I had a revelation today about this whole unemployment drama. I had been struggling to figure out why it's been frustrating for me and why I feel the way I do. The answer? It's because there's no justification for my being unemployed. If I had bad grades in college, if I had flunked a class, or if I had been fired from a previous job, I think I would be more accepting of my situation. However, the opposite is true and that's why I'm bitter. Knowing is half the battle, you know. {;P
"Punta ka na dito kasi madami work opportunities especially if they know na you're a US graduate." For the umpteenth time, my cousin tried to pursuade me, via e-mail, that the land of opportunities is the Philippines and not the U.S. HaHa. I don't know if his theory holds up, but I guess that's for me to find out. I do know that I have more work experience than the graduates from the Philippine universities. I take some pride in the fact that I don't have to go as far back as elementary school accolades to fill up a one-page resume...unless Philippine companies really want to know that I won the school Spelling Bee in the 5th Grade. HeHe.
A couple of days ago, I found a blog of a Japanese-American Cal (UC-Berkeley) graduate who recently moved to Japan to work for Toyota, which of course gave me crazy ideas in my head about moving back to the homeland. If this boy can do it, why can't I do it? I also re-read one of Yoda's e-mail to me from several months ago about me working for a multi-national company in the Philippines so that it would be easier for them to transfer me to the U.S. when my idea of fun has ended in Manila. Suddenly, these two individuals' ideas are much more appealing to me than my sitting by the phone/computer each day waiting for a hiring manager to send me an invitation for an interview.
Here's the funny part: What were the first things that I thought of as negatives to this bright idea (besides leaving family, of course)?
1) Internet access is going to be sloOoOow in Manila.
2) I'll have to leave my beloved computer behind.
3) I won't have a car.
Sad, isn't it? HaHa. I'm sorry, but I really did fall asleep once in Manila while waiting for a website to load. No joke! But who needs DSL at home when I have UP-Diliman privileges? Right, Belle? HeHe. Second, I can't imagine leaving my computer behind (Mon, now I understand why you had that kind of first impression of me, haha), but then I realized that texting is available, which should be good enough for instant messaging without the 17-inch screen in front of me. So, the only problem is the car issue. Granted, I did survive 3 months in Manila without a car, and I did treasure the various taxi moments I had (haha!), but you just can't take a car away (for an extended period of time) from a spoiled brat, folks. Come to think of it, I spent 75% of the time at home during the work week because I didn't have a car. Although, even if I did have a car in Manila at that time, I don't think I would have been calm enough to drive it anywhere. =P
My cousin, however, had a solution to my last problem: "Punta ka dito at hahanapan kita ng boy kasi mas madalas na kami kasama ng mga high school friends ko kasi lahat kami single...hehehe." Isn't he great? HaHa. Goodness though, a room full of LSGH alums. Should I be worried? HeHe.
Anyway, so this week, I plan to write down a timeline. I need to write down when my "cut-off" date is as far as applying for jobs here, another "cut-off" date for waiting for miracles to happen, a date to start arranging the logistics of this crazy idea, etc.
(Oh, one other HUGE problem I can't forget: There's no Target in Manila! The horror! Pen, you'll send me stuff AND take pics of the aisles, right? HeHe!)