I went to school this morning to get my transcript, diploma and etc. My mother scolded me because it took her 4 hours just to get me out of my bed. I left home around 11:15 am, feeling drowsy with my lack of sleep and my upcoming cold. Nothing unusual happened on my way to school and I arrived around 12:00. Lunch Break.
I walked around looking for a familiar face, then I saw Roel exit Amici. He asked me if I've decided to be a teacher in our school, and I retorted with a firm 'NO.' He told me that Bong was at the Didacta, the CoE's faculty room. He said that he's a serious teacher - "Black is black, White is white... Walang kaibi-kaibigan." That's good he said, even if he scolded him and Jack once for making excessive noise.
I went up to the Didacta to check if Bong was there. I found Mr. Llorente instead. I really like that teacher bacause he always calls me by my first name. I asked him if Bong was around and he said that Bong was out for lunch. I'm not really used to talking with my instructors so I felt uncomfortable while thinking of a topic for conversation. My brain is a little anti-social so I just asked him how the CoE department was. "Fine, just as always." he said. But with the advent of the IT course, computer literate students were further divided into two groups. IT has garnered almost three sections he said, leaving only two sections for the CoE. Al-righty then. I just made up an excuse so that I can walk the other direction.
Then I heard Randel calling out to me. I walked towards him and as I reached the Student Council Office, the irritating Ilor Lescano got my attention and called me 'Elvin.' How many times do I have to tell him that I'm Neil, not Elvin! But who cares, I just passed by him and went to Randel. Randel was supposed to be our batch-mate but he had to stop for a year due to some reasons. He's now a graduating student facing the same problems we faced last year. He had also nothing to do so we lingered for a while in front of the SAC office. As I've anticipated, our conversation was about Bong being a teacher. He said that Bong is now one of the Jolliboys. Our CoE faculty members always eat at Jollibee at MP during lunch time. I had a first hand experience with that because I once worked for them as an on-the-job trainee. Randel is fun to talk with. We barely get to see each other so every time we meet, we have a lot of things to talk about.
After a few minutes, there they were, the Jollibee boys, walking towards the stairs to Didacta. I called Bong's attention and for respect, I greeted Mr. Barcenas who was walking with him. He returned to me a 'this-is-only-for-formality' nod. Okay, I know that the term there is 'plastic,' we're both good at it.
The other teachers walked on and Bong remained to talk with us. He said that it gets a little lonely at school when you go to places where we used to hang out. We've gotten used to seeing familiar faces everywhere we looked but now, no one is there. Now I know how it feels like to be an irregular student.
Bong's next class is at 12:30 and the registrar's office, which was my destination, will not open until 1:00. So, he invited me to 'sit-in' on one of his classes. It was a new subject called 'Coetech' for the first year students. That day, they were going to install Red Hat Linux. Dammit! We did that only last semester! I had a hard time sitting-in because I didn't know how to act around the class. Of course, I had to treat Bong as a professional so that his students would respect him. I'm not used to that so I just went out to do whatever I went there for.
But first, I decided to eat at Amici. I bumped onto Boogie along the way and just like Randel, we barely see each other so we had a lot to talk about. I ate the not-so-cheap spaghetti and he ate the very expensive rice meals. We were classmates during high school so Bong wasn't our only topic for conversation. He also learned that Medel's father had just recently died. Medel is a former classmate and one of Blue Arden's friends. Boogie said that he also did not attend the wake because he was afraid of Medel's appearance. Medel is a cross-dresser now.
Carpio then arrived to sit with us. He's also one of my classmates in high school. I was really awkward because I forgot Carpio's first name, and to think that he used to be one of my closest friends in high school. Anyway, I told them that I've got to get my clearance signed so I have to get going.
The process of collecting signatures was a breeze. I could have done it faster if Mr. Silvano did not stall me. As I asked him to sign the form, he said that he doesn't feel like signing the form and he wants me to sing for him to sign it. Or five-hundred pesos would do, he added. Then he asked me why I did this process so late, he was curious and he asked if I have a job already. I told him the truth and he was really surprised. Why just now? Well, I told him that my father suffered a mild heart attack so I had to delay everything. That was partly true. My father really did have a mild heart attack but that wasn't the reason why I haven't got a job yet.
After acquiring all the signatures needed for my form, I returned it to one of the registrar's assistant and she told me that I have to go back after one week. Now all my plans are ruined. If I had my TOR today, I can go job hunting on Thursday as planned. Disappointed, I went back to Bong's class.
The Linux installation was almost finished. They were at the process of copying the files so they have nothing to do for a very long time. That is when I had a conversation with Bong. He told me that our class should get together sometime before we totally go our separate ways. He proposed to go to Libis. Of course, I objected because I haven't got a job yet and I haven't got money. I suggested that those who already have jobs should treat the less fortunate classmates. Then we agreed that Francis would be the one to pay first. I wonder how much money the school will give Bong. He said that he also doesn't know yet. He has not signed a contract with the school and he had just received his time card. What the school gave him for his services last month was a measly allowance for food and transportation, not 17 thousand as I've heard. Anyway, on the 15th, he'll get his first paycheck. I'm sure that it's not lower that 15 thousand pesos.
It was already 3:45 and his class should have ended at 3:30. He also told me that his next class was at 3:30. Bong already has a reputation of 'the teacher who would consume all the time available.'
To my suprise, Mede (Potpot), barged in on Bong's class. He and Bong are not that close so I was wondering what he was doing there. He said that he heard that I was there and he probably came to pester me. Mede is always fast in getting news. Almost everyone on my class know that. He'd get news faster than the actual people concerned. I think he's psychic. As always, upon meeting me, he would trash my poor cell phone and he'd insult me by making me realize that I'm wasting my life. He said that I should get a job already. Hey, it's only been a month since graduation! I don't want to commit to a job I don't like. Then, as usual, he'd make a scandal. He said out loud that no one in that classroom was able to finish the simple task that Bong asked them to do. A group of students became conscious and tried to finish their task, further extending their class to 4:00. Then, as we were about to leave, rain poured really hard. Mede said that he could have been at his house already if it wasn't for me. Worse still, he made Kim wait for him downstairs and now both of them can't go home. Okay, blame me.
Bong asked us to sit-in on his next class which was Circuits 1, but we decided not to. Kim called my name out loud as he saw me go down the stairs with Mede. He was with Boogie and Jucutan. Jucutan is an intelligent lower year student as told to me by Elvin and Popoy. I get to talk to Jucutan more often when I'm at Don Bosco because he's one of the few familiar faces left there. Also, Ryan Magsumbol and Rica saw me, and as if on instinct, they shouted out loud 'TIIIIM DUNCAAAN!' in an impression of an NBA announcer.
I sat at the table were Kim and Boogie sat. Then Kim asked me to teach him Java. Kim always asks help from me regarding programming languages. I used to teach him Turbo C and Assembly Language programming but unfortunately, this time, I can't offer my services because I only know a little about Java. I felt guilty because I know that he thinks that I was lying just to avoid teaching him. He knows that he's not the fastest learner and maybe he thinks that that irritates me. But that's not it. I really don't know Java and I'm really lazy to review what I know. Afterwards, another conversation about Bong surfaced. Don't worry Bong, nothing bad was said behind your back.
The rain was still pouring hard so we can't leave the campus yet. Kim and Mede decided to eat and they took me along with them. I didn't eat because I have no money left. All of my money went to the processing fees which I had to pay the registrar. I kept myself busy while they were eating by texting Aris about my video card. I had to get it ASAP. Unfortunately, he won't be home until 8:00 pm so I told him to don't mind it.
The rain subdued and we decided to get going before it rains again. Mede stayed at Amici and Kim and I disturbed Bong's class just to tell him that we were leaving. Mede remained at Amici, Bong was teaching Circuits 1, Jucutan was with the guy who wears formal clothes, Kim went to Pasig to report to his girlfriend, and I went home.
Behold, a tiring day in the life of a squid.