misery of miss c
as scheduled, i was there early in the morning to be with the team in preparing the whole setup... stage, seats, banners, posters, and other pointers. we were not the only ones who's busy, the hotel staff too (the fact that there's two functions going to happen at the same time) were crunching the minutes just finish it.
while configuring my camera for the presscon, one of the hotel staff, a filipina approached and engaged a little conversation. let's call her miss c. miss c started the conversation while standing on the coffee table and asked if how long i've been staying here. i told her that i've been here not quite long and returned the question...
"one month only," she said.
"really? so is this is a full time job?"
"no, i've been working here as part-timer while looking for a permanent one," she shrugged.
"i felt homesick na nga eh," she added.
her job was twelve hours straight and not allowed to sit nor loiter while on duty. it reminded me of a sentry... and she's no security guard but a hotel hostess (not the dirty one, ok?). sad thing was she doesn't like the job she's having because it's not her line of profession. she used to work in a hospital as a med tech (dunno the full term, sorry) back home and she earns almost the same as she's in.
the only thing she got this job was because she needed to earn for the expenses she's having.
miss c's disappointed to be here. by the look on her face, i saw the homesickness, misery and desperation to go back home. she was convinced by her aunt to go here and told that there are lot of opportunities to be found.
in fact, her aunt just told the nice things only.
as my hunch were correct, she paid her aunt the expenses like the visa, airfare, accomodation (plus kickbacks) just to get here and find the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow.
there's no such thing as family in business...
few years ago, i discovered that i got the "same scam" from my so-called aunt. by the time i got here, boom. some people just got lucky, others don't.
readers, if you really want to go here and you know you have the potential to survive the odds, i suggest you research thoroughly.
this is not a discouragement, it's a warning.
addendum: another related post from a fellow pinoy
off-topic: it turn out just right for both worries i'm having yesterday. the backdrop from the presscon was superb and the feedback from my latest client went well. to see my latest work, just visit señor enrique's wish you were here.
oh, thanks señor for the feature also!
while configuring my camera for the presscon, one of the hotel staff, a filipina approached and engaged a little conversation. let's call her miss c. miss c started the conversation while standing on the coffee table and asked if how long i've been staying here. i told her that i've been here not quite long and returned the question...
"one month only," she said.
"really? so is this is a full time job?"
"no, i've been working here as part-timer while looking for a permanent one," she shrugged.
"i felt homesick na nga eh," she added.
her job was twelve hours straight and not allowed to sit nor loiter while on duty. it reminded me of a sentry... and she's no security guard but a hotel hostess (not the dirty one, ok?). sad thing was she doesn't like the job she's having because it's not her line of profession. she used to work in a hospital as a med tech (dunno the full term, sorry) back home and she earns almost the same as she's in.
the only thing she got this job was because she needed to earn for the expenses she's having.
miss c's disappointed to be here. by the look on her face, i saw the homesickness, misery and desperation to go back home. she was convinced by her aunt to go here and told that there are lot of opportunities to be found.
in fact, her aunt just told the nice things only.
as my hunch were correct, she paid her aunt the expenses like the visa, airfare, accomodation (plus kickbacks) just to get here and find the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow.
there's no such thing as family in business...
few years ago, i discovered that i got the "same scam" from my so-called aunt. by the time i got here, boom. some people just got lucky, others don't.
readers, if you really want to go here and you know you have the potential to survive the odds, i suggest you research thoroughly.
this is not a discouragement, it's a warning.
addendum: another related post from a fellow pinoy
off-topic: it turn out just right for both worries i'm having yesterday. the backdrop from the presscon was superb and the feedback from my latest client went well. to see my latest work, just visit señor enrique's wish you were here.
oh, thanks señor for the feature also!
5 Comments:
hey jeff,
thanks for the link.
so...blog templates as a hobby, eh? baka meron ka pang naitabi diyan, penge naman! i haven't experimented with my template yet, tinatamad pa ako...nyahaha.
ok ang mga accomplishments mo. uwi rin ako ng december. sama ako sa lan party niyo minsan. ang jamming niyo ba e musical? i play drums. meron bang mga studio dito?
dami kong tanong. labo. nyaha.
o sha.
Hi Jeff, this is a very educational post for potential OFWs. Hope many will learn from the experiences of others.
One of the things that surprises me is that in my early days in HK, I never contemplated the opportunities of living/working here. Ang hirap pala. It's basically anywhere around the globe anyways. But I think one of the secret of working abroad is we need to throw ourselves in. Akala ko nga speaking ENGLISH is easy to get the job here, yun pala kailangan you also need to speak the local tounge. So I keep an open mind na I really need the language to find more challenging job.
Well I think you're lucky to have a better paying job, Jep. Kalaban lang nating mga nasa abroad ang homesickness. Pero teka, my friend who moved to Dubai just told me, it's a nice country with many opportunities?
sabi nga no guts, no glory!
pero di lahat siniswerte. kung bakit kc kailangan pa ng mga pinoy na pumunta sa ibang bansa para lang magkaroon ng magandang pamumuhay! samantalang ang mga dayuhan naman ang nagpapasarap sa yaman ng bayang magiliw...lumabas na naman yata pagka-Gabriela ko dito...ipagpaumanhin mo po mahal na prinsepe!
dinalaw ko bahay ni Senyor E.
wala akong masabi ... asteeeggggg!!!
ike, thanks for pointing out what's really like in here. as for the template, its a custom design that suits the client... i don't make it and put it as a spare thing.
kitakits na lang sa mbd 2005 sa pinas!
master sam, i do hope so and be aware of this kind of situation.
knoi, that's right. once we're far from home, we have to take every opportunity that is available whether we like it or not but still it's quite an experience.
dubai has many opportunities... and bad ones too. :)
baronesa gabriela, kung meron lang pong trabaho sa atin, why leave right? danke.
Post a Comment
<< Home