English 101

A car for sale in Port Wakefield, definitely NOT the car that Corey wants. 

My workmate Corey told me this morning that he was thinking of selling his boat and his motorbike then use the money to get the car that's currently for sale in Pt. Wakefield.

"Huhmn!  What's the 'KO-LOR' of that kHAH (as in caR)?"  I asked using my obviously fake Australian accent.  

He didn't answer, instead, his forehead skin wrinkled.  Puzzled, he asked me, "What's that?!"

Simple, he couldn't understand what I was saying, so I spelled the word- COLOUR. A bit embarassed, I asked him, "How do you pronounce that word here in Australia?"

"KAH-LAH!" he instantly replied.


.

Worms and Snakes

I WAS CIRCUMCISED AT THREE... not at three years old, but on the 3^rd day after I was born... I am grateful I cannot remember the pain of circumcision. So luckily, I was one of those elementary boys who could bravely show their ‘worms’ to each other in the school toilets to prove that they were really tuli*. Ilonggo boys have been jokingly tagged as pisot** but in my life, I haven’t been mocked or branded as one.

Many years later... January 17, 2007, it was my first day in my new job as a piggery farm worker in Queensland. Strict biosecurity was implemented there, requiring the farm staff to take off and leave all their street/house clothes and undies in the shower room’s ‘dirty area’, then enter and take a 10- minute shower in a small cubicle (which was located in the middle of the shower room), and put on their farm overalls in the ‘clean area’ before proceeding to work. Of course there were separate decontamination rooms for every gender.

That summer morning, there were three of us—Filipino guys who were about to take a shower. Honestly, we were literally shocked to see our Australian workmates—who, after greeting us, took all their clothes and undies off, and waited on the queue while chatting to us. We—the new Filipino workers were, at that moment, like the Biblical Adam who were covering our valuable ‘possessions’ with one of our hands, and blushing. I didn’t know the reason why our face had reddened that time—probably because we still weren’t use to this kind of showering routine yet or maybe because we had seen the uncovered ‘snakes’ of those locals dangling in front of us! It was really a funny, memorable conversation when we got back to our accommodation that afternoon!

Three months later, the decontamination routine eventually became a normal thing to us, no covering, and no blushing even if the ‘brown snakes’ were everywhere. Work performance became more important especially when the first job evaluation came.

Being trained as a technical person in the Philippines, the daily piggery routine was very exhausting for me. Of all the new Filipino workers, I was the one who, the superiors said, had the slowest pace at work! I was even told to work quickly and not ‘properly’—because I was very particular with the details that time. I became the subject of mockery, and was rated very unsatisfactory under the ‘Knowledge of the Job’ category.

The next morning, when we were having our smoko in the farm’s lunch room two of my workmates (who were natives in town) ridiculously asked me, “Hey RJ... How would you insult a Filipino guy back in the Philippines?”

“Tell him that that he is UNcircumcised!” I instantly said without even thinking.

The locals immediately blushed, and had a fake smile.

Instantaneously, I remembered that both of them were ‘uncut’. Well, seven out of our ten local workmates were pisot. And in this country, I think, this is not an issue at all.

-----

*tuli- a Filipino word for a circumcised boy or man.

**pisot- a Hiligaynon term for an uncircumcised boy or man.

.

Come and See!

...dito sa aking blog, hindi ko pa 'to nagawa; ngayon lang. Ang magmamanok ay humihiling ng inyong mataimtim na panalangin.

Simula pa kahapon ay may namumuo nang pag-aalala sa aking isipan at kaba sa aking dibdib. Ito'y hindi dahil sa mga bampira ng pelikulang New Moon na sinimulang ipalabas ngayong araw, kundi dahil sa warning ng Australian Bureau of Meteorology para sa lahat ng mga nakatira sa South Australia.

Sinasabing ang buong state, lalung-lalo na ang mga nasa agricultural areas, ay posibleng magkakaroon ng catastrophic bushfire kahapon at ngayong araw. Kinansela ang pasok ng mga mag-aaral sa malawak na bahagi ng lalawigan, at seryoso ang babala ng mga estasyon ng radyo't telebisyon sa lahat ng taong nasa fire danger zone, habang lubusan namang pinaghahanda ang mga empleyado at mga volunteers ng Country Fire Service at iba pang mga ahensiya ng pamahalaang may kaugnayan sa health, safety and emergency services.

Ngayong umaga, tatlong beses ko nang narinig sa weather reporter ang mga salitang 'good luck' para sa lahat ng mga taga-Timog Australia (kasama na ako rito). Magdadalawang linggo na kasi ang heat wave sa lalawigan, at nakikinitang 43'C ang magiging temperatura sa lungsod ng Adelaide ngayon, samantalang mid-40's to 47'C naman dito sa aking pinagtatrabahuan.

thanks Wikipedia

Napakatuyo ng kapaligiran, 13% humidity ang pinakamababang naitala kahapon. Ngayong araw, natatanaw na magiging malakas raw (hinuhulaang 21-36kms/hr) ang ihip ng tuyo at mainit na hanging manggagaling hilaga (gitnang bahagi ng kontinente) kung saan naroroon ang malawak na disyerto ng Australia.

Ipinaliwanag ng Sunrise Weather (Channel 7) kung bakit posibleng magkakaroon ng devastating bushfire ngayong araw:

The formation of dry lightning and thunderstorms.
(by Seven's Sunrise Weather)
illustrated by RJ

Mamayang hapon o gabi, mataas ang tsansang magkakaroon ng pag-ambon, pagkidlat at pagkulog sa South Australia. Ngunit dahil sa napakatuyong air space ng lalawigan, biglang matutuyo o mawawala ang mga patak ng ulan habang ang mga ito'y nasa himpapawid, kaya maiiwang tatama sa kalupaan ang mga dry lightning at thunderstorms na siyang magiging sanhi ng malawakang sunog.

Sanay ako sa Pilipinas na nagkakaroon ng mga pag-ulan, pagkulog at pagkidlat at hindi naman ako natatakot. Ngunit noong nakaraang Pebrero, aking naranasan sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon ang bagsik ng mga matatalim na kidlat at napakalakas na kulog habang walang ulan- ito'y walang tigil sa loob ng 45 minuto hanggang isang oras! Hindi ito biro; at inaamin ko ako'y natakot ng husto!

Hindi ko na pahahabain pa ang post kong ito... Narito ang mga nakuha kong larawan dito sa manukan para maipakita sa inyo kung gaano katuyo ang aming kapaligiran.

Ang kalsada papasok sa manukan.
# 22 Pareora Rd., Port Wakefield, South Australia

Wheat field surrounding the poultry farm.

Harvestable wheat, a closer look...

Sa labas ng Aking Tahanan...

The awful scenery in the northeast of the poultry farm.

We slashed the grasses as a compliance to the orders of the Wakefield Regional Council -one of the preventive measures against the invasion of the poisonous Australian brown snakes and fire.

Hangad ng mga taga-Australian Bureau of Meteorology na sana'y sa pagkakataong ito sila ay nagkamali sa kanilang inilabas na forecast. Sana nga... sana.

Sa kabila ng lahat ng 'to, ako nama'y naniniwala nang may buong katatagan sa kapangyarihan ng pagdarasal.

Sabi ng mga Australians, "Os-tral-ya iz a nAys pLAyz (Australia is a nice place)!" well, it's true. So, come and see!






...there is no relevance, but the title of this post has been inspired by the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.


.

A Choice

“What day is today?” my workmate asked me while we were having our smoko this morning. (His name is Roger. He will be turning 63 this August. Incidentally, we have the same birth date, and he’s exactly 4 months older than my mom!)

“It’s Monday,” I answered.

“Uh... o rite...” he nonchalantly murmured, peeped under his eyeglasses and immediately wrote down the mortality count on our daily record.

He asked me the same question last Friday when I reminded him that the next day (Saturday) was his day off. He was actually surprised to know that another week was over because he said he doesn’t really care to keep track of the date, day or time.

“Uhmn... after work, I go home, feed my animals, visit my garden, have my tea in the evening, sleep, wake-up, have a toast and a cup of coffee... and come to work, that’s it!” he simply said.

While Roger is living in oblivion, I am obliged to live the exact opposite... I have to order the feed two days before I need it; so if I want a feed delivery on a Wednesday I must place my order on a Monday. I have to be aware of the current date to keep myself updated of the age of our flock so I can give them the correct ration, the ideal drinking-water pressure, the required temperature, ventilation and length of light. I have to know the time of chicken harvest so I can turn the feed lines off at least four and a half hours before the actual bird catching, otherwise the dressing plant will complain about their full crop.

Honestly, I don’t know if Roger is happy yet in some ways, I envy him.

Genuine Love

They were only a day old when they arrived here in the farm. We housed them in a shed that costs more than a hundred thousand dollars, with straw beddings that cost a hundred and twenty dollars per bale. These chicks were brooded in a computerized, environmentally-controlled room—where the temperature, air flow and humidity were closely monitored and modified (if needed) to suit their living requirement. There’s a lighting program to provide enough brightness even at midnight so they can eat and drink whenever they want. Their feed was a mixture of special grains and was very nutritious—formulated by the best animal nutritionists of the country. We ensured that their drinking water is always available, potable and uncontaminated.

They had the luxury of modern facility, the gift of skilful handlers and the comfort of special husbandry but still some of them had stunted growth, others were weak and a few died. Sometimes I would think that our management practices might not be enough, and the computerized controls and mechanized equipment have not been always perfect.

Despite their luxurious lifestyle, I don't and will never envy them. They had been artificially hatched from the machines and were immediately brought here in the farm. They haven’t even seen their dam; they had been deprived of and never felt the genuine brood of a real hen!

For us who experienced and have been enjoying the genuine love and care of our mother, we are very lucky. But of course Mother's Day is not just all about how we feel the warmth of our mother's love for us, it is also about how we let her feel the warmth of our own love, care and thoughts for her.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, and out there!

[This entry was originally posted last May 10, 2008.]

The required brooding temperature for day old chicks in this farm is 32'C. But the warmth of our mother's genuine love can never be measured!

'Occupational Medicine'

(a medical literary attempt)

…the chook-minder’s friends may think he is suffering from dysthymia because of the unusual social inactivity after work…
…diagnosis is usually based on the signs and symptoms as well as the response of the patient to the given treatment…
…a good night kiss is a well-known and widely-used tranquilizer and emollient, especially if applied after rubbing an effective traditional liniment on affected body parts through a very relaxing massage from a loved one…

Discover the Chook-minder’s ‘Occupational Medicine!’