Pinoy Abroad

In 49 days, I will be coming home! My gosh! Time flies so fast! J

I still remember the day I signed my job offer here in Brunei, it was November 3, 2010. That time, I had no reasons to stay in the Philippines and so many reasons to leave.

Anyway, I’ve been here in Brunei for almost 1 ½ year now. When I left the country I never thought that I will still find someone, more so, get married to a wonderful man. But as they say, it comes when you least expect it J

What have I learned during my stay here? What have I experienced as a professional working abroad and as a person living alone? Am I a better person?

To start, Brunei is a safe and peaceful country. I never thought that a place where you don’t have to lock your car doors existed. You can walk around the street holding your wallet, your mobile and bag without worrying that someone will snatch it. You don’t have to be scared while withdrawing money from an ATM. You don’t have to be annoyed by security guards who need to check your bag every time you enter any establishment, because there are NO security guards here! I think I’ve never even seen a police man. But from what I heard, even the police men don’t carry guns. Haha!

Bruneians are also very simple. Well, just like any other race, there are good and bad about them. There’s not much to buy here in Brunei that’s why most of the Bruneians (I think) are not very materialistic. Though, they have three major vices. 1. Nice car 2. Nice and big houses 3. Food

Almost everything here is provided to them by the Government:  Housing, Medical and free education until college. Basic needs are very cheap like diesel and rice because they are subsidized by the government. What more can they ask, right?

As professionals, they are not very competitive people because there is no need to do so. Why would someone work their butt off when everything is cheap? Why would someone burn their eyebrows (like we do) studying when they can earn big money even without a university degree? A person here who has a high school degree can earn around Php45k net of tax, equal to a salary of a Filipino who is a manager and probably been working for almost 10 years.

Oh I wish the Philippines will become a rich country like Brunei where people doesn’t need to work abroad to earn a living! How sad it is to know that we might not be like that even in 100 years L

As a professional, I have learned a lot during my stay here. I have been fortunate enough to be with a German company. Before I came here in Brunei, I am on a supervisory level and then when I got here I landed a job as a Finance Manager. How cool is that? Hehe. Anyway, I have learned a lot about responsibilities and accountabilities. Being the Finance Manager and directly reporting to the Managing Director, the weight upon my shoulder is not light, in fact, it was very heavy. Sometimes, I would tell myself “I cannot do this anymore”, “this is too much”. But since there is a need for me to earn money, I don’t have a choice but to continue.

I would often tell myself “okay lang yan kite, think of the money you get every payday. Sa pinas, pinapatay ka na sa work, ang liit pa ng sweldo. Kaya okay lang yan. ”

All of my hardships paid off because I was able to give money to my sister and my dad, buy all the things I dreamed of buying before (like my LV bag hehe), travel with my hubby, have a nice wedding and save enough to start a life with my husband.

Despite that fact that I earn three times as much as I earn in the Philippines, I have learned the worth of money. If before I tend to just spend every centavo in my ATM during paydays, now it’s different. I have learned not only to live within my means but to LIVE BELOW MY MEANS.

Me and my husband are very blessed to have common views about money. We started our marriage with ZERO debt and we plan on living it with NO CREDIT CARDS AND NO LOANS. We agreed that whatever it is that we want to buy in the future, we save for it and we buy in cash (unless of course if it’s a house and a car)!

On a personal note, living alone in a foreign country is hard. I have been out of my parent’s house since I was 25, but that didn’t help. It took me a while to accept my aloneness. In fact, I was still crying after three months of being here. Life here is different. I don’t have any friends, I don’t have my family, there’s nowhere to go, none to see, no beach, no hobbies. Oh Gosh!

But in fairness to Brunei and to the people I’ve met here, I think the problem is really me. I never really allowed the country or the people to get into me, to get into my life. Every time there is an event or a gathering and people would invite me, I wouldn’t go. I would rather stay home and spend the day in front of my computer, talking to my husband.

They say “wherever you are, be fully there” but I didn’t feel that because my heart belongs back home. I feel lost here in Brunei. I miss my family and friends, the beach, the food, the streets of Makati and even the noise and chaos of EDSA. I miss the crazy Politics and Showbiz of the Philippines. I miss watching tv during Sunday after church while eating “sinigang”. I miss the sun, the rain, and the cool “ber” months. I miss all the Holidays that we have and the reunions. I miss the simple Friday night where you go to Greenbelt, watch movie, have dinner and coffee at starbucks. I miss going to Powerbooks and just hang around there. I miss all of it. And most importantly, I miss my husband.

I know that when I get back home, there will be new learning’s, new challenges and new mountains to conquer. But as long as I am with my husband, I know I will never feel lost again.