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You Are Never Going To Be Happy in the Philippines — Unless —

August 30, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

How much does this sound like your reasoning behind moving to the Philippines … or wanting to?

… In life many of us chase the seemingly elusive ‘prize’ of happiness and seek it out in all sorts of places.  We look for it in a marriage, we wonder if it can be provided by children, we go after it when we change our jobs and perhaps believe it will come to us when we retire…but the truth of the matter is, happiness is a state of mind and it comes from within.

The naked truth is, a great many of us here are here because we felt the Philippines would make us happier than living in the US or UK or Australia or where ever.

And yet, truth be known, living in the Philippines can not make anyone happy … even a Filipino.  Nor can living back home make anyone happy, either.

You see, in reality, even though we spend a huge percentage of our lives either being unhappy, or being mad at someone or somewhere for making us unhappy, the truth is, we always control our own happiness.  Happiness is one of the few things in your life that you always “own”, outright and utterly.  No one else can control it except you … ans some people can’t seem to cope with this responsibility.

Here are a few ideas, coping techniques and philosophies you might find give you a “boost” on that always slightly elusive and arduous climb to happiness.

Positively manage Your Challenges: From day one, think this through and keep it in your mind.  Moving to the Philippines will not be a ticket to paradise.  Figure out, in advance, what you are going to do to cope with the individual challenges that will arise, no matter what you think.  How many issues can you think of that might become a challenge to you, just from reading my blog, and a few others like, say, Bob Martin’s and Randy C’s and … oh I could put a lot of others in this space … what blogs do you read, and who else should I give a little “link love” to here?

Notice how every one of us has often written about things that didn’t go quite right … or worse yet, things that have gone pretty much horribly wrong.  Imagine yourself in any one of these situations and figure out, now, while you are sitting comfortably in a controlled environment, power on in your home or office, food in the ref, hospitalization card in your back pocket, etc., just how you would cope.  or could you?

You know, living here in the Philippines is not for everyone.  Not at all.  Certain things may just prove unmanageable for some of you … and this would be the time to think that part through.

Now, before you commit the all too common expat blunder of showing up here, money in the bank, intending to show all the Filipinos “how things are done back home”, and then leaving in 6 months or a year, a gaudy-looking “expat mansion” for sale at half of what you have tied up in it all you have to show for your sojourn here.

You know this may come as a shock to you, but very, very few of you out there are smarter than the collective wisdom of those of us who have been here before you … and just because you may have more years of formal education, or the ability to write (and spell ;-) better than me or another expat you read often does not mean you are guaranteed success.

Think it all through now, while the thinking is still free.

Figure Out What You Will Do About the Separation of Distance: Learn to deal with a simple fact right now.  If you come here to live you will be 7,000 or more miles from whatever you hold near and dear today.

The pull of parents, brothers and sisters, grandchildren and classmates and other friend so far away is going to be strong, and continually tugging on your heart-strings.

There are some coping techniques … VOIP video chats and phone calls, planning frequent trips, ferrying relatives over here from time to time, etc., but none of the coping is any better than a stop-gap.

Where the Philippines is, in relation to major cites

Any way you slice it, the Philippines is along way (and a long time … the far right column is typical flight times in hours and minutes) from a great many places.  What’s your strategy going to be?

Typoical flight times to the Philippines

Can You Start Now Developing A Positive Frame of Mind? I know some of you are going to get lost here about.  “Oh no, “ you are saying, “Dave is launching of into one of those spiritual, or even religious areas.  I’m a rough, tough, hard-ass rugged individualist, and that ‘touchy-feely’ stuff isn’t for me.”

Well think that if you will, and adios if you chose to stop reading here, but let me give you a parting shot or two to consider while you are traveling to the bar … or wherever you go to recharge your manly, “I can take care of myself” self-image.

The realities of retirement are sometimes difficult to come to terms with – as we age so our health can deteriorate, our energy levels can dwindle, our positive self-image can fade in a society obsessed with youthful beauty, we can lose loved ones and perhaps we can even lose our sense of identity when we leave our career behind.  All of these challenges come at a time when we are older and therefor expected to be ‘wiser’ and more experienced at coping with change and challenges.  This means perhaps people are less willing to offer support because they feel it will not be required or welcome – and for those of us living abroad and away from our extended support network, getting the help that might make things easier is perhaps more difficult…

This will come to all of us.  No matter if we are an emotional, “touchy-feely” person today or as rough and tough as John Wayne always wanted to be perceived.  When you have looked into the eyes of as many rugged individualist, sometimes hard-hearted, no-nonsense men as they lie on their deathbed as I have, you will then know I am right.

The sooner you come to grips with the reality that old age, weakness and eventually death comes to all of us, the sooner you can begin working on your coping strategies. now, today, when you still have that ‘chutzpa’ you’ve always been known for.

Hate to make this so blunt, really, but have you considered who will be at your bedside when you die?  If everyone you have ever thought of being there lives back in the USA … or (sadly as some expats have voiced to me) if you don’t want “them” (meaning Filipinos) at your bedside, then obviously, you are barking up the wrong tree if you think moving here to the Philippines is going to make you happy in any long-term context.

Think it all through while you are still relatively young, strong, independent and while you still know all the answers as so many of my fellow expats seem to … because someday, just like someone I am currently spending a lot of time with, you to will have the eyes of a scared-looking little boy who perhaps has just had a vision of his mama.

Hard to believe, but most of us all end up exactly the same way, no matter what country we happen to be living in when the day comes that we finally stop living.

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Just Refuse To Pay The Fear Tax!

August 23, 2010 By Philly 10 Comments

Seth  had an interesting post that he happened to pen at virtually the same time I wrote my “Just Give Up” opus last “Opinionated Monday”.

Here’s what happens as a result of security theater at the Orlando airport:

  • You wait in line at least twenty minutes
  • There’s a scrum of pushing and shoving
  • The staff are unhappy and not afraid to share it
  • An unreasonable workload leads to fatigue and errors
  • People miss their flights

Here’s what doesn’t happen:

  • Security is not increased
  • Peace of mind is not enhanced

In other words, we’re paying a significant tax (time and money) and getting nothing in return. In fact, we get worse than nothing. We could call it an anxiety program, instead of a tax. (After all, when you pay a luxury tax, you get some hard-won luxury as part of the deal).

The reason the TSA keeps changing the rules is not because the rules work, but because changing the rules creates more anxiety (for bad guys, they say, but for us too). …

We pay the fear tax every time we spend time or money seeking reassurance. We pay it twice when the act of seeking that reassurance actually makes us more anxious, not less.

We pay the tax when we cover our butt instead of doing the right thing, and we pay the tax when we take away someone’s dignity because we’re afraid. (my emphasis)

Here’s another “breaking news” item I just came across during the time I started drafting this post and then sent it off to publish:

“TSA was notified of a passenger allegedly smoking onboard American Airlines Flight 117 from John I. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),” the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

This caused the diversion of the aircraft to an alternate landing site, the confinement of all the passengers in Gulag-like interrogation areas and then finally resulted in the aircraft being sent on it’s way after about 6 hours of delay, lost time, lost wages, added on expenses and so forth.

Why?  Because of a recognized terrorist threat?  No, because an American Citizen was rude enough/unlawful enough/ignorant enough to light a cigarette in a place he was not allowed to.  Wow.  Surprised they didn’t land the plane in the desert and just nuke everyone on board … real hardened criminals there, especially all the innocents who did not break the law, but still were treated and inconvenienced as if they had.

Before you rabid anti-smokers out there get on your high horse, I used to fly when smoking was allowed on aircraft and I still fly today.  Even as a smoker, I certainly support a smoking ban on airline flights, because the air on board is unhealthy enough without subjecting non-smokers to my habit … but Jesus, people, can we have a little bit of intelligence here … a measured response to the level of the threat?

The guy broke the law.  So take him off the plane and deal with him as the law requires … but subject all his innocent fellow passengers to a captive situation like they were?  Complete lack of control and intelligence on the part of our government … rampant display of arrogance, actually, in my view of course, since I know Carnivore is reading my blog posts to make sure I don’t use bad words like bomb, and terrorism, and overthrow and civil disobedience … and other words that are no longer part of free speech.

And then again, just before I was ready to go to press I got another news item involving air planes, terrorism paranoia and the aggrandizement of government agencies who somehow have forgotten their place … yes, Secret Service and TSA, I’m talking about your own disloyalty to the oaths you are supposed to serve under (more carnivore fodder there, eh?)

Two fighter jets were responsible for a pair of loud sonic booms that shook Western Washington Tuesday afternoon. The Oregon Air National Guard F-15s took off from Portland, Ore. in pursuit of a seaplane that breached a 10-mile restricted fly zone around the president’s Air Force One.

The intruding plane left the restricted area shortly before the fighter jets arrived and later landed in Lake Washington, outside of Seattle, where the unsuspecting pilot and passenger were awaited by the Secret Service. The pair were unaware of President Obama’s visit and the restricted fly-zone.

The explosion-like sounds heard throughout the area were caused by shock waves produced when the jets exceeded the speed of sound.

At the time, Air Force One was parked at a nearby air field while President Obama was in Seattle visiting an eatery and attending a fundraiser.

F-15 enforcing the far tax. The President crisscrosses the country at will .. for important things like fundraisers.  OK, fine, he’s the elected chief executive, and certainly he is so far less of a traveler/delay causer than his predecessor or his predecessor’s predecessor .. although I I were in the President’s shoes, I’d travel less and use the money to create more honest jobs … but hey, that’s just me.

But he’s my issue.  Even when the president isn’t on board.the Secret Service expects everyone to know where Air Force One is (technically it is never Air Force One when the President isn’t on board, but you wouldn’t expect new reporters to understand the laws of our land).  They only understand hyperbole and fear mongering.

In the name of “Presidential Security” we launch fighter aircraft from hundreds of miles away to “protect” an airplane that doesn’t even have the president on board.  Why?  because we are powerful agencies and we CAN, not because there is the slightest indication of any threat to the president.  Sad.

Also note, that just like in 2001, the Air Force still arrived too late to do anything about the threat, had it been real.  So in nearly 10 years now, almost a decade into this “War On Terror”, we, the people have accomplished exactly what?

Sacred the crap out of a lot of people and instilled fear in the hearts of Americans who actually have nothing to fear.

The heck with these Tea Parties and other Fox News propaganda, let’s revolt against the damnable “Fear Tax” Americans are paying … remember who we are and then act accordingly … and just say no to Federal Agency jackboots … do we still have the guts to live by our own Constitution?  What sayeth you?

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Should We Just Give Up and Die Now, Save Worry and Handwringing?

August 15, 2010 By Philly 15 Comments

You know, from time to time I receive emails from the US Embassy regarding closures, hours of service changes and (not within recent memory) legitimate issues I should be aware of as a US citizen.  But this mail, received on Friday the 13th, my time, has got to take the cake.  I mean if the world is really this dangerous, is it even worth breathing?

A clear case that illustrates what I say about what our once fearless and proud society has become that perhaps makes some Americans wonder …  folks, we didn’t used to be this way.  Skulking in the shadows and afraid of our own shadow.  My little miniature Schnauzer, Otto, who sometimes hides under the bed during lightning storms is certainly braver, overall, than the guys and gals at the State Department who feel that warnings like this are needed by American citizens.  I think they missed a couple serious concerns in their warning.  People have been killed ort injured by chunks of “blue ice”falling off aircraft on the way to the airport … and I also heard that breathing in tobacco smoke is hazardous to our health too … didn’t see those clear and present dangers addresses.  Everything else imaginable?  Yep, and a little more.

The original mail was all crowded together and hard to read … I’ll spread it out a bit so you can read it easier and lie awake and worry all night as I now will (NOT)

U.S. Embassy Manila

Warden Message

August 12, 2010

THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES IS TRANSMITTING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION THROUGH THE EMBASSY WARDEN SYSTEM AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO U.S.  CITIZENS IN THE PHILIPPINES.  PLEASE DISSEMINATE THIS MESSAGE TO ALL U.S. CITIZENS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION OR NEIGHBORHOOD.  THANK YOU.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

WORLDWIDE CAUTION

August 12, 2010

The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world.  U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.  This replaces the Worldwide Caution dated February 12, 2010, to provide updated information on security threats and terrorist activities worldwide.

The Department of State remains concerned about the continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations, and other violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests overseas.  U.S. citizens are reminded that demonstrations and rioting can occur with little or no warning.  Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings.

<<<< Ever ask yourself, if they know so much about these guys, how come, with the billions in no-bid contracts for private mercenary forces, the clandestine forces of the CIA, the Department of State’s own clandestine forces, PLUS the entire US military and our allies, we still have done virtually nothing for years now, except send out emails alleging “current information”? >>>

Extremists may elect to use conventional or non-conventional weapons, and target both official and private interests.  Examples of such targets include high-profile sporting events, residential areas, business offices, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, public areas, and locales where U.S. citizens gather in large numbers, including during holidays.

U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure.  Extremists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services.  In the past several years, attacks have occurred in cities such as London, Madrid, Glasgow, and Moscow.

<<<< Notice that according to this, no city or country, with the possible exception of Antarctica is safe? >>>>

Credible information indicates terrorist groups seek to continue attacks against U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa.  For example, Iraq remains dangerous and unpredictable.  Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue.  Methods of attack have included roadside improvised explosive devices, mortars, and shootings; kidnappings still occur as well.

<<<< Damn, and here I was planning a leisurely vacation in Iraq.  I mean are they so stupid that they think you and i are dumb enough to know that an active war zone might be a little unsafe to travel in? >>>>

Security threat levels remain high in Yemen due to terrorist activities there.  The U.S. Embassy has had to close several times in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).  U.S. citizens have been the targets of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past and the threat of anti-Western terrorist activity continues to exist there.  In Algeria, terrorist attacks occur regularly, particularly in the Kabylie region of the country. In the past, terrorists have targeted oil processing facilities in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

<<< Another example of the extremely obvious.  Likewise a perfect example of how our country deals with threats .. we close the embassy and scurry inside, that’ll teach the bad guys who is boss >>>

A number of al-Qaida operatives and other extremists are believed to be operating in and around Africa.  Since the July 11, 2010, terrorist bombings in Kampala, Uganda, for which the Somalia-based, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility, there have been increased threats against public areas across East Africa.  The terrorist bombing in two public venues in Kampala, which resulted in 74 deaths, highlights the vulnerabilities of large public gatherings in East Africa and around the world. Additionally, the terrorist group, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has declared its intention to attack Western targets throughout the Sahel, which includes Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, and has claimed responsibility for kidnappings, attempted kidnappings, and the murder of several Westerners.

U.S. citizens considering travel by sea near the Horn of Africa or in the southern Red Sea should exercise extreme caution, as there has been a notable increase in armed attacks, robberies and kidnappings for ransom at sea by pirates.  Merchant vessels continue to be hijacked in Somali territorial waters, while others have been hijacked as far as 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, Yemen, and Kenya in international waters.

The U.S. government maritime authorities advise mariners to avoid the port of Mogadishu, and to remain at least 200 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.  In addition, when transiting around the Horn of Africa or in the Red Sea, it is strongly recommended that vessels travel in convoys, and maintain good communications at all times.  U.S. citizens traveling on commercial passenger vessels should consult with the shipping or cruise ship company regarding precautions that will be taken to avoid hijacking incidents.  Commercial vessels should review the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s suggested piracy countermeasures for vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden.

<<< Another huge example of the obvious.  Don’t worry, though, effective countermeasures are being taken against these pirates by, among others, the Chinese navy.  Yep, you got it.  We’ll sit and watch US-flagged vessels get attacked and depend upon the Chinese to protect American citizens.  I watched a show about cruise ships the other night and one of the drills the crew has to practice is to shoot fire hoses at potential pirate boarders.  According to some idiotic, gutless rule, American merchantmen are now not allowed to carry weapons of any kind.  Whose brilliant peace initiative was that.  Disgusting.

Did you also notice the impeccable logic in the advice to mariners?  Since merchant ships have been attacked as far as 1,000 miles off the Somalia coast, mariners are advised to remain at least 200 miles off the costs.  Why is that, to save the pirates having to otherwise expend the 1600 miles round trip fuel they would otherwise have to expend?  I mean if you are going to issue a warning, at least have a purpose behind it … like since the pirates have a known range of a thousand miles, wouldn’t remaining 1200 miles off the cost have some safety merit?  I guess I am totally ignorant in the ways of the sea, or government warning logic. >>>>

The U.S. government continues to receive information that terrorist groups in South and Central Asia may be planning attacks in the region, possibly against U.S. government facilities, U.S. citizens, or U.S. interests.  The presence of al-Qaida, Taliban elements, Lashkar-e-Taiba, indigenous sectarian groups, and other terror organizations, many of which are on the U.S. government’s list of foreign terror organizations, poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens  in the region.  Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit.  Their actions may include, but are not limited to, vehicle-born explosives, improvised explosive devices, assassinations, carjacking, rocket attacks, assaults, or kidnappings.

Some examples include Pakistan where a number of extremist groups continue to target U.S. citizens and other Western interests and Pakistani officials. Suicide bombing attacks continue to occur throughout the country on a regular basis, often targeting government authorities such as police checkpoints and military installations, as well as public areas such as mosques, and shopping areas.  In Afghanistan, remnants of the former Taliban regime and the al-Qaida terrorist network, as well as other groups hostile to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)/NATO military operations, remain active.  There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country.  In India there is a continuing threat of terrorism as attacks have randomly targeted public places frequented by Westerners, including luxury and other hotels, trains, train stations, markets, cinemas, mosques, and restaurants in large urban areas.

Supporters of terrorist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Union, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement are active in the Central Asian region.  Members of these groups have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments and have attacked U.S. government interests in the past.  Previous terrorist attacks conducted in Central Asia have involved improvised explosive devices, suicide bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings.

Foggy Bottom metro sign <<< geez, Uzbekistan and Eastern Turkistan and even Afghanistan, were they wantonly murder innocent medical aid workers requires a special world-wide notice to “inform the (clueless) American public”?  Interesting enough, they don’t issue any warnings regarding the hazards of doing humanitarian relief work around Israel … I suppose getting the crap beat out of you by a Us “ally” isn’t as painful and dangerous as if it had been an attack by al-Qaida.  They also, this time, seem to have completely ignored the Philippines (perhaps a first), where the MILF and other al-Qaida-backed groups have been operating with virtual impunity for years, and were undisclosed American forces operate combat support missions on a daily basis.  Very selective in their warnings and areas of interest these folks from Foggy Bottom. >>>>

Before You Go

U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security.  U.S. citizens without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  By registering, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance, be aware of local events, and take the appropriate steps to bolster their personal security.  For additional information, please refer to “A Safe Trip Abroad.”

U.S. government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened state of alert.  These facilities may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture.  In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens.  U.S. citizens abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

As the Department of State continues to develop information on any potential security threats to U.S. citizens overseas, it shares credible threat information through its Consular Information Program documents, such as Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts as well as Country Information. In addition to information on the Internet, travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, outside the United States and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.  These numbers are available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday, Eastern Time (except U.S. federal holidays).

American Citizens Services
U.S. Embassy, Manila, Philippines
Telephone: (63 2) 301-2000  extensions 2246 or 2567
Fax: (63 2) 301-2017

<<<< OK, enough editorializing.  I’ve complied with my civic duty and the request of the department of State to pass the information on to all US citizens in my organization.

Can’t write any more, I have to crawl under the bed with Otto and drag my computer in their with me, anybody know if I can book a flight to Antarctica? >>>>

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Slow Down in the Philippines

August 12, 2010 By Philly 16 Comments

One of my long-time Australian readers sent me a link to a nice article from an Australian expat living in Indonesia.  It made for some good, and thought-provoking reading.

Even though there are a huge list of differences between living in Indonesia and living in the Philippines, there are definitely some important lessons we expats often could learn from this article:

One night this week, as I strolled home from dinner with my wife, I did something I do all too rarely.

I walked slowly.

Mimicking the pace of the footsteps of those Indonesians around me, my speed more than halved. As my heart rate slowed, the lingering anxiety about the day’s travails and the next day’s deadline quite miraculously seemed to ebb away.

The mind was unburdened. Senses enlivened. Self-obsession gave way to a quiet meditation on the surroundings. Crossing Jalan Asia Afrika, the reflection of the lights off the street, wet after an afternoon storm, dance. Past the shopping mall and down into the kampung, I notice the smells from the vendors’ carts as they fry up tofu, nasi goreng and other delicacies.

Shopkeepers who would usually watch silently as I thundered past come up and say hello and ask after the family. I pay attention to the evening call to prayer and the fine quality of the singing. Later on, a frog jumps among the tangle of vines of a large banyan tree.

Simple pleasures, but rather wonderful nevertheless

One of the things I noticed when I moved to Jakarta was how – even in this bustling city of more than 8 million people – the locals walk at such a languid pace.

Early in my posting, rushing to an appointment, my taxi and a dozen other vehicles suddenly stopped on one of Jakarta’s main thoroughfares as a group of people, their hands held out and palms raised as if activating some kind of force field, idly sauntered across the road.

I was agitated, but the taxi driver was not bothered. Not a single horn tooted.

A few days later, at the city’s famous Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, I observed a Western office worker barreling through a crowd of locals to the bemusement of those around him.

Time and again, I would see it.

Foreigners taking some time out at the park, or promenading in the popular expatriate enclave of Kemang, invariably streaking past everyone else, jumping from the pavement to the road and then back again to avoid the potholes, carts and cigarette stalls.

As one Jakartan put it: ”These bules, they walk like they are being chased by a ghost!”

Like many city-bred Australians, stressed out and always in a hurry, travelling by foot has typically involved going, quite subconsciously, at full tilt, whether to get to the office on time, an appointment or to the shops to get that missing ingredient for dinner.

An Indonesian Muslim woman checks her laptop after an afternoon prayer at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. Picture: AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah It’s a habit so ingrained that, even after 18 months in Indonesia, it still takes a deliberate, self-conscious act to slow down.

I am not sure exactly why Indonesians jalan-jalan [walk] so pelan-pelan [slowly]. I’ve met more than one expatriate who has found it infuriating.

No doubt the soporific combination of heat and humidity on the equator plays its role. Perhaps it’s an act of self-preservation given Jakarta’s pavements, if they exist at all, are perilously riddled with holes.

There’s a great Indonesian expression, a hangover from the colonial era that’s still common today, which is also illuminating. Belanda masih jauh [Holland is still far away] is often the rejoinder to anyone who is rushing unnecessarily, or becoming agitated if things are not quite going to plan.

And things in Indonesia don’t always go to plan. Punctuality is not held at a premium. Bureaucrats are maddeningly ponderous. Sending a letter by post brings new meaning to the expression snail mail.

Often, though, the remedy for frustrated expats is to go with the flow, and go slow. (my emphasis) Thanks Tom Allard and the Sydney Morning Herald

I couldn’t agree more with this article, which is why I published it in it;’s entirety .. and remember, if you didn’t read the intro, my opinion is that although this is written about Indonesia, it is completely applicable to living here in the Philippines.

So often I hear from fellow expats how things are always going wrong for them, how they have grown to hate it here, how they can’t stand Filipinos and even how they are planning to give up and go home .. and the root cause of their dissatisfaction is, 99 times out of 100, the fact that they are just frustrated that things won’t move at the pace they are used to, and government rules and procedures that just seem downright, well, “foreign”. Perhaps because they are.

A long time back I remember losing an online friend over an exchange he and I had in a forum group.  My former friend made the comment that “if only the Philippine would do, this, and this and this and that, they would become just like Hawaii.”

My response to him was, “Why on earth would we want the Philippines to be like Hawaii.  heaven forefend.”

My friend got angry and said that my response was flippant, that I was too much of a wise ass, and that I wasn’t smart enough to see why the Philippines should remake itself in the image of a US state.

Well, flippant and a wise ass I may remain until this day, but I am still exceptionally grateful that the Philippines is not Hawaii or any other US state.  The differences, when you get right down to it, are the reasons I like it here …in spite of, or because of, a slower, more laid back way of life.

Many Americns say they share that view with me, but often their attitudes and actions prove they are thinking otherwise.  “Why doe sit take so many steps to get something done at Immigration, or the LTO, or wherever?”

“Why don’t ‘they’ computerize this or that function and make things more efficient?”

And so on and so forth.

Why isn’t it living in the Philippines like living in the US?  Simple.  Because it isn’t. here’s what you get when you type “efficiency” into an online English/Tagalog dictionary:

Search result for efficiency:  No match found!

To my mind this is one of the most critical parts of the move or don’t move decision each and every expat needs to make.  Instead of continually obsessing on day to day costs, one really needs to carefully consider for themselves if they can slow their pace and also adapt.  In my experience a great many Americans and other foreigners can not and they thus condemn themselves to “eternal frustration” during their stay here, unable to accept thing they way they really are.

Please take this advice in the spirit it is written and think the idea of living in the Philippines through very carefully.  If you can’t adapt to a very different lifestyle, one that to standard American norms is horribly inefficient and frustrating at times, better think again.&#
160; Not everyone is suited to living the the Philippines.  Paul Simon said it years ago:

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy …….

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Sitting on the Dock of the Bay … Yet Another $770 a Month in the Philippines Angle

August 8, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

Years ago my elder brother, a social worker by profession, had a job in far upstate New York, where the economy temporarily boomed back in the 1960’s, during the construction of the massive St. Lawrence Seaway System.  Well once the canal and locks and other work was done, there was little or no work up in the far northern New York counties … just as there isn’t to this day.  But people didn’t tend to worry … they had “the Welfare”.

A big part of my brother’s work was the administration,applications, protests, fraud investigations and tons of other paperwork and court cases involving “the Welfare”.  He didn’t much care for the work, but he kept plugging away at it until one day an event opened his eyes and he put in his retirement papers.

A young couple came to him, the woman obviously pregnant, and stated they had a question for him.  “Sure, he replied”, as a dutiful Public Servant, “How may I help you”?

They told him they were getting married, and they had come into his office to find out how much “the Welfare” would pay them married, or living separately, so they could chose the most profitable course for their future.

Digging a little into the records, my brother found that all four parents of the couple were "on “the Welfare”, and seven out of the eight grandparents were also on “the Welfare”. (grandparent number eight, he exception, was a member of  a local Native American tribe and was on the dole from the tribe rather than the state of New York).

(Oh, and for those of you reading this from the USA, bubbling over with the scarcely-hidden racism I see so often these days, all these folks except the Indian fellow were ‘good old” White, European stock, all born in the USA for generations.  In those days there were virtually no Black Americans in his county and Mexicans (the current scapegoat for anything wrong in the USA) were unheard of.)

My brother (child of two WW II vets and a decorated Korean War vet himself) said that was the day that “did it” for him.  He put in his papers, left New York for good, and moved to a little cinderblock house down in central Florida.  In his own words he told me, “Dave, I may not be living as great a retied life as many do, and I sure didn’t follow a lot of the ‘rules of retirement’ in building up my investments,etc., before I retired, but I am happy.  I just could not stomach putting another whole generation onto the horrific system that makes people dependent on the government from birth until death … never knowing the joy of actually making their own way.”  “It just didn’t seem like America to me anymore.”

Well, it just doesn’t feel like America to me anymore, either.  Recall I wrote just a week or so back about a construction worker who had been out of work for TWO YEARS and had yet to think of anything more productive to do except teach his young daughter to fish.  Waiting, waiting, wishing, wondering … kind of like Otis Redding sang in 1967:

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
   I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
   And then I watch ‘em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
   Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
  Wastin’ time …

Let me ask you this, are you doing something, today, for your own future, or are you sitting and “Wastin time … ?

So what prompted this latest “get off your butt and work for yourself” diatribe, Dave?

Simple.  As many of you know I enjoy watching the search terms that people use top find their way to PhilFAQS.  Yesterday one came through that I could not believe … had to look several times to see if it was real.  Certainly seemed to be, came from an individual SBC Internet provider account in California.  What was it?

“If I only make $700 a month, can I get Food Stamps in the Philippines”?

As my old friend Dave Barry frequently asserts: "I am not making this up". 

Can I live on $7770 in the Philippines? Now I’ll excuse this hapless Internet searcher for not knowing that we don’t have food stamps here in the Philippines.  We don’t have Medicare, 99 weeks of Unemployment Insurance free tuition community colleges, free busses to transport the elderly back and forth to their doctor’s appointments, or virtually any of the other “the Welfare” safety nets and stopgaps that Americans have come to regard as normal.  I mean, after all, the schools in the US virtually don’t teach geography or anything much about other countries … and if you don’t ask then how will you know?

But the part that is most troubling to me is the idea that anyone in California, US of A, would be happy enough with $700 USD a month to be looking around to see if s/he could live in another country on that amount.

Friends, any of you who started today, and out in as much time as most Americans spend watching TV a few nights a week, could be making more than $700 a month in say,the 99 weeks my fisherman friend sat waiting for something to happen.  Watching the ships roll away in other words.  It won’t fall in your lap, but if you work, and follow a proven system that involves delivering value with the knowledge and skills you already possess, it can happen.

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Waiting for a Job Before You Can Move to the Philippines?

August 2, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

Waiting for a job?  Well, that’s your privilege, but in my view you’re going to wait a long time.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … the US economy has changed, fundamentally and jobs, as most of you now them are dead.  Or dying rapidly.

This is what’s going on back there in the US of A.  You won’t likely hear this on Fox News, but I think most of you who are sitting around out there at the bitter end of you 99 weeks of unemployment insurance deserve to hear it … someone has to speak the truth and to tell you how the cow eats the cabbage.

Just recently I read the story of a young fellow in Tom’s River, New jersey.  There was a picture of him and his young daughter which caught my eye, and upon reading his story I learned that he had been out of a job, in the construction business, for nearly 99 weeks (that’s almost two years for the math “differentially abled” out there).

He seemed like a nice enough guy.  He looked intelligent and well fed.  And the fact he was showing his cute little daughter how to bait a hook told me a lot about his attitude towards being a father, not discrimination by gender, teaching your children useful skills, etc.

But upon reading a little further I have come to the conclusion that this fellow, and millions of his counterparts in the USA are demonstrably insane.

Let me address that 99 week figure for a minute.  Can anyone out there give me a one sentence definition for insanity?

One that comes to mind has been widely circulated for years … “insanity is the practice of doing the exact same things over and over and expecting different results.”  Friend, if 99 weeks on the dole hasn’t produced a job for you, what good will 99 more weeks possibly do?  See the definition above if you can’t figure it out.

Here’s your homework, if you are still with me … it’s a quote from a guy many of you with your overly polarized political outlook maybe won’t want to read, but try to use your reading comprehension skills to see what is being said without worrying about who said it:

Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and they’re making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. And big American companies are sitting on a gigantic pile of money. The 500 largest non-financial firms held almost a trillion dollars in the second quarter, (my emphasis … that’s held, as in doing noting with it … like holding the end of a rope with nothing on the other end) and that money pile is growing larger this quarter.  Profits that plummeted in the recession have bounced back. Big businesses have recovered almost 90 percent of what they lost.

So with all this money and profit, they’ll start hiring again, right? Wrong – for three reasons.

First, lots of their profits are coming from their overseas operations. So that’s where they’re investing and expanding production.

GM now sells more cars in China than it does in the US, but makes most of them there. The company now employs 32,000 hourly workers in China. But only 52,000 GM hourly workers remain in the United States – down from 468,000 in 1970. (can anyone read the writing on the wall?)

GM isn’t just hiring low-tech assembly workers in China. Last week the firm broke ground there on a $250 million advanced technology center to develop batteries and other alternative energy sources.

You and I and other American taxpayers still own over 60 percent of GM. We bought GM to save GM jobs, remember?

GM officials say no American taxpayer money is being used to expand in China. But money is fungible. Because of our generosity, GM can now use the dollars it doesn’t have to spend in the United States meeting its American payrolls and repaying its creditors, for new investments in China.

Second, big U.S. businesses are investing their cash in labor-saving technologies. This boosts their productivity, but not their payrolls.

Last Friday, for example, Ford reported a $2.6 billion second-quarter profit. The firm is already more than two-thirds the way to equaling its record 1999 profits. But due to labor-saving technologies, Ford now has half as many employees as it did a decade ago.

Wall Street analysts are happy with Ford’s “commitment to keeping capacity in check,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Ford shares rose 5.2 percent Friday. “Keeping capacity in check” is the Street’s way of saying “no new hiring.” In fact, the Street is advising investors to sell the stocks of companies that talk openly of expanding capacity.

Finally, corporations are using their pile of money to pay dividends to their shareholders and buy back their own stock – thereby pushing up share prices.

Last Friday, GE announced it would raise its dividend by 20 percent and reinstate its share-buyback plan. It’s GE’s first dividend increase since the company cut its dividend in early 2009. As a result, GE shares are up more than 5% in the past few days.

Bottom line: Higher corporate profits no longer lead to higher employment.  We’re witnessing a great decoupling of company profits from jobs. 

The next supply-side economist who tells you companies need more incentive (i.e. lower taxes) before they’ll hire is living on another planet.

The reality is this: Big American companies may never rehire large numbers of workers. And they won’t even begin to think about hiring until they know American consumers will buy their products. The problem is, American consumers won’t start buying against until they know they have reliable paychecks. (The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits from Jobs,By Robert Reich|Jul 26, 2010, 7:24 PM|Author’s Website)

yeah, yeah, I know some of you now have to wash your eyes out, having had them soiled by the words of a “Liberal”, but don’t be to sure Professor Reich doesn’t know what he is talking about, no matter what party he votes for.

Don’t believe me?  Well, let’s try something different (and even higher tech) than the auto industry.  Aviation.  Name me a huge, world-wide company that is one of the largest and most consistent “movers and shakers” in the world of military and commercial aviation. 

Easy, huh?  Boeing.  “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going”, right.  As American as apple pie in most people’s minds.

Well Boeing does build a lot of airplane parts and structural components in China, actually, but that’s not directly what I want to focus on.  The next question is, where’s Boeing’s US headquarters?

Easy, Seattle … where it has been since the founder, “Mr. Bill” first built wooden flying oats along the shores of Lake Washington.  Why, that question is a no-brainer.  Boeing in Seattle is as American as Washington State Apple pie, right.

No, not any more.  Boeing has been creating a whole bunch of temporary construction type jobs in another old stomping ground of mine … North Charleston, South Carolina.  Building a huge new facility for production (mainly assembly of components built overseas there).

Why move everything (and the jobs) from Washington State to South Carolina?  Easy.  South Carolina is very anti-union, and the State’s politician’s promised Boeing billions in tax forgiveness (that tax payers in South Caroline will have to cough up, like giving charity to Boeing
itself, rather than the fathers and mothers they will put out of work)), if Boeing would relocate there and thus disenfranchise most of it’s well-paid, skilled unionized work force.  How’s that looking for anyone trying to find a decent paying job in South Carolina, eh?

things to do at work while life passes you by Now Boeing is engaged in a huge contract battle right now with their biggest rival, Airbus Industries.  (a consortium from the European Union, mainly funded/owned by Britain and France).

The two aerospace giants are locking horns over the right to build the USAF’s next generation air tanker aircraft.  The winner will not only get billions from the US government for the basic contract, but will undoubtedly be able to use the contract as a springboard to sell many more air tankers to other nations as well.

Well, I can here many of you saying now, “What, with unemployment at over 10%, how can we possibly be allowing a foreign company to bid on US jobs to build a US government airplane.”

You’d be right in wondering that, but the answer is, if Airbus winds the contract, they too will build their aircraft in the USA .. at a non-union, low-wage plant, probably also in South Carolina.  (you certainly don’t expect them to pay the wages that skilled United Kingdom or French workers commend, do you?).

It’s funny how many of my fellow Americans get all fired up over outsourcing good old American jobs to poor, low lying countries who have rice as an important component of their economy.

Ooops, sound’s like I just described South Carolina, didn’t I ;-)

Friends, the organized outsourcing of American labor to other locations right here in the USA is already well underway.  You can sit and watch, and wait for “the government” to fix things for you, or you can throw cold water on your face and recognize the fact that jobs, as so many of us know them, are dead.

Getting to work from home is one of the key emotional benefits of building an online business.  Just about everyone can connect with this "dream". Working from home is something that impacts an entire family in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Everyone has it somewhere on their "wish list."

According to an online Harris poll, over 72% of adults in the United States are seriously thinking about starting a home-based business. It’s probably just as high in other parts of the world, too. For some a work-at-home job can mean extra income that would allow them to…

* purchase special items

* pay off student loans

* buy a house or a bigger one

* stay home with the kids

* vacation somewhere special

* save for their children’s education

* retire comfortably, in any country

* and the list goes on and on … all 100% guaranteed to work in the Philippines, the US or any other country.

Who doesn’t dream about freedom, about "doing your own thing," about making a positive change in your life/work style, about personal fulfillment?  Don’t keep dreaming and waiting. Go here and learn what building a business at home  is all about…

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Monday Morning Retired Philippine Thoughts

July 4, 2010 By Philly 6 Comments

Had an experience recently where I kept expecting someone (a Filipino business person, as it happens) to call me back, as he had promised … and he never did.  I finally made several calls to another employee at his work place and then to the owner at the firm … and tomorrow I am going to have the item I have been trying to order for weeks installed on my car … and the original fellow …let’s call him Juan .. has still never called me.

I can remember many years of my life when this would have made me really, really angry.  Juan works for a large, well-financed company … in fact a company which spends a lot of money on customer care, employee training and follow-ups on service … actually a bit of a rarity in the Philippines …but still 9n all, no contact from Juan, not even an apology for the hassle coupled with the usual sort of “white lie”excuse that you can expect people to make (not just here in the Philippines), like “I lost your number”, or “the call didn’t go through” … you know, the little things that people say to try to make their mistakes appear not so egregious and that the aggrieved party knows is pure BS, but we usually accept it as sort of a peace offering.

But am I angry with Juan right now?  Nope, not a it.  Will I snub him or give him a dirty look tomorrow when I go to his work place?  Nope.  And I know there are dozens of my readers out there who are muttering under their breath right now saying, “Well you’re damn right I’d be mad.”

People being late for appointments, or late (or never) returning calls and such are one of the primary things that absolutely anger my fellow foreigners here in the Philippines.  You hear it all the time, I’ve been hearing it for ten years or more now, and I expect that if I blog ten more years I’ll hear it still.

And don’t get me wrong.  I don’t like people being late for appointments or return calls one little bit.  I’m not some robotic turn the other cheek sissy that seems to revel in people walking all over him … not me brother, no way.

But I’ve trained myself not to get angry in these sorts of situations, and here’s a few thoughts on why.

First of all, anger is very bad for your health.  I’ve “operated from anger” a great deal of my life … probably shortened my life already .. but fortunately God has decided to let me keep growing old for now … so I don’t want to lose any more possible days in the race (the human race).

But the second reason I’m not mad at Juan is even more important than my blood pressure I think.  You see it is much more a matter of how I am going to let others control my thoughts and the way I feel.

Has anybody reading this ever been locked up, say in jail, or even thought hard about being confined?  Wow to me that a pretty horrible thought, being locked up so I lost my physical freedom.  But even worse would be the situation where someone could control my thoughts and emotions and took away my mental freedom.

I believe you should always be on time and keep your promises. I get angry when people are late because I believe it is disrespectful, and it’s also downright inconvenient and wasteful of my time when appointments made don’t “push through”.

But Juan, on the other hand does not believe being on time is important. He has said so. At least by his actions.  You see this isn’t the first time he has failed to follow through.

So who has the problem here? I do.  Or at least I do if I get angry.
Why?  Because I would be angry, upset, out of sorts and generally wasting time that should be happy time for me.  But Juan is happy.

Juan doesn’t even know there is a problem, because I haven’t told him yet.  Let’s say I never tell him and stew in my anger believing everybody believes you should be on time and that everyone believes being late is disrespectful.  I will be angry with Juan and Juan will have no clue why I am angry because I have assumed he believes the same things I believe about punctuality.

Now let’s say I have told Joe that it makes me angry when he is late or fails to return my calls, but he is still continues to be late and neglectful?  He doesn’t understand why it is such a big deal.  He doesn’t believe it is a big deal.

Juan is not going to change his belief in punctuality or promise keeping. He has demonstrated that. I can’t change Joe’s belief, only he can.

So what can I do?

I can choose to change my belief that Joe should always be on time and that will in turn change my belief that I have been disrespected and then I won’t be angry at Joe anymore.  Whenever I make an appointment, or start anticipating what a business is going to do for me … deliver that much desired “something” I have ordered, perhaps, I stop for a moment and have a little talk with myself.

If it comes, it comes.  If it doesn’t come, I’ll do something else to get what I want … as long as I don’t expect others to share my beliefs, and as long as I know going in that I probably need a plan B (and maybe a plan C and a plan D as well), nothing Juan or nay of his comrades can really hurt me.  They don’t share my belief and I am not going to change that fact.  As the famous homily says, “Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and greatly annoys the pig.  One thing I am known for telling people time and time again … YOU must change to suit the way things are in the Philippines, because the Philippines is NOT going to change to suit your beliefs.  I wonder, sometimes, why so many guys move here thinking they are going to make it change?

OR

I can just stop making appointments with Juan.  He’s not the only supplier in town and it’s perfectly logical to just “vote with my feet” and take my business elsewhere if the problems get out of hand.

As you can see…

Juan doesn’t make me angry…

I make myself angry if I stick so firmly to my beliefs that I don’t allow me to accept Juan as he is.  Living here is what it is, no more, no less

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More Jobs Musings

June 22, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

This is my semi-regular Monday rant editorial, delayed bit until Tuesday.

Interesting thoughts last week from my colleague Bob … no, not that Bob, Bob Thompson, writer of books and Internet guru since well before there was an Internet. 

Right now, I’d guess that the upper 10% or 15% of the population can do (and does) all of the real work that actually needs to be done. Obviously, a lot more than 10% to 15% of the population are employed, but the bulk of them are in make-work jobs that actually contribute little or nothing to the economy. As a rich country, we’ve been able to afford those inefficiencies, but as the economic crunch continues that’s becoming less practical. I read the other day that white males, the group that historically suffers least from an economic crisis, are now experiencing a 20% unemployment rate. What’s far worse is that this is structural unemployment. That 20% not only don’t have jobs now, but never will again (my emphasis). To say that has profound implications going forward is probably the understatement of the century.

Despite that, I remain optimistic. Science and technology can get us out of this hole, but only if they’re given free rein. We need to focus our efforts on ensuring that our best and brightest kids are well educated and steered into STEM fields. The upper 1% (actually, the upper 0.1%) are the ones who’ll make a difference. Right now, we concentrate too much attention on dividing the economic pie equitably, and too little attention on growing that pie. …

Some further thoughts on the work, production and tax issues and what they mean for America. … and the Philippines.  9despite the noise you sometimes here from a microscopic fraction of the well-to-do but shiftless “rich boys” here, Filipinos copy what the US does with almost slavish dedication.  It really gets old, at times, more than once, being asked for the umpteenth time how something is done in America I have to choke back the urge to shout out, “Don’t ask me, think for yourself, damn it!” 

The taxes are in the mail and, as usual, our bank balance on April 15th is a lot smaller than it was on the 14th. I suppose we should be thankful to be in our half of the population, though, because the other half of the US population pays no federal income taxes at all. Consider the implications of that. Half of the US population now works to support the other half, who contribute nothing. In reality, of course, it’s much worse than that, because a large percentage of those who do pay federal income taxes are actually net tax consumers. They’re public employees, which means they’re also being supported by the small productive fraction of US workers. …

For new hires of college graduates, the numbers are stark. Kids who’ve obtained degrees in majors that I’ve previously characterized as "useless"–English, history, sociology, *-studies, and so on–aren’t getting any job offers at all, or if they are those offers are in the sub-$20,000 range. Those who’ve obtained degrees in what I’ve previously characterized as "real" subjects–the hard sciences, engineering, and so on–are getting job offers in the $40,000, $50,000, or $60,000 range.  So I’m going to sit down with Jas and suggest that she really should consider majoring in chemistry or biology or engineering. Something that’ll give her a reasonable chance of a decent job offer once she graduates.

My thoughts on this pretty much mirror Bob’s.  A great many people in the US … especially failed real estate hypesters (oops, “professionals), unemployed auto workers, and the “poor” who have enough money for beer and wings and hanging out at the local sports bar will frequently bitch to all who will listen, and even those who don’t want to, about those Indian or Pakistani or Chinese or Vietnamese or Israeli or Palestinian or … it could go on, fill in your own ethnicity) who are ‘stealing American jobs’. 

The issue the chronic complainers fail to address is … about 4% of US students starting college opt for real STEM (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in case you were wondering).  Whereas, in China or India, about 40% are enrolled in such programs.

If you read the roster of successful companies, or search the news regarding new research breakthroughs at universities guess what you’ll find?  A highly disproportionate number of “foreign” names.

I’ll give you a hint.  Those “foreigners” didn’t get there by “stealing” anything … they got there by doing the work and slogging through the courses that 96% of ‘true blue American” kids refuse to take. Essentially, they took the road less traveled and the Did The Math!

For too many years our country has been satisfied with the illusion that ‘service’ jobs, like selling stocks, flogging houses at outrageous prices and “advising people on their investments” … and demanding getting a bonus even if the client goes broke … are acceptable, productive ways to earn a living.  Going to school for a business degree so you can get a job as a junior “stock pusher” with Bear Stearns?  Oh wow, good on you.

But if you are in a position to advise young people, or if you are still one of those lucky young people making life changing decisions right now, consider this … what will your chosen field of endeavor actually PRODUCE?

Food for thought.

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Another Slow Day in the Philippines

June 13, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

A warm Sunday Morning here, 8:15 am … Happy Birthday, Philippine Republic, for many of you reading this it is still 12 June, Philippine Independence Day.

I’m busy with some family things today and don’t have much time to write, but I came across something, over coffee; that helps explain a lot of what I was trying to convey in my last post, about angry, often toxically impatient, people.

If there is one common complaint thread among all the many different expats, balikbayans and other foreigners and Filipinos I have dealt with over the past 10 or 12 years, it easily boils down to this … after they are in the Philippines and begin living life in ‘real time” here, even the Filipinos among them start making statements like … “they” don’t plan, “they” don’t think ahead and “they” have no sense of time.  After all, even to Filipinos, “Filipino Time” is a national treasure/affliction/joke (Pick one).  As if a whole country just can’t tell time … or doesn’t give a care ….

I also tend to wrote long and wordy which I am sure puts a lot of you, who have little time, off a bit.  You stand in front of the microwave, tapping your foot and mumbling, “Ding already, damn it, I don’t have all minute!”

So here’s your Sunday comics … perhaps a message is contained within …  (Hint 1:  The Philippines is pretty close to the equator)  (Hint 2:  As you watch, try substituting the Philippines with the speakers country of Sicily in your mind, just for argument’s sake)

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How To Decide if the Philippines is Right for You?

June 10, 2010 By Philly 7 Comments

The title to this article covers a lot of ground.  I won’t be able to do it real justice even if I write a lot more than my usual number of words.  But I though it was worthwhile to get this post out of my “drafts” folder and on line because I was given a little “push” this morning by something I read on the blog of a colleague of mine, Naomi Dunford in her business blog, Ittybiz.

Naomi was describing how a business mistake she made had resulted in a lot more problems than she had expected, and her story actually had four “morals” if you will, plus a little bonus “mini-moral” she titled as 0.2

Bonus tack-on 0.2 point moral:

Walking around assuming the whole world is just waiting to screw you over is probably not very good for your health.

I get the impression strongly, each and every day, from the news and from personal contact that my fellow Americans are angry and getting angrier each and every day.  I luckily don’t get much US news on my TV (Thank God my cable provider doesn’t provide Fox News), but what I do see really makes me wonder just how much adversity the average American can take.  I mean talk about issues ,,, the other day, Oprah was on for a half-hour or more interviewing Jay leno about the “horrible way” he treated Conan O’Brien over the “take back” of the Tonight Show.

You know millions of gallons of oil are polluting the gulf of Mexico every day while the government waits to be told by BP what is appropriate, more Americans are out of work than at any time since the great depression, the nation is still fighting two inane, untruthful and unwinnable wars that have nothing whatsoever to do with our nation’s real future, the North and South Koreans are poised on the brink of a ‘shooting war” and a matter of grave concern is that one smart-mouthed, not all that funny comedian took the jog another goofy, not all that funny comedian had been given by the people who owned the network and paid the bills.  All this for boring, repetitive shows that mainly serve as free advertising for any actor or recording artist with a movie or book to plug … at an hour when intelligent people ought to be in bed, dreaming of making money for themselves tomorrow.

And the part that was amazing to Oprah and to me … thousands and thousands of Americns had written in to express their opinion, often in very strong terms, complaining about the “terrible way” Leno had acted.

Earth to the US population … this is a non-prime-time television show, people.  Get a grip … or at the least a sense of proportion, please.  How many babies died during that hour of chit chat about Leno’s behavior.  How many kids dropped out of school from our woefully inadequate US education system which is dooming us to Chinese subjugation in the future.  But you are pissed off enough to take the time and write in and complain about about Jay Leno?  Where the hell are your heads at?

Back to Philippine terms.  If you get wrapped around the axle about the “injustices” of late night TV and these other petty “issues” of today’s America, do us both a favor and DO NOT BOTHER coming to the Philippines.  You will NOT like it and the advantages of cost of living and other plus factors are unlikely to overcome the injustices and outright “wrongs” you are going to see, and actually deal with on a daily, even hourly basis.

Back when i was in aircraft maintenance with the military we had a “pet expression’ to describe anyone who was always ready to fly into a rage over something … we (irreverently) said they were “Spring Loaded to the Pissed Off Position” … I think this developed as an analogy to a lot of the aircraft controls and switches we worked on that were often spring-loaded to a ‘safe” or “normal” position so that a pilot couldn’t, say, blow the external tanks off the wings of the airplane and say the switch moved by “accident”.

In addition to the fact I really don’t want to hear the continual complaining of how “they” are out to get you, how “they” can’t drive, how “they” can’t even carry on a conversation and all the other thousand and one complaints I here on a daily basis, sit tight for a minute and re-read Naomi’s little 0.2 moral:

Walking around assuming the whole world is just waiting to screw you over is probably not very good for your health.

Anton Chigurh It’s a bonafide truth that stress and constant dissatisfaction with life no doubt tends to shorten your life.  Stress and anger may well have causal effects on heart disease, cancer and many other ills that may or may not come our way in life.

If you are going to come here to the Philippines with that whiny, angry, “us” versus ‘them” manner I run into so often, do us both a favor … stay home in  whatever little paradise you are currently living in and don’t bother making the effort to come here.  There is plenty … way more than you can imagine in a daily slice of life here to get you angry and upset … and if you are one of those “Spring Loaded” guys?  You are going to drop thousands of dollars on making the move, probably build a few million Peso home that everyone advises you not to, and then take a whopping loss and go back home in a year or two, nearly permanently pissed off and with likely less years remaining on your personal calendar than you had when you came here.

Living in the Philippines requires patience, tolerance to all manner of things that “just aren’t right” and a very short memory so you can forget the things that happened to you yesterday, last week, etc.  Forget about the “Can I live on $770 USD” type questions and give what I just wrote here some serious thought. 

With apologies to the Coen bros, creators of some of America’s finest films, the Philippines is No Country for Old (Angry) Men

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Thoughts on my Imminent Philippine Birthday

May 30, 2010 By Philly 4 Comments

Well this is the year.  Way back when I used to think 65 was old indeed.  Now, only a couple monthly pages on the calendar separate me from that magic number.  Many reading this aren’t even close to 65 yet, and (come on, it’s all right, I’ve heard it plenty of times), there are a few out there who are saying to themselves |I can’t believe I am spending my time reading what this ‘old fart; has to say”.

Hey, no problem.  Some of you, sadly, won’t be fortunate enough to join the over 65 club … for those who do get lucky, it will come sooner than you think.  Bottom line, though, is you better plan on reaching it someday and figure out how you are going to handle certain things, because if you don’t give some serious thought to what you will do about certain life decisions, you may find yourself in a position of having decisions made for you by the calendar and you just being a passenger along for the ride.

My apologies in advance to my non-American readers because most of this article is very specifically addressed to US-specific issues and benefits.  Those from other countries, though, can still use this as a springboard to know their own country’s rules and options.

One thing that has amazed me over the last decade or so of my life is how little most Americans know about the benefits/bills they are going to face and how little they do to plan for them.  I include myself in a lot of that statement, so don’t get angry thinking I am talking down to you … this article is directed as much at me as anyone else.

My first and foremost suggestion for having a better than average life after 65?  (and this will certainly be my most controversial I think).  Let me put it as gently as I can … GET THE HELL OUT OF DEBT.  I really had this driven home a few months ago when I made a rare visit back to the USA.  Even though I was born in the USA and lived a lot of my life there, I can’t get my head wrapped around the attitude so many seem to have … “I deserve it … and … “It’s only so much per month”.

You don’t need a new car … or two.  You don’t need $100 plus per month cell phone bills.  For sure you don’t need a hundred a month or so to some cable company that provides you with hundreds of channels you don’t watch.  You don’t need 55 different medical providers (as one lady wrote me about, telling me the reasons she couldn’t move to the Philippines).  You sure as hell don’t need season tickets to spend a couple hundred a game on going to tailgate parties in order to watch a bunch of overweight so-called athletes kick a ball up and down a field while you freeze your butt off.  You want all that stuff?  Hey, it’s a free country, go ahead and sign up for it, but don’t come whining tome in your 60’s that “if only” you weren’t so deep in debt you would be able to move to the Philippines or whatever else it is you have now settled on as a life’s dream.  The only reason you are in debt is you, and the person who can end the merry-go-round ride is also you. 

One reason that I am having a very good 65th year so far is … I live simply, I don’t owe anyone money.  I don’t ever have a sleepless night worrying about meeting payments and when I do die, my wife will not be saddled with a mountain of bills.  You might enjoy learning how a large family can live their dream in the US on a tiny fraction of what you are probably spending per year or as a contrary thought, how you could come here to the Philippines and live for a few years and literally erase your debt … the honorable way, by paying it off.

My next though is going to be pretty unpopular with some too .. but it is by far he next most important item the majority of Americans need to address:  START SAVING MONEY, Now!  Today!

Oh, I can hear the moans and groans now.  I’ve heard them for so many years, one excuse after another.  They all sort of meld into a sad litany … a litany of people convincing themselves right into their own “hole” in life because they just won’t face reality and have enough vision to see how they cam construct their own way out of the bind they are in.  America has a distinction I’m not proud of.  It has the lowest personal savings rate of any developed country.  Make it, burn it up and then beg for more is not the official US of A motto, but they way so many people act these days you would think it is.

The basic truth is, not only can you afford to save money, you absolutely must, unless you are planning to jump off this train of life before you reach that magic year you turn 65.  Why do I insist you can save without even knowing your own personal situation?  because I do, that’s why.  I haven’t failed to learn something over the years, you know.

Think this through.  Suppose the next time any money come in .. from your regular J*O*B paycheck, your pension account, your commission checks … whatever sources are paying your bills and providing electricity for you to read these words right now … suppose that source was reduced 10%, permanently, the next time you get paid.

Well you’d be pissed.  You’d be upset.  You might even be sick to your stomach worrying about how you’d make it through to the end of the month.  But unless you are hopelessly mentally unstable, you’d live.  You knuckle down and make the changes necessary.  You’d cut back, you’d postpone, you’d make alternative arrangements … whatever.  And you’d probably be thinking horrible thoughts about the person/persons involved in putting the pay cut into place, but life would go on.

So riddle me this?  If you know, for sure, that an involuntary 10% pay cut would be endurable .. and you’d do what’s necessary to survive it,then why would you “do what is necessary” for the low-life blankety-blanks who theoretically cut your pay … yet you won’t take the action you need to, today, for you to benefit?

Save 10% of your income, starting now … this very minute. DO NOT make yourself the promise you’ll save at the end of the month when the bills are paid.  There’s a huge chance you’ll cheat yourself more months than not.  Take control of your own life this very minute and put 10% of whatever comes your way in a separate bank account right now, starting today.  Then shift priorities, cut back, re-structure, whatever else needs doing to make it through to next pay period … where you will put 10% in the bank and start the process over again.

It will get easier and easier, I guarantee.  And some day, if we “old farts” don’t vote you out of the “life” club, you’ll be sitting there thinking about the Social Security, Medicare, Long Term Care insurance, senior discounts and all the other issues that come along with that 65th birthday … and you’ll face most of the issues with a smile .. why?

Because you will have money in the bank and will be living your life for you … not dancing like a typical American “debt puppet” the way so many are today.  There aren’t a lot of guarantees in life, but one I can assure you is true … you’ll be way happier out of debt than mired in it … and you can take that to the bank.

And just in case this economical talk made you think about how you could still afford
to fly if you started living Dave’s Cheap Life, you might be interesting in this:

"If you are planning a vacation, wish you could visit distant family or just want to see the world then my guide is for you. I give you all the essentials on how to get Extremely Cheap Flights , tell you the scams to avoid and reveal all of the biggest money saving and confidential insider secrets the airlines have threatened me to keep silent about…"

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Retreat From the Philippines, What Will Be Your Reason

May 25, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

I had something else in mind today but I just happened across an item on the front page of fellow Philippine web site owner and US retiree in the Philippines, Barry Ruth’s excellent site on Philippine living.

The thrust of the article was that for more than 10 years now the estimated number of US citizens living in the Philippines (the majority retirees, semi-retirees and a few entrepreneurs, has stayed pretty steady at about 250,000 or so.  If the Philippines is really a great retirement location, why isn’t this figure going up?

The article went on to mention some of the major reasons many folks move here to the Philippines and then change their minds and return to the USA.  I’d like to touch on the top 10 or so of those reasons along with 4years or so of perspective.  The views expressed here are mine alone.  These reasons are listed in no particular order:

==>>Inability to adapt to Philippine culture:  If not the biggest reason, this ought to be way up at the top.  I hear continuously in conversations, read in blog comments, forum quotes and questions I receive continuously comments that all seem to center around one thought:  The Philippines is run differently, they do things differently, and essentially they won’t do things the way I want them done.

Well, at the risk of tarnishing your view of paradise (you never heard me call it that), let me make you aware of something a great many of my fellow Americans seem to have great difficulty in dealing with … the Philippines is a whole different country, and it is run by Filipinos.  It’s their country, plain and simple.  If you come here, even if you “marry into” the country as I did, oh and let’s not forget, one more time, no matter how much you spend here … you are still a guest in someone else’s home.  Just because you are certain in your heart that you know better than they do, your opinion is not needed.

I was going to just end this thought here with a famous (or perhaps infamous) quote of the the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon.  Then I found a much more elegant way to mention that quote and some other important ideas about an independent Philippines from his grandson, instead:

AFTER THE MASSACRE at Amritsar, Mahatma Gandhi said to British officials led by the viceroy of India: “I beg you to accept that there is no people on earth who wouldn’t prefer their own bad government to the good government of an alien power.”

About 10 years earlier, a Filipino said basically the same thing: “I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos to a government run like heaven by Americans.” It was a sound bite heard around the world. But what all too few recalled was the essential sentence that came next: “Because, however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it.”

To this day, there are Filipinos who, whenever something goes wrong, cackle and say, “Look, Quezon got his wish. We have a government run like hell!” As if it is something uniquely Quezonian-and Filipino-to want to run our own lives, badly as the case may be, rather than entrust it to the guidance of foreigners.

What Quezon and Gandhi said roughly a decade apart is the essence of nationalism: a people, a nation, must have the chance to make good and bad decisions, because there is simply no substitute for decisions made for one’s self, by one’s self. Government will not always be good, leaders will not always be the best, but in the end, a government and its leaders must be selected by the people and no one else. Love of country, nationalism, requires that a people have the freedom both to make mistakes and achieve great things. After all, the lives of individuals as well as nations require learning, and one cannot learn without, at times, doing wrong or making mistakes. Surely it is better to make one’s own mistakes, to collectively endure errors of one’s choosing, rather than undertake the same risks at the direction of a colonial power.

Nationalism is not my country, right or wrong, or everything for my countrymen at the expense of all aliens, but rather a more fundamental appreciation that one belongs to a people who have a country, and that the destiny of that country is in the hands of a people free to make errors but at the same time rectify their mistakes. It involves a sense of stewardship over a particular territory that geography and history have made the primary responsibility of no one else on earth but those who inhabit that territory…  (My emphasis. I encourage you to read the whole article here and to reflect upon it seriously, because, although there may be times you want to say, as a Filipino lawyer friend of mine has often said, “Manuel, you got your damn wish”, there is more to it than a funny tagline to utter every time something seems to have gone “Filipino wrong”.)

image As an American, it is incumbent upon us to reflect that once upon a time the “greatest nation on Earth” was a group of muddy-streeted ramshackle towns populated mostly by ner-do-wells and other “expats” from various European countries who often didn’t want them in the first place.  Mistakes were made.  Experiments were tried and failed.  Corruption, even today still raises it’s “Whack a Mole” head more often than the average American may be able to admit.

But we felt so strongly about the need for our own independence we fought a war over it … and the Filipinos did too.  So think through what I’m saying here and decide for yourself if you are going to be able to live here and (most of the time) keep your mouth shut … or if you are going to be constantly enraged and stressed by everything you see wrong on a daily basis.  The answer you come up with for yourself may go a long way toward improving the quality of your life, perhaps even the length of it.

Well, the old clock on the wall tells me I have already spent too long on this one reason, but that’s OK, so far as I am concerned I said something that needed to be said and highlighted something from Manolo that I can’t believe I have ever come across, that tells the story ever so much more eloquently than I can.

Are you planning to come here and make it an us versus them time in your life, or are you willing to accept that things are different here and if you do come to live you will not be in Kansas any more?

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The More Things Change in the Philippines the More They Stay the Same?

April 30, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

Been noticing lately that I have developed a really negative streak in my thinking and writing.  Not easy to understand why.  Things are going well for me, I just passed a comprehensive health exam … at a cost of a tiny fraction of what all the tests would have cost in

North Luzon Expressway Overhead Sign, Approaching Santa Rita Exit
Getting close to my exit

the US.

Got a few regular prescriptions to take, probably for life now, but that’s not uncommon in the 60th decade and they;re pretty cheap, either at my personal favorite, Mercury Drug or at the Generics Pharmacy chain where the selection is more limited but the prices are really, really cheap.  (and there’s anew Generic store in easy walking distance from the house, so I don’t even have to open the gate and drive the short distance to Mercury.

And driving, did I mention driving?  driving here is a bit strange as it always has been, nothing different there … but I was just reflecting on how the roads have changed in the 3 plus years I have been here.
Creative Commons License photo credit: barrera_marquez2003

The NLEX (Northern Luzon Expressway) which runs near my house is a good road and it’s not only being continually maintained, but substantially improved.  There’s a new spur almost complete that will route away from the congestion at the intersection with EDSA (Manila’s “main drag”) and let me zip direct onto Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City, one of my frequent destinations.  And that will be at no extra cost .. in fact tolls have been reduced since we first moved here … anybody know of any major US tollways that have reduced tolls lately?

And how about my cool little toll transponder on the dash .. pre load it like a cell phone and when you come to a toll booth, go in the special Easy Trip lanes and breeze right through.  Want to know how much your load is .. go online to their modern website or text them for instant answers.  The other day there was a planned maintenance outage for their recharge lanes on the highway.  because I’m a subscriber they texted me in advance to let me know.  Ehen’s the last time your toll taking authority let you know anything in advance?

And then there is EDSA itself.  When you have a major artery in a huge city that is already pretty much completely built up, you don’t have much option for widening the road.  But you can still make big time improvements, and I really should give credit where credit is due.traffic, grrrr..
Creative Commons License photo credit: Sir Mervs

The MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) has worked wonders with EDSA in the past 4 years.  First, they did away with all left runs … a major source of congestion.  They also barricaded the cross streets at all crossing points so that traffic wanting to cross EDSA has to turn right, make a U-turn onto EDSA the opposite direction and then turn right onto their original route.

Sounds like a big pain, and it does of course take time, but compared with the old way of being gridlocked at every cross street, this is really heaven … at virtually no cost.  Just some traffic signs and holes cut in the barriers at U-turn points.

Another major change has been effected with nothing more than paint.  The two lanes closest to the curb are set off with a yellow stripe.  Only vehicles with commercial (yellow) license plates are supposed to drive in those lanes.  The other (usually) three lanes have white strips for the rest of us.  Keeping the buses confined from their ld practice of clogging all five or six lanes, and then stopping anywhere to pick up a passenger has worked wonders.

The second “paint miracle” is a pink line on the sidewalk.  All squatters, sidewalk vendors and other hawkers are required behind the pick line, leaving the rest of the sidewalk free for the purpose it was built for … people walking.  May sound like a small thing, but if one lane or more of the street isn’t clogged by people forced across the curb by blocked sidewalks, it has the same effect as adding a lane, all for the cost of a bucket of paint.

Then of course, let’s not forget the trains.  The MRT light rail system which ran part of the length of EDSA is now connected directly with the LRT rail system which starts at the northern end of EDSA, Monumento .  So many buses, and taxis out of the way now that people can take fast, dirt-cheap, air conditioned, clean electric trains to get where they need to be.  And the part I like best?  The project is one hundred percent funded from existing line profits .. investing profit back into the infrastructure … no increase in expensive government loans and other debt instruments that come back to haunt our grandchildren.

And I can’t forget to mention the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway up north.  Smooth, cheap, American standard roads .. lopped an hour off my usual trip to Subic and north into Zambales.  This year construction starts on the extension of the next northern segment, slated to run from Tarlac to San Fernando la Union, a “”gateway” town for Baguio City.  That will easily lop an hour or more off a trip to Baguio.

And to get things wound up here, let’s not forget my favorite full-service bank, BDO.  I now can use a world-class online banking system to not only track my balances but schedule and pay my electric bill, Internet/phone bill, our BDO credit cards and more … works exactly like my online banking back in the States … sends me an email every time it pays a bill so I know the scheduled events are happening as planned.

Now I don’t need the services of my trusty PhilPost mailman to deliver bills … as he has, reliably, ever since I complained to the bank more than a year back.

So is it “all peaches and cream” living here?  Oh hell no!  But thinking why I was feeling ‘down” the other day made me take stock and I have to say, a huge number of things have shown big improvement in daily living here in just the past three years.

Each day may seem very much like the day before, but overall I see a lot of things changing here in the Philippines, definitely for the better.

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How Low Can You Go With Philippine Flights?

March 1, 2010 By Philly 8 Comments

I may not win a lot of friends with this post … because I perceive an awful lot of fellow Americans who get so angry at the thought of government regulation that they quite literally “throw out the baby with the bathwater”, but here’s a post from my blogging friend Don Brown that I recommend.

Do you ever wonder what the difference is between the airline business of today and the airline business back when Pan Am, Eastern, Southern, Republic and Western will all in business ? I mean, besides deregulation ?  I dare you to read this list, look at the dates and think.

Braniff International Airways (1928 – 1982)
Capitol Airways (1946 – 1982)
Eastern Air Lines (1926 – 1991)
Frontier Airlines (1950 – 1986)
National Airlines (1929 – 1980, to Pan American World Airways)
North Central Airlines (1939 – 1979, to Southern Airways)
Northwest Airlines (1927 – 2010, to Delta Air Lines)
Ozark Airlines (1943 – 1986, to Trans World Airlines)
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) (1945 – 1987, to USAir)
Pan American World Airways (1927 – 1991)
Piedmont Airlines (1940 – 1989, to USAir)
Reeve Aleutian Airways (1932 – 2001)
Southern Airways (1943 – 1979, to Republic Airlines)
Texas International Airlines (1944 – 1986, to Continental Airlines)
Trans World Airlines (1930 – 2001, to American Airlines)
Western Airlines (1925 – 1987, to Delta Air Lines)

Airlines that were in business for 30, 40, 50 years or more were ruined. The list tells more than that single story. Look at how many airlines started after deregulation and didn’t survive. Every single one of them took a little piece of a healthy airline with them. It is madness. Yet we continue.

Regulation wasn’t perfect. But at least people could make a living in the industry (my emphasis). And the industry could survive.  Full text of Don’s post illustrating how deregulation has killed America’s airline industry.

So what has this to do with living in the Philippines, or retiring in the Philippines, or working in the Philippines as a foreigner or a Filipino?

Exhaust
Creative Commons License photo credit: Ack OokA lot.  Because of its geographic location, the Philippines is unusually dependent upon air travel.  And the way the US is heading now )and how the US heads, so does the rest of the world), we are rapidly closing in on the apparent goal of only one airline, nationalized by the government as an “essential pubic service”, run by the lowest paid (and thus lowest common denominator management) equipped with the cheapest airplanes and manned by the most poorly paid (and thus also lowest common denominator pilots).

Think deregulation id the be all and end all of solving business issues?  read the list, and think also of my comments about the stifled murmur of the passing of the giant Northwest a few days ago, and then think again.

You want the US to be number one in the world?  Then let’s start by putting some number one corporate and government management back in place.

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There's Meat In Those Noodles

February 20, 2010 By Philly Leave a Comment

Regular readers might get the idea that I am pro-Chinese and anti-American when I point out things like the tremendous economic advantage we, the US, have given China by becoming their financial serfs for the next hundred years or so.

I am not pro-Chinese, but I feel I am reading the writing on the wall better than many are these days.

A few years ago I t a businessman who had spent a large percentage of his life developing a technologically advanced product … much of it with US government grant money … a product sorely needed by US railroads.

No one would buy.  My friend felt for a year or so that he had just wasted 20 years of education and then lab work, and doomed himself to economic failure.

Then, from out of the woodwork came a customer.  A cash customer.  A customer who wanted all the product he could produce for the next several decades at least.

Who, you might be asking?  Simple.  The national railroad agency of China.  In China, instead of “moaning” about global warming, and complaining about the price of oil, they are doing something … economic stimulus package ahead … building national infrastructure instead of national debt …

Maglev
Creative Commons License photo credit: zieak
China, the largest single aircraft market for both narrow and wide-body aircraft in the world, is laying more than 11,000 miles of high speed rail tracks nationwide and is cutting travel times between cities like Guangzhou and Changsha – 280nm apart – from 9 hours to 2 and a half hours. This is significantly undercutting China’s domestic airlines, with China Southern reportedly cutting fares to just $21 on the route.

“The high-speed train is invincible on this route,” said Tom Lin, 30, a civil servant in Guangzhou, who opted to travel by rail. “There’s no doubt it’s more convenient for trips to the cities along the line. Airlines can’t compete with trains for the spacious seats.” Read more on FlightBlogger

So what does this have to do with the Philippines and living there?  Maybe not much, but then again, maybe rather than looking for a job it would be smart to trade English online education with a Chinese willing to teach Mandarin?  Might as well prepare for the future, eh?

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Stranger In A Strange Land

February 15, 2010 By Philly 6 Comments

A few days ago a reader used this expression to describe how he thought he was going to feel when he came to the Philippines to live.

Probably an apt choice of words, but as some of you know, I am currently back in the USA and believe me, the expression sure explains how I feel, in more ways than one.

Stranger in a strange land is actually a quote from the Bible (Exodus 2.22 in the KJV)

” And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

or in some other translations,

“She gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom [Foreigner], because he said, “I was a foreigner living in another country.”

So in many ways, all of us expats are “strangers in a strange land”.

But the phrase gained it’s most popular cultural meaning from the title  of a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein.  It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians on the planet Mars, after his return to Earth in early adulthood.  The novel explores his interaction with–and the eventual transformation of–Earth culture.

Smith find himself completely at odds with most life on earth, even though he is the child of earth parents and an earth man in every sense of the word.  In my case I was born in the USA and lived there a large part of my life, but I find I am growing farther and farther away in thought and culture.

A few things that come to mind that just seemed so strange to me ….

Fright: The America I grew up in had just kicked Japan and Germany’s ass and walked tall.  I don’t know where that country went.  In my trip from the Philippines I went through seven complete shoes-off, TSA-compliant inspections … and i never left a ‘sterile’ airport environment from check-in at Manila to going to the baggage area at MCO.  Seven full inspections in one day.  Of course not one of those inspections would have detected the “underwear bomber’s” pants load, had I been carrying one like it … we’re too squeamish to properly check for weapons, but we default instead to repeating ineffective screening over and over again to make it appear we are doing something.  Sad.

The list goes on.  How many times in the past two weeks have I heard people rambling on about their worry about people placing unauthorized charges on the credit cards?  I mean, Jesus, people, if you are that scared of the damn things, why not get rid of them … I’ve been spending cash … you know that green stuff that you can get at banks … virtually exclusively on this trip, and there is no way you can convince me that credit cards are more of a convenience.  Every retail transaction is held up by people fumbling with credit cards or debit cards, even for the most inconsequential transactions.  The funny thing is, it’s riskier to carry cash around … I could lose my wallet, get mugged, etc., but with a credit card I’m protected, under law, to a maximum of $50 loss anywhere, any time … so why are Americans obsessed about these benign pieces of plastic.  There are certain things in life you can’t escape worrying about.  The death of a child, coming down with incurable cancer, buying counterfeit Super Bowl tickets … important life changing things … for the rest of life, why not just remove some of these obsessive worry items from your life?  Are we Americans addicted to worry, like smokers addicted to Nicotine?

Excess: I have heard from various news agencies, and other pundits who should know, that there is a national recession or business slow down in the US.  I wonder if by chance my airline flight somehow got routed to a parallel universe and I am in a USA in a different dimension.

Try to buy a computer at CompUSA (the chain that the news media told me last year was closing down, so why are there two CompUSA’s within 6 miles of each other here in Orlando?).  You can’t get a sales person … not because they are screwing off, but because they are all busy selling gigantic wall-size TV’s faster than they can get them delivered.  Recession?  People worried about jobs?

DSC0437
Creative Commons License photo credit: Mypoorbrain

Car sales?  Booming.  And boy do they boom too, still selling pickups an SUV’s with gigantic engines designed to keep us in the thrall of the Saudis for yet another generation.  You know, when my first son was born in 1973 I had continual worries about gas to get him around to doctors and hospital appointments and spent hours stuck in gas lines.   That was what, 37 years ago?  And we STILL haven’t learned?  Just how stupid are we?

My son came to spend part of the vacation with us and rented a car … nice little Toyota RAV (built in the USA and not subject to the recalls).  Among other gadgets  it came with was an overall fuel mileage read out, which was pretty much stuck ay 23.4.  Why so low?  Simple after we investigated a bit …the stupid little car was full time four wheel drive.  Full time four wheel drive to run the Interstates in Florida and bake in the sun at Disney World parking lots … is there anyone in the USA awake to what’s happening in the real world?

Overall: Well I still love my country, but I don’t like living in it.  I will say this.  When it comes to selection of things to buy, quality merchandise and really cheap prices (yes, even in the much maligned Wal*Mart) there is no place at all that can come close to the USA.  Those of you thinking about moving to the Philippines for a lower cost of living need to make very sure you are getting all the facts and figures, because the reason my wife and I are planning our next trip back to the USA, even before we are through with this one is, shopping and the plethora of choice and downright cheap prices “you all” enjoy beck in the “homeland”.  Nothing else like it on earth, believe me.  On Mars?  You’ll have to ask Valentine Michael Smith.

best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning[1] science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians on the planet Mars, after his return to Earth in early adulthood. The novel explores his interaction with–and the eventual transformation of–Earth culture.

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