(Un)officially silent

Isn't it obvious, the title? I just have to write it here, to (un)officially declare that I might or might not be back to writing for a long time.

I have been silent for over a month, a first since I started this blog. There's no explanation other than the fact that I just don't want to write.

I'm back to reading this time. When I was constantly updating this blog, I was shoving books on shelves, banishing them to oblivion. I guess it's the other way around now. Now that I'm back to reading, it's the writing that has to be silent for an indefinite period of time.

Or maybe this isn't the only reason why this page's been so quiet. I'm also bored with blogspot. I wanted to give this page a new skin, a complete makeover so to speak, but I just don't want to spend time going through the process.

Oh, I'm hopeless when it comes to patience. It's never been my virtue-- not that I'm claiming to have some, haha.

Yeah, so it's me and the books these days, and music, too. I got a cool Walkman from Santa last Christmas so now I'm obssessed in filling its gigabytes to full capacity with my favorite music.

Enough blabbing. Whenever I'll feel the urge to blab and write some blahs again, I think I'll do it on my multiply account. Catch you there.

High. Busy. Duh

I'll write more after December 10. It's our big day at school-- Christmas play, projects, party with the parents all happening in one day. One week to go before the Day, I hardly have the time to pluck my eyebrows.

These days I bring home things to do for school. This drive to excel and this quest for perfection can be one's enemy. I just hate half-baked stuff. Everything has to be well done. The downside is I work myself to exhaustion.

To chill, I plug my headset and listen to music. Below is one song that always gives me a natural high.



Then I look at the table and see a pile of papers waiting for my attention. The high naturally descends and completely dissipates to oblivion.

Duh.

Resurrected

Hello world!

I'm still alive, just sooo lazy and really have nothing interesting to write about.

And my life these days is pretty much uninteresting, too. I go to work, I go to my Czech lesson, I see my friends now and then. It's pretty much the usual round-running-cycle-continual stuff.

Who could have thought equanimity can be boring? Well, it can, but I'm not complaining. That's basically why I've been absent here in blogosphere for so long-- because I have nothing to rant or complain about. I've been busy counting my blessings, hehe.

Anywho..

We have been scouring Prague for a flat for my sister. It's actually an interesting experience. You get to meet a lot of people, different people, and I mean different in every sense of the word. Come to think of it, flat hunting can probably be a way to improve someone's social life. I mean, if your social life is pretty much nonexistent, why not?

Expats.cz is a place for whatever you want to hunt in Prague. It's where I found my job. So now I'm lurking there so often hoping that we could find a flat for my sister. There are a lot of people advertizing for a flat-share and these people, ladies and gentlemen, can be very interesting.

How interesting? I'll probably save it for another post since it's a long tale to tell. I'm signing off now. Got a lesson to plan and a loooooong Czech homework to do.

Mysterious neighbor/s

We've moved into our new flat more than a year ago and I still haven't had the honor to see our neighbor/s' face, not even his/her/their/its shadow. At first I thought this particular unit was empty. I didn't even give it a single thought, but lately it started to become a mystery. I mean yeah, it's normal not to know your neighbors here. We didn't know them in our previous flat even when we lived there for two years. I wouldn't find it queer not seeing our new neighbors now if only; (a) the blinds weren't always down and (b) the lights weren't on every night.

With the lights on every night only means someone must be living there, but why are the blinds always down, as in day in, day out down? Even now when our laptop says 3:05 pm CET, his/her/their/ its blinds are strangely down.

Agoraphobic? Nah, that only means someone who's afraid to leave the house, and not someone who seems to be extremely afraid of daylight.

Calling Buffy. Maybe she has a job to do here?

Or maybe our neighbor is just another Boo Radley and I'm acting like another Scout Finch. With that said, I might as well take it, this whole thing about blinds and lights, as it is and mind my own business.

Toes, trek and Samaria

The pain in my big toes continues. I mean, seriously, it's been ages since Crete and my toes still have a hangover, big time. If you're interested to know the whole story, check out my multiply.

This morning the pain on my right big toe woke me up. Waitaminute, it's the left which has been such a pain, and now the other one is joining the wagon? Darnit, sometimes I wish the nails would just fall off so I could finally look at my shoes without feeling a tiny bit of dread. That's just the start. The main dreadful event is when I put on my shoes and walk on them---and in autumn when the temperature outside is getting chilly, there's just no way to bail out from shoes or boots.

This is Samaria National Park in Crete, Greece, home of really gorgeous gorges. I say you haven't been to Crete if you haven't trekked here.

A and I trekked for 6 hours, covering about 16 kilometers. It was mostly going downhill so the combination of wrong pair of shoes and not so short nails made my big toenails slowly die a very un-natural and painful death.

I remember I was near tears when we reached this part of the park. The pain was just so nagging it was too much to bear especially when I knew there was about six kilometers more to go. Still I stood there for a full minute forgetting about my toes, forgetting about the long and painful way ahead, and just being in the moment. I even managed to snap a picture of A.

It was beautiful there. So untouched and so tranquil. The only sound you'd hear is that of the stream's. I would still go there even if I knew I would kill my toes in the process.

So now two months after Samaria, I still walk with a bad bad baaaad limp and with a facial expression that seems like I'm suffering from chronic constipation. I wonder if it will ever end.

Fall

I just can't write. I don't want to write. My brains refuse to dictate words for my fingers to type. I'm hitting the phase when I just don't want to write anything. The funny part is, what am I doing here now?

One month since the schoolyear began and I'm hitting low point. I'm bored. There's nothing new at school anymore. I guess I shouldn't be saying that, it's only been a month since work started but seriously, I find myself constantly searching for a way to spice up my days just so I would have a reason to ignore boredom. Sometimes I think of my paycheck on the 15th. It's my first as a headteacher and it's kinda exciting but other than that, it's getting more and more difficult to get up in the morning.

Maybe it's just autumn. Maybe it's just hormones. I'm usually the most positive person you'll ever meet on earth, that is, except these days.

So I guess it's just autumn. It usually has this kind of effect on me. I'll let my emotions slide now and then but I know I need to get a grip on them soon, otherwise it would be self-indulgence, just a wasted way to indulge myself.

What's up?

I've been so swamped lately. There's my Czech lesson that's keeping me busy twice a week. It's been what, centuries since I took up something? The reverse role in the classroom is kinda strange for me. Not being in charge makes me feel somewhat helpless.

I chose it this way. If I had a private lesson, I could and I know I would, cancel the lesson whenever the little devil whispers at me to just chill at home or go somewhere else. I also wouldn't be pushed to learn. I mean, I couldn't care less if my teacher would find me slow, but being in a class, with ten other people who might think I'm hopeless, makes it too much for my ego to take. I gotta fear embarassment in order to learn.

I feel like I kid. I often kick my cohorts' feet whenever our teacher would ask me something and I didn't know the answer. Same with them. One guy from Turkey would poke my back with his pen whenever his brains refuse to switch to Czech. My life, ladies and gentlemen, is like this every Monday and Wednesday.

Speaking of brain-switching, my sister has been here in Prague since last week. Now I converse to someone in Surigaonon on daily basis. I don't mind, it's actually nice, but when I have to talk to husband in English then talk to sister in Surigaonon at the same time while I try to finish my Czech homework, I just get so mentally constipated.

So if you wont see me here often, blame it on constipation.