Relying on Technology for Communication

   I came across this article from The New York Times written by Sherry Turkle, titled "The Flight from Conversation". She talks about how people have become dependent on technology that they use these devices for communication. Instead of talking to people, i.e., living and breathing entities, people in today's world prefer to talk to devices. In fact, some people (according to the article) want Apple to make Siri more intelligent so that he or she can confide to the app--the way that a person talks to another person. Don't you find that scary? Because I do. And that's exactly what I fear with this Siri app. It's like people prefer speaking to an app instead of talking to his or her friends. Or confiding his or her deepest secrets to an app that does not breathe. I guess this is one of the reasons why I don't have an iPhone because I find it too overrated--that, and I don't have the financial capability to pay for its monthly phone bill. If I get a cell phone though, I would try not to rely on it too much. Okay, to be honest, I'm afraid that I will become too dependent on my technological devices--that I would rather use them than spend time with friends. That I'd rather be alone playing my iPod on my ears or reading an article on my netbook than talking with friends.

   I try to be less dependent, even though I know that my efforts are not enough because I still use my iPod everyday. There is never a night on a weekday that I use my laptop. Heck, I spend less time curled up in a corner and reading a book because my laptop is always in front of me. I even use my iPod while eating (shudders). Which is why I plan to spend more time reading books (either paperback or hardcover) than on the Internet. I plan to spend more time with family and friends than with my laptop. I plan to spend more time with myself on times I need peace. 

   That said, I still want to try to be less dependent of these communication devices. The irony of this post though is that I'm using a blog to express what I think instead of discussing this article with someone. Ugh. I hate myself. I really should move and do something about this. Something like ending this post. Not the blog, but the post. I've fallen in love with my blog that I don't think I'll be able to give it up.

Homecoming Part III: When the day comes

   I can't remember how many times I've asked my mom this question: When can I go to the Philippines again? I went to the Philippines in the summer of 2010 because it was my sister's wedding, an important event in our family's lives. It is almost two years since I went there, and sometimes I wonder when this day will come again.

   Just to clarify, I don't use the phrases "go home" or "go back", such as, 'When can I go home again?' or 'When can I go back to the Philippines again?'. Nope. I try to refrain from using these phrases because I don't want to call my former home country my home when I already have a new home. Here. Canada is my new home now, so I might as well learn this new country and culture. Easy for me to say, but very difficult to execute. Especially if one is surrounded with people (or communities) of the same ethnic culture.

   Of course I want to go to the Philippines again someday. Just not now. Not this time. First of all, I don't have the financial capability to buy a plane ticket to another country just because I feel like it. What can I do? I'm a student. I'm poor. So instead of saving up for a trip to the Philippines, I'd rather save up a few hundred dollars for a trip around the country. "Explore the Philippines first before you explore other countries.", some hardcore nationalists or conservatives in the Philippines might say. Yeah, okay. As if it's that easy to save and just buy a plane ticket. Not to mention the travel expenses. And the extra expenses for dining out, treating family and friends, going out with friends and buying them gifts (or pasalubong), and giving away money to families like a bank machine... Okay, I'm diverting to another topic, and this is one topic I'd rather talk in another post due to the broadness and complexity of it.

   So for now, I am enjoying the present. A vacation in the Philippines, that might happen in three or four years. As much as I would love to go there this year, I can't. I have to be practical. Even if it means not going to the Philippines for a long time (but not really long. Because I might not be able to take it. I still want to go there before I hit 30. Maybe after graduation I might go there. If I have enough money.).