Proud to be Pilipinas

A few weeks after classes began, a Waldorf school in Germany decided to sponsor my class to attend two youth festivals in Stuttgart and Überlingen. No class for two weeks seemed like a pretty fair trade for a trip to Germany and the chance to interact with hot European chicks. I’d speak more about this and the misadventures of my classmates, but they warned me "What happens in Germany, stays in Germany," and so I am sworn to silence. I have this funny feeling that their parents probably would be very keen to hear about the devilry they were up to, but it’s not for me to say.

We were the only Filipinos who went to attend those festivals. I’m undecided on whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. While I certainly missed the sound of "What’s up, Pare?" I was tremendously pleased to be able to put my hand on the edge of my seat without discovering a decaying, lint-infested piece of chewing gum and go to a public toilet without having to spend 10 minutes sanitizing the damn seat and taking a dump only to realize that some poor SOB had pinched the bloody toilet paper. It was a relief to leave the polluted, pathetic excuse of a smoggy sky and see the blue heavens once again. Here in the Philippines, I have allergic rhinitis, but as soon as I go somewhere healthy for one’s lungs, it immediately clears up and I can breathe like a regular human being. There was one instance during the trip that I actually was proud of being a Filipino, though. Before we left for Germany, we prepared a 20-minute presentation in case someone wanted us to perform something. It was a concoction of the Pangalay, a dance of certain southern Muslims in Mindanao, folk songs like Magtanim ay di Biro, Si Pilemon and Tongtongtong, blended together with an OPM fusion of Masaya, Ulan and Sugod, and finishing up with Bayan Ko. Our performance a few days ago was closely akin to The Night of the Living Dead: we lacked energy and looked like we came straight out of a scene from Resident Evil, and we were determined not to make the same mistake again. We were nervous, for sure. But as soon as we walked onto the stage, we became… something else. It was like an angel of inspiration had descended to our mortal plane and was silently guiding our actions. I remember I stopped thinking entirely, and immersed myself in the moment. When we were finished, the cheers were nearly enough to blow our eardrums out. As we bowed, I was overcome by emotion, and a word sprang unbidden from my lips It was just a single word, but in those syllables lay a torrent of passion, my fervor; everything we stood for, everything we lived for, and everything we will die for: Pilipinas! It was my battle cry, my mantra. With it I could defeat all my foes, conquer the world. I was impregnable. I was invincible. My classmates, standing on both sides of me, echoed my shout, and together our voices resounded throughout the theater. A rare thing happened, and it doesn’t happen often: I was proud to be a Filipino.

All right, now you can shoot me for that little emo trip I just had. I’m a regular person, just like everyone else. My new hairdo really must be affecting me. Special thanks to my hairstylist, Patti, who works in a salon called Rever (pronounced "revay"; it’s French) for doing such a killer job on it. I dyed my bangs red. If I studied in a traditional school, it probably wouldn’t have been allowed. At Waldorf, a person’s individuality is emphasized, thus the reason we aren’t required to wear uniforms. I get all sorts of complaints from my friends who study in traditional schools. They speak about how they’ve completely lost interest in their schooling, about how their teachers are unreasonable blockheads, and how the school ignores their feedback, no matter how true it is. I feel sorry for them, coming from a school where the workload is slowly escalated as one grows older, instead of information being shoved in your face from the time you enter Grade 1. I regret that most of them have never experienced a teacher who is thoughtful, reasonable and who takes students on a case-to-case basis. But most of all, I feel lucky to be studying in a school that is as diverse and as flexible as Waldorf. If you screw up in traditional schools, you automatically get a slip of paper that says you’ve been a bad child who needs to be disciplined. Questioning the teacher sends you to the gallows. At Waldorf, you can give feedback to the teacher directly as long as it doesn’t disrupt the class. If you don’t agree with something he said, you can always talk to him after school about it. Most importantly, if you screw up, you don’t automatically get booted. The teachers will always listen to your side of the story before doing anything.

In my early years at Waldorf, some of my relatives thought I wasn’t being taught enough. But as I entered the Upper School, things started becoming more interesting. We take subjects like trigonometry a whole year before the traditional schools do; I had it when I was in second year. The small class size makes it easy for teachers to really understand the needs of each student, and some teachers even inspire us to work harder! It’s like they have this hidden physic capability to mess around with our heads. Some teachers even chat with us during breaks. I don’t think many schools have teachers that the students actually look up to. Of course, we get some rotten teachers every now and then, but we make sure to weed them out.

It’s pretty funny how people assume that because Waldorf isn’t well known here in the Philippines, it’s no good. Those people assume wrong. In the countries where Waldorf schools are common, like Germany, New Zealand, England, Australia and the United States, being a Waldorf student carries a mark of prestige. They’re known for being well-rounded individuals with open and flexible minds. In those countries, Waldorf education has been around for decades. Here in the Philippines, the first kindergarten was opened in 1994, and the upper school in 2004. It’ll take years before Waldorf education is recognized as one of the better education systems available in the Philippines, but inevitably, we’ll come out on top.