the little theatre in bermuda

It’s not called little for no reason.  It’s called the Little Theatre, because it is indeed very small.  It is the smallest movie theater I’ve ever been to in my entire life!  It only seats 173 people, which is probably less than a quarter of most movie theaters.  Consequently, the screen is not as wide as usual and there is only one movie showing each week.  So if there is a really good and popular movie showing, you really have to get tickets way beforehand or you’ll never get to see it at all. 

I’m not very fussy about the movie theaters I go to.  The picture, of course, does not equal those in theaters in the US or even the Philippines (those are the only other countries where I’ve been to a movie house) but it’s decent.  Even the sound quality is OK.  So I’m cool with that.  Honestly, I’m not a very big fan of going to theaters so that’s probably why I don’t really mind the crudeness of the place. 

Tuesday night, however, when we went to see “Wanted”, I was kind of wishing there was a better and more modern movie theater in the island.  Wanted was really a good movie I think, which would be nice to see in a state-of-the-art movie house and at least with all the lights off.  Yes, the crew at Little Theater forgot to turn off the lights before the movie started.  I don’t know if the other moviegoers noticed it but they didn’t say a word.  If it were somewhere else, I’m pretty sure somebody would have started booing.  They only turned off the light more than halfway through the film. 

Another thing that irritated me was the fact that there was a chick who was really loud — as in as if she’s seeing a movie on her own at her own private home theater.  She was over reacting at everything that my own reactions just back off because my irritation with her drowns everything!  I was thinking then that maybe, had it been a bigger room, the sounds she made would have probably seemed more discreet and I would have watched my movie in peace. 

But, it is what it is.  The Little Theatre may not be the best there is in the world but it still does its job, provide entertainment to the island and the occasional marvel it brings to people for it being one-of-a-kind.

island living

             Before I went to Bermuda, I did my fair share of research on how it’s way of life, people, culture, and all the other basic things a new entrant should at least have a background on before migrating to a new country.  Honestly, before I got my job offer, I know nothing about Bermuda except that it’s a small island in the middle of the Atlantic.  How small it is?  I never knew the answer to it until I got here…it is VERY SMALL!!!  It’s smaller than Singapore, which I already found to be a bit asphyxiating so just imagine how shocked I was when I found out that I could actually go from one end of the island to the other in roughly 45 minutes! 

Here is a map of bermuda and where it is in the world. As you can see, it is really very tiny that in most world maps, it is barely even a dot.

Apparently, due to lack of online information about Bermuda, the size of the island is not the only surprise in store for me.  Here are some facts as well as my own island discoveries/observations so far:

• Bermuda is an English (UK) territory but since it is very close to the US (it belongs to the continent of North America), it has a very strong American influence.  Add that to the fact that since the plunge in the value of the dollar, most Brits went back to the UK while most Americans flock the island to get shelter from tax and their declining economy.  Their music is more American than European.  They have more American food than English food.  Though they have a lot of Italian restaurants, they are actually more American Italian than Italian Italian. 

• Though Bermuda imports majority of its products, they still love their own and by their “own” I mean not only their products but their race and their country as well.  For instance, Coke bottles here say ”Bottled in Bermuda by Bermudians”.  Isn’t that one of a kind?  I don’t remember seeing Coke bottles in the Philippines that say “Bottled in the Philippines by Filipinos”.  In fact, in the Philippines, Filipinos would more often than not, prefer buying stuff made elsewhere in the world except in the Philippines.  Also, Bermudians are always get priority wherever, whenever.  In the airport, there’s a line exclusively for Bermudians with 2 immigration officers attending to them.  Note that the ratio of Bermudians traveling to non-Bermudians (meaning residents and tourists) is really low so it’s not uncommon to see tourists and residents get out of the airport last and finding no taxis out.

• All houses here have names. I found that cute really because I feel like I’m playing Sim City.  Actually, there are a lot of manors here similarly named in the game.  My house is called “Paddington”.  We include that in our address because they say it makes it easy for the mailmen and/or taxi drivers to know where you live so I’m assuming the house names are unique.  I wonder if they apply for it like trademarks?

• Bermuda is an expensive place to live in.  I already expected that before I got here because it’s what most of the websites I visited say.  But really, I was still shocked when I first came.  Imagine paying $4.75 for a loaf of bread.  That would have cost me just a dollar or less in the Philippines!  I’m not exactly sure how much is it in the US but I’m pretty sure it’s cheaper.  I used to convert a lot back then but now, I just don’t notice anymore.  I can’t live here if I continue converting and comparing.  I only buy the basic stuff here like food and detergent that’s pretty much it.  All the others, I buy in the US.  When I’m in the US, I shop like crazy!  I make sure that when I have a big bag with almost nothing in it when I leave Bermuda for all my shopping stuff.  I remember buying hangers in the US!! Haha!

• The beaches here are absolutely gorgeous!  The sand is pink, not dark pink but more like a pig’s skin pink.  The water is clean and clear with the nicest blue, green, turquoise hue.  I just love it!

These are just a few things about Bermuda that I remember at the top of my head.  Just like any country probably, there is more to Bermuda than those published in websites, books or magazines and the best way to learn about it is to actually live there.  I live here now and I am still discovering a lot of things about the island, both good and bad.  I’ve only been here six months and I’ve already learned a lot about it but I’m pretty sure I have a lot more to learn including the answer to the big question “Am I befitting for this island?”…We’ll see…

  Isn’t that lovely?

moving on…

I have been in Bermuda for 6 months now.  It’s something I didn’t plan but just landed on my shoes and decided to grab at that very instant.  Actually, my decision making was not very easy.  I spent numerous sleepless nights thinking if I should take this rare opportunity or just continue on with my life the way I’ve always known it to be.  Apparently, after much deliberation, I decided to leave my comfort zone and live in an island in the middle of the Atlantic. 

What made me decide to just leave my life behind?  I’m not exactly sure what’s the most compelling reason but I’m pretty sure it’s not the new job waiting for me here.  Yeah, I’m back to being an auditor and now that I’m one, I just miss my old job with a pang.  But that’s another story.   Looking back, I did have a number of reasons why I accepted this assignment.  First, the money was really big.  Bermudian dollars are pegged to the USD so I’m very happy with the exchange rate.  Plus, there are no taxes so I get to see all my hardwork not just in my paycheck but in my bank account.  The money reason then branches out to a lot of things, the primary one is my family.  Now that I have the money, I get to help my family out a lot without pinching pennies for myself in the end.  Of course I get to save for my future too for whatever I decide to do after whether it’s my MBA or just maybe for pleasure.  Who knows. 

Second, Bermuda is very close to the US, just a 2 hour flight to NY, the city I love the most (so far, that is) and 6-7 hour flight to the West Coast where most of my family now lives.  That’s a lot shorter than the 16 or more hours of journey to the US from the Philippines. My family loves to get together and at least now I could be in every gathering they organize without worrying about taking long vacations to make the most out of my expensive flights from home and of course on who’s paying for my airfare because now, I can pay them myself with some extra for shopping

Evidently, my family is one of the major reasons I moved.  Yes, I love my family a lot and I love spending time with them so that’s a big chunk of the big reasons for the big move.  But the biggest reason for my move is myself.  I needed a drastic change in my life so I’d know who, what and where I really want to be.  I know people could know the answer to that without going anywhere but in my case, i need two steps (or maybe even more) further away from my comfort zone to see that.  When I was in NY, I realized there’s a whole different world out there that I need to see to understand better, if not fully, the world I live in and I can only do that by traveling or living in another country.  I knew then that I need to experience what’s outside the bubble I live in.  I had to pop that bubble and be adventurous while I am young and could still manage such a big change then maybe, just maybe, i’ll get closer to the answers I’ve been looking for and if I don’t, at least I could say I tried putting together the pieces of the puzzle called world.