touring thai

April 21, 2008 ~ Monday ~ 8:08 PM
Wondering if I behaved appropriately

Ophelia,

If it’s true that life begins at seventeen and my first actions as a full-fledged teenager foretell the rest of my life, then perhaps there’s a wealth of fun in store for me. Earlier this afternoon, I was walking out of the College of Music, determined to claim a nook in the park where I could start on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when this old lady with a digicam asked me for directions to the library. After a bit of complicated gesturing and hopeless mumbling of probably incoherent directions, I looked at her and asked myself if she actually understood what I was saying. Leaning slightly to the answer “no”, I offered (graciously, I should hope) to escort her to her apparent destination.

Imagine my shock when she said, “Okay, let’s get into the car.”

Of course, the phrasing was considerably less straightforward, but my shock was still quite immense. I was even more surprised (yet slightly excited) when she introduced me to her fellow visitors from Thailand. Okay. Let me get this straight. I’m expected to tour a group of eager tourists around the university? I’ve never done this before! I was therefore quite unsure on how to deal with her relatives, so when Miss Pim (for that was the lady’s name) asked me if I wanted to go to the restroom, I immediately jumped on the opportunity.

Thank God I did, because it was during our sojourn to the bathroom that I learned the vital details of that afternoon’s event. It appeared that she was a Business Administration student in my current school forty years ago. It also turned out that she had the luxury of touring around in a beautiful car because on of her relatives was staying in the Philippines for a reason I probably shouldn’t state for fear of getting into trouble. Most importantly, it turned out she had quite a lengthy list of ‘places to visit’ that afternoon.

So we hopped into the car (the driver turned out to be a blessing in disguise ~ a Bisaya just like myself) and began ticking off her list one by one. I actually had fun pointing out the numerous buildings to the guests, even adding a bit of history for some of them. Of all the places we visited, they seemed quite enraptured by the Engineering Building. They even had the youngest member of their group pose for pictures on those imposing stairs. It turned out he was a second-year student back home, and he was considering the idea of studying in the Philippines. Engineering, of all things.

Probably one of the highlights of my afternoon was seeing two college girls giving said young man ‘the eye’ and murmuring “Ang gwapo niya!” to themselves. Out of the corner of my eye, I actually saw one of them pulling out a digicam and aiming to freeze his pose in some place other than her memory. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), he moved just as she was about to do the deed. Fascinating, Filipino girls are. A rarity, I assure you.

Other places we visited include Miss Pim’s former dormitory, the swimming pool, and the shop where I got the umbrella that amused the family so much. To cap the afternoon, they had their own version of a food trip, and, before one of our school’s numerous dirty ice cream carts, we said our goodbyes. Thus was the culmination of my third afternoon as an official seventeen year old.

As I’ve told Miss Pim, I found the experience very enriching. Even though my parents would probably flay me alive for talking to and touring strangers, I wouldn’t want to have spent my afternoon any other way. True, I’m a bit too reckless and trusting, but I’ve had enough of cooping up in my dorm room and laughing my head off at entertaining albeit socially debilitating Harry Potter fan fiction. As the line from Dead Poets Society goes, “Carpe Diem. Make your lives extraordinary.” I plan to achieve just that.

Your tour guide in training,
Beaple Leone Michaelmas

P.S. I saw my former roommate this afternoon. Realized I miss my freshman year terribly, lousy grades and all. The friends I’ve made are worth the academic difficulty. Always.