·· AFS Norway: Adventures and (Mis)adventures ··: 01.2007

Final Farewell

Mayauru the fairy lost her memory and lived alone in the forest. One day a girl happened to come by and they became friends. The girl called lots of friends and they all played happily but Mayauru wasn't human and aged slowly. The children grew up and eventually forgot about Mayauru. And then, the girl that she first met... was the only one left. But that girl grew up and wouldn't play with her anymore. Even so, the grown-up girl couldn't forget Mayauru and came back. Finally, Mayauru gave the lonely-looking girl a present. Words of farewell. Until then, people didn't know of the words of farewell. Mayauru was a farewell fairy. She'd forgotten that because it's painful to have nothing but farewells. The grown-up girl learned the words from Mayauru. And that girl who knew the words of farewell...? She became the world's kindest person. Shouldn't we just part with a smile? Sayounara.
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien
Last Episode

The time for farewells is finally upon me and I would bear it as happily as I could. Besides from the fact that it is inevitable, everyone knew right from the start that I am just a fleeting shadow -- just passing by;but nonetheless, they befriended me. Just like Mayauru, being an exchange student is like being a farewell fairy. First I said goodbye to my family, to my friends, to my life and went off to a land unknown. I've found myself a new family and met a lot of friends to play with, momentarily forgetting that I am a farewell fairy and that before I know it, I would be saying farewells all over again. This time, a farewell that just doesn't say "I'll see you later" but, mixed with the fear of the reality that can happen, "We'll never see each other again".

Farewells should not be "I'll never see you again" but rather "I had fun being with you" because if the words "I'll never see you again" wouldn't do anything to change your fate, it is just folly to do it.

This is my gift to you: my words of farewell.
Farewell that says "I had fun being with you"
Farewell that says "I am a better person after I met you"
Farewell that says "I will never forget you"
Farewell that says "You are always in my heart"
Farewell that says "Thank you for everything"
Farewell that says "I love you"

I am, but a fairy of farewells.
Shall we part then with a smile?

Good bye.
Paalam.
Ha det.
Sayounara.
Arrivederci.
Au revoir.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Adeus.
Adiós.
再见.

PS: for wrong translations, just send me a message.

January 2, 2007

Since then..

A lot has passed..
My sprained ankle..
Problems with my laptop..
Christmas Vacation..
Christmas itself..
Fireworks..
A New Year..

In the past 2 weeks, all I ever did was eat, eat and eat as part of the norwegian tradition of celebrating Christmas. Tradition is, prepare a feast and invite your friends and relatives. And an individual can just have so many relatives and friends. So, every dinner, a different place. I even got to drink sweet beer with almost no alcohol content, so, I liked it. Very much.

And under the influence of the Christmas season, my host family have been very nice. I got a dozen of gifts, majority are winter clothes, for Christmas. My host parents, usually my mom, said that "they're happy in me", their version of I love you, a couple of times. And I got to spend the dawn of a new year with my host brother. I guess, I can say, I've got a family here and the efforts are not mine alone. Both sides had sacrifices and adjustments. Materially, socially and emotionally. And, somehow, I can feel myself becoming more open to strangers but I'm more comfortable with the company of adults. Probably because I'm more grown up, inside, than most of people of my age, though I'm not saying that I am a grown up. I'm still a kid, I can't deny that. There's still a lot about life that I have to learn. Not only knowledge, but more importantly wisdom.

From now on, I would try to post more happy moments than sad. I would like to look at the silver lining of the cloud this time. If 2006 was full of sad posts, let's have a change, shall we?

In this New Year, I realized that there's not much that changes.. just numbers on the calender and days of the week. I don't need any new year's resolution because change is so constant, it's ordinary. I'll just go with the flow.. live my life as I ordinarily would and in the process, change, ever so little.

I am still who I am.. or at least, I want to be still..

I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
and have a Happy New Year!

Lessons Learned

Not only beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Everything is relative.

Do or do not. There is no try.
-- Luke Skywalker

Kung malalate kna lang din, lubos lubusin mo na!
-- Barkada motto

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.
--Doug Larson

He who devotes sixteen hours a day to hard study may become at sixty as wise as he thought himself at twenty.
--Mary Wilson Little

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
--Confucius

2 Years and 7 Months Changed Me. -- 16.03.2007 --

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
--Helen Keller

"As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape."
-- Sherwin Inacay

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people who you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, even if it doesn't seem right because you are too young or too far, just follow your heart. Surround yourself with those who make you smile, laugh, and make you happy. Break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.

·· AFS Norway: Adventures and (Mis)adventures ··

Final Farewell

January 2, 2007

Since then..

Who, me?

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