Oct

8

XF Closure

Filed Under Announcements, Blogs & Blogging, General, Photography | 9 Comments

On Sept. 3, I wrote a draft stating that I would be closing down X-Press Files for good. But I hesitated with the decision — in short, I dillydallied — and the draft was never published. Ironically, I even kept updating my blog more often than usual after a short, planned hiatus (in fact, shorter than the unannounced blog breaks I’ve had a countless times in the past).

But now, it’s definite: XF will be laid to rest. Let me explain.

Last week, I bought the October 2008 issue of Reader’s Digest at the Relay store in Neuchatel, after my weekly Niveau A2 French class. (I tell you, it was pure joy to be able to buy a copy of RD after all these years of looking for copies of the original English version amid the German and French ones usually displayed at the newsstands in Biel-Bienne, a bilingual Swiss town.)

Reader’s Digest published an erudite remark made by award-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood, which is included in a selection of quotable quotes that make up the new book Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman:

There was a time in my life when I was doing westerns, on the plains of Spain. I could have stayed there and probably knocked out a dozen more. But the time came when I said, That’s enough of that. As fun as they were to do, it was time to move on. If a story doesn’t have anything that’s fresh in it, at least for me, I move away from it.

Those words in bold letters struck me in the most profound way. They echoed my blog sentiments so well that it seemed like Clint Eastwood and I had had a meaningful discussion on life over a cup of coffee one fine day (okay, I don’t really drink coffee, but you know what I mean.)

I confess: the thrill for me to maintain XF had long been gone. I had mechanically churned out one uninspired post after another these past months merely for the sake of this activity called “blog updating.” As a result, posts were not as ‘fresh’ as they used to be back then, when I was joyfully writing my personal migrant tales and thoughts in this blog and happily basking in its therapeutic wonders.

The passion is gone, and with it, the freshness of it all. I feel it’s time for something new. Change, in my book, is a good thing. Wonderful things happen to those who embrace it.

I’d like to thank you, dear readers (especially the active commenters), for joining me in this joyful ride that was the X-Press Files (formerly called X-Pat Files). It was fun while it lasted — at least on my part.

I wish you all the best. Let’s all have a good life. Cheers!

OCT. 17, 2008 UPDATE: Freitag, my newest blog, goes live today. Meanwhile, Jolly J! (my anecdotes blog), has just been updated.

(Note: The photo above, taken in Bern two years ago, was one of the pictures featured in the inaugural issue of “Swiss Peeks” in August 2007. Two issues of the photo book — “The Red Makes It” followed by “Reflecting on Switzerland” — were published right after the first issue, “Seeing the Light.”)

Oct

6

Swiss Questions

Filed Under General, Humor, Migrant Life, Society & Culture, The Philippines | 7 Comments

Okay, I’ve blogged about the silly and crude questions some of my compatriots, who are also based in Switzerland, had asked me in the past. (The post, apparently, has become one of the most commented and most linked blog entry on X-Press Files of late).

I guess it’s time for the Swiss version of the blog post.

So here it goes — a list of (silly) questions posed to me by some Swiss acquiantances:

– “Do you have wine in the Philippines?” — asked by my husband’s first cousin during a family reunion.

– “Does your family sleep in straw mats? Do they live in a hut made of dried leaves?” — asked by a German language teacher during class.

– “Do you know how to operate a washing machine?” — asked by the lady caretaker of our apartment building during my first month in Switzerland.

– “How come you can speak in English?” — asked by a group of French-speaking Swiss classmates in a German course for the jobless during the first day in class.

– “How come you know when America was discovered and when the First World War was?” — asked by the same group of French-speaking Swiss classmates during a trivia game in our German class.

– “Am I already considered rich in your country?” — asked by a cash-strapped, French-speaking Swiss classmate in the same German course during a speaking exercise.

– “Would you like to work as a guinea pig in a pharmaceutical company in Basel?” — asked by the same cash-strapped, French-speaking Swiss classmate during the start of a lesson.

– “What is the Philippines?” — asked by a Swiss lady customer during the monthly outdoor market in our town.

– “How does it feel to ride a carabao?” — asked by my husband’s former officemate, who takes pride in being a “wide reader,” during a visit to our apartment.

Thank goodness nobody has asked me yet which Philippine tribal group I belong to (note: not that it’s bad per se to be a member of a certain tribe).

With regard to the question if we Filipinos have wine in the Philippines, I managed to answer in a calm way that yes, we do have wine in the Philippines…as well as clothes (apart from loincloths to cover the male genitals), cars, houses, office buildings, schools, computers, and many other things. Not just tribes, carabaos, and nipa huts.

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