Angel Jerlin Balais

Since when have you been staying there? Can you recount briefly why you moved there?

I came to Thailand in 2005 to join volunteers assisting programs for migrants and refugees at the Thai-Myanmar border. At that time, I was working as Educational Assistance Program Coordinator in Families and Children for Empowerment and Development (FCED) and a basic literacy educator in Tahanan Sta. Luisa, a drop-in center for young street girls below 18. I was also studying in U.P. Diliman, graduate program for a second degree in Social Work. The volunteer work opportunity was so difficult to ignore. So with support from my family who are also attached to community service, I flew to Thailand. In the first 3 months of my stay, I had been immersed in different settings, dealing with different issues in Southern and Northern Provinces of the Land of Smiles – as a replacement teacher in a school in Phattalung; to distribute relief goods for Burmese victims of Tsunami in Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga; organize a learning center for the children of Burmese migrants in Mae Sot; visit refugee camps in Mae Ramat and also to reach-out to the stateless people, and Kareni tribes, in faraway, nameless mountains along the borders of Thailand. It was a life-changing experience indeed.

Tell us something about your place?

South of Thailand, Songkhla province’s main city Hat Yai, hosts the third largest reclining Buddha in the country.  It is also known as the capital shopping area in the South where they have the Talat Paet Thai (Asian Trade Market) open every Thursday to Weekends. Songkhla city however is far from the busy life in Hatyai. My city is located beside two wonderful beaches- the Samila Beach where the famous Golden Mermaid is, and the Chalatat beach famous to locals for water sports and family picnics. Here you can have a clear view of the Cat and Mouse Islands or rent a boat to explore them. A kilometre walk from Samila Beach, you can go to the Tangkuan Hill where there is a temple and you can have the amazing 360 degrees view of Songkhla. This hill is also known as the ‘Monkey Hill’ because troops of monkeys roam around the area freely.  Songkhla Aquarium was recently opened to educate the community and tourists about the marine habitats and resources of the province. Near Songkhla Aquarium is the ‘Great Nag’, somewhat like the Merlion of Singapore but this one has a head of a Dragon. The town is clean and green, people are friendly and this is where most tourists settle because it is where the embassies, oil companies, universities, government offices and naval base are.

Thailand is my second home, and it has a lot in common with the Philippines – the things, food, weather and places look similar, except that there are certain elements that make them distinctively Thai. I also like their many festivals which run throughout the year.

What do you do for a living?

I am an educator and liaison officer at the Fairview International School. Like the five other Fairview International Schools in Malaysia which boast 30 years of experience in international education, our school here in Thailand has produced excellent results. I have a great team of super teachers and staff in which more than half of them, I am very proud to say, are Filipinos.

Is there a Filipino community there?

Filipinos are everywhere! In Thailand, the biggest percentage of OFs is in the field of education. Then there are those who are excelling in engineering, those who work for call centres in Bangkok, and managers in hotels and resorts in different parts of the country. We have the Organization of Filipino Educators/Expatriates in the South of Thailand (OFEST) which helps support and deal with Filipino community issues in this side of the country together with the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok.

Tell us about your life there? 

More than five years away from the Philippines and travelling across borders, seeing the reality of other’s lives, living with the amazing locals-my life is an open journal of learning, celebration, adventures and misadventures.

In my busy schedule, I still get homesick once in a while. Good thing we’re just five minutes away from Chalatat beach. I’d often draw, paint, write poems, do my photo walk sessions, read books, meditate and on stressful times, I’d shout crazily at the strong waves with my friends while we’re having our own luau party in its vast sands. The quiet waters of the Thailand Gulf has become our safe place, our sanctuary.

When we want to get posh, half-an-hour ride from our place would bring you to the city of Hatyai where all the hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and bars are. Our favorite hang-out is a bar which is managed by a kabayan who also happens to be the lead vocalist of the live band there. Within the Filipino community, we celebrate birthdays, and other occasions. Filipinos also meet in Catholic and Christian churches in the city.

What cultural practices/behaviors have you acquired from your host country?

If there is one thing, that would be ‘jai yen yen’ (keep your heart cool). Thais are generally warm, gentle and slow to anger.  I am a patient person but have become more patient as I understood Thai beliefs and culture more. There is a reason why they call this ‘The Land of Smiles’ – people are so friendly that ‘smiles’ would often be enough to connect to each other.

Your message to Filipino across the globe?

Kumusta na mga kababayan lalo na sa aking kapwa mga kababaihan? Salute to all of you! No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, never let other people from another country or fellow Filipinos, nor yourself put YOU down—stand out and be proud. When doing something, let us consider the impact of that action not only on our personal lives but to all Filipinos around the globe because each of us bears each other’s name. We are one. Let us help end the stereotyping and discrimination by starting it within ourselves. We can do it. We are Filipinos, born to survive and to make a difference. Mabuhay tayong lahat!

The post Filipino Thailand: My Pinoy life in Songkhla appeared first on Illustrado Magazine - Filipino Abroad.

Felicity Tan: Living out of a suitcase

While others have email signatures that read: sent from my Blackberry Wireless or iPhone, Felicity Tan’s email signature reads: “Sent from the road”- literally. As a journalist, 26-year old Felicity is constantly on the go; moving from one country to another. She has spent the last couple of years traveling and living in various cities around the world and actually had a hard time pinpointing a city to fill in the sentence “My Pinoy Life in ___.”

She finally decided to settle for “My Pinoy Life living out of a suitcase”.

Your City

Currently, Beijing, China is “home.” I moved here on Feb 7, 2011. Before this, I was living in The Hague, Netherlands in 2010.

Can you recount briefly why you moved there?

I moved here to take on a job as a news anchor for China Central Television’s English news service, which was re-launched in 2010, with the view of becoming the authoritative international news channel for Asian affairs.

I’ve been living out of a suitcase since I went off to university in Boston back in 2005. I guess you can say I’ve been “on the road” since. I spent time working/living/studying in Paris, Washington, DC, London, Chicago, back home in Manila, then The Hague and now Beijing. I’ve visited about 20 countries and nearly 100 cities for work and play. I’m about to hit the six-year anniversary of my nomadic lifestyle. Maybe I’ll cross the Gobi on horseback to celebrate.

Tell us something about your host city.

Every day is an adventure in Beijing. I’ve had so many (mis)adventures literally since the moment I arrived here. Sometimes it makes me laugh, other times I want to hurl a panda out the window (no actual pandas were hurt in the making of this article about my Pinoy life abroad).

Beijing is one of the most dynamic cities I’ve been in; I don’t think I’ll run out of things to do. This place is enormous. It is certainly a 24-hour city. There is a significant expat community and not a day passes by that I have not made a new friend. The traffic is bad like Manila, so is the pollution, kaya siguro hindi pa ako nagkakasakit kasi sanay na ako! Foreigners are known to get sick in their first few weeks.

It’s the dead of winter, so it’s very dry and quite blustery; it’s been snowing recently but I think it’s beautiful under a thin blanket. That said, nobody moves to Beijing for the weather or the air quality. Maybe the food. The kinds of people. The one-of-a-kind culture. The language. The history. The vibe of living in one of the fastest-growing cities in the planet, which is at the same time, for better or worse, stuck in its past. Beijing is a living, breathing contradiction. I love that.

Is there a Filipino community there?

I’m not the type to actively seek out other Filipinos where I live. I believe in a truly globalized world where nationality or race should not matter. You’ve got to be blind to the color of one’s skin or the color of one’s passport. That said, I do love meeting other Filipinos and learning about their experiences, and it is such a joy to be able to speak Tagalog where no one else can understand you. It’s like a secret language – it’s fantastic. I have not met true-blue Pinoys yet in Beijing, but everywhere else I’ve lived I’ve always had a makeshift Pinoy support community.

In The Hague, it was a different story, the Filipino community there is very well-established and you can’t avoid them, even if you are not Filipino! My best buddies at the U.N. were Filipino, I lived with my extended families in Chicago and Washington, my college roommate was a good friend from high school in Manila, and you just meet so many young professional Filipinos in London. And it always feels like home. Maybe I was most detached from Filipino-ness in Paris. But I do miss the food! Aside from Washington, D.C. and Chicago, there weren’t a lot of places to get real Pinoy food. I can always count on Cebu Dried Mangoes and adobo, which are always a hit with my foreign friends.

One cannot generalize how Filipinos are treated. Here in China, no one cares. I’ve never felt discriminated against, and they’re always amused when I say I’m ‘Feilubin ren ,’ which is “Filipino” in Chinese;  Feilibin (Philippines) and ren (person), but maybe because I’m singkit. I normally travel with a US passport so I don’t get into any trouble at immigration.)

But when traveling with Filipino friends, I notice they are questioned at immigration far longer than most, even if they’ve been residents in the host country for so long. I think that is unfair. I myself had to wait a month for my student visa to a certain European country to be processed, as opposed to two working days, because the consulate found out I was also a citizen of the Philippines.

Outside of that, I’ve never really seen much discrimination against Filipinos – perhaps isolated incidents. But in general, I think the world is starting to see that we do have a lot to offer. I once had an American boss who told me that he found it very inspiring to watch the Filipinas in his community, who start offmahinhin, spread their wings. “And I’m not just talking fluffy angel wings,” he told me. “I’m talking eagle wings.”Nothing truer has been said.

Tell us about your life there.

I’m still settling in. It’s been difficult because of the language barrier, but I have a rapidly expanding network of friends who have all been in the same boat, so they have been a tremendous help. I’ve been spending an equal amount of time at work, getting settled in terms of residency requirements and other necessities, and meeting new people. The Beijing party scene quite rivals Manila’s, I have to say. Then during the day time, since I work atypical hours, I just explore the city and am always on the lookout for new places to eat. The best thing about being here is the diversity of options so I’m never bored. It’s just a pain to get around because the subways are always full and while taking this taxi is cheap, it’s not always convenient because of the size of this very populous city.

What cultural practices/behaviors have you acquired from your host countries?

I pick up something here and there from wherever I’ve lived, usually from the language. I instinctively say “coucou” instead of “hello” now. It’s French, but I picked it up while I was at the UN in Holland.

Ideologically, perhaps the US left the most impact on me because I was there the longest. Being in such a liberal democracy, which is also paradoxically incredibly conservative, has opened my eyes to new ideas like the fact that there are so many philosophies, and  one is not particularly “more right” than another.This kind of mindset makes settling in to new environments much easier for me, especially with all the moving I do. Weirdly enough, this is probably more a Dutch mindset, but I learned it being in America. Shows you how global this world really is!

In any case, that does not guarantee I am Zen all the time. Certain local mannerisms do try my patience, but most of the time I just go with the flow. I am very Filipino when it comes to dealing with people; my foreign friends need to get used to me making beso all the time. And when it comes to birthday blowouts, I always lose. Because as a Filipino, when it’s your birthday, it’s your treat. But in every other country I am in, when it’s someone’s birthday, it’s your treat, so parati akong lugi!

Your message to Filipinos across the globe –

There’s something special in the Filipino spirit that makes Pinoys successful in whatever they set their hearts and minds to. So if you’re dreaming of doing something, go for it! No one’s stopping you but you. For those of you already out there, you make me proud, truly. So many Filipinos have done far more than I can even dream to accomplish, and my foreign friends are doubly impressed because they understand that Filipinos aren’t lucky; to get where we are, we have to fight to beat the odds. If that’s not exceptional, I don’t know what is.

The post Filipino China: My Pinoy Life in Beijing appeared first on Illustrado Magazine - Filipino Abroad.

Take a peek at the lives of the Filipinos around the world. Read on as Juliette Casabal reveals her life in Kazakhstan.

Tell us something about your host city and country.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country bordered by Russia and China.  The city has a population of 1,348,500 (as of 1 September 2008), which represents nine percent of the country’s population.  It used to be the capital of Kazakhstan and still remains the major commercial center in the country. One of the most famous buildings in this city, Kazakhstan International Hotel, where I work currently, is considered as the icon of tourism in Kazakhstan.

This country has some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen and has a lot of places for those who love nature tripping.  People here spend a lot of their time outdoors during the summer in the many parks that dot the city.  Almaty is also known for ski resorts and has one of the biggest ice skating rinks in Central Asia. Unlike what most people think, Kazakhstan is safe and modern, and is in fact very European when it comes to the standard of living, lifestyle, fashion, etc.  The city is teeming with typical urban activity and has a lot of nice restaurants, bars, cultural places and a great night life too.

Weatherwise, there are four seasons here which represents extreme conditions sometimes. Summer in July can be as hot as 40 degrees centigrade while during winter, when we have snow, the temperature can be as low as -12, even -50 degrees centigrade.

Since when have you been staying there? Can you recount briefly why you moved there?

I moved to Almaty in November of 2007 and took a post offered by the Intercontinental Hotel-Almaty. Presently, I work for Kazakhstan International Hotel which owns several hotels around Central Asia.

What do you there do for a living?

I just recently got promoted to Senior Operations Manager reporting directly to the General Manager. The company hired me to train all the Food and Beverage personnel and to open three restaurants around the country. I have just opened The Noodles, an Oriental/American concept bar and restaurant which is the first of its kind in Kazakhstan (as this is the first time that a global brand Gloria Jeans Coffee merged with a local brand). I run the entire daily operations and collaborate with the executive chef about the menu and design promotions.

Is there a Filipino community there?

Yes there is a Filipino community here and it’s called Pinoy-Almaty. We are about 65 Filipinos here in the city, although I believe that there are about 3,000 to 4,000 Filipinos working in Kazakhstan, and they have good professions.  In Almaty, Filipinos are mainly consultants, engineers, auditors, lawyers, though there are those few who work in domestic services.  Still, even the Filipinos here in domestic services get paid well – from US$500 to US$1,000.

Since most of the Filipinos here are busy in their respective jobs, unfortunately, it is only on during Christmas that we are able to get together.

Tell us about your life there.

For some reason, I always get mistaken for a local – a Korean Kazakh, they say.  Since it is very multicultural here – although locals are all called “Kazakhs”, they come from different cultures (i.e. Russian Kazakh, Ukrainian Kazakh, Mongolian Kazakh, Korean Kazakh, etc.), so there is a lot of diversity not only with the way people look but also their traditions.

My life here in Almaty is purely work, since I also live in the same hotel where my job is. I consider my occupation as my social life as well.  I have long hours, and spend most of time at work, in fact up to 12 midnight.  Luckily, I have the kind of work and workplace where friends can visit me, so I can mix business and pleasure.  My friends would come to dine and drink in our outlet, and I get to chat and sit with them from time to time while I’m working.

During whatever free time I have, I love taking walks around the city and spending time just sitting and relaxing with friends at local cafés.

What cultural practices/behaviors have you acquired from your host country?

None really.  I must say that the people here are very similar to us Filipinos.  Although their lifestyle is very European and they are quite liberal, when it comes to family, they are very much like Pinoys.  They have very strong family ties and values and spend their weekends together.  Even their weddings are similar to ours – they too have the same practice as “pamanhikan.”

I love the Kazakhs.  They are very friendly, warm and soft spoken people, and yet mysterious for me at the same time. The only thing I hate here is the winter.  Sometimes, the extreme cold is just too much for me to take.

Your greeting to Filipinos across the globe.

Always remember that you are a Pinoy and that you are exceptional because of your personality. As Pinoys, we are naturally sensible people and that’s what makes us global.

The post Filipino Kazakhstan: My Pinoy Life in Almaty appeared first on Illustrado Magazine - Filipino Abroad.