Working overseas

This afternoon I read @LykeLyca's article, Living Alone and Leaving Home and this is somehow still connected to my Comfort Zone article.

Lykelyca shared that she was able to experience working overseas for 5 years and that it is really different when you come home to your family. And then I suddenly remembered the opportunities that I had before to work in foreign countries.

After I have resigned from my second job, there was a part of me that wants to work overseas however there was still part of me that does not want to leave my family. Additionally, my last flirtationship was already all set for working in Canada. Honestly when he told it to me, he was just actually waiting for his papers and we do not know how much time left we have to be together. He told me to also apply in working abroad or any cruise job. That time not only it was my past flirtationship who was pressuring me to work abroad but also my mom and her sisters. So I finally made that step to apply for a few overseas jobs but I was actually targeting Canada and for sure you know as to why.

I even had a positive response from an employee of Tim Horton's Canada. He asked for my resume and even sent me a link that I have to give to my relatives in Canada as part of sponsorship program and then he told me to email him once I am already there as they have openings in Alberta. So he sent me a link for a sponsorship program that I needed to have my relatives in Canada to fill up. However it was only meant for the residents of Alberta and my relatives were in Toronto. I was so heartbroken that time but I still tried to look for an overseas job. I even tried applying in an agency for a cruise job but I never got a call from any of them so I thought that maybe working abroad was not for me.

After 3 years, I tried applying again for an overseas job but this time a country that is near the Philippines and it was Singapore. I chose Singapore because 2 of my college friends were already there, even my cousin from father side and also my second cousin (the daughter of my late aunt who was my mom's cousin who passed away recently) were already there. But I cannot join them in where they live because their house were already full. But I did not mind because I was already into the salary that I will earn if I made it there.

I cannot remember how many agencies for Singapore jobs I went to but I was hired. A Singaporean chef interviewed me here and even if I was having a hard time to understand how he speaks, he hired me. Although he said that I may be a manager here but restaurant managers in Singapore are different so he only hired me as a restaurant staff. I remember my mom and I were there at one agency in Manila as early as 7AM and we left past 8PM. Yes, we waited that long as there were a lot of applicants who has ro undergo interview and it was only that time that the employer will be here in the Philippines to do the interview.

My job hunting had made me to talk more to other applicants and there was one applicant whom I became friends with. We both got hired and was offered a restaurant staff position. Her work experiences was not related into food but she just went to the interview because she also wants to work in Singapore. We had a week to think about whether or not we will accept the offer but we both didn't because as for her the offered salary was low. It was a little below the minimum and that time the minimum was SGD1,800 and the offered salary was SGD1,600. I think it was Php30 per SGD before. It may seem like a good amount when converted to Philippine Peso but the cost of living in Singapore was high as per my friends and relatives. But when I was hired, I told my dad about it. I told him that if I were to accept the offer, I would borrow money from him and pay him back when I have my first pay. I forgot how much the placement fee was but I know it was equivalent to 2 months worth of salary. My mom was actually ok with the minimum offer because she said that if I aim for a bigger offer, the money that I will borrow from my dad will also be bigger. Then I also have to have pocket money and money to pay for my place so we were already thinking that I needed at least Php250,000 or $5,200.

Like I have said, we declined the offer. The person that I met in the interview would tell me if she had interviews again for Singapore but I didn't pursue mine because it was the year that I had my gallstones removed. I know she was able to leave the Philippines when I was recuperating though she would still tell me that we can still live together if I decide to work in Singapore. Our friend doctor even said that it was a blessing in disguise that I did not accept the offer or else I would have had my operation in Singapore.

But did you know my dad's only reply when I told him about the placement fees and extra money? He asked me if that was what I reay want? I wasn't able to answer him right away because I don't want to leave them. He told me that I might go home after a week of being in Singapore because of homesick. LOL. Actually I was also feeling that too. I felt like I wouldn'tbe able to survive working in a foreign country without them. He even said that I can actually look for a better job here in the Philippines.

So after that discussion and my operation, I did tried to look for a better company with a better pay. Yes there were companies who pay their managers really well but the higher the price, the bigger the responsibilities. Now that my parents are old, working abroad is not on my mind. I am still ok to work here in the Philippines because I know that there will still be a much better offer for me that I would not need to leave my family.

Have you tried working abroad or is currently working overseas? In what country? For how long have you been working? How did you cope with homesickness? How often do you go home? How often do you call your family? How were you able to adjust?

I am sorry of I ask too much questions because I am just really curious with how it is working away from your family. My past flirtationship told me that he was really homesick during his first few weeks that's why we always do YM's before. Yes, Yahoo Messenger was still the thing before then we shifted to Skype. But after that I saw in his posts that he was able to adjust and our communication have lessened until he never called me anymore. I would see his posts that he and his friends would always have drinking srssion at their house or they would visit dofferent places during their rest days just to cope with homesickness. But I know he wasn't homesick. His 6 years stay, he only went home once and the second was for good.

Moving on, I think I can work in a different country if I have my family or my friends with me. How about you? Can you live alone and can you leave home?

P.S. lead image was during my flight back to Manila from Zamboanga. I took a photo of my bags while I was waiting for our departure. I was with my cousin but from Manila he would have to fly back to Abu Dhabi.