Thanks for the guest post by Esteban Vinson

My sister is such a know it all. She is older than me and she thinks nothing can run smoothly unless she is there to tell it how to do it. One of those type A controlling types would describe her to a T. I love her and honestly kind of like that go-get-‘em personality of hers at times, because it usually benefits me. Like when she started to tell me I needed to get a security system since I was a young, single girl living by myself. She told me I needed to use her company because they were great. She was trying to tell me I needed to get on my computer and just go to homesecurityfamily.com to check it out. Next thing I know, she’s up from the dinner table, where we were eating, and on her way to the computer in her family room to do it for me. See what I mean? She couldn’t even wait to finish dinner because it had to be done just then and her way.

After almost a year here, I am happy to say that Brunei feels home already. We know that we cannot stay here forever but somehow that thought helps us appreciate what we have now and at the same time anticipate going back home.

Ramil, on the other hand, has to adjust once again to a relatively new work environment. He has been transferred from primary to secondary, which I really think is more appropriate for him. So far, I think he is enjoying it even if he is more mentally tired after each school day. He has been trying to familiarize himself with new co-teachers, new students, new campus, and even new lab equipment such as laboratory ovens.

Mateo is also having fun in school, even insisting on going to school even when he was not feeling well because of his cough. There is zero resistance from him whenever we bring him to school and he really seems to love the daily routine that we are starting to establish.

Whenever I think back to a year ago, it is almost unbelievable how things have worked out. I have always known and have had faith that God has our backs with this radical change in our lives and I feel grateful for each day and the overflow of blessings that he continues to pour on us.

Chinese New Year is celebrated here because the Chinese community is quite big also. So we end up with a three-day weekend, which is unusual especially with the Friday and Sunday weekends here. Monday was declared a holiday because of CNY and since the school owners are Chinese, they extended this for another day so school is also off until Tuesday.

I am thankful we now have a better and more reliable internet connection so I work at home better and we can waste time browsing through social network sites, reading news, looking at online floral arrangements, downloading movies and our favorite tv shows, and many more. We also get to video chat more with families back home. It will be a while until we get a long break such as this again and we plan to make the most out of it.

Unlike Mateo, Anika seems to be more of a water-lover. While Mateo will try to get out of getting his face and head wet while swimming, Anika seems to be drawn to any body of water, whether it is a small puddle or the open sea.

When we went swimming last week, Anika slipped while walking in the child-size pool. The water just reaches up to her elbows so she was adamant that we let her walk around on her own. Ramil followed her around but Anika still went under when she slipped. Ramil hurriedly held her under her arms and helped her stand up again. We were afraid that it will end her love for the water because she was caught off guard and we figured being under will scare her. Surprisingly, she gave us a huge smile right after brushing the water away from her face then she immediately wanted to walk around on her own again.

So now, I want to enroll her in swimming lessons. I planned on enrolling Mateo as well last year but he begged off of it and I didn’t want to force him. I guess I will not have that difficulty with Anika and she will probably beg for it if she can. I remember going to my own swimming lessons when I was smaller. Every summer, my sister and I will anticipate waking up really early and traveling to a far place where my mom enrolled us for lessons. Until now, the smell of pool chemicals brings back feelings of trepidation and excitement at the same time. Various pool accessories were a common sight to us every summer and despite not completing any of the courses we would enroll in every year, we always looked forward to the first few days.

So yes, I am thinking of trying out swimming lessons for Anika. With her immense love for water, we just might have a chance of bringing up a competitive swimmer.

So after almost a year and a half, Mateo will be going to school once again. Ramil and I have decided not to fully homeschool Mateo since he seems to be looking for playmates other than Anika, me, Ramil, and my sister. He wants to be with kids his age. So, under the agreement that we will still continue ‘studying’ at home, we enrolled him for this school year.

School for the kindergarten kids started last January 5. Although Mateo was making a little fuss while we were walking towards his classroom, he eagerly entered the classroom when he saw his classmates playing inside. After almost a week of classes, his teacher described him as happy and I had to send him to school even with a bad cough because he insisted that he wanted to go to school.

Knowing that the competency level here is lower than what we are used to back home, Ramil and I do not have high expectations in terms of how much will be covered or how fast the topics are discussed. This is exactly why we had to tell Mateo that there will still be homeschooling with me. Still, I think it was a good decision to send him to school simply because he enjoys it.

Hopefully, this continues even when there are more schoolwork being done. We just want him to have friends and enjoy school.

Christmas and New Year has come and gone and the relatively quiet and laid-back holidays here has made me miss my parents even more. My sister and I reminisced more than a few times the taste of our mom’s chicken sotanghon, a staple item in our New Year’s eve dinner, and how she would be all busy preparing for Christmas Eve.

I also especially miss her whenever I realize how fast Anika and Mateo are growing. I know how much she is missing and it makes me very sad because she would have been one of those who will appreciate the persons that my two children are becoming. Also, she is not getting younger and I do not want to wait until she need an adult diaper before we can spend more time together.

Hopefully, she can visit us more frequently and maybe she can stay longer next time.

Being away from our families on Christmas day and with no decent mall to go to, we decided to enjoy what we have here in Brunei instead. Hence, we decided on a picnic at Jerudong Park on Christmas Day.

We brought some of the abundant food that we received all the way from Pinas and trooped to Brunei’s popular park and playground. This is the closest thing we can get to a theme park here and we love going there. We enjoyed snacking on chocolates that reminded me of Sharis Berries discount codes that a friend wanted for Christmas. We also had chicharon! Something that is very, very difficult to find here in Brunei because Muslims do not eat pork.

After eating, Mateo and Anika had fun running around the glass, playing frisbee and soccer, and going around the different swings, slides, and monkey bars. The short outing made Christmas fun and memorable even if we are missing all our loved ones back home.

They say that Christmas is for the kids and with the gifts that Mateo and Anika received all the way from Pinas, I’d say that the saying is really true. Ramil and I bought several pieces of small stuff so that I can wrap them up and the two kids will have several gifts to open. While some people did some major shopping that could have busted a few Epson TM-T88V receipt printers, we only wanted them to have the enjoyment of opening two or three gifts. Little did we know that there were several gifts as well sent through my sister’s fiance.

So yes, our Santa came in the form of my sister’s fiance who brought with him two big balikbayan boxes filled with goodies from my parents and other good friends back in Pinas. We are very grateful for the gifts and yummy food we got! Although we were happy and thankful, we still wish we were able to celebrate Christmas with them instead.

Anika is growing up fast and I am happy that Mateo and her are becoming bestfriends fast. I guess it is inevitable since they only have each other to play with most of the time. However, I guess it is also normal that they will get on each other’s nerves. I only hope that despite these episodes, they remain the best of friends.

We have been visiting some houses for rent the past few days. Although we are not actively looking for one right now, we are still on the lookout for a bigger house that we might be able to move to in a few months’ time.

Right now, our 2-bedroom rented house is just right for the five of us but my sister’s fiance will be arriving in a few months and they prefer to stay with us after the wedding instead of finding a separate house for the two of them. Since we do not have any other family here, we are all happy with that arrangement. However, it means looking for a bigger place for us. Since we will be sharing the rent between us, it still seems like a good idea.

The other day, Ramil and I visited a 5-bedroom house which seemed too big for us but will cost us only the price of a 3- to 4-bedroom house. Since we could get someone else to get one of the rooms and contribute to the rent, it seems like a great deal. The house looks really great and there are lots of space everywhere. The kitchen has big undermount stainless steel sinks and spacious counters. There is more than adequate space in front of the house and it has a gate which means we can keep a dog if we want!

So even if the house does not match our current needs, we are hoping that there will be a vacancy in the other houses when we do need it (it is among a row of houses which are being rented out).