever it is that is necessary. Go with His confidence.

I love you.

You're not alone.

i-Motion

Good high noon. I'm on my way back to Tokyo right now. To my busy platform in Higashi-Ginza, to welcome Eldica's bitching and wicked smiles again, to where being glamorous and those pair of stilettos I should put on, to a ritzy-congested world where I feel small and alone. But hey, it's only a matter of five working days. Come Friday I will be that same country mouse... And all I have to do is just to sleep and be a domestic diva.

While on the road... Mt. Fuji. The only decent shot I could manage using my mobile.