" VIVA PIT SENYOR! " SHOUT IT OUT LOUD !!

The child saint, Sr. Sto. Niño, is the reason behind this very wonderful celebration, Sinulog. Sinulog is a fiesta celebration every 3rd Sunday of January every year. This is to give thanks for the blessings that the child saint gives us. We call the Sr. Sto. Niño as "The Miraculous Child" because of the protection he provides to our province, Cebu. Many people believe that his miraculous power  protects our province from catastrophe. That is the reason why many people are now devotees of the child saint.

The celebration is felt from the 2nd week of the month. Different activities are presented in the Fuente Osmeña Circle every night until the 3rd Sunday of the month.

Many people from the provinces and cities of the country come to be part of the celebration. Some of them sleep in what we call "The Devotee City". This is a place where the government provides shelter for those devotees who came all their way from their provinces. They are also provided foods while they're here in the city.

This year, the number of people who celebrated and witnessed the Sinulog was estimated to be more or less a million. This composes of the country people and foreigners, who came to be part of the event. An event where everyone wears their different tattoos on their body, different color dyes on their hair, different costumes and their big smiles.

 

The celebration also involves the Sinulog dance, which is performed by representatives of different schools and provinces. This is their way of giving thanks to the Señor Santo Niño.

So, if you happen to come in the Philippines, don't forget the biggest fiesta celebration of the country. SINULOG ! Only here in Cebu. :D

Credits to the photographer: Maricor Villarojo. thanks. :)

My First Foreign Interface

Anxiety and excitement. These feelings immediately struck me when our instructor, Mr. Jayson Patalinghug, informed us about our activity for the day(Jan.7,2012). And yes, it is to have our first foreign encounter, but not just ordinary foreigners, they are Koreans. Yes, Koreans. We all know that they are one of those few who has this fair-white skin and lovely faces which some of us are envy of. But, enough of that. Anyway, I felt anxious of what would happen in that activity. I was worried that my performance will not be what they expect from me. That my language will be corrected knowing that they are from outside the country and are here to study English. At the same time, I felt excited, since it would be my first time to have a real conversation to a foreign one. Mixed feelings rumbled inside me. But, still I thought of positive things about the activity. Eric was the guy I was assigned to talk to. Yu Ji Woong is his Korean name. He's six-feet tall(I guess!) and his eyes are cute. When we started our conversation, the mixed feelings I felt began to fade. My expectation about him and his classmates was somewhat wrong. Knowing that they are here to study English, English language acquisition is maybe hard for them especially, now that they are grown-ups. When he started to talk, I found it hard to understand him. He struggled speaking in English but, still he tried his best to be understood of the things he tried to tell me. As we talked for minutes, I felt confident and comfortable. We exchanged details about ourselves and I found out some things about him. He's 23 years young and was born on 2nd of Dec. 1988. He's a 1st year Civil Engineering student in Chong Yang College in South Korea. He takes up that course in his own choice. They are five in the family. His mother is a housekeeper but I think he meant housewife. He has two brothers and the older one is in Manila and is studying. It's his 3rd time in our country, actually. He was here for vacation on his first time. He doesn't do recreational activity that much. When he's vacant, he spend most of his time with the computer. He's not fun of surfing the internet, rather he's fun of playing online games. He sometimes go out and hang-out with his friends. They drink and swim a little. His favorite food is fried chicken. And that was shocking because I was expecting it would be a Korean dish. Blue is his favorite color. His favorite actress is Kim Tae Hee, whom I do not know. There are lots of things I asked him but, he must have misunderstood some of my questions. Sadly, he was not able to answer some of my questions, too. I believe it was hard for him to understand and there are things that I also found difficult to understand on his words. But it was okay. At least we got to know each other. Knowing a person like him and his classmates is a rare thing. I felt glad that we are chosen for that activity. I realized that acquiring the English language is a bit hard for them. I realized, being an English teacher is not easy especially, when you're teaching a foreign one. I was thinking that it must be a bit difficult for an English teacher to teach alone and without knowledge of their mother tongue. I'm still looking forward of knowing Eric and his friends. Me and my classmates are excited for our next meeting! Sarang hom ni da Korean friends :D