Fussball 2006

Tomorrow is D-day for France and Italy. Will the Azzuri be hungrier for the cup as they try to remove the stench of the game-fixing scandal back home? Or will the Les Bleus give Zizou a great swan song? Since England was tossed out, I've switched my allegiance to "The Blues." (I was so tempted to root for Portugal because of Cristiano Ronaldo...) Here's to being able to watch the finals 4 years from now live in Johannesburg!

The month passed by quickly and I suddenly realized today that I am set to leave Pinas again. Was it just yesterday that I was enjoying the sights of Hong Kong or watching the first games of the World Cup? Time flies period. And not just when you're having fun.

The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!'

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

To the Clark Kents of this world...please stand up

In the 8 months that I have been away, lots of changes have occurred, some that can be classified as whirlwind – some friends have given birth, some have experienced status changes, others have drowned themselves in the sorrow of heartbreak, others achieved professional success and other forms of personal achievement. On the patriotic front, I was shocked to discover that jeepney fares have doubled, oil prices have steeply increased much to the consternation of car owners, and the cost of basic goods has hiked to unbelievably high levels.

On second thought, what else was new anyway here where doing bad things out in the open were brazenly rewarded with positive recognition, where people in government prided themselves in enriching their bank accounts at the expense of their gullible countrymen, and trying to do good just leads to a lot of headaches and condemnation from one’s neighbors (or having your person disappear from the face of the earth after being labeled a persona non grata by a government afraid of its own shadow.)

My family’s 5-year ordeal has recently ended. I do not wish to anger myself even more by thinking of how unjust the system can be. It is enough that my father has been vindicated. Res ipsa loquitur. What goes around comes around. I am not the type who is judgmental or unwilling to step down from any moral high horse. But I have always believed there are limits to what is acceptable or forgivable. Otherwise, how can we ever distinguish between the good and the bad in this world? And please don’t tell me I am a hypocrite or too self-righteous. On this point, I think I can claim that I or at least my family has the right to be so.

A question recently posed was whether the world needed Superman (great movie by the way). I say yes. Our chaotic world is in desperate need of heroes. Fancy costumes or superpowers are not necessary. It is enough that they fight for what they think is right and are sincere in doing it for the benefit of the common good.

Ito ay para sa aking ama at sa mga pareho niyang naglalakas loob labanan ang mga kamalian. Saludo kami sa inyo!

Ich liebe Hamburg!

The weather was unbelievably weird. But despite such erratic climate, nothing could really spoil our last 2 days. The inevatibility of leaving Hamburg and never to return as students hung over our heads. Therefore every minute counted, every moment was cherished – the last time to ride the bus or the train, the last time to eat at Luk Thai Imbiss, Man Wah or Mei Man, the last time to study at our favorite spot in the Rentzelstrasse Lounge, the last time to eat our favorite ice cream (which we found out was actually Italian gelato), the last time to buy from Plus, etc etc . Thus, a picture taking frenzy ensued at every Hamburg spot we managed to visit. Indeed, it was hard to say goodbye to the things that became part of our lives for the past 240 days.

Each one had an interesting way of dealing with farewells. One friend suggested that we stop by a tree and carve our names on its bark then revisit it after a few years. Another suggestion was to bury a time capsule. I actually made another friend cry by being too serious and asking all sorts of questions about the future. It was really hard to say goodbye and even harder to confront the uncertainties of what lay ahead. (The lump in my throat was not be excised that easily as I discovered once I was back home).

If my stay in Deutschland was a respite from the harsh realities of my so-called ordinary life, then what a great escape it has been! (even without having witnessed a live World Cup game for which I had to content myself with snippets from BBC and CNN as the stupid cable stations here refused to carry the games for free...but that's another story)