HYPERAXE

Last December 21, 2006, I received an email on the day of our department’s Christmas Party asking me to be the party host. I was really surprised to receive such an email and looking at the email trail of the organizers, I was even more surprised that everyone, including the managers volunteered me to be the host since they think I would be funny enough to liven up the party.

As if I can do anything to decline the request, which I actually did several times, but to no avail. Anyway, I decided to just go with the flow and accept my fate. This is my first time to be a host on any gathering, and I really have no idea on what to do or how to handle the occasion. Moreover, I am forced to talk in straight English since we have a visitor from our US office and talking in Filipino wouldn’t make sense to him. I may be funny, but I wasn’t really sure if I could still be funny in front of many people and speaking in English. As far as I know, I still have the jitters when talking in front of a large audience. Would you believe, I even researched in the Internet for guides on how to be an effective host and all I can find are stuffs which makes things more complicated. Oh well, so much for the research, I decided to just let it all out and be myself.

Then my most feared moment came. For a few seconds, I was just standing there in front of many people trying to think what the hell am I supposed to do here? I just then started with a “Hi”, “Hello”, “Good evening”, “Welcome”, stuffs and then let my sense of humor take over. Everyone was laughing with every funny thing I said, and applauded me on my every joke. It was then I felt relaxed and told myself that this is it, there’s no turning back since everyone’s seems to enjoy my hosting antics.

I also did a couple of song numbers (again with my guitar), which includes an original composition, which the people really liked. Generally speaking, I think I did a great job in hosting the party and it was quite a memorable experience. The organizers even commented that they chose the right person to host the party. They even said that it’s a one-man-show stuff since I am able to host and perform on the same occasion. I’m not sure though if it’s a good idea for me to do it again but they are telling me that now they have a host for each and every occasion that we will have. Oh well, as usual I’ll just decline it as much as I could.

Up until now, I’ve been receiving MSN instant messages, emails, and even greeting cards from the people who attended our Christmas party thanking me for the fun party and that they really enjoyed it. Some just simply praised me for being that funny person that I am. Oh well, I’m just glad they enjoyed our party, ‘coz I did.

Recently, there are a few good things that happened to me with my current company. Some sort of a popularity boost I guess.

First, was the chance again to play for the company’s singing contest to accompany another contestant with my guitar. This time around, after I played “Slow” by Freestyle, one of the judges applauded me for how I played the guitar. He even asked the people to give me a round of applause for the nice piece I just played. I blushed infront of the crowd not knowing how to react, so I just bowed, waved my hands and said thank you (celebrity style, ei!?!)

Next, was when I saw my manager dancing around while waiting for our meeting to start. I thought it was kinda akward, so I asked him, “Why are you dancing?”. He then answered, that all the team leads or managers would have a dance number for our Christmas party. It was then that I laughed a bit and told him, that I just hope that their knees would still be strong enough to finish the dance. Then to my surprise, he said to me that I should laugh as much as I can now because on next year’s Christmas party’s dance number of the the team leads and managers, I would be joining them. I became silent for a while trying to interpret what he meant. Does this mean, I’ll get promoted next year to the high ranks? Would I be a team lead or manager next year? I tried not to think about it that much, but I just couldn’t get it off my mind and get puzzled about what the company’s plans for me in terms of promotion. Oh well, let’s just wait and see. If a promotion is what he meant, then “Thank you”, but if it’s something uncertain, no big deal as well, since I just joined the company last September, and I still got a lot of things to prove.

The next good thing that happened, is again about my musical skills. This time, it was during our Christmas party wherein I played the bass guitar for my department’s band for a couple of song numbers. Again, people liked not only my playing but the whole band. I also got the chance to play for the grand finals of our singing contest for a contestant who sang “True Colors” by Phil Collins (revision). One of the judges, applauded me again, and as I walked down the stage, the people around me were clapping their hands, and saying “Ang galing mo!” (You’re good!!!). I guess I’m slowly building a fans club. Hehehehe!

It may not always be the good times, but let’s just say that I’ll enjoy it while it last.

Today, during my 3rd month for my current company, I was asked by my manager to spend some time for a 1-on-1 talk for my evaluation. I was a but anxious about how this would turn out, since I’m not really sure how they see my performance or if they really think I’m an effective member of the team. Well, as far as I know, I’m doing what I can to live up to their expectations.

Then it started. It was rather a short performance evaluation discussion, and as I may say, it turned out pretty well. I got positive feedbacks from my managers, and I’m glad they appreciate what I’m doing for the company. My strong points were mostly on my competence regarding my work as well as being able to help out in some process glitches with the different projects I’m working on. More or less, I think they were impressed with the way I handled things as well as my knowledge with my tasks.

Sad to say though, I have one negative feedback and it’s regarding my hesitations to talk to the higher-ups. Well, they really can’t blame me since I’m still in the stage of trying to get a feel of the people I’m working with. It’s just a matter of time though ’til I would learn how to approach or communicate with them without causing any issues or simply being able to express myself and my ideas more effectively. My boss understands me as well, and it’s really something normal for someone who’s just working for 3 months in a company. There may be some exceptional people who may be that expressive and doesn’t really care how people around them would react with the way they communicate, well that’s me. Besides, I came from a country where politeness and courtesy at works means a lot, that sometimes it tends to be too much that it’s not leaning anymore on the positive side. I just hope I don’t get to that point.

I just hope I can keep up what I started and continue to contribute and work effectively in my current job.