Some random things I have learned/observed in the workplace for the past two weeks:
1. While doing some computations during training, I asked the facilitator for a scratch paper and she thought I was referring to some form of "art paper". Turns out I should have said "scrap paper."
2. I have learned in my first month in Oz (mostly while watching TV) that locals pronounce the letter Z and H differently. I should have been used to it by now but sometimes I still get confused when my office mates say "Zed" or "Heytch."
3. A thirty-minute lunch break really is a thirty-minute lunch break. I used to give my husband a hard time when he brings home left-overs of his packed lunch. He keeps saying he has to go up to the cafeteria where the line in using the microwave is too long and by the time he's done heating his food, he only has 10 or so minutes to go before his half an hour lunch break is over. Now I understand so we stick to sandwiches and fruits for lunch (and it's healthier).
4. Weekends are really a big thing for Aussies. When they ask you how your weekend was, they are genuinely interested to know and answering with a banal "great" or "good" is not enough. Expound even if you just stayed home and watch DVDs or just did the laundry. Likewise, it's polite to ask them back and listen as attentively as they did to you. In Manila, unless you're really good friends with someone, a standard "hi" for greeting is enough. Sometimes tango na nga lang. Here, Aussies are big on socialization whether with acquaintances or even strangers.
5. Sports is another huge deal---correction, a GARGANTUAN deal, and it's your ticket to a free-flowing conversation with anyone. I should start getting myself a team. *pressure*
6. They make you leave work at four... how cool is that? By 5 pm, there's hardly anybody left on the floor. Work is work but family time is big priority for Aussies so no one goes over time unless it's official. For them, be productive for seven/eight hours in the office and then go home... that's the key to keeping your working life sane.
7. While we Filipinos think that the Philippines is mainly known for government corruption, calamities and crime rates, I was surprised to learn that Aussies have very nice things to say about our country and people:
When we speak in English, they like the "Manila accent" as it sounds very clear, polite, proper and even relaxing (huh? hehe).
Every one seems to have heard of Boracay, Cebu and Camarines Sur and how one should go on a holiday in these places at some point in their lives (Aussies just love the beach, surfing and wake boarding).
Filipinos are hardworking, respectful and honest people that's why they're an asset in the workplace.
8. It's such a amazing experience working in a multicultural state. You meet different types of people every day and learn something new about their culture. Every one is also accepting and respectful of each other's backgrounds and you don't feel so different or foreign. People are generally helpful, supportive and friendly, it's impossible not to feel welcome in such a harmonious environment. Just when you think you're done growing up, you learn so much more.
I am commuting to work and feeling so nervous since it's my first day. What's weird though is the path I'm taking brings me to the mini hills of the pre-school area of my alma mater, San Beda Alabang. But still I keep on walking like it's the most normal thing in the world... and it leads me to the mountains of Tibet. I continue on and then I pass through a desert (I know, it gets weirder) and the next thing I know I'm in front of a still-under-construction Glorietta II.
I take a construction-type elevator (no walls, just levers and wires) to get to the 11th floor. When I get there, I see my college brod Jeff (as in a 1999 UPLB version of him---lanky, baggy clothes, Wowie de Guzman hairstyle). I tell him I'm looking for my supervisor and he says, "Lola sa 3rd floor." The way he says is exactly how he would say it if we were back in college.
So I take the elevator again and when I arrive at my destination, it's the lobby of a hotel. There are a couple of tables with white cloth for registration and I keep looking for the tag/sign (in bond paper) that says "BANK." Someone calls out my name and the next thing I know I'm standing in front of a tall, white man in his 50s. He points at the clear envelope I am carrying (I have no idea I'm holding anything until he points it out). Turns out it contains my contract and other work papers and he recognizes it as "theirs". Then he calls someone from behind me and when I see her, she's a schoolmate from high school that I didn't really like. The catch: she's my boss. I wonder if she recognizes me but she says nothing when I introduce myself. She accompanies me to a training room... late na pala ako.
So there are two teams and she sits me with the first team: ten members, four I also went to high school with and (horror of horrors) I can't remember their names. They don't talk to me because they are busy with their coloring books and crayons. And then I look over the other team and I see three other batchmates... this time people I'm actually friends with (Ian, Julian and Manot). Ian greets me with a small wave, Julian mouths "Ang taba mo..." while Manot raises his fists to his chest and acts like he's playing the family computer. They were telling me "kaya ka mataba kaka-family computer noh?" to which I nod a big yes.
Then I wake up.
JIMMY
He's in a sprawling farm and he's asked to choose what animal he wants to be: cow, goat or pig. He chooses cow because it's the most superior of the three (hanggang panaginip nakakapaganalyze siya). So his face becomes a cow (the rest of him is still human) and he is dragged to the area for cows. Midway, he realizes he wants to be a pig instead so he runs away from the cow people and proceeds to jump from one fence to another to get to the pig area. The cow people run after him and his face changes depending on the fence he gets pass at: from cow his face turns to goat and then finally into pig.
Then he wakes up.
-----
Bakit ganon, kahit panaginip parang mas nakakatawa pero parang mas may sense pa din ang panaginip niya?
So how are the dreams connected to our day?
Well it was the total opposite for me because I had a great first day at work. :) :) :) As for him... hmmm, we still can't figure out what the cute dream meant. Maybe there's a part two tonight!?
Forget about Nicole. Younger sister Antonia Kidman is a breath of fresh air. TV host, journalist, model, mother of four...she still looks like a regular person and is a lot, lot healthier. Coming out strong after the end of an 11-year marriage, everyone is ecstatic over her new engagement with Singapore-based businessman Craig Marran. So question is, who's moving where?
I wake up with Today! I sealed my loyalty with the Nine Network when I discovered Lisa Wilkinson and Karl Stefanovic of the breakfast TV program Today. The duo is just so likeable, good looking, and they just have this amazing rapport for me that when one is on leave, I refuse to watch the show. Babalikankonalangangtulogko. No annoying mannerisms or pesky voice pitches. It's straight, clear but pleasant news delivery, with just the right amount of Aussie slur that I can follow.
Jimmy and I got very hooked on Lost since I arrived here (finishing all 5 seasons just before the airing of season 6) and we found Emilie deRavin a.k.a Claire Littleton the cutest castaway. She's come a long way from giving birth on the island and falling for "Chahleh"... losing her mind, looking like she hasn't washed her hair for 3 years... but we still vow to love her (until Lost wraps up at least). Perhaps the reason why I like her so much is because pinagprapraktisankoang accent niya. If I can understand every single word that she's saying without the subtitles or even mimic her flawlessly when Jimmy randomly challenges me, then I'm one step closer to being ozzie.
Ahhh Jennifer Hawkins. For as long as I can remember, my family and I are loyal followers of the Miss Universe pageant and in 2004, I watched this lady take home the title. When we heard Donald Trump describe her as "the most beautiful Miss Universe I have seen in many, many years," I didn't really agree. I thought she was gorgeous but for me she was the usual type who got the crown: blonde, blue eyes, 8 ft tall. Now I see her everywhere---commercials, billboard ads, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, shopping bags and well, I still don't think she's the most beautiful Ms. U but I adore her now especially when she said no to airbrush!
Move over MasterChef Australia, it's still My Kitchen Rules for us and what makes the show worth it are chef judges Manu Feidel (L) and Peter Evans (R). With their flair of fashion and all their facial mannerisms hubby thinks they're gay---I don't. My gaydar is not failing me this time, I know it! I think they're the cutest chefs in the continent and I'm daydreaming of joining MKR once I get my PR just so I can meet them. Wait, just remembered Manu's French but I'm making an exception since he's been based here since the mid 90s.
We just got back from a (hoooot) dinner at Tandoori Flames with Jimmy's friends from work Caroline and Kathy, and their plus ones Paul and Dan. Nakakahiya mang aminin, it was our very first time in this Indian restaurant when it's located just across our flat. Ever since we're just not keen on spicy food. What we really, really, really, reeeeeeally love though is Italian and every time we feel like having take-out for dinner, JB's Pizza Shop, just a couple of doors away from Tandoori, does the trick. Or sometimes it's Godfather's Pizza at Altona North or maybe Town and Country Pizza at Yarraville---it depends really if we're not too lazy to drive.
But then again any type of food is good when you have great company. I found myself enjoying a (mild) chilli garlic chicken with roti while the conversation revolved around stuff at the lab (Paul, Dan and I might as well be employed at a pharmaceutical company too since living with chemists mean we {gasp} learned to speak the language), shopping (and how much the guys hate it), quitting smoking by hypnotism (Kathy says it works but Jimmy doesn't want to try it out saying "Why will I pay for $380 to be told by some English guy when I hear your nagging voice in my head telling me to quit all the time?"), the last company Christmas party where everyone got drunk, going on a holiday in Cambodia, surviving winter in Melbourne... and then everything else was cut short because the lights dimmed out, a Bollywood tune started and a pretty, fair-skinned belly dancer (in stilletos!!) appeared out of nowhere and mesmerized the crowd. The boys were pretending not to stare at other places besides her face but we girls unbashfully had our fill---she had a little tummy but she was dang sexy (!!!), her breasts were perfect, her hair was perfect, her black-silver-pinkish costume was perfect, even her armpits were perfect. She danced for about one hour hopping from one table to another and all the time our jaws were hanging. But wait! The highlight was her balancing a very long cane on the top of her head while shaking her way through us. Up to now I can still see her head, neck, upper torso just stationary---very calm and peaceful--- while her huge, jiggling hips had a mind of its own---left, right, front, back, around, around and around. Oh and let's not forget the perfect beauty queen smile from beginning to end!
Sa wakas, I found the lyrics of our favorite hymn at St. Margaret Mary. We both haven't encountered this song in Manila and it just makes us at peace every time we hear it:
Come as you are, that's how I want you
Come as you are, feel quite at home
Come to my heart, loved and forgiven
Come as you are, why stand alone?
No need to fear, love sets no limits
No need to fear, love never ends
Don't run away, ashamed and disheartened
Rest in my love, trust me again
I came to call sinners, not just the virtuous
I came to bring peace, not to condemn
Each time you fail, to live by my promise
Why do you think, I'd love you the less?
Come as you are, that's how I love you
Come as you are, trust me again
Nothing can change, the love that I bear you
All will be well, just come as you are.
Since graduating from college, I was probably at my slimmest when I left Manila six months ago. On my last day at work, I weight myself at the clinic and the scale whipped up a beautiful 118 pounds (at 5'6 that's glorious for me). These days, I rely on those bathroom weighing scales on sale at Big W or K-Mart. Since we're practically there every weekend, I pretend I'm shopping for one by painstakingly trying out each brand... I weigh myself over and over again: with shoes, without shoes, normal breathing, holding my breathe, different angle of the scale, waiting for a minute before stepping on again...gah. Jimmy is usually lost at the tools aisle while for some reason I'm always alone at the scales section (perhaps other customers are avoiding it) so I can do what I do as much as I please with dignity intact. Of course they're not accurate. I never get the exact reading twice but the thing is no matter how many times I do it---whether it's on Weight Watchers, Prospert, Tanita, Soehnle or whatever---my weight doesn't go below 61 kg and that translates to 135 pounds and over. Ugh.
After college graduation, I was at my peak... 140++ pounds. And while I lamented on my weight, family and friends would say "Eh hindi naman halata... kasi matangkad ka" but it was always frustrating not being able to fit in a nice pair of jeans because they don't have it in your size or wearing tight tops and be forced to sit super straight all the time so the bulges wouldn't show. And so it's happening all over again but it's quite easy dismissing it because all I had to do was dump the scales and proceed to nicer, more relaxing and customer-friendly aisles like stockings, make-up or winter stuff. And when I ask J, "Am I fat?" he always says "No, you look great" and I feel relieved until it randomly hits me at some other time that he's probably just avoiding a bitch fit. Or even if he was being honest how can I trust his judgment when we're together every single day for the last six months so most likely he doesn't really notice. Still, nah, dismiss it, it's a lot lot easier.
So I could run away from scales or full-length mirrors but I could no longer run away from my old office clothes (still neatly folded in my balikbayan box along with my other "dalaga" clothes that leave no room for even an extra pound---all have never been touched for half a year) when I start work on Monday. After finally trying them on (strong emphasis on "trying" or maybe it should be "tugging"), halaaaaa, they don't fit and there's no point staying in denial!!! To top it off, there's no lola around who can adjust the buttons, zippers and seams pronto. No sastre or modista shop a tricycle away that alters for P50.00 per piece. I have two days left to figure out what to do. Clothes are just so expensive here. :(
After four months of waiting, my new visa has finally arrived! It came through registered mail this morning and after ripping the seal off and furiously skimming through all the legal provisions of x number of pages, I finally found the words that made my day:
".... allows you unrestricted permission to work and to travel overseas and re-enter Australia... until such time that you are notified of the result of your application for permanent residency... which usually takes at least two years from date of original application..."
Everything now just feels more real... more legitimate.... being legally elevated from "fiancee" to "spouse" in the eyes of Immigration! My previous visa expired last April 8 and while I was granted a bridging visa while waiting for the result of my application, a growing paranoia was just eating me up as each day passed by without word from our case officer. You see the bridging visa doesn't come with a sticker for your passport so all I had was a reference number to prove that I had a pending application and was still entitled unlimited working rights. And even with a reference number, the bridging visa has no indication of its life span, WHEN the result will come out and whether or not this result is a FAVORABLE one so until then it feels like walking on eggshells. It's just a blessing that I finally, finally, finally found a recruiter willing to hire me for a bank job given that I was between visas (or perhaps Immigration informed them I was getting my upgrade within the month; that they were just about to mail the approval so go ahead, hire herrrrr!). I'm just glad it's perfect timing.
It's just surreal experiencing first-hand how it really is when you're supposedly living permanently on foreign land and everything still depends on your visa status: your job opportunities, your government benefits, your PEACE. OF. MIND.
So I guess this is one of those goooood vibes coming in pushing me to go back to work chin up, chest out. :)
When I arrived in Melbourne last year, I couldn't wait to start working. I must have been sending out thirty, forty customized resumes per day, applying for everything I could possibly get myself into. I have managed to churn out sets of cover letters and CVs per industry---banking, communications, insurance, call centers, retail, hospitality, tourism, publishing, accounting, advertising, government services, mining and oil, construction, science and technology, etc. (I know... nakakaloka!) --- scrupulously highlighting my skills and work experience and how they could possibly make use of me in sales, administration or customer service. I don't think I've exerted this much effort (or even half of it) when I was a fresh graduate in Manila in 2002. And while I thought I have psyched myself enough that I could start from scratch at age twenty-eight, well, it is harder and more frustrating when you're actually here.
When I was 20, I had nothing but the very gasgas line "I graduated on time (and a dean's lister) from the University of the Philippines" to supposedly impress employers. Looking back, it wasn't so painful when I got rejects then as I knew a lot of fresh grads were on the same plight. It was also easy admitting lack of experience (because there wasn't really anything legitimate---college theater, marketing and publicity stuff, org activities and hours of OJT seemed juvenile in the real world) or putting blame on economics. But it's a whole different story when you have seven and a half years of solid work experience; handled a managerial post; went to graduate school; can answer technical questions without losing a beat; can cite numerous situations where you exhibited problem-solving or analytical skills without practicing in front of a mirror, and (my personal favorite) can give a professional, non-suicidal reply to the dreaded interview question, "What are your weaknesses?" (Ha! That's my secret). So when I actually have that work experience, confidence, maturity and purpose to boast for, I get:
"You are overqualified for this role."
(fast food/supermarket crew, secretarial, waitressing, housekeeping, etc.)
"Your are not qualified for this role."
(staffing jobs outside the banking/financial services industries)
"We need someone with local experience."
(banking and financial services)
"The requirement for this role is a Citizenship or Permanent Residency status."
(almost all jobs--even contractual ones---due to post-recession)
Ouch. It stings a lot, lot more when you thought you've paid your dues but still willing to take on any type of work and you're far, far away from your support system to boot. What an excruciatingly humbling experience.
So what else is there to do in times like this but embrace it all.
Embrace the fact that it would probably take a hundred more resumes to find that perfect employer so I just have to keep on trying. Embrace the fact that while waiting for that new visa, I actually have loads of free time to do things I only daydreamed I could do a year ago (borrow all types of books from the library and actually get to read all of them; watch old Hollywood movies and catch up with all the series I missed on DVDs). Embrace the fact that I may never have the chance to sincerely appreciate a childless domestic life than now so why not enjoy learning how to cook, sew, bake, drive and decorate the house instead of whining about them. Embrace the fact that while things would never be the same without family and friends, it's high time to live and define my own life because they cannot live or define it for me. Embrace it all and just be optimistic about everything because I only have myself, because no one would ever really understand what it's like unless they're in the EXACT circumstances as I am in (even hubby doesn't count because he has a skilled migrant visa and not a partner!!!). So all this mantra of positivity and loving thyself might meet skepticism from others but when you're scrubbing your bathroom tiles, washing dishes for the nth time and making furious kula of your hubby's benzaldehyde-stained lab coat in another continent, it keeps you sane.
Embracing it all means taking the pressure off your back; appreciating things that matter like a blissful marriage, a healthier lifestyle; taking note of small daily "achievements" like the first time I made a decent leche flan or how I was able to iron his most stubborn pair of jeans in three minutes flat or the day we purchased the perfect second-hand coffee table to go with our second-hand sofa and second-hand carpet(!); and just being thankful for the opportunity of being all Martha Stewartish, experiencing the good and the bad of staying at home but still be young enough to pursue a halted career.
And all these reflections are floating in my mind as I once again psych myself and be all positive for a shift that will commence Monday next week. I start work at National Australia Bank, exactly six months from my last day of work in Manila. After all those exhausting cover letters and resumes and interviews, I finally landed a job in the industry I was aiming for, a role close to my heart. So it all worked out after all, thanks to the three Ps: prayers, patience and perseverance.
Pero sabi ko nga ang tao walang contentment. Ang housewife, gusto maging career woman. Ang career woman gusto maging housewife. Bakit nga ba ganon?
Turns out I have settled too comfortably on domestic life the last three months (to combat a looming depression familiar on most housewives) and now I'm getting a nauseating feeling in starting work as it feels like I'm dang twenty again or coming out from a maternity leave. Oooooh, the TV shows I will miss... the library I will miss... the window-shopping and lakwatsa in the city anytime of the day... surfing the net, trying out new recipes whenever I feel like it, staying in bed to my heart's content especially with winter approaching, my comfort zone---my warm, tiny nestled abode where I am queen and I can do things my own way. I have to kick-in that soundly sleeping can-do work attitude and start embracing that my extended vacation is coming to an end.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm experiencing major separation anxiety from my laid-back, stress-free domesticated life. Channeling all good work vibes, optimism and confidence.... possess me!!!
Our relationship is two years old today---which we just remembered over the weekend while we were doing our general cleaning. Hehe.
Me: Alam mo, ito pala ang pinaka-progressive two-year relationship ko.
Him: Oo nga no. Congrats! Ang galing mo!
So two years down and (six? seven? eight?) decades ahead. But for now, it means this day next year we're getting hitched again---this time with family, friends, the church, flower girls and all the works! So planning and saving officially begins today! Good luck to us. :)
