Back to the Philippines » Rants http://www.backtothephilippines.com An Overseas Filipino Returns Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:31:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 My changing point of view http://www.backtothephilippines.com/my-changing-point-of-view/ http://www.backtothephilippines.com/my-changing-point-of-view/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:44:15 +0000 mixxy http://backtothephilippines.com/?p=102
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My husband likes it here! Even more than me. I feel confused still with how things work. Have you heard of reverse culture shock? I had my sort of “romantic” memories of Philippines of the past and some of the bad part as always has been forgotten and now I am seeing the real Philippines. Somehow I have a new point of view now. It also makes it difficult that my family is not here, no usual family house to come home to. It’s all very new and different. I think I have a bit of trouble because I had some expectations about the Philippines but MrC doesn’t.

We’ve been looking at places also: Pioneer (Mandaluyong), Ortigas, Makati, we still have to visit Fort Bonifacio, Alabang, Quezon City and our house. We are meeting people tonight. I am excited about this because they were my former officemates in my last project before I left for the US. This week was extremely busy indeed! We’ve had several lunch meetings with people such as Rob, a guy; I’ve met through this blog. He moved recently from the US and is very happy with his decision. We enjoyed exchanging our observations of life here and abroad. I also net another friend of mine from the US who came back here.

We rented a car and tried to drive to Rockwell by ourselves, and guess what, we entered a one-way street at Makati Avenue and ended up being caught by traffic enforcers (locals told us they are called bwaya or crocodiles here – go figure). I won’t go into details, but to make it short, it was quite an unpleasant memory for me. One thing I noticed about people here is that they try not to take things to seriously here and always have a silly sense of humor to make it through the day and maybe I should become like this (again) someday especially towards things that are out of my control. Nevertheless, my mood was bad for a couple of days. Today, I believe I have recovered from that bad experience.
Yesterday, we were looking at condo apartments in Makati with the help of a relative of mine and a broker she knows. Today, I just told my relative that we don’t need the help of that broker. Both of us didn’t like the fact that she was the one who caused them to be late by 2 hours. She also made tactless comment about me having a nice looking white guy, like I didn’t deserve to have one just because I don’t exactly look like a model. Anyway, I was not surprised of her reaction; I was expecting to have this reaction from locals anyways.
Our Dutch friend has warned us of this and I’ve also read some stories about this in the internet of how badly locals seem to look down on the Filipina spouse like as if she was someone below the league of the foreign guy or something. Anyways, these are one of the things I am trying to adjust with now. Things I did not hear or experience when I lived here decades ago as a single woman. Anyways so what!

Today, we saw a nice place in Mandaluyong, Pioneer area, and a new business district that is developing. It was near the mall and several big companies have made the place their home. MrC and I are quite impressed of the potential of this new CBD and this is definitely one place we’ll consider. We are already thinking of renting a condo unit there. Today, I sit with him in the office of our Dutch friend.

]]> http://www.backtothephilippines.com/my-changing-point-of-view/feed/ 0 Some Unfinished Business http://www.backtothephilippines.com/some-unfinished-business/ http://www.backtothephilippines.com/some-unfinished-business/#comments Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:26:05 +0000 mixxy http://backtothephilippines.com/musings/some-unfinished-business/ There are things that I am still undecided whether I should pursue or just leave hanging. First of all, there is the Integration Program which I have not completed because my level of Dutch has not reached the minimum yet. I passed reading, writing, speaking but was quite unfortunate not to pass the listening test. In this country, if you came as a partner of a Dutch citizen you have to attend these Dutch language classes and seminars as part of the requirements of holding a residence permit. It is compulsory even if I already have a good job and pay taxes. I am not even on welfare and they still force me to attend these (stupid) seminars. But anyways, I want to keep the mood of this blog as calm and wholesome as possible that is why I have been trying to be quiet about this. But yes, to be honest this is one of the main reasons I got turned off from living in this country. I am sorry but the good things I have discovered in this country has been overshadowed by this hard fact that I have to go through these kinds of annoying stuff. The government social worker we met earlier advised me that I should take the nationwide dutch language test which she thinks I have a good chance of passing plus these tests can be taken more than once. I really am not fond of tests at this point. I was fortunate to not ever have to take a board exam for my profession so why do I have to take a test just to live in a country when I know I have other countries to choose from (to be frank). I immigrated alone to the U.S. when I was 24 and somehow, I feel that I’ve already done so much of the conforming and adapting part not to mention the hardwork involved in getting yourself integrated into society but at this point I am not the same anymore and my energy level is no longer the same as it was when I left the Philippines to jump hurdles like these. I know I am not really that old but attending night school is not really something I want to do now in my life. I have other plans and dreams that do not involve 3-5 years learning a language just to be part of society. It is a slow and tiring process which may be okay for some but not to me at this point.  Two years ago, I came here to be with my then Dutch fiance and that is the only reason I am still here now.  Unlike other people, I did not come here for economic reasons or for asylum.

Another thing hanging is the fact that I passed the driving theory test and that is only good for one year. I have been driving since I was 20 years old both in the Philippines and the US and here I could not even drive at all because believe me it is not that easy to pass the theory test and after that you can’t even take the practical test immediately. They want you to take driving lessons all over again and they cost a fortune (average is 40 Euros per hour) and I have heard horror stories from others who had experiences with these driving instructors deliberately preventing them from actually taking the test by making them less confident during the lessons and not giving the recommendation to take the practical test just because they can suck the money out of you because you have no choice thinking that you have already invested so much in it. Here you cannot do practices with someone who has a license, you must be accompanied by a driving instructor. It costs a lot of money to get a drivers license and many people fail it so many times before they even get one.

Since we are leaving the country I don’t see myself now even trying for this. But still I may try to consider this when I have enough free time and psychologically ready to undergo it. Even then, if we don’t end up staying in the Philippines, we will come back here just to regroup and make plans to move either to the U.S. or Canada.

And also, by the way, I would like share an article I accidentally found lately which deeply bothered me. I hope this would enlighten anyone who might be considering a move here or another country similar to this. Please read the following: Is “accent” a form of racism?

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