California English

My place of work is such a diverse atmosphere. Fellow nurses are Chinese, Guatemalan, and one from Nepal. Oh and that new traveller nurse with a nice curly hair from Haiti. Some are white (yeah whites from Ireland, Germany, and Russia). A Nurse Assistant is from Sudan and another from Cambodia. Doctors are mostly Asian Indians (but there is this cute one, an Intern from Lebanon). I recently chatted with a guy from the blood bank who is from Yemen and didnt forget my "Salam Alaikom". And you deal with a unit clerk that is from Nigeria with that very strong accent, bongga!

One of the Nurse Supervisors is from Syria, and her assistant, a South Korean gay guy who dresses well. We also love this very diligent housekeeper from Mexico. And her compatriot, the one who makes hamburgers at the cafeteria. But hated this phlebotomist from Cuba. And our scheduler is a cute Portuguese guy (whom I dreamt once doing me). Tse!

We are from everywhere and the whole hospital is comparable to the United Nations already (or a Miss Universe Pageant? Chos!). And yeah, I haven't mentioned of the patients yet. We are assigned to 4-5 patients per shift. Just last week, my patients list is consisted of 4 different ethnicity: A woman from France, an African-American guy, A nice old lady from Ecuador who doesnt speak English (pinahirapan ba naman ako), and yes... an ornery Filipino lola. (Kaloka sya dhay!)

Out of work, is no different. I go to a Vietnamese mechanic for an on and off car trouble. My hairdresser is Japanese. Mama O's gym trainer is Peruvian (yummy! Ching!) Plus his booty call is from the UK. (malandi ang tita nyo! Aristocratic ang accent!) Also had a nice conversation with a Thai waitress yesterday about their new female Prime Minister while waiting for my to-go Pad-See-Ew. And the cashier from the grocery I go to has a strong Eastern European accent. (Her nameplate screams... IRINA!)

If New York City is the most multi-cultural city, California is the most diversified State. San Francisco alone is such a mixed nuts. Dont worry if you have an accent, we dont mind. That is what we call.... California English.

We are different people in the same boat. We all came here as people with multiple nationalities and ended having ONE, we all became Americans. Sweet!

We Are Fated To Pretend

Jonsi (of Sigur Ros) covers MGMT's Time to Pretend . His take makes the song more meaningful, emotional, and somber yet beautiful. Listen:

Original:


Jonsi's Cover:

I was more into the rhythm with MGMT's original but Jonsi's affecting version made me examine the anatomy of the song. Social norms of Adulthood (specifically for young adults) versus the values of Childhood.

Well, its fun to be in the prime of your life... living the rock-star life, etc... yet the reality is, life as an adult can be overwhelming... You can be anyone you want, but at the end of the day everyone's the same. We became glamorous and careless. We flaunt what we have and what we have achieved yet deep inside we thought there's something wrong and when we do feel it, we pretend. We pretend that we're OK and do have some more 'fun', 'everything must run its course'.

But we can always go back... to Childhood where we used to pretend in a different way and to start off to achieve whatever it is lacking. But sadly, most of us chose to continue... to pretend as an adult and end up 'choking our vomit and that would be the end'.