Skin

(In which I found something perfect.)

***

I rode the jeepney to the G-liner bus terminal. As soon s I got myself comfortably seated, I bade my mom goodbye like I always do. I sat up and listened to the song being played on the jeepney’s music player. The presentation of the song wasn’t s serious as its theme. The song was a sad one – about a failed relationship and broken promises.

As the song draws nearer to the end, my sad expression gradually turned into a smile. That song! I knew it! Oh gosh why didn’t I think about it during the time when I was looking for songs to comfort me? Damn, I feel so connected to the song that I have to cover my face with a hankie to hide my big smile. I should have heard this long before. It’s just perfect. I hope X can hear this – and understand this. But it’s just too bad that the pain X has left me was not skin deep.

Skin
Grin Department

I
Lagi na lang tayong nagaaway
Sa walang kwentang bagay…
Lahat ng tao ay pinagseselosan
Kahit na alam niyang itoy kausap lang

II
Love dont you know..
Mahal na mahal kita
Di mo lang alam…
Tl ako sayo…
Sa twina…
Will always…
Love you….wooooooo
Will always !!

(Chorus)
Bakit kailangan pang mangyari ang isang katulad nito….
Diba’t ang sabi mo ako lang ang true love mo yun pala…
Ay di totoo…hoooooo

III
Akoy mayroong nalaman,
Itoy tungkol sayo
Nang aking malaman…
Akoy na-shock sayo!
Sa twina….haaaaaaaa
Long la la la la la long la la la la la la long long li long long…..story !!

(repeat chorus)

VI
Goodbye nalang sayo
Split nalang tayo!
Salamat sa mga date natin
Salamat sa mga trip natin
Salamat din sa mga sulat mo…
Susunugin ko!
Salamat din sa nagsabing my shota….ka na….palang…..iba….haaaaaaa

(Bridge)
Hi ho hi ho
Skin lagot kayo!
Hi ho hi ho
Ohh mahal ang panget mo!
Iderma mong muka mo
Kiskis mo sa aspalto
(repeat 3x)

Lyrics from http://songslyrics.selaplana.com/songs/opm/skin-grin-department/

So Far…

(In which I realized that I’m not a very bad student after all.)

***

I’m 21. And I’ve been a sucker for Life’s hardest spanks for as long as I can remember. That statement wasn’t written for effect. Seriously.

And for the last 13 years or so, I’ve learned several things (They might sound foolish and you might have learned them your own way but I’m still writing them though.) that show how well I know Life’s lessons but not quite as well as how much they should have made me wiser.

Anyway, at least I’m not that ignorant.

So far, I’ve learned…

That five-year-old kids shouldn’t use scissors without an adult’s guidance.

That drinking milk is important.

That you shouldn’t watch another kid play while feeding the dog.

That listening to instructions carefully is a must – especially during a district quiz bee.

That principals aren’t so concerned about your feelings that they can even announce how stupid you are for failing to listen to instructions carefully during a district quiz bee in front of ALL the other students on a flag ceremony.

That in high school, having your chairs arranged in a circle is a very interesting, if not the most effective, seating arrangement.

That wearing glasses increases your chances of being friendless and misunderstood.

That joining a brass band means more than having music lessons.

That it’s better not to be with your younger sister in the same brass band.

That the chance of not ending up with your first boyfriend is very huge.

That Elton John was right when he said that honesty is such a lonely word.

That rockers could also be softies.

That some professors aren’t as professional as what they are supposed to be.

That you can surprisingly be at your best under pressure.

That algebra isn’t big enough to keep you from being on top.

That friends are chosen.

That no matter how smart you are, you are never smart all the time.

That at times, the worst decisions we make are the ones that seemed to be well-thought and well-planned.

That the belief about “men are wolves and women are foxes” isn’t always true. It could be the other way around.

That Koreans believe that you can die when you sleep with the fan on.

That entering a relationship is a gamble. And when you engage in a gamble, be ready to lose.

That in a relationship, courtship is the best part.

That even if a man is very nice and sweet doesn't mean he can make you happy.

That a right love at the wrong time is still wrong.

That the one who promises doesn’t know what a promise is.

That at times, even if men’s promises sound suspicious, women still believe.

That age does not justify maturity.

That you can cry over a breakup with your mouth open in front of your mom and don’t feel bad about it.

That crying isn’t equal to vulnerability.

That no matter how much you wanted to curse the ones who broke your heart, you just can’t because you can’t hate them.

That you can be cold to people you don’t like yet you wonder why some people are cold to you.

That no matter how much you wanted to give someone you love their happiness, it is never easy to give them their freedom from you.

That loving means letting someone go.

That letting go is braver than holding on.

That I am not brave.

Twister

(In which my last resort turned out to be a hit.)

***

Friday. It was the day when my students Mikey and Bangs will be going to Boracay with other students. They look happy and excited that Bangs even took her Friday test last Thursday in anticipation for the weekend hangover from Bora. Yet I doubt their decision of going on a trip on this kind of weather. With the doubt comes envy. I need a vacation too. So two students going away means several hours of additional sleep. That will do.

But the night before the trip, I received a text message saying that they cancelled their trip because of the weather. I bade goodbye to my several hours of additional sleep. That’s not a very big problem really. But the thing is I didn’t prepare an exam for Mikey since he asked to be given a test on Monday. And great thanks to my work schedule, I barely had time to enjoy dinner.

So I did something for Mikey first thing the next morning. I thought of giving him tongue twisters on the sounds he is having the most difficulty. His face twitched when he saw me with the papers, thinking that they were test papers.

“Exam? But you told me on Monday!” he said, trying hard to make me understand how important was the promise I broke.

“No. They’re tongue twisters.” I replied.

“Ahh.. Okay”

After some mouth stretching, we started off with… yeah, Peter Piper - our dear friend from the elementary school who never got tired of picking pickled peppers and packs of papers.

The student from the other room seemed so curious about our chants which are oozing with P’s and occasional F’s that she asked her teacher about it. A moment later, while we were chanting how the flea and the fly flew through the flaw in the flue, I heard her saying something about the girl who sells seashells by the seashore. When the bell rang, I went back to the room where I conduct phone classes to check on my e-mail. When I went out, I saw, much to my surprise and gladness, a bunch of students chanting where the pickled pepper Peter Piper picked was and that Laura and Larry rarely lull their rural roosters to sleep.

At least I did something interesting today.