DeJa Vu

Never in my wildest dreams I ever thought of being a full time student again until now. I had only 2 jobs, plus my practicum, my whole life. I was a public servant, which was a charity thing because I did not earn any money from it; and a Brand Associate/International Business Developer for Naturale Labs. Inc in the Philippines and Thailand. My practicum is being an Educator.

I dedicated all efforts in my line of work and I learned things the hard way.

Now in China, I decided that I will be a full time student. I will try to relax and focus on Mandarin and enjoy life again as a student. You see, as a college student I was very busy that I never had much free time. I took a double degree course and joined the student council and then party at night. I had to endure the pain of having and defending 2 theses at the same week and consecutive days.

Now in Shanghai, I had too much free time. I have classes at 8 in the morning and finish at lunchtime. After that, I do whatever. Play basketball, watch movies, etc. I am living the life of a kindergarten student.

Then I got bored!

I had too much time that I need to do something other than studying Mandarin. I am a practical person. I was never a theoretical, orthodox or whatever person. I am practical and carefree. I want to do things when I want, what I want and the easiest and fastest way possible.

I also need to be busy. My college days are catching up to me now. Whenever I am not busy, I am restless. I go out. Meet people try to learn from their cultural heritages, their stories, their successes and their failures. I hanged out with a Chinese business man, a Singaporean businessman, Thai writer. These people are more than twice my age. I was drinking with them, talking to them and learning their ways.

I felt like I am back in Thailand, doing business with big guns again. People testing my knowledge. People testing my might. People testing if I know what I am talking about. The feeling I love most is when you earn someone's respect. And despite the language barriers, somehow, someway I get it from them.

They do not talk to me like a 23 year old kid. They never tell me you are like my son. They always refer to me as their friend. At the end of each conversation I get a business card. I get their names, contact details and all of those things. Sometimes I don't expect them to remember me since we were drinking but they do. I get a call in the morning from them thanking me for something that I helped them with. It melts my heart to hear such things and even boost my confidence to speak up to these "made" people.

Its DeJa Vu all over again... I am beginning to love it here now... It exceeds my expectations... Good thing I have free time!