Next good news is that MrC and I are actually meeting people who might become key players in our business venture.  He is now working closely with a fellow Dutch businessman who is doing the same kind of outsourcing business in Vietnam and has a colleague that works here as well.    Their company has now provided one .Net web developer from Vietnam who will start ASAP on his current project.  They are also very willing to assist us with any information we might need to setup our venture which is actually almost the same as what they are doing.   Hopefully we could learn a lot from them!  MrC is also constantly searching for people knowledgeable in mobile development in the Symbian platform as well.   On the other hand, through this blog we were also fortunate to meet one highly talented individual who we hope to meet up with during our trip in August and see how it develop from there.

At work, it is becoming easier and easier for me to really leave without any feelings of guilt or whatsoever because I have made known to my boss and now to my colleagues what the trip in the Philippines means.  It is not 100% sure but it surely is close to that.   After our 3 week trip, and if all went well, I will resign from my job immediately.  On the meantime, the HR has sent me a message that they are going to hire a full-time employee to assist me since the one we have now is a freelancer consultant who has no plans of being a corporate slave anyways they need us to provide them with a good job description for this new colleague.  For me, I think this person is also my replacement as well so at least they won’t be in a risky situation when the freelancer’s contract ends or if I leave.

With regards to my residency status here, it is still unclear but it looks like I will end up being a tourist when my 5 year permit ends in 2 years.     I need to pass inburgering (inbuggering) before that 5 year is up otherwise they will not renew my permit.  This would mean that if I am really motivated enough to stay here I have to at least pass this state language exam and just thinking about this wants me pack my bags now and leave for the States.  Anyways, I asked MrC again, he knows this but I constantly ask him anyways, I constantly wanted confirmation that we would go the U.S. if Philippines is no longer a choice.  In a heartbeat I will apply for his visa to the US and that should only take less than 9 months if we applied from the consulate here in the Netherlands.

You know, I truly appreciate the Netherlands and what it has done for me personally and the experience of meeting wonderful and interesting people here is priceless.  However, when the inburgering and the “meedoen” pressure they put upon immigrants like me who are hardworking and contribute to Dutch society is pretty much an insult and to me I’m heartbroken from it because I’ve seen several good relationships fall apart from it and foreign partners live in depression in such a country that talks of itself as  tolerant, fair and most of all a welfare state(!).  But times are changing and so my husband and I are preparing ourselves to go if our dreams cannot be realized in such a place.

Bubbles was my classmate from Grade 4 to Grade 6 in the Philippines. It was in the 6th Grade where our group of 4 was formed and there is where we became good friends. During this time, I would recall that we were both elected in the student council with her as a P.R.O. if I am not mistaken and I became a marshal. If I recall it correctly, the student council marshal helps out the school staff in upholding peace and order in the campus. I can’t believe how I got into that position. But anyway, as we all know, the P.R.O. is the Public Relations Officer. Bubbles was raised by her parents speaking English at home and that made her standout from the rest of the candidates, plus, she had a “natural” assertive and outgoing personality so that position fitted her perfectly.

When high school started, most of the people from our barkada (group of friends) moved to other schools and only the two of us stayed in the same school. So it was just us then. We belonged to different sections but on our first year, our classrooms were right next to each other so even if we started making new friends we still ended up becoming best friends. That continued all four years, we talked on the phone about our crushes, we joined the same geeky clubs (library club, school newspaper) , we won school contests. She joined and won several Declamation and Speech contests and for me it’s Spelling and Current Events. And of course we hangout after school doing girly high school things we don’t want our parents to know. In our Junior year, we even joined CAT officer training and I was the one who got her into it. Unfortunately, it was only her who made it to the final set of officers selected. It was quite a big disappointment for me but I had to accept it and move on. In our senior year, we became classmates finally and from there we formed a solid 4-girl group. I ended up having to speak English all the time because all 3 of them spoke English. It’s not that they are playing pa-sosyal or that but it’s because one of them grew up in the U.S. and the other one grew up in Nigeria speaking English. At first it was kind of uneasy for me but later on I started to get used to it. However, we could not deny that we were a bit different from the rest of the school. But now looking back, I am grateful for that experience.

Anyways, back to the story. Bubbles was a late bloomer and she honestly accepts that. In Grade school, and maybe even up to our sophomore year, Bubbles was always in front of the line .. and you know the meaning of that. We always formed lines (queues) back in school for reasons of order when going to a school event. The person that is always in front of the line is usually the shortest girl or boy in the class. Bubbles is one year younger than everyone else because as I recall she skipped one year sometime between prep and 2nd grade. So that’s one reason next to being a late bloomer of course. In our junior year, suddenly, the late bloomer blossomed! Boys started noticing her and at first she found these guys irritating and she called them “surot” which meant bed bugs in English. But later on there was one whom she actually did like but I guess it was too late because the guy never continued his advances and then we eventually graduated. At this time, I started getting busy myself not with boys but I started joining a Christian community. I think this is when we started drifting apart. And of course, we ended up in different universities. She went to the blue one and I went to the green one. But even then, she did send me a letter once in a while. That was way back before e-mails and Friendsters. On my 18th birthday, I invited her to my party which was held in my house. Most of my guests were composed of my college and church friends. After that she sent another letter from me and this time she honestly told me that during that party she felt really out of place and that she felt that both of us are really changing and that it was sad to admit that our lives are going on different ways inevitably. She also told me that she is moving to the Netherlands along with her family since her father was assigned there. After that, I still received a couple more letters from the Netherlands. That was in the early 90′s.

I don’t recall really what city she lived in but now I am wondering if she is still here in the same country as me or is she back home in the Philippines. I have come in contact with a common friend who lives in the US and she also didn’t hear anything from her nor from any of our batchmates. She is not in our Friendster group and even if I use google nothing comes out! Where in the world is Bubbles? If you would like to help, feel free to link to this post in your blog or webpage.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kQM3WPWOY]