another variety of dementor passed by

there are entities existing in this world who are feeding their ego from further trampling other helpless being.
i hate these people so much.
they are taking away from me my belief in goodness.
i do believe that no matter how bad a person can be, there is still a hint of goodness that you can see from him/her. you just need more effort to see it.
and you need to let him/her know that he/she's still capable of bringing goodness to others, least him/herself.

but this certain person is just too much.
maybe he's the exception.
no hint of goodness is coming from him.
every time i see him, i try my best to avoid him.
but now i have heard his voice again.

and he's yelling in the corridor that my boss is already dead.
how rude of you, i would like to yell back.
my boss isn't dead.
he's in his home country because of his health condition.
and you're there shouting that he's dead.
not coming back again to the office, most probably yes.
but dead? he's breathing, talking and all...
he's alive. don't you know what's the meaning of dead?

i feel anger, hurt and pity for this heartless being.
to this being who's an exception to my mantra, be known to you that the world is round.
now, maybe you're up there and swinging your legs on top of other people,
but sooner that you know, the world would take it's destined course again...
and another exception like you would take your throne.

how about you, what are the things that you believe but certain proof/instance persists making you believe the other way?

i so agree...

yesterday, i have read this blog entry of bro. bo about visa and beyond.

i can so relate. i was denied visa once. and this was when i applied for US visa. i think i had only been living in japan for 2 months (i arrived here january of 2007) so maybe around march 2007, my husband was supposed to attend a conference in the US. of course, he didn't want to leave me behind. so i scheduled for an appointment and prepared documents and paid the application fee. i can still remember i was so excited yet nervous. well, knowing my social skills (errr i should say interview skills), it was so normal. yep, all things are superlative to me so i always use 'so'. anyway, when it was my turn for the interview, my interviewer was a latino-american guy, around mid to late 30's, looks not bad, but he seems unhappy or his face was just blank. so he asked me what am i going to do in the US and i replied that i would be accompanying my husband since he'll be attending a conference. then he asked me why were we separated ( i was living in the philippines and i had just been living in japan for 2 months but we've been married for more than a year ). then i explained that i had a bond with my previous company and my parents were sick. then he left for a while. when he returned and he told me, i'm sorry your application's denied.

okay.. cold water.

i was almost speechless but my heart was racing. i wanted to ask so many things, but only managed to say - when can i apply again. he told me i can apply again tomorrow but he said i might be denied again ( hmpf! , what a smart aleck answer ). then i left the counter and told him, thank you for your time.

so my 2nd time visa application expedition, i learned from many sources that it's easier to apply for visa this time around. US economy's flying low so even if overstay, there's no job for me (not that I'm looking). it was just an abrupt decision. i prepared my docs again and scheduled appointment and paid the fee. this time, my interviewer was a 40-ish lady and she seems very nice. so she looked at my docs and she asked me about my work (or should i say part time work) and if the people in my work are nice. and i answered her ( with too much detail, i guess -- ok i was still nervous that i'd be denied again so i did my best). then asked what i'm going to do in the US. i answered for pleasure. how many days? i said 10 days. then after a moment, she put down all the papers and she took a piece of paper and handed to me. congratulations, your visa is approved. it would be sent to you within 5 days. and what do i know, the next day, the notice of the mail was already in our mailbox. i was so excited. after that we planned our itinerary and bought our plane ticket. we only had about 12 days to plan before our preferred date of departure.

then when i came back to work after that trip, one of my colleagues told me - i was surprised that it's just your first time in the US. i felt a sudden rebellious emotion surging from me. i answered, well unfortunately, unlike japanese citizens, we filipinos need to apply for visa to be able to enter the US. and visa approval in the US embassy in the philippines is a "bit" stringent - them knowing that we pinoys tend to go TNT ( tago ng tago). and back in my country, travelling outside the country is a BIG deal. especially for me, i didn't come from a privileged family. we just live a normal life. and my parents are a pair of good-natured elderly people who are so afraid to allow me go to other places when i was younger. when i became older, i can't travel far because both of them are sick so i need to take care of them. oopss.. now this is sounding like a telenovela. sheesh :D

so when i read this intro story of bro. bo about the value of US visa in his preaching vocation, i can't help but reminisce my visa application moments :D well, unlike bro. bo, i did want to go to the US because i wanted to see the grand canyon and NYC.

anyway, if you're living in Japan and you'd like to apply for a US visa ( given that you needed one ), here is the website of the US embassy: http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/