traditions

traditions do have a lot of the brighter side of life in them. for one, you anticipate things to happen; you wait for that certain time of day or month or year
so that you could experience whatever is traditionally done/celebrated on that
certain day.

christmas is one of those traditions that most everyone looks forward to. of course, for most, it's the season of gift-giving. for the students, especially those in college, it's something to look forward to because after the brief second sem, it's time for another break. and besides, christmas has been tradiiton in our country. no christmas would be complete without the food and the fun that accompanies the celebration.

the up community has its own share of christmas tradition. the last week of classes
is dotted with events that have been synonymous with up life. there's the apo
fraternity's oblation run (one i haven't watched yet but i have had the
inconvenience of seeing some guy's balls last year at that same event although i wasn't going to watch it). there's also the eng'g week, the highlights of which are
the acoustic jam eng'g, smokers' night and of course, ms. eng'g. theirs is really a
very vibrant, not to mention very active, college.

and then there's the lantern parade. for years, the college of fine arts has been
participating in this lantern parade but is no longer up for the various awards
given to deserving lanterns and their respective colleges. given the fact that
they're from FA, it's no surprise that they're already in the hall of fame of
Lantern Parade winners so they just might as well strut their stuff and be
acknowledged as the best among the lanterns, and in doing so give the other colleges a chance to shine.

massive budget cuts on education has greatly affected the conduct of everyday
activities in a state college such as up. and so is the budget for this year's
christmas celebration. so there will no longer be lanterns for each college. the
college of fine arts will lead the parade with the theme earth, air, water, fire -
the so-called four elements - and then pick up the parols from the booths in the
acad oval as the parade continues on to quezon hall. that's what's said in the email that's been circulating. nevertheless, not every college is required to make one so ours didn't have one due to lack of money.

well, this is the first time that i've been able to watch a complete lantern parade. i've seen all the lanterns go by. it actually started quite early, i guess around 4pm because darkness has not yet set in. when it ended, it was dark already.
there were a lot of tiangges in the acad oval. you could buy a lot with P100 there,
especially with the earrings, necklaces, etc. which could cost P20 and below.
besides being able to watch the whole lantern parade, i also completely enjoyed the
christmas celebrations here in up. that's because i can say i've been able to
participate in most of the celebrations. enjoying the acad oval is one way, though i got into it late; like it was thursday already, the last day, when it has been
carless since monday. many people complained about it though but it's a great thing
that was done. yes, enjoying it is one thing. being with people close to your heart
is another. well, this gives me ideas for another topic i've been wanting to burst
about but i won't do it here. till the next post.