Bye For Nooooow! (but only for nooooow)

For months since I first got invited to open a Multiply
account by a former student, I never did anything to it. I even forgot all
about it if not for the updates I got from the said student every time she
posted something new. The craze then was Friendster and I was satisfied with
just maintaining one virtual friends network account. Plus I had LiveJournal
for my blogging needs. Not that I blogged that much but the point is if I had
anything to blog about, I could always use LJ. But then I came to China
and I thought to myself that I could actually have more time to devote to
Multiply. My original intention was to make Multiply my artsy-fartsy site. But
then this did not happen because 1. I think I might not be artsy enough and, 2.
I was too lazy to find/make artsy things to post.

Thus the main purpose for my site became to update friends
and family members of the goings-on in my life despite being in a place far
away. I grew tired of having to send individual emails to everyone. With
Multiply, I did not have to repeat myself over and over again every time I get
an email from a friend asking what’s new. I would just direct people to my
page. It came to a point when I had an unwritten rule of “read first, then
ask.” Similar to being in school, actually. If you haven’t read the assigned
readings, don’t ask me what it’s about. After you’ve read my blog, then you can
ask for updates, clarifications, etc. When I chat with my friends, I usually
chat with the assumption that they’ve read my blog, thus when I mention
specific names and events, I expect them to know what I’m talking about. I’m a
high-maintenance friend. Hmm, I wonder why I still have friends. 

At first, I was not even all that concerned about what
anyone else in Multiply wrote. I was just happy to find a place where I could
record what had been happening to me and conveniently share it with people I
needed to tell these things to. Eventually, more of my friends started to
maintain their own accounts and I found more people whose lives I actually began
to want to know more about. I also found more friends who I had lost touch
with. What I have now is a community of online friends that is actually as real
as maybe a barkada in high school or lunch buddies at work.

And then it’s time for me to go home. My reason for not
blogging enough when I was in Manila
was that there was hardly anything to write about. Of course you can argue with
me about that. There are plenty of people in Manila whose blogs are way more interesting
than mine will ever be. I suppose it’s all in the mind, yes? While I’m not
exactly leaving Multiply, I feel the need to write a goodbye entry of sorts. I
feel that my most productive Multiplying phase is about to come to an end.
Hopefully this will translate to being productive in other areas. (I know! I
know! Stop pressuring me!) 

And so this is my goodbye of sorts. Once I get to Manila, I plan to be
online for only once a week, more or less. Before China, I could actually go for
weeks without the Internet but times have changed. Habits, more like. As early
as now, I’m starting to miss the people in my online community of whose lives I
impatiently wait the installments. I would like to believe that I’d be missed
too.

Perhaps I’ll give you updates on how the thesis is coming
along. I’ll talk about reverse culture shock. I’ll tell you more about the hits
and misses of my uneventful love life. I’ll try to find something. There are
six more days before the real goodbye. This is just to prepare you for it.