I have tried a new sideline, too unrelated to my previous job but too near and familiar for an overseas pinoy worker : cleaning houses.
A pinay neighbor gave me the work as a reliever while she is vacationing in the Philippines. I accepted the challenge though I know I had not been physically active. This week is my first week, but I tell you, it is indeed a daunting task.
I am servicing two big houses, one for a Japanese family and another for a French family. For a Japanese house, every area seems functional and usually involves more doors and corridors. The walkways are also slim. Maybe because they are living there for generations and their personal things have been piling up, almost losing its art and style.
The house of the French family is a beauty to behold. She has a very spacious living room, three actually. One is like an office-entertainment room where her children freely roam. It is connected to the main living room where a fireplace is kept. Then there is this another spacious room beside it that can be used as an activity room. All those three rooms are interconnected and only sliding doors divide it. You can see the garden on that side of the house since it only has glass doors. Most of her furnitures are made of wooden materials, some tables realy look antique. Her kitchen is also spacious and the dining room is separated by a cupboard. Another room is connected to the kitchen where she does her own laundry.
The boys from the Japanese family are quiet and seems to be more tamed. Most of their times are spent watching TV and playing computer games. While, the french children are more active. They have a lot of toys – puzzles, pikachu, robots, all kinds of animals, dragons and castles and even trains and automobiles. Since their house is very spacious, they run from time to time.
Most of the Filipino children in the family or ‘class’ I come from had not much of these luxury. Compared to my childhood life, nothing much came close.
From houses to lifestyles, an average Filipino has many things missing. Sometimes, I really do ask questions and some realities are still puzzling. You cannot choose your bithplace nor your citizenship, right? If you were born as a Filipino, what is the thing you can be proud of?
I have now a better understanding why there are many overseas worker who ended up migrating to richer countries. Even if it means separation from their own loved ones. The place a migrate worked has become his comfort zone. Living in a richer country gives you a greater benefit – a safer place to live in, efficient transport access, very efficient government service such as healthcare, childcare, and other work related benefits, and even comfortable and cheaper living expenses. (I say, “cheaper living expenses” in a richer country because your salary can actually cover for those expenses and you can still send money to the Philippines!).
Since I don`t have anymore use here and my visa is to expire, I am heading back to my Philippines. How I wish I can have all those freebies while living in Tokyo - the 50MBps unlimited broadband and wi-fi internet access, the ontime bus and train transport system, cold weather (though I always complain about it!), and the life I live with my husband (he is staying longer here).
Maybe God just gave me another chance to live this kind of comfortable life. It is enough that I have stayed this far. I have learned the things I have to learn and I need to move on.
Alright, everyone is a nomad. Everyone has to move. And I am obliged to do it.
PS. Dont get me wrong- I love being Pinoy. I observe and respect Philippine laws, and each blood running on my veins tells me I am. It is just I hope that someday, the basic access I had in Tokyo can be met by every Filipino living in the Philippines. Every Filipino…