Opportunity not a sacrifice

Being a Filipino, it is a common to know a relative, friend, a family member, a faather, a mother or a love one who works in another country as an Overseas Filipino Worker(OFW).  And every time we hear, that they are the modern heroes of our country and we acknowledge their great deal of contribution and sacrifices for their families.

Now I am one of them.  Two weeks here in Oman being an OFW has not yet sinked in my system.  Though now I can truly relate to the word homesickness. How desperately you wanted to go back home and sleep in your own bed, hear the usual voices, eat your favorite food, ride jeepneys, or even just watch your favorite TV shows and tele novelas.  That emptiness that you feel when you go home in the villa or flat where you are staying and cannot understand what you feel and feels just like crying forever. Friends will say, you will get over that in few days or months or so.  But yeah it will or will not, it depends on you.  Being in another country is indeed stressful and scary at times.  There are a lot of things that are battling in my mind.  Will I be ok here? Will my job be fine? Will I be safe? Will find somebody I can trust? Will my family be safe back home while I'm not there? or even asking "What am doing here?" Did I make the right decision of coming here? and a lot more. Yes it is indeed a sacrifice. 

However, I'm thinking that being here changes a lot of things. You experience new culture, meet new friends and most importantly you earn more than what you can back home which is the reason why we are all here.  And with that we can send our kids to a good school, help our family and even relatives, build your dream house or help other people. A lot of things can now be done.

So, in my early stay here I changed my perspective. Being here is not a sacrifice but a God given opportunity.  Something that we need to be thankful.  I believe that God has plans for us and this is one of His plans.

Dreams do come true...

I'm now writing this post in Salalah College of Technology, Salalah Oman after being selected by the Oman Ministry of Manpower to work as IT Lecturer here. The college is one of the 7 Colleges under the Ministry of Manpower here in Oman.  I can still recall my dream to work abroad and wishing and praying that I will be given an opportunity to work in another country.  Finally, here I am...

They say dreams do come true...I say yes it does.  I have dreamed of this and God provided me this opportunity.  Being here provided me with a rare opportunity to experience new culture, meet different kinds of people, learn new things and pile up experiences that can never be forgotten. However, like with a lot of people working abroad, living family and loved ones requires a great deal of courage, strength and faith.  It's easier said than done.  Arriving in another country with totally different culture is challenging and hard at the beginning.  But with prayer, practicality, wit and humor you will overcome this.

Prayer gives us the strength to fight homesickness, anxiety, fear, depression and other negative feelings that will weaken us.

Practicality is needed to make things easier for you and reminds of why you are here and will help you answer yourself every time you asked the question "What am I doing here?".

Wit and smartness will be a key for you to easily learn the culture and do well in your job. Being dumb just doesn't work here.

Humor is like multivitamins to your body, like fire through the rain.  You should learn to laugh and enjoy experiences instead of stressing yourself.  If you have a hard time understanding their language don't get pressured just take your time.  In other words just find the good side of things and stop whining.

I know life here is not easy but God has plans and He will be my guide.

Shaken by Earthquake

I was talking to a colleague about work stuffs when suddenly we felt things and walls around us shaking.  Everybody in the office realized then that an earthquake was happening...

Adrenaline started to rush, hearts pumping, screams getting louder and then instinctively RUN for your LIFE!!! Yeah it's like sweating it out in fun runs like RUN for Cancer, RUN for Earth and what difference is RUN for EarthQuake. As I ran for my safety, I was truly scared but what makes me even more scared is the the idea of being in this situation without my family and love ones in my sight and not being there when they needed me.

Life is indeed short, very, very short. It can end anytime.  Work has taken a lot of my time from the people I love and care most.  It makes me scared. Guilty.

After all the quest for success, money, prestige, good life...earthquake is shaking us that at the end of the day family, friends and all the people close to our hearts are all that matters.

Glad to Forget

Everything truly has a reason...left my netbook, work is there.  Now just using brother's laptop, to check on some work...browse some news...read some gossips...message some friends...and glad to finally find time to write something here.

I missed the chance to write about celebrations that passed, fiesta, Christmas and New Year.  I probably would be writing about the spirit of Christmas or "Pasko sa Pinas" or New year resolutions that are never resolved or spending holidays getting drunk.  Sometimes my motivation to write just seems to go 1 or 0, on and off.  Though one of my wishlist this 2012 is to write more.

Hmmm...it's 12:51 am...glad I left you my dear netbook.

Restaurants To Try Before You Die

It has been a practice of mine to visit Yahoo.com and check the news and articles everyday both internationally and locally.  My day would not be complete without reading news and interesting articles from Yahoo.

Today an article which bears the title "Restaurants to Try Before You Die" caught my attention. I actually appreciated the writer for coming up with such a catching title.  Who would not want to read such!  As a food lover myself, I'm interested to know what these restaurants are. I was hoping there's one in the list from the Philippines since it's much easier to visit and try...before I die(hehehe) but I know there's a very slim chance for my wish, knowing there are a lot of great restaurants out there.

As what I expected, restaurants from France and Spain made it to the ultimate gastronome destination(I so love the term!) as well as from Japan and Hongkong.  Reading through the article is such a torture, as I read on the superb and detailed description of the food and drinks from the restaurants listed, I was thinking when can I have a piece of this!

I don't know how and when will I have an chance to visit and try these restaurants that secured a spot on the food lover's list and gastronome's map.  I surely wish it will happen, before I die.

Random Thoughts

My thoughts just keep on wandering, randomly.

I think of what to do at work, what to eat, what to wear, when to sleep or what worthy movie to watch.  I think of former President Gloria Macapacal-Arroyo and her neck braces, I think of Supreme Court Spokesperson Atty. Midaz Marquez and Piolo Pascual, I think of DOJ Secretary Atty. Leila de Lima and Senator Meriam Defesonsor Santiago(will they cross roads someday???), I think of the price of gasoline and public vehicles fare, I think of the monthly taxes deducted from my salary and the hospital ambulance that we have to pay for gasoline.

I think of the kids sleeping in the streets and the kids sleeping in a soft bed in an air-conditioned room, I think of the children who goes to school without breakfast and the kids who don't eat because they don't like the food on their table.  I think of the parents working abroad, longing to hug and kiss their kids and the parents who are with their children, forgets their kid's birthday and remembers only after it's over.

I remember Alanis Morisette's song, "Isn't it Ironic?". "Traffic jam when you're already late, ten thousand spoons and all you need is knife, won a lottery and died the next day".  "It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?". 

Yes it is, life is truly ironic but it makes life exciting, challenging and at times funny.