J-University Adventures: Writers' Workshop sa GMU times 2 Part 1(US Series)

Last February 2002, a Saturday, i was invited by the guys of George Mason University to go to the Fairfax City campus (ang main campus nila) for a writers' workshop.

I was really surprised to know that, for having staying in a country that is pre-dominantly English-speaking, they'll invite a foreigner like me to go attend a workshop in one of the state of Virginia's most respectable and top most universities.

But even before the actual day had happend, tragedy strucked. It was early during the morning that our phone rang. my sister (who was sleeping at the sofa while Kuya and I are sleeping at the floor and Jorge was lseeping somewhere else in our one-bedroom-one bathroom apartment) answered it and it was a long-distance call from the Philippines.
It was one of our relatives from the Habitan clan, Ate's face looks astonished and seems ike she was deeply shocked.

I can't really tell but the moment that she hanged up the phone, she was crying. Since i was the one who was already awoken from the phone's ringing, she came close to me and told me the bad news. "James.....Patay na si Lolo Peter..... (James, Lolo Peter is gone)". I was shocked bt i cant express how i felt that time. my only reaction was "Ha? Talaga?"

After that i went asleep that night and the next thing i knew, i have to wake up to get myself ready to go to GMU. Mom was away so family friend, Tita Santi came along with Ate Jade to chaperon me on my way to George Mason.

Around 8 in the morning, we went out, bringing along with me a letter i received from the university. Out from the apartment complex of the Villages and the Paviloin, went straight ahead to the West Falls Church/UVA-GMU Metro train station. We took the the ride going to the end of the Virginia orange line which is the METRO station of Vienna-Fairfax/GMU. It is called as such since the place is within the jurisdiction of the City of Fairfax and it is a few kilometers away from neighboring Vienna (the Virginia town and not the Austrian capital).

Outside, there's a nearby bus stop of the Metro Bus with a  complete listing of its scheduled stops (how come Manila doesnt have this things). Unlike the polluted and oldie second-hand buses we have here in Manila, the Metro buses are small yet very comfortable vehicles. There is order, it doesnt stop whenever it wants or whenever the passngers want. It follows the code of bus ethics, it never full itself up and the drivers there are actually friendly.

Anyway, since the trip is unpredictable long, we have top stand by if ever the bus we're riding on will stop at the nearest GMU bus stop.

And it did. at around 9.30 am, we went around inside the GMu campus and was amazed at how it loks like. Maybe, excluding UP Manila, it is my first time being inside a university, or better yet, an American University.

We were able to find my building and i was now attending the workshop. While undergoing the workshop, i happend to bump into one of my classmates in 5th grade. He's a Spaniard named Gonzalo Ortiz-Cacha and his dad works in the World Bank which where my mom was snet to work for two years.

As i was saying back in the whole writer's workshop thingy, the coordinator had us let in on all things about famous literary works through sets of activities. one particular activity i still recall is that the oordinator made us be like the writer of the Sir Sherlock Holmes book series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She wants us to create a sotry based on he set of pictures she had for us to see.

Of course, i had one of my most embarrassing moments there. In one activity, the coordinator played some really sad music and she encouraged us to think hard to make a story with a tragic theme. I wnet beyond what was upposed to do and unconciously made a drawing of myself during the time the bad news strucked us earlier that day. the coordinator was dissapppointed and had me do it all over again. i wish it wouldnt be happen again.

Now that the workshop was over, i had more time to look around GMU. the university was named aftrt one of the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution. it was really big so we didnt really have time to explore the whole campus.

Now that we still had more hours of daylight left, we tok tthe oppurtunity to go eat lunch on a fairfax resto. I saw a Chuckie Cheese Amusement park and restaurant nearby but we didnt have that much money so we settled on dining out on a Turkish restaurant which was being run (and i hope it still is) by Turks from Turkey.
 and because i was very much overwhelmed but my GMU experience, i was able to recognized the place.

And i was able to put thatin good use when, in a very unexpected delivery, i received from the mailbox that i was invited again to attend another writers' workshop once again in GMU. ill be telling you all of it on part two of J-University Adventures: Writers' Workshop sa GMU times 2 (US Series)