When shopping in supermarkets, you usually get stuck in the check-out line. Usually people look for lines that are shorter than others for faster transaction. But I learned from our economics class that it is better to get into the nearest line than to look for a shorter line because it is all the same. It has something to do with people being rational so those shoppers in the different lines before you are already equalizing the length of lines and if by chance there is a shorter line but people are not filling it up then they must know something that you do not know, like the cashier is slow or something is wrong with that cashier’s POS system, it’s not working properly. So next time I go grocery shopping, I will just get into the nearest line and not try to lug my groceries around looking for a shorter queue.
In our policy analysis subject, the professor cited asymmetry of information as one of the reasons why markets fail. This is where one party has more information about a good’s attributes than the other, and one cannot observe a good’s attribute until one chooses to consume it. Consumers are usually affected by this because unless we try a product, we do not really know if it is good or not, effective or ineffective. But this is also true for sellers of products like insurance because they do not really know how long you will actually live. What they have are probabilities that a person of this age range will live up to a certain number of years. That is why insurance quotes without personal information required are not so common since agents have to know some basic information about you to give you an appropriate quote. Information is really important for both buyers and sellers for the less likely failure of the market.
Damo o Bulaklak?
(Weed or Flower?)
When you go to school, one of the things you cannot avoid are the textbooks. I am so grateful that we have a separate stipend for textbooks because these really eat away at our budget. It is best to read the textbooks aside from just listening to the teacher discuss the lessons. Sometimes there are some points in the discussion that are hard to understand but when it is supplemented by readings, things become clearer and more understandable. It’s really hard being a student once again. It is back to sleepless nights and getting anxious over quizzes, assignments, and reports, etc. But it is also back to having fun and getting crazy with classmates and student camaraderie. I guess the pros balance the cons well enough.
It’s almost the start of summer season in the Philippines again. Summer starts on March and ends sometime in May. In order to get a head start and avoid the crowd, some already go the beach as early as now and first week of March. Rates of beach vacation rentals will start climbing higher beginning March and will usually peak during the holy week because of the four-day holiday. During this time, beaches will be so crowded that you will see bodies instead of sand. There will be a lot of events held in the most popular beaches and I’m sure celebrities will be spotted partying and enjoying the sun, sea and sand, particularly in Boracay.
I will really miss the beach this year.
In large cities where space is a premium commodity, enterprising people will exploit this fact. Apartment or house rents are quite expensive and you will be very lucky to find even a cubbyhole that is affordable. It is not only renting out apartments or houses that is quite a lucrative business but pay parking lots also, especially if you have an idle land in a business areas. It just takes very little investment to make a neat profit. Some innovative pay parking businesses utilize something similar to car lifts to accommodate more cars in their lots instead of a parking building, which is much more costly to build. I guess necessity is really the mother of inventions.
Eto ay mga tsokolateng hugis puso na bigay ng aming kaibigan na Vietnamese na si Lee nung Valentine’s Day. Si Lee lang ang pinagpala sa aming anim na may date nung Valentine’s dahil bumisita ang kanyang nobyo na nag-aaral din sa isang pamantasan sa ibang bayan dito sa Korea.
These heartshaped chocolates were given by our Vietnamese friend, Lee, last Valentine’s day. She’s the only one among the six of us who had a date that day since her boyfriend, who is studying at a university in another province here in Korea, visited her.
Yesterday we attended a Korean wedding. It was a Catholic wedding so I guess it was not really very different from Catholic weddings in the Philippines. It was funny how we came about attending the wedding of Ms. Hong, our program coordinator. Esen and Sophearith, two international students encountered Ms. Hong one day in the hall. Ms. Hong invited them to her wedding and when both go to their dorms, they learned that another student, Elmir, was also invited by Ms. Hong. Esen, in his excitement, jumped to the conclusion that all the international students were invited and emailed all the international students regarding Ms. Hong’s wedding. A lot of people showed interest and discussion, prompting Ms. Hong to email all the international students and inviting them to her wedding also. There were others who were very excited to go while some were having second thoughts because weddings take some time to plan and it would be an imposition to the bridal couple to accommodate at the last minute, some twenty or more guests.
I was not really keen to attend the wedding because I did not think that everyone was really invited but Wendy and Deki were keen to go saying that it was a rare experience to see a Korean wedding. Sol did not want to go. I finally decided to attend because of Wendy and Deki’s persuasive arguments. So I told Wendy to confirm out attendance with Esen. As the day for the wedding drew closer, my uncertainty about attending began to grow. Even on the day itself I was really ambivalent about going. My ambivalence was exacerbated when Deki backed out. Wendy and I wanted to backout to but we already confirmed and I thought it would be twice the trouble for Ms. Hong if she made additional arrangements then we will not show up. When Wendy and I got to our dormitory lounge, where we were supposed to meet the others, there was nobody around. We were already late going down so we were thinking that they left us already. It was not the case. The others were just later than us. My ambivalence climbed a notch higher when I found out that Wendy and I were the only girls in the group, aside from Esen’s wife. There were nine of us from the different parts of Asia.
We were late when we got to the church. The ceremony already started. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a Catholic ceremony. When we took our seats, we saw two of our European women classmates already seated.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, it was similar to the Catholic ceremony in the Philippines exept that the language was in Korean and the couple did not kiss during the ceremony or after the ceremony. The Korean tradition that we observed (something we see in Korean telenovela wedding scenes) was the bridal couple being presented and making their bows to the two sets of parents. Also there was no bridal entourage and secondary sponsors. I don’t know if there were ninongs and ninangs either. I don’t think there were.
There was some photosessions inside the Church for the bridal couple and their parents and another longer one outside the Church. We participated in the one outside the Church. The throwing of the bouquet was scripted wherein the the photographer (or the bride?) selected one woman guest to catch the boquet the bride threw while the rest of the guest applauded. Buffet lunch followed in the basement of the Church. I forgot to mention that when we arrived in the Church, we registered in the guest book at the bride’s side. I wrote my name in Korean 
Then we were given one food ticket each and we were not made to pay. We were told before by some from the older batch that when you are invited to a Korean wedding, you usually pay for your food.
There were so many different kinds of food that I was not able to taste everything like I wanted to because I was already full from the selection I already chose. The reception was also crowded that it was kind of hard to get a seat. I noticed that there was no special table for the couple and their parents. The couple changed into their national costume and together with their parents visited each table to thank the guests but there were no photosessions unlike in the Philippines. When it was time for the parents and the couple to eat, they just sat in the tables that were already vacated by guests who have finished eating. There was no longer a ceremony or program during the reception.
At the end of the day, I was glad I went. Even though our interaction with Ms. Hong was limited after the ceremony and reception, she was very warm and welcoming when we encountered her, and so was her husband. It was the case of all’s well, that ends well.
Postcript: It is alright to wear black to Korean weddings but I was told it’s not alright to wear white. And Koreans prefer cash gifts.
I am not sure if my aunt is already finished with her remodelling project. With the piece by piece way she’s going about it, I don’t think she’d be finished anytime soon. I like what she did with the bathroom. It used to be so cramped and dark but now it looks spacious and airy. I think the kitchen sinks should be her next priority because they look so dirty and chipped. She should consider replacing them. Delta sink faucets would look very nice because this brand makes well crafted faucets and other bath accessories. I guess budget constraint is the biggest reason for her piecemeal operation. Well, in any event, slow and steady will eventually get the work done.
Before I left for my study leave, construction of our office building was still on-going even though we were already occupying the building. I was quite dismayed when we first transferred to the new building because it looked so unfinished. Pipes running through the ceilings and walls were held in place by industrial clamps and were exposed for everyone to see. Even though the pipes were painted cream like the walls and ceilings, they were still visible, like exposed innards. I have been away for a month already and my officemate was telling me that the ceilings have been covered already, just like in our previous office. I hope that when I go back, the building’s facade will be much improved.
