Random Thoughts

Job Hunting

After 1 month of relaxation, I have started job hunting seriously. These past few days, I have been looking at the employment section of the newspaper. I have been passing resumes' to various company websites. I will also be meeting some people who have connections to certain companies in the hope of landing employment.

So far these are the jobs that I have been seriously considering:

Flight Attendant

I have e-mailed Continental Airlines about applying for a position as a Flight Attendant. After about 3 weeks, they gave me a reply yesterday about the progress of my application. They told me that my application is now being reviewed by their Human Resources Department. If I get chosen, they will send me another e-mail giving me details about job training and orientation in Newark, New Jersey.

Part of the perks of being a flight attendant is the opportunity to travel around the world, Getting discounts and free airline tickets. Learning about language and culture, and meeting people from different parts of the world.

The downside though is being on-call 24 hours, in case of changes in schedule, and the changes in sleep patterns and lack of sleep caused by crossing time zones. I am seriously worried about the latter.

Teacher

My previous work. It is something that I am very familiar with and something that I enjoy very much. It is one of the most noble professions in the world. This time however, I am applying as a high school teacher or a junior high school teacher in different public and private schools here. I can also continue teaching english as a second language here in New York since there are also a lot of language schools that have offices here.

The best part of being a teacher is being able to share my knowledge and help the students learn. One of the happiest and most rewarding experience I have is when I see my students progress and their joy when they learn something new or when they understand the lesson.
Being a teacher would also give me about 4 months of vacation. (holidays+breaks) I can use that time to get a part time job, to travel, or to do almost anything possible.

Work in an Advertising Company.

Today, I submitted my resume' to an advertising company. The company's name is KSL Media. You can check their website at www.kslmedia.com. Working in an advertsing company would also be ideal because I would be able to apply the things I learned in class and my major is geared and related to Advertising anyway.

I will still be looking at other job openings, but the important thing for me is to find a job that I will truly enjoy.

"Choose a job that you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life" so cliche' but true.



Miss Universe 2006

I watched the Miss Universe beauty pageant 2 days ago. I was cheering for Ms. Japan, Ms. Bolivia and Ms. Philippines. Miss Philippines didn't make it to the top 20, Miss Bolivia wasn't included in the top 5 and Ms. Japan became the 1st runner-up. Ms. Puerto Rico became Ms. Universe 2006

I honestly thought that Ms. Japan, Kurara Chibana should have won Miss Universe 2006. Beauty aside, what impressed me the most was that she is fluent in 4 langauges: Japanese English, Spanish and French. She won the national costume award though as a samurai warrior



NBA Basketball, I love this game

I am getting impatient waiting for the 2006-2007 NBA season. I am looking forward to watching the NBA games live either at the Madison Square Garden or at the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. This year will be the first time that I will be watching the NBA games live. I will not forget to bring my digital camera by that time.

My cousin works at the hospital where most of the New York sports teams (Knicks, Jets, Yankees) are affiliated as well as celebrities like P. Diddy (aka Puff Daddy) and Pau's favorite singer Britney Spears. She told me that they usually gets free tickets to watch these games.

When I get that free ticket, My New York Knicks better not disappoint me. Last season was a nightmare for Knick fans as their beloved team compiled a woeful 23-59 win loss record in the NBA. Making Madison Square Garden home of the 2nd worst team in the NBA trailing only the Portland Trailblazers win loss record of 21-61.

I'm thinking that before the trade deadline ends, The Knicks will acquire a superstar *cough* Kevin *cough* Garnett *cough* to reunite with Stephon Marbury the best pointguard in the NBA.

Fearless forecast: My Knicks will finish with a 44-38 record this coming season and get a 7th or 8th playoff spot and a possible finals appearance...but then again I can always cheer for the New Jersey Nets if my prediction fails.

$1,000,000

"What will you do if you had a million dollars?"

I was talking to my friend earlier today when he asked me this question. I scratched my head, and told him, "I don't know, I 'll think about it first." Then I asked the same question to him, "How about you, What will you do if you had a million dollars?" He looked at me for a second and said, "Hmmm... I will probably buy a big house, a fast car and I will put the remaining money in the bank. I will just watch it earn its interest and I don't need to work anymore."

After my friend answered my question, I began to think about it. "What will I do if I had a million dollars?" I began thinking about the different things that I could do if I had a million dollars. These were the things I thought about.

1) I will travel to different parts of the world. I will visit South Africa to go on a safari and watch the different animals in their natural habitat and maybe try to ride an Elephant. I will go to France to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. I will also visit Italy, and ride a gondola in Venice. I will go to Japan and visit the castles, temples and shrines in Kyoto and meet my friends. I will go to Brazil to attend the Carnival. There are a lot of other places that I want to visit.

2) I will invest my money in stocks and bonds, real estate and other activities that will make me even richer.

3) I will start my own business. A business that I will truly enjoy, maybe a restaurant or a coffee shop that also sells books. A perfect place where you can relax after a hard day at work and enjoy reading books in a cozy atmosphere. At night there would also be classical music being played, a piano and a violin.

4) Maybe, I will gamble in a casino. My $1,000,000 can become $2,000,000 or I could lose everything. It's too risky. Some people say that excitement in life can be derived by taking risks. But then again I'm really not a big risktaker, I would rather be safe than sorry. Gambling is definitely out of the question.

5) Finally, I can use the money to start an organization to help people in need. I can use the money for the scholarship education of children or in livelihood programs to empower the people living in poverty.

There are a lot of things I can do if I had a million dollars. In the end I still don't know what to do if I had a million dollars. Maybe, deciding would be easy if I really had a million dollars.

How about you, What will you do if you had a million dollars?"

The 2006 World Cup in Japan

In less than a month from now the World Cup will begin. You may begin wondering and say to yourself that, "How can he say that the World Cup will begin, when it has just finished this month?"
Italy won over France, 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw and the infamous headbutting of Zinedane Zidane on Marco Materazzi.

Basketball is my favorite sport. In less than a month, Japan will be hosting the 2006 World Basketball Championship. It will start on August 23 and end on September 3. This is the World Cup I am talking about, not to be confused with the recently concluded 2006 World Cup of Soccer in Germany.

There will be 4 groups of 6 teams each playing in different venues in Japan. Group A is composed of Argentina, Venezuela, France, Serbia and Montenegro, Lebanon and Nigeria. They will be playing at the Sendai-City Gymnasium in Sendai City, Miyagi.

Group B is composed of Spain, Panama, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Angola. They will be playing in at the Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima.

Group C is composed of Lithuania, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Austalia and Qatar. They will be playing at the Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka.

Group D is composed of U.S.A., Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Italy, China, and Senegal. They will be playing at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo City Hokkaido.

The Finals will be held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, Saitama

The biggest question is "Can Team USA bring home the gold?" During the 2002 Basketball World Cup, Team USA finished a disappointing 6th place finish and watched as other teams played in the Finals. Gold: Serbia and Montenegro, Silver: Argentina, Bronze: Germany. During the 2004 Olympics Team USA again fell short in their quest to win the gold and settled for bronze. Argentina won the gold and runner-up Italy got the silver.

It's a hard to say who will win the this year's tournament. Can Team USA, recapture it's glory as the undisputed basketball superpower? Will Serbia and Montenegro be able to defend its title? Is Argentina going to get it's second consecutive gold medal and establish itself as one of the legitimate contenders for basketball dominance or will another team win this year? The list include: Germany, France, Italy, Lithuania or perhaps another team will emerge as Champions.

One thing is for sure, this is a must watch.

After some months of discussion, YM conversations and endless chatter on the phone, my friend Migs has finally succeeded in convincing me to write a blog.

It will now be one of the many ways for me to communicate with my friends and keep them updated about my life here in New York City. Blogging as a mental exercise will also help me sharpen my writing skills.

I honestly admit that I am often lazy when it comes to writing, except when I write about something that I am passionate about or about a subject that I am very well knowledgeable in. Another thing that I fear about Writing is that I sometimes run out of things to write about.

Finally, I think that writing will allow me to publish my thoughts, since I do a lot of thinking and daydreaming and at the same time to share my ideas and discuss anything under the same moon and sky.