Kulit Co. : F-KC Connection (Part 1)

EXUDING joie de vivre while enjoying the Parisian sun.

First posted 06:23pm (Mla time) Sept 10, 2004
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page D1 of the September 11, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WHEN I got my first big paycheck, I treated my best friend to her first big shopping spree. But she didn't know about it until the day ended. While waiting in traffic on some road in Makati, I grabbed my phone, scrolled down to her name, and when I heard her voice on the other line, after a ground-shaking "Happy Birthday!" I asked her to choose a number between 5 and 12. After blurting out the first number that came to mind, she, of course, demanded to know that was all about. She had just established our budget for the day but she didn't know it until we got to the clothing store of her choice.

Here's a picture of celebration, feel the joy, feel the rainbow! I finally received my Carte de Sejour [legal student/resident visa] after one full year of waiting.

It's always a plus to have the chance to choose what you want in life but sometimes we need to leave things to fall into their proper place and happen the way they were supposed to when we least expect it. Paris has been a breeding ground for some firsts. French has been the first foreign language I could actually converse in, which led me to getting my first little Parisian home, and achieving my first year of college education (grace a dieu).

WORKING CLASS KC. Completing some errands while finishing this Super! column.

The city has taught me to succeed in my first jay walk, wear out my first pair of knee-high leather boots (they kept my feet warm while I tried hard not to get hit by a Continental GT Bentley), drop down to a size 26 (yes, that's a first!) that allowed me my first pair of European jeans (although I'm still too short for them) and my first time to run out in the summer sun with the size still ON the jeans, which is something I would be careful not to do again unless I find myself dropping down to a size 20 (not happening in the near future).

In the same way that all of these firsts came flying from all directions, sometimes happening exactly as planned, and sometimes not, I was quite clueless that a new job was waiting just around the corner. At the same time, I just couldn't wait to get my hands dirty in the mud for an opportunity like it!

To say the least, it was quite a delight (this is a word I never used to say--not until I started getting into the habit of afternoon tea at an English tearoom near work) to receive a call from a certain Monsieur Bourasset, telling me the dates and times that I was to report to work in the role of secretary. Apparently, this girl was hired! Needless to say, M.B. was My Boss.

The CV I never told anyone I sent out happened to fall into the right place. Now that I'm finally done with my first month of employment for a desk job that I never thought I could get, the same 3-man secretarial team has been rehired (grace a dieu) for the next European Union-related documentaries that the European Commission has funded Propager TV to produce. Quel bonheur!

Copyright 2006 Inquirer News Service. All rights reserved.

Kulit Co. : Secretary in the City

KC UPDATES us about her life in the city of cool.

First posted 05:01pm (Mla time) Sept 03, 2004
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page D1 of the September 4, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

SO FAR, it has been hard work and great fun working for the TV company Propager, which made the intelligent decision (I need to stress that) to hire me as their secretary. My sked had been changed to a 10 to 6 (although "9 to 5" sounds better). I work hard (not), make a lot of phone calls to editors of important channels, write a lot of e-mails, put on lots of different accents (including Mauritian) and take a lot of coffee breaks (yes, Starbucks is finally in France). Work is going well, especially because of the very helpful advice from some of the greatest friends in the world who bother to pull me out of the darkness! I am pretty successful because of those who share some wisdom and those who share what they pretend is wisdom, and also those who are honest enough not to share any wisdom because they frankly do not feel that they have any.

The other day, I was receiving order forms from around the globe. Our reports are always free of cost and free of broadcasting restrictions for the networks we contact because we are funded by the EC. Cool, huh?

Well... to make the story a bit more interesting, I was assigned countries like Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Germany and Ireland. I helped to catch up on some calls on the evening shift, calls that involved US channels such as CNN, the Discovery Channel and ABC, as well as CBS. Trip!!!

In my Europe list there was also Cosmopolitan Spain and I talked to an editor-in-chief about our terrorism report and he was, like, "Well, it's great because you see, we focus only on lovely things, we focus on human relations and sex."

Also, it's interesting 'coz the US channels have this way of being extra meticulous about details including, "Where is the tape now, as we speak?" Ngeks. Pero standards talaga nila kakaiba! Sometimes the person you'd just been talking to on the phone, biglang maririnig mo sa radio (the sounds they play when they put you on hold) when calling a different channel. Weird talaga ha ha! Sa list ko naman, funny sometimes. I called a channel and the guy said this to me: "Speak only Slovak."

My darling babes... do you speak Slovak?