Spring break

I recently discovered some unexpected challenges in my graduate school funding. It turns out that I have a whole summer (2010) without any funds -none from Fulbright and none from the university. My Fulbright grant terminates in Spring 2010, which leaves me with a whole summer and a semester without their support. I am still negotiating with Fulbright to extend some funds for me until summer 2010 even if I am not enrolled in courses, especially since the grant supposedly covers two academic years. Although Fall 2010 will require a lot of belt tightening, it will be a bit easier since I still have a graduate assistantship that will cover my tuition fee and half of my regular stipend.

For a couple of days, I have been waking up with a killer headache from spending restless sleep during which I am still constantly thinking of a solution.The practical part of me tells me to cancel all of my planned travels and activities and just save as much as I could in preparation for next year. However,I know that these travels also enrich me personally, academically and even professionally, and have been sources of inspiration for some of my projects.

And so, I finally purchased my tickets to New York City today. I will still exercise smart spending (as I always do) but will not let this impede learning opportunities. I am exploring other possible sources of funding for 2010 and looking at possibilities of engaging in a paid internship at a museum (which still requires approval from Fulbright). If worse comes to worst, I will give up my apartment in Florida and ask a friend to adopt me for the whole summer in exchange for a baby sitter, cook, arts and crafts teacher, researcher, graphic designer, photographer etc. for three months!

I recently told a friend, "Don't stress too much, it will all work out in the end, sometimes even better than you hoped or ever imagined." It's time I heed my own advice! I will consider this trip to New York as my reward for an excellent first semester! :)

Writing Great Resumes

A couple of years back, my Kuya (who is a voracious reader!) sent me an ebook entitled "Job Interviews That Get You Hired".The book was a good read, easy on the eyes and came with a lot of useful suggestions.


But what made me a fan of this book was its chapter on writing great resumes. According to the book, "The biggest mistake most people make in writing resumes is focusing on job responsibilities, instead of emphasizing accomplishments on the job." After reading the book, I gave my CV a complete make over!

I realized that when applying for a job or even a scholarship (yes I used some techniques from this book on my Fulbright application!), it makes a difference when we package or position ourselves in a certain way so our application stands out from the rest of the crowd. As the old adage says "always put your best foot forward" and this holds true even for your CV. 

Click here to download a copy of the book. But if you prefer reading a hard copy, you can order one from Amazon for about 12$.

Below is the link to Learning Express, which offers hundreds of other ebooks on a wide range of topics:

http://www.learnatest.com/LearningExpressEBooks/


I promise to write about my Fulbright, ACC and other scholarship application experience soon. For the meantime, enjoy exploring the site and what it has to offer!

Baked Italian Chicken

I use to cook this dish for my sister a couple of years back. Last week, during lunch, I was discussing my meal plans for the week and my friend suggested I bake the Italian Chicken. And so I did. Turns out that it tastes better and was a big hit among my friends when I had them try it at last night's dinner.

Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Chicken Fillet

2 cans crushed tomato (or Ragu spaghetti sauce)

1/4 cup minced onions

2 table spoons of vegetable oil

1 cup grated four cheese mix (Kraft has 5 cheese mix, I got mine from Publix)

salt, ground black pepper, sugar, italian herbs and chili pepper flakes


Procedures:

1. Fry chicken strips in a skillet until meat turns white. Before meat is cooked, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Do this on both sides

2. Set aside and place on a paper towel to drain oil

3. Saute onion in a sauce pan then add tomatoes

4. Stir occasionally then season with salt, pepper, sugar, and chili pepper flakes

5. Simmer until sauce thickens. Sprinkle Italian herbs a few minutes before turning off the heat

6. While waiting for sauce to be done, start lining the baking pan with the chicken strips. I usually do one layer of meat for easy serving

7. Once sauce is cooked, pour over chicken. Make sure you cover all the meat. It would be nice if you have more sauce because this will dry up a bit once you pop it in the oven

8. Sprinkle cheese on top making but leave half of the cheese for later

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes

10. Add remaining cheese 5 minutes before serving


I use to eat this with rice, but having bread or pasta, also sound delicious!

Enjoy and let me know how it turns out once you have tried it!

Relationships

I was just exchanging messages via Facebook with a friend of mine based in Germany. I never met him since he has already moved to the DHL Global Office when I arrived at the DHL Asia PAcific Regional Office in Singapore. But nevertheless, we have kept in touch even now that I have moved on from the big red and yellow company.
He just commented on how amazing the power of Facebook is because he found a classmate from college probably from my friends list . And I agree, I think the internet, networking sites and chat programs have revolutionized how we create and cultivate relationships with other people now.

When I woke up this morning, I suddenly thought of these Dutch (twins) friends of mine who have been my online buddies since 1999. In the nine years that we've been "friends", we've exchanged e-mails, letters, cards, spoke online and kept very well updated on what's happening with each of our lives (well, they live together as they are brothers so that's easy for them). But we have never ever had the chance to meet in person... not yet at least.

They are planning to visit Manila this December to meet up with their other Filipino friends. Sadly, I won't be there to see them. If I continue with my plan to go to Europe (keeping my fingers crossed) next summer, they won't be there either because they plan to spend a year traveling in Asia. But no worries, I'm sure we'll still be in touch, that's what the internet is for right? And eventually we will get to see each other and fulfill my dream of running across fields of tulips in the Netherlands hahaha - they will serve as my look-outs for angry farmers with pitchforks!

California for Christmas

It's final - I'm going to California for Christmas!!!

After hours of hunting for the best price online (and with lots of help from Keso and Mynen), I finally purchased my ticket this morning.Since I cannot fly to Manila this Christmas, this is the closest to "home for Christmas" I could get - spending it with very dear friends.

Copy paper

Last night I was talking to Carmel and we were discussing some words we use in the Philippines and their counterparts here in the American English language. You see, it's quite common for Filipinos to use the most popular brands of products as names of the items. For example, "cutex" for nail polish, "frigidaire" for refrigerator, "mighty bond" for super/ instant glue, or "xerox" for photocopy, just to name a few.

Add in the fact that I have to unlearn the British English terms (i.e. lift- elevator, rubbish- trash, serviette- table napkin, queue- line-up, torch- flashlight) I picked-up while I was living in Singapore for almost a year, Carmel predicted that I would eventually get blank stares when I look for some items here. Good friend that she is *sarcasm*, we went through (with her laughing throughout the whole conversation) a list of common items that are called differently in the US. 

Bond paper - Copy paper

Ballpen - pen

Pentel pen - marker

Stabilo - highlighter

Liquid paper - wipe out

Feminine napkin - sanitary pad

Oslo paper - card stock (although this probably not accurate)

Mighty Bond - crazy glue

Long bond paper - legal copy paper

Short bond paper - letter copy paper

Folder - manila folder

post it - sticky notes

Back to school...

I attended my first class as a graduate student today.

So how did it go? I suppose it went pretty well. I did not feel "lost" as I feared I would considering that the last class I attended was over a decade ago. It seems that working for the past 10 years, six years at the Ayala Museum, three years at the Robinsons Children's Library and then an 11-month internship at DHL as a Regional Internal Communications Coordinator, are of tremendous benefit. Due to my work experience at the museum, plus my Fellowship from ACC, the topics in my classes no longer feel "alien" to me. And I tell you, it feels good to be able to relate in class.

Furthermore, taking my time to figure out what I really want to specialize in has made it so much easier to identify courses I would like to take to complete my program- much to my adviser's delight. And because of Fulbright, I even have a thesis topic already ( a research proposal is one of the many requirements for application). Not that the topic is set in stone as it may evolve as I progress thought my degree, but it gives me a head start in exploring possibilities and opportunities.

I have classes on all day Monday and Wednesday evening. This will allow me to explore volunteer opportunities at museums here in Gainesville, which will add further dimension to the overall learning I am going to get during my graduate degree.

I am so excited about my classes. All three of them are equally interesting. During my Museum Registration Methods class today, I had to literally tell myself to limit my comments to a minimum lest I give the wrong impression to my classmates or Professor of monopolizing the discussion!

Looks like I'm off to a good start!