I barged inside the almost bare McDonalds in De Soto Avenue. The first thing I noticed was my friend Trina on the counter, with her unusually loud voice greeting the customers. She beamed when she saw me come in. I have only been here twice, always ordering McFlurry and French Fries. I'm planning to repeat that routine today, even as my conscience is silently being tortured by guilt since I haven't exercised for a week -- totally opposite from what my family probably thinks I'm doing.
Click to enlarge. And so I discovered Instragram. Haha!
I have now been here in California for two months, and it's been great for me, relatively. I am so positive that any other international student moving alone to the United States, or any other country, would be experiencing emotional breakdowns at this time, or at most, maybe they're already recovering. But I was prepared for this. Well, except for the last minute crying at the airport because I wasn't able to hug my mom before I left, and those times I almost always resorted to dating sites because I was totally alone at my house, and I haven't had friends at that time. But I'm okay now.
Before coming here, I asked God to prepare me and my environment, and give me great friends. Lo and behold, there was divine intervention. A girl named Czarlene read my tweet about UCLA and decided to befriend me at Twitter while I was still in the Philippines. I hate to admit it, but sometimes Twitter can be helpful. Next thing I know, Spring Semester starts, and I've got buttloads of friends on Day 1 at Pierce. They were all Filipinos, and they were like a call for me to come back to earth -- figuratively, that is. There's just something about getting together with people of your own race in a foreign land. And I don't even have to worry because Filipinos are everywhere (LOL). Somehow, the idea of being with a set of people who are naturally cheerful with voices you can hear even if you are 20 feet away is comforting -- like a dose of anti-loneliness-and-depression mantra you should give yourself if you're walking in a labyrinth and you start losing yourself. But that doesn't apply to some Filipinos. I get a sudden flash of disappointment when I discover that they can't or they refuse to speak their own language, or when in their liberation, I find no traces of conservativeness (what an awkward word). Again, it still depends on the person.
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Them OSAM friends I love. :) When we celebrated my 18th Birthday. 20 Feb 2012. Credits to Len for the photo.
Then there's my church. I am so blessed to be surrounded by godly men and women in my walk with Christ. It feels like home to have people of different races, ages, and genders looking at me and not judging me, and accepting me with open arms, no matter my past. For that, I am extremely grateful. It made me confident that wherever I go, I have a family in God. Perhaps that's how it will look like in heaven -- filled with different people of all colors, races, tribes, and languages worshiping the one true God.
So let's get down to the point of why I'm writing this. What triggered the writer in me today -- after a very long time -- were those surprised and weirdly happy expressions on Trina's Filipino customers when she'd talk to them in Tagalog. That, and I'm also trying to impress my crush who works on the counter. I am currently stalking him, and throwing looks at him when he's not looking (*spying skill: master level*).
Kidding aside, I have really marveled at how few the customers are in McDonald's branches here compared to the ones in the Philippines which are crowded and filled with all kinds of laughter and noises. One thing they have in common? Filipino families. At some point, it made me feel as if maybe nothing much in my world has really changed after all. And maybe Filipinos come here to feel the same way, too. To pick up something that's left to remind them of their native land -- just with the negative implication that the Filipino culture has been commercialized and dominated by alien market (haha!). Or maybe, there's this unconscious thought of bumping into one of your "kababayans". Di na nga lang uso yun. But most probably, it's because they sell cheap stuff. :P
At the very least, this place reminds me of home. Plus, who knew McDonald's could be a writing haven anyway? (And a sleeping place, too!) Then again, maybe it's just McDonald's, or maybe it's just me.
