Food is Love

I’ve been eating fast food since my childhood.  Fast food has been a huge part of my childhood.  Every day after school, my dad always takes me out for some fast food, discreetly.  That way, my mom won’t find out.  She hated fast food and tried to keep it out of my reach.  She once told me if I keep eating fast food, I won’t be able to live long and do any sports once I grow older.  When she said this, it kept me away from fast food for a while.  From time to time, fast food has been a treat to me, and still is to this day.

                The places where I lived as a young child, fast food restaurants can be found anywhere and are extremely popular.  Literally, everywhere I go, traveling from country to country, there are so many popular fast food restaurants that it’s hard to avoid them.  My mom had a hard time keeping me away from those fast food restaurants.  She gets irritated that American restaurants are global; even Taco Bell and Burger King has been around in Japan and the Philippines, but they’re menus are exclusive in their respective countries.  This makes it even harder for her to get those restaurants out of my sight.  Back in Japan, my dad always takes me out to the Japanese McDonalds.  The McDonalds in the naval base is way more different than the Japanese McDonalds.  I prefer the Japanese McDonalds because the majority of their menu is based on seafood.  Instead of a Big Mac, I usually order the shrimp burger and some French fries sprinkled with seaweed seasoning.  It has been my addiction throughout my childhood and my mom would get upset that I kept eating it.  Once, I go to McDonalds with my dad and he’ll buy me shrimp burger for the whole.  I got to the point when I got very ill from eating so much Japanese McDonalds.  Until I got better, I begged my dad to take me out and order that shrimp burger for me.  The illness I had before didn’t stop me from getting my hands on that burger.  When my mom found out, she was furious with me and my dad.  So she convinced my dad to stop ordering McDonalds for me.  Funny thing is I still didn’t stop going to McDonalds.  I use my lunch money my mom always gives me for school lunch, just to buy that burger.  Then I go out with friends that have the same idea.  There are times when I look back at my childhood and think remember the great times I had with my friends and my dad at McDonalds.  It’s such a shame that I won’t be able to get my hands on that burger ever again.

                Today, I haven’t been interested in fast food as I was back then.  Fast food is a treat to me and I eat it occasionally.  As I grew older, I became aware of my health and realized that consuming too much fast food is a risk to my health.  When I eat fast food, I usually get cramps and get exhausted really easily.  This made me eat my mom’s cooking every night.  Every night I get to eat real food that benefits my health. Still, it’s good to some fast food every once in a while.

Living Life in California

               A person can change physically, mentally and emotionally sometime in their life.  One night, I overheard my parents talking to each other about moving somewhere far away from Virginia because they don’t like the environment there.  I can barely understand Tagalog, but I get the idea on what they’re talking about: we’re going to move to California.  I have mix emotions of excitement and anxiousness.  I was a little excited because I’ve always wanted to move to California.  A lot of my friends say California is an awesome place to live.  But I’m also anxious because I was afraid I won’t be able to make new friends there, as much as I hate to admit it.  Before I moved here, I don’t know why but I sometimes get this idea that people from California are not welcoming to people from the east coast.  Throughout my life, I moved around a lot, which is a normal thing as a military brat.  But this particular move really changed me, surprisingly.  I can’t really explain why or how, but when I moved here, I suddenly became a better person.

When I moved to California, I became free from stress. I was stress-free because of the weather is always sunny and I’ve always hated cloudy or rainy weather.  With this sunny weather, I go outside more often compared to the other pIaces I’ve lived in.  I had a fun time because there are so many things to do here and many cities to explore.  I’ve met a lot of new people here and they’re much better than the ones back in Virginia and the Philippines.  These friends I’ve made are the ones I can rely on, talk to and bond with whenever I feel down.  When I’m having a hard time in school, there are always there to help me out, and there are there to motivate me and get me back on my feet.  With my friends around, I have confidence to get through all my subjects.  Back then, I wasn’t really responsible in my academics like I am now.  I used to be lazy and unmotivated enough to get decent grades I expected to have.  But when I moved here, I became more responsible in my academics, my GPA has improved significantly and the teachers here were nicer.  Unlike in the Philippines, they’re subjects are way too advanced for me and teachers are busy and I have to be on my own.  I felt really happy being here and I’m so glad I don’t have to move anymore.

               When I got to California, I felt ecstatic by the view and sounds.  There’s nothing like this back in Virginia.  There are so many places to go to and many tourist spots.  The streets are crowded but people here are full of life.  When I arrived to the streets of Los Angeles, The first thing I hear is the mariachi band.  I hear musicians playing some classical songs and everyone around them is having a good time.  I also see some street performers and attractions such as “walking statues”, some celebrity doppelgangers, singers, and musicians.  I also walked around the streets of Hollywood and the view is breath-taking; I came to California at night and I see some beautiful lighted-up buildings, somewhat similar to Las Vegas.   The streets are filled with expensive restaurants, advertising themselves with beautiful colored lights and busy waiters fulfilling customers’ orders.  There are also many places to eat, hang out, kill some time, etc.  California has so many beautiful beaches here too, every weekend I always go to the beach with my friends and go boogie boarding.  The water is cold but in perfect temperature, the sand is soft, I can sleep on the sand all day. 

People in California are very nice and interesting to hang out with.  I always try to convince myself that people here are decent and they’re much nicer than I anticipated.  Everyone is so relaxed and mellow; they don’t care what’s going on around them.  People here won’t tolerate drama with other people or to each other.  Whenever someone starts talking about them behind their backs, they simply brush them off their shoulders.  I hanged out with so much that I’ve adapted to their personality.  Back then, I don’t really care about what people think of me, but they sometimes know how to push my buttons.  I used to get mad really easily, and some conflict being made between me and my friends.    However, there are a few problems going on when I was about to move here.  It’s hard for me to say good bye to my friends and relatives, leaving them behind.  What’s even worse is that I won’t be able to see them again.  But I’m fine with that, because many close friends come and go.  This is one of the things that changed me; whenever friends leave, it’s time for me to let go.

               Moving to California has to be one of the greatest decisions my parents ever made.  Not only have I changed, but my family changed as well.  My mom and dad have found jobs that fit their interest, and my sister has been going out a lot instead of staying in her room.  California is full of happiness and excitement.  There are so many activities to do here, and for once I was really happy.  I haven’t been this happy since I was living in Japan.  I was confident in my academics, I became more active than I was back then, I became more independent, and I was looking forward to a lot of things like traveling, meeting up with old friends, etc.  I finally found place where I belong.  

Marriage

                Marriage is one of the most complex things in life.  The thought of getting married, staying together with your soul mate, is one the best feelings in the world, but at the same time it’s quite intimidating.  The thought of it is scary because it’s difficult to choose who the right person for you is, and there is a chance that something will get in the way of your relationship. I believe that marriage is still alive and strong at times, but it’s not as strong as it was before.  People sometimes use it the wrong way.  It’s sad that marriage isn’t taken seriously.  In today’s society, marriage is slightly losing its meaning.  People often hop from one person to another and that usually happens among young adults, eighteen through their early twenties.  People who rushes into marriage usually aren’t going to last and I’ve witnessed this very often from my friends.  It’s actually very rare to see very young couples to make it work on their relationship then get married.  Maintaining a relationship has some obstacles along the way.  Monogamy is the one of the things young adults are having trouble with.  People like the feeling of being taken by someone or have a relationship status but at the same time want to be free.  Free as in living life being single, having fun with friends.  With this, they end up cheating on their significant other.  Another thing that tarnished the meaning of marriage is the social media.  The social media is so big that they use technology to get away with cheating or leaving your partner.  The social media can also be used for looking for people to meet, and people end up getting into a relationship without getting to know the person a little bit more.  In this generation, there are so many things that destroy the meaning of marriage, however there are a few young couples who obey the laws of marriage and appreciate being with their significant other.

                I believe that Natalie Rivera’s ideas concerning on temporary marriage isn’t a bad idea at all.  It’s morally wrong to give people the opportunity to decide how long their marriage is going to be.  It destroys the meaning of marriage.  Marriage is a union between two lovers and a commitment that lasts a lifetime.  You can’t just get married to someone you barely knew and decide whether that person is right person for you.   Marriage is a one-time thing, and it cannot be redone.  Temporary marriage doesn’t make any sense at all.  If the marriage is temporary, then it’s never a marriage to begin with.  I believe that you shouldn’t get married until you’re completely sure that you’re ready.

My Name

                My full name is Ray Patrick Alidon Codera.  To be honest, the only part of my name I really like is my first name Ray and my last name.  I take those names with pride because it’s really unique to me.  And I’m not the first person in my family to be born with this name.  My first name, Ray Patrick, came from my two uncles from my dad’s side.  There isn’t any significant story to the origin of my name.  I’ve inherited this name from many of my uncles and other relatives.  Ray came from my dad’s older brother who served in the military in the Army.  Ray is one of the most common names in my family for generations, and there are varieties of ways to spell it differently.  For example, my dad’s younger cousin name is Rey, and my dad’s sister-in-law name is Rei.  My other first name is pretty common among my family as well.  Patrick came from the day I was born; St. Patrick’s Day.  Patrick also came from one of my uncle’s on my dad’s side.  I’m satisfied with my name Ray because it sounds unique to me and I never met someone with the same name as me.  And also, this name has a lot of significant meanings to variety of languages, even though those meanings have nothing to do with me; Ray means radiant in Latin and grace in Scottish.  I also like this name because the fact my name goes perfectly with almost anything.  My friends jokingly name the days of the week after me, like” SunRay”, “FriRay”, or “SatuRay”.  I can even make a poem or a sentence that has my name involved.  I absolutely hated Patrick and my middle name because they just sound really funny to me, so I always kept my middle name and second name a secret.  I’ve been teased a lot of times in my life about my name because of this famous cartoon character Patrick Star from SpongeBob Squarepants.  A lot of people thought Patrick is my middle name, which I don’t mind at all, there’s no use to try convincing them Alidon is my real middle name.   But I shouldn’t say anything negative about my middle name since it was my mom’s maiden name after all.  If I ever get the chance to change my name, I definitely would.  However, I wouldn’t change my name completely, I would definitely change the name Patrick into something else that’s unique and catches people’s eye once they see my name on a board or attendance role.  Right now, I honestly don’t know what name I really like.  But I’ve been living with this name since the day I was born.  Despite the fact about how much I hated part of my name, the least I can do is be proud of it.