I was planning to do my entry yesterday after coming back from our workplace. We had our Christmas party together with the other members of the Filipino community (Filcom for short) here in Beijing. Really planned to, but I was sooooo tired when I got home, so I am doing it today.
As I mentioned, we had the Filcom Christmas party yesterday. I attended the same party a couple of years ago, but back then, I was just a student living on a small stipend here in Beijing. This is technically my second Christmas away from home, but my first under the auspices of my posting.
It was also something I look forward to because there were Pinoys who put up their stalls, selling Pinoy food and goodies, shirts and the like. As a tradition, the Pinoy bands rendered their respective numbers, the Embassy personnel performed a Battle of the Brainless skit (as a backgrounder, there was a gameshow back in the Philippines called Battle of the Brains. Comedians made a spoof out of this gameshow and called it Battle of the Brainless, wherein all the contestants would give wrong answers and nobody guesses it right eventually. What makes it funny is that these 'contestants' really believe that their answers are correct. If you are able to understand Filipino culture, you'll find this hilarious), a Christmas carol contest, parlor games for kids and adults, and of course, a raffle with the grand prize of an round-trip ticket from Beijing to Manila and back!
As the bands performed, the audiences were moving to the beat of the music and made the hall all lively, hen renao as they say in Chinese.
Thankfully, the crowd was receptive to the Battle of the Brainless skit. But while preparing for it, I really wished that the earth would open up and I'd hide inside it during the duration of the performance. It's nice to be on stage, but of late, I've become more of a backstage kind of a person. But it's nice to be back in the limelight, once in a while. ;)
The parlor games went well, thank God. The kids were all eager to participate and were all looking forward to the goodies they will receive after winning the game. It was always nice to see whenever they play the "Bring Me" game. Everybody was scrambling just to find what they need to 'bring' the gameshow host. Then we had the games for the adults, which was also fun. The adults played a game we called "Pinoy Henyo", or Filipino genius in English. This is a game played in pairs. One will wear a hat with a word pasted to it. He/she needs to guess what that word is. To do so, he/she will ask questions answerable only by yes, no and maybe. His/her partner will be the one responding to the questions and the person wearing the hat will formulate the answer based on the answers to his/her questions. Sounds complicated? It's pretty easy. There's also a catch. The players are given 2 minutes to guess it, and the pair who were able to guess the word correctly in the least amount of time wins. Honestly speaking, eventhough I was not the one participating in the game, I had fun. I was glad to see the crowd cheering at the players as they went through the game. Tired as I was, I was smiling inside.
And we also had the Christmas caroling contest, which comprised of 4 groups. They sang melodiously and performed with much gusto. I was kinda pleased that we had a Christmas caroling segment. It gave people a chance to do and strut their thing during this time of the year. Besides, when they were singing Tagalog Christmas songs and the audience were singing to it. Busy as I was running around with errands and preparations and all, I remembered my aunt, whom we all call Ate, since she was the eldest of the siblings.
It's been 2 years since her passing. Happy as I am with the Yuletide season, it also brings in a sad feeling. Though she was not my mom, but I grew up with her in the same household for past 29 years of my life. She looked forward to Christmas, for Ate was the one who takes charge of decorating our house back in Manila. Every year, she would inject new ideas, additions on how our decorations were traditionally ornated or placed. She also had her specialty dish every Noche Buena. It has been 2 years. Our family have mourned and grieved her loss, moved on. We've accepted the fact that sad as we are for the loss, we also have to live our lives and be grateful that everyday, we get the chance to do what we weren't able to the day before, the chance to start over, realize our mistakes, make amends, take risks, love, get hurt, but love again.
Yes, it has been 2 years. Christmas is not the same, but this is also a chance for me to create my own memories of Christmas with my new life here in Beijing.
I don't know why, but I was just planning on writing about the Christmas party yesterday then all of a sudden, my writing shifted.
I dedicate the success and merriment of yesterday's event to Ate. She has always been supportive of me and my work.
'Til next time.
Carpe diem!
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