mccor

i was already writing earlier and i let my husband read it and he said i sounded like an ungrateful bitch so i erased all of it and now im starting a new one…

i have been here for over a year now and sometimes i still feel that i have not gotten used to it. first of all, i think America or living and working in America for pinoys are overrated. They think that if your paychecks come in dollars you’ve got it made, if you bought a car they think you’re rich now. I said that it is overrated because that is not the case at all.

Living in America has it’s good and not so good sides. The not so good part, well you’re away from your family, people and things you love. If you like eating rice and pinoy foods like everyday, well if you’re like me who doesnt know how to cook and who’s now only starting to drive eating here is not as pleasurable. And you have to have good credit history before you can get a car, or a credit card or even a phone. If you’re new here and doesnt have credit history yet you have to build it up…so utang lang utang. And lastly, as i mentioned earlier, people back home think you’re richy rich now because you’re earning dollars…they have high expectations from you now…what they keep forgetting is that you earn dollars here but you spend dollars here too…and it’s not cheap to live here either. the cost of living is high too. stupid example…if you buy a mcdonald’s meal here (that doesnt have rice!), it’s gonna cost you like $6 bucks…if you convert that to philippine peso, that would be P282!

The good side? Well America will help you have a life. All you have to do is work your ass off and you can get anything you want. Almost everybody back home thinks that I was able to buy my own car now that I am rich now. The truth is having a vehicle here is a NECESSITY…it is not a luxury. You wouldnt be able to do a thing if you dont have a car. Everybody here drives. It’s good because it gives you freedom and teaches you independence. Another good side is everybody works here…old, young, semi old like me…everybody…when they say that America is “the land of opportunity” they were not shitting. And because of that everybody is not dependent on anybody at all. And it doesnt matter if you have a college degree or not…all that matters is if you can do the job and if you’re hardworking.

Now, let’s talk about shopping…whoa where do I begin? Shopping here is unstoppable…you really have to watch your money because unlike in the Philippines where you can only buy 1 or 2 items at a time (except ofcourse if you’re like Kris Aquino or something) and then after that all the money youve got left is pamasahe pauwi, here you can afford everything. As in. Sky is the limit. Nakakabaliw. And what’s more good about it, you get rewarded by shopping..so it’s true that america is the land of the free purchase…say for example i buy from gap or banana republic, after a week i will get a card from them saying that i will have 30% next time i shop from them…or say i buy from sephora (which i always do), i will get like 6 free samples of their best products like dior, murad, philosophy…it is always like that.you can shop youre heart out and still have enough money left to put into your savings and send to your family. Isn’t that a dream?

What i dont get it is why we cant do all that back home. I know there is no comparison at all between America and the Philippines but most of the people i work with and have worked with only have highschool diplomas. And most of the Filipinos I know have college degrees and are really smart. I am not saying that Americans are stupid (though they are really bad in spelling, it’s unbelievable) but we can do better than them i can tell you that right now. Believe me i have worked with Americans for a year now and I can tell you we can match what they can do and even surpass it. Filipinos are hardworking, resourceful and never says no to a hard and complex job. Americans would.I have seen how they work and how they operate and I know how filipinos are because i am a filipino…but the mind boggling question is if i am a college graduate and i can match  what these americans can do and if all my friends almost all the people i know are college graduates why are we all here in america and not home?

I’m not saying that Im not grateful for being here because I am…I really am. But if we are so much smarter and have college degrees why cant we do so much better? Living here made me realize that America is nice and it’s goverment allows you to live a good life but the Philippines is so much more beautiful and has so much culture, you can even see it in our food! There is nothing here that we dont have back home..America is dry (or where im at! :-)) What americans can do we can do too and so much more so why are there a lot of filipinos leaving their country to work for another country?