Expats, share your journey here

SG. :singapore:

I resigned from my 12-year job in a local media company, before I decided to try freelance for a year. Through my exposure abroad, nagkaroon ng network and that landed me an invitation for interview sa isang SG-based broadcaster. I had doubts at first kung tatanggapin ang offer, kasi may inapplyan akong pangarap na media company na nasa KL then maganda rin ang offer ng isang local media network. Pero sa huli, ayun nag-relocate din naman ang lolo ninyo. :biggrin:

Maraming Pinoy sa IT Dept ng company kung saan ako employed ngayon, pero kakaunti lang ang nasa production. Pinaka-challenge talaga ang language sa akin, dahil nahirapan akong intindihin ang Singlish nila. And most old folks don’t speak English. :nye:

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Moved to Canada with my parents. I actually overstayed sa UP (quality education takes time :charing:) which worked out because as someone who is studying full-time and dependent on my parents, it allowed me to be included in their application to immigrate to Canada.

Found manual work in a pharmaceutical company and worked there for 4 months until an opportunity presented itself to work in the QA department. Yung manager nung department hired me - I later learned na taga UPLB pala siya. I guess may factor ‘yung pagiging UP grad ko. Worked in various fields but remained in the company until now.

I love living in Canada - mas feeling ko pa na mas respetado ako ng kapwa ko dito compared nun nasa Pilipinas pa ako.

Canada did tighten up its immigration program, so the fastest way to get here now is to get a study visa, which will eventually allow you a work permit, then permanent residency.

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@calvinlucas Hmm parang ganyan din ang immigration story ng mister ko. Moved to Canada with parents, got his first job. Turned out na pareho silang UPLB nung manager niya. Wait, baka pangalawang handle mo to hindi mo sinasabi sa kin :twak: :rotflmao: Jk Canada is great. Sabi niya, if we didn’t end up together balak niya yata mag RCMP.

:de: / Krautland / Bierland / Wurstland, whatever you fancy.

Moved here to do my doctorate degree (technically I can’t refer to it as PhD since Dr. Iur ang degree so ayan nalang :roll_eyes: ). I focused on nuclear energy laws in my dissertation and also published in international environmental law, state powers and information law in japan, and renewable energy. Was an expat in Cambodia bago magpunta dito. After my studies, I rejoined private practice and got hired by an international law firm, where I was the only filipino lawyer worldwide (there was a filipino paralegal in dubai and a case manager in new york during my time but no other filipino associate, much less partner)7. I did disputes (arbitration; dawn raid of a known automobile company) and major projects (large-scale infrastructure and energy work). A lot of my colleagues were leaving and the German offices of the firm weren’t doing these projects so much anymore so after two years, I transferred to another German city and to another big firm, where I’m doing renewable energy. This new firm has about 650 to 700 lawyers in the country alone and at our office in Hamburg, there are about 150 or so. Two of us are non-German lawyers. I don’t feel like I’m the odd one out because of my race or qualifications though.

Germany has just updated (ergo, liberalised a bit) their immigration policies for skilled workers starting March this year, if I’m not mistaken. And I’ve met several Filipinos coming here on either an EU Blue Card or a work permit (whenever their qualifications or salaries don’t meet the Blue Card requirements), mostly IT, engineers, scientists, and nurses/health/medical fields.

Pinoy lawyers are also starting to trickle in—those I’ve met did or are doing their Masters/LLM at Unis which are offering international (ie in english) programs. I’ve also met a couple of lawyers who did or are doing their doctorates as well. For the latter, admission and completion requirements are set by the respective States.

For those who are interested in knowing more about scholarship opportunities, working in Germany as a lawyer and like opportunities, infos about the different visas/permits, educational system, life in germany (generally speaking), and the like, feel free to drop me a line. :winking:

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Sumagot ako dito tapos binura ko.

Was in the US for a bit to replace my boss who was retiring, company sponsored my / daughter’s L1. Company was kind enough to ensure transition went well (meron ako relocation consultant na tinulungan ako sa lahat: finding a house, getting a license, ultimong san may Pinoy food :hihi:)

My biggest adjustments were 1)weather (midWest kami, so nakaka shock yung polar vortex chorva) 2)being away from family kasi my daughter was still in Manila. When I moved to the US I told myself that I should not be a Pinoy trying to recreate her Pinoy life in the US (wag mag TFC, maghanap ng pandesal at Jollibee, etc.). Pero ang hirap pala :joy:

In the end, because of certain considerations, I decided go back to Manila.

Thinking about my experience though, that stint really shaped me, gaano man ka cliche pakinggan. Natuto ako na tawanan yung iyak ko, i-console sarili ko (“ano ka ba, arwen, kaya mo yan!” self-talk) at isipin na lahat ng bagay kaya ng panalangin, self-trust at youtube (i fixed my clogged sink thanks to YT). Time alone also taught me things I was not aware about myself (like I’m really a visual person and cannot follow lego instructions).

They say you should try living abroad at least once sa buhay mo. I think there’s a certain truth to that :slightly_smiling_face:

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I remember you sharing this story - these are example of things na normally you can just pay off somebody to do it for you sa Philippines pero dito per hour ang bayad plus di ka pa sure kung agad-agad available yung person.

I agree - it’s one of those extreme changes in life and it will push yourself to the limit.

Hello @jane - funny coincidence :hahaha: where was your husband dati? How does he find living in Canada vs. UK?

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@calvinlucas Vancouver/Surrey area siya dati, ikaw ba? Like me, hindi rin siya nakatapos ng UP, we immigrated before we got our degrees (Agri Engg siya sa LB). I think they’ve only been living there <2 yrs from 'Pinas before we got to know each other here at Peyups. He had part time jobs at Subway and call center sa Bell Mobility before I convinced him to get married and move to the US (where I was already somewhat more established in my career). This was back in 2007. Nandun pa din ang parentals and his siblings and they now have families/kids of their own. Last time we visited Vancouver was 4 yrs ago.

@calvinlucas, agree :tama: sa US lahat ng bagay, naka schedule, kahit simpleng gupit lang (which I found odd initially). i think fixing the sink would cost around 100USD (kasi hindi kinaya ng insinkerator ko yung extra pancit bihon noodles). tapos matagal pa mapupuntahan. so tinry ko, ok naman :hihi:

living abroad also made me aware of my biases, like takot ako sa mga African Americans nung una (sorry) pag nakakasalubong ko sila mag-isa sa kalye. which was weird kasi hindi naman ako puti :lol:

Singapore

Got transferred here by my former company - MNC sya. It was either move to Singapore, or resign because the role was moving to Singapore. So I moved and brought my jowa (now spouse) with me.

Ang mahal dito! Grabe, I was earning a decent salary but couldn’t manage to save a lot. Rent was the biggest expense. In hindsight, I could’ve opted for cheaper accommodations instead of a condo in central Singapore.

They’ve changed the rules on hiring foreigners over the years. It’s now a lot tougher to get a job here. And getting permanent residency is very difficult na raw.

But I would still recommend moving here because it’s clean, the government is decent, the education for the kids is world class.

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:netherlands: Netherlands
Process engineer for oil & gas. Also lived in Korea, Japan, UK and Spain. Spent the last decade and a half moving from country to country, for adventures and job opportunities, but now settled here in NL. There are a lot of engineers and IT people here. Another path is to come for Masters or as Erasmus scholar. Naghahire ang mga engineering companies direct from Pinas… Except with the COVID-19, the rock bottom oil prices, madaming cancelled projects kaya freeze hiring bigla.

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Uyyy nag-VSO rin ako before :grimacing: sa Guyana ako na-assign batch 2 kami (1999-2000). I’ll do it again pag-retire ko hehe.

Uy nice to meet a fellow VSO Volunteer here. Ako din baka gawin ulit when I retire.

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