I’ve been quiet for the past days but so many interesting things have happened. First of all, I FOUND BUBBLES! Just a few days ago MrC and I were web browsing together and we thought of searching in Facebook and there I found a name that sounds familiar, it was the name of her little brother. I fondly remember this little brother of her was in kindergarten when we were high school seniors and sometimes we would go and pick him up when going home. So, my husband dared me to send an email to him and finally we did. After less than 48 hours I got a reply back from him and he was indeed her little brother! He gave me her e-mail address. I sent her a short introductory email and after a day I got a short reply! She is in the Philippines, married with 2 kids and a business woman! That girl has eluded me for almost 20 years but anyways, with the way I lived my life the past few years it’s quite natural that I would lose touch with many of my friends but I think when I go back to the Philippines it would really be nice to reconnect with a lot of my old friends.
Next good news is that MrC and I are actually meeting people who might become key players in our business venture. He is now working closely with a fellow Dutch businessman who is doing the same kind of outsourcing business in Vietnam and has a colleague that works here as well. Their company has now provided one .Net web developer from Vietnam who will start ASAP on his current project. They are also very willing to assist us with any information we might need to setup our venture which is actually almost the same as what they are doing. Hopefully we could learn a lot from them! MrC is also constantly searching for people knowledgeable in mobile development in the Symbian platform as well. On the other hand, through this blog we were also fortunate to meet one highly talented individual who we hope to meet up with during our trip in August and see how it develop from there.
At work, it is becoming easier and easier for me to really leave without any feelings of guilt or whatsoever because I have made known to my boss and now to my colleagues what the trip in the Philippines means. It is not 100% sure but it surely is close to that. After our 3 week trip, and if all went well, I will resign from my job immediately. On the meantime, the HR has sent me a message that they are going to hire a full-time employee to assist me since the one we have now is a freelancer consultant who has no plans of being a corporate slave 
anyways they need us to provide them with a good job description for this new colleague. For me, I think this person is also my replacement as well so at least they won’t be in a risky situation when the freelancer’s contract ends or if I leave.
With regards to my residency status here, it is still unclear but it looks like I will end up being a tourist when my 5 year permit ends in 2 years. I need to pass inburgering (inbuggering) before that 5 year is up otherwise they will not renew my permit. This would mean that if I am really motivated enough to stay here I have to at least pass this state language exam and just thinking about this wants me pack my bags now and leave for the States. Anyways, I asked MrC again, he knows this but I constantly ask him anyways, I constantly wanted confirmation that we would go the U.S. if Philippines is no longer a choice. In a heartbeat I will apply for his visa to the US and that should only take less than 9 months if we applied from the consulate here in the Netherlands.
You know, I truly appreciate the Netherlands and what it has done for me personally and the experience of meeting wonderful and interesting people here is priceless. However, when the inburgering and the “meedoen” pressure they put upon immigrants like me who are hardworking and contribute to Dutch society is pretty much an insult and to me I’m heartbroken from it because I’ve seen several good relationships fall apart from it and foreign partners live in depression in such a country that talks of itself as tolerant, fair and most of all a welfare state(!). But times are changing and so my husband and I are preparing ourselves to go if our dreams cannot be realized in such a place.
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1 response so far ↓
1 Cecilia // Jun 9, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Interesting…oh, the power of the internet. It would be fun to find friends again.
When I first went back to the Philippines after almost 20 years, I found 5 of my friends at work and we always meet up at my place for the last 4 summers that I’m there. Except for the masked grey hair, most things are the same.
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