As I was looking for some documents that I made for another Filipina colleague, I accidentally stumbled upon my Daily Journal. The one that I had prior to this blogsite. I thought to myself that I would not open it, since I didn't have enough time to prepare for work early tomorrow morning, but I just couldn't resist it. As I openned the first page, I slowly read again what I wrote there almost two years ago.
September 18, 2002
Tonight, the idea of having a journal came to my mind. It doesn’t have to be a daily journal, like some sort of a diary, but something that of a notebook for everytime my mind doesn’t stop working. PURPOSE?
1. To clear my mind of things that are too unnecessary to keep there.
2. To prepare myself for a good night’s rest.
3. To have a better feeling the following morning???? Questionable…since I have not done this kind of theraphy... but hopefully it should work. Normally, I would just sit/ stand in front of a mirror and then start talking to myself.
4. To record things that may be important some day…..PERHAPS!!!!
So, here goes:
It’s been nine (9) months since I first came to Germany. I arrived here December 1, 2001 with my husband MGS. He has been relocated back home due to his new job. Still with the same company, but with a different task … as you would call it. We used to live in Brussels, Belgium. We stayed there for three years. Actually, It was there where I met my husband. There, I was quite happy since I had my two sisters there with me. Not to mention my aunt who is married to a Belgian national …..who also happened to be my original sponsor to get to Europe.
So, back in Germany, first we moved to a little town called Eschborn. We stayed there for two and a half months. The problem was, the flat was too small for us. We couldn't even unpack all of our things because we didn't have any extra place to put them. So, we decided to move to a place outside of Frankfurt. It didn't take us long to find another place to reside in. We moved to Altenstadt, another small town about 30 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt. Since we, my husband & I , each have cars, distance does not seem to be a big problem for us. We decided that having a house far from the busy Frankfurt is the best for us. The good part was that, not only was the house bigger than the one we had in Eschborn, it is also much cheaper.
After the move, we decided to find a school for me to learn the German language. This was quite difficult since we found out that to go to school here costs a lot of money. It is all so very expensive that it took a while for us to find a school for me. Finally, with some help from the colleagues of ML's, we found a private institution. They have really good teachers, still a little expensive, but the teaching method is good.
My first day of school, January 7, 2002 was for me really exciting. It was like going to school back in the old days. I drove to school though, early enough so that in case I miss a turn, I would still be on time for the class. As it turned out to be, I did miss a turn. Fortunately, I found the building fast enough. I still had 15 minutes to walk around the area where the school was.
Boy, was I the happiest, when I also found a shop a block away from the store, owned and managed by a Filipina married to a German national. I found out that it is a Filipino store from the six or seven little Philippine flag stickers on the window of the shop. Of course, the name I got from the pamphlet that was sticked to the door of the shop. It said:”P-B Door to Door Delivery Service manager/owner: MPB”, (I have to put the initials since I did not ask her if I can publish her name on the net). The shop opens normally at 10:00 a.m., so It was still closed when I found it. I promised to myself that I would go back after class to meet the owner. Perhaps ask a question or two.
12:10 exactly, I walked in on that shop on that cold January day. Not knowing that the same place would become my second home someday. Second home, since I would then be watching the store for the owner, whenever she had to go to the Philippines, either for business or pleasure purposes. But most of the time, it is because of business.
I introduced myself to M. a bit shyly of course. The Filipino SHY attitude. The owner was a little bit hesitant at first. She didn’t say much to me. Just gave me answers to questions that were probably too obvious for her but foreign for me. But she was also nice. I also rented video tapes which they seem to have plenty of. Plus, I got some Filipino stuff that I missed so much. I promised to be back the following day to return the tapes that I borrowed. From then on, until now, 9 months later, I still go to the shop almost everyday. Some weeks I go to help in the shop. Some days I just stay there while waiting for my husband to finish work, then we go home together.
From the people there, I began to feel at ease in Frankfurt, Germany. I met MBP. Another Filipina also married to a German national. She had her own Filipino shop in another city called Giessen, also here in Germany. But she closed it a year before I met her. MBP can become a frequent character in this journal, simply because for some months now, we became close to each other. Perhaps even closer than with MPB. Then I met Jo. A young girl from Iloilo. Jo is the type of girl who just sits and watches you…for some time… before she will open up to you. But the most thing that I noticed about her is that she is very much similar to my sister Iza. In every way. That’s probably why, I felt close to her as well. I openned up to her like she is my younger sister. With MBP, it is more like a friend of the same age, although she is much older than I am, and of the same level of way of thinking. It seems like we are so much tuned in to each others likes, dislikes, roles in our family life in the Philippines, and so on.
I will continue this part of the journal later. I just need to type something else so as I don’t forget it later.
******
Sadly, Jo went back to the Philippines for good sometime early 2003. MBP just left also for good to the Philippines yesterday. MPB and I somehow lost contact with each other after she closed her shop. I also got busy with work which is why I hardly see her now.
For clarification: these are not the people who I mentioned in my previous entry The Reason's Why...". Although, I did meet those mentioned in the entry through the shop & through MPB.