Buhay Sosy sa U.S.

TV Shows We Love

2010-08-03T00:31:00.000-04:00

The summer has seen the comeback of several well-loved shows just as we waved goodbye to some TV shows that wrapped up in the spring. Some of the shows we will miss are Ugly Betty--although it was admittedly getting a bit common. I mean, how far can you really take a show where the lead character deliberately is fashion-challenged even if she is intelligent, smart, and very capable? We loved Ugly Betty, and I was glad when they finally made her be more real--took out the braces, fixed the hair, toned down the outlandish clothes. But we agree, you can only take the story too far, and I guess the viewing audience realized that when they stopped watching, so the network had to end it.

Another show we will miss is FlashForward, ironically one of the best sci-fi shows I've seen and owned by ABC (who also own Ugly Betty) . The least they could do was wrap it up well with no cliffhangers! At least they had more sense than to do the same thing to Lost. Now that was a good one! We surely will miss that one. Unfortunately, why would ABC renew V? It's a rehash of the old TV series with the same anti-alien theme. That should've been canned. There are other sci-fi or alien shows far better than that one.

This brings me to the spring-ended season 2 of Fringe (Fox) who probably stole Heroes' (NBC) audience. These two shows have some of the most conspiracy-minded, avant garde, scientific what ifs that I've ever watched. Although Heroes borrowed heavily from CBS' old The 4400 series, when Fringe entered the scene with a different take on the same themes originally seen in The 4400, it sounded the death knell for Heroes. No wonder Heroes died an untimely death.

Eureka makes a good comeback, adding several new faces to their regular lineup this season. One of them is James Callis from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, who also had a guest appearance in FlashForward I might add. The pilot surprised us with the travel back and forward in time story line that is sure to go on until this season's end. Talk about re-inventing another quirky sci-fi show from the SyFy network! I've already blocked my Friday nights because of this interesting new twist to Eureka.

Then there are those regular cop and detective/special agent shows we've grown to love that have just started their new seasons this summer: Burn Notice (now on in its 4th year), White Collar (2nd season), and Psych (all 3 by USA network). A new series, The Good Guys (Fox) bears watching if only to be able to see whether it's good or bad. I still haven't made up my mind yet.

Finally, what is TV without the ubiquitous supernatural new series for the vampire-loving audience who can't get enough of the Twilight movie series and canceled shows like Moonlight and Forever Knight, and True Blood? Well, The Gates opened in early summer, and I hear some people love it. It's kind of a Desperate Housewives/Falcon Crest/Knot's Landing neighborhood, except that the residents are vampires, witches, werewolves, etc. who would do anything to keep their piece of suburbia safe.

Well, these are some of the TV shows we're watching for the summer right now while we wait for our regular series to come back in the fall (think, Grey's Anatomy, Bones). In the meantime, I think everyone has something they would love to watch with this variegated eclectic lineup.

Images:
Eureka photo was in the wallpaper gallery of syfy.com.
Psych photo is courtesy of thebluesite.com.

Immigration Help

2010-07-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I wrote about anything relevant or connected with immigration. That's because nothing new has come upon my horizon that would improve the state of immigration, which is to say, it remains the same as 3 or 4 years ago when I first blogged about it. With Pres. Barack Obama in the White House, however, the US nation has decidedly taken a more astute stance toward immigration. Maybe I should change that to the Democrats in the US are decidedly more practical about immigration. None of that hate-mongering and racism so obvious among the Republican candidates during the presidential elections, which contributed to Pres. Obama's win. Now aside from a few states that are decidedly discriminatory against immigrants (legal or illegal), some states and politicians are actually lobbying for fairer laws for those who are in the US legally.

One of these people who advocates for legal immigrants and helps them is Democrat Congressman Scott Murphy, representing New York's 20th district. Now mind you, I'm not a political follower, never even followed politicians back in the Phils. except to choose who to vote for. I found out about Mr. Murphy from 2 friends, one Russian, another one a Pinoy, whom Mr. Murphy's office helped.

The case of the Russian family was nothing short of awesome. They had been here longer than 10 years on the father's working visa. Their only child at the time was in elementary when they first came. By the time Mr. Murphy's office intervened on their behalf, that child was already a senior in high school and had a younger sister born in the US. Someone also told them how Mr. Murphy's office helped them, and so they took the plunge. They contacted the Saratoga offices of Congressman Murphy, got connected with one of his aides, provided all the necessary information and legal paperwork they have thus far and that their lawyer was able to accomplish for them, and in 10 days, all the H visa holders got their green cards.

Before you start thinking Mr. Murphy's office is the magic immigration office, let me just put some things in perspective: Congressman Murphy represents the 20th district of New York state and can only help constituents in that district. These people I'm talking about live in the counties of that district. Additionally, Russian immigrants don't have a long waiting list. Their priority dates are always current.

Now if you're Filipino, even if Mr. Murphy's office can help you, the most they will be able to do is make sure--through their efforts and connections and intervention at your local NY INS/DHS office--that your paper gets queued so that as soon as your priority date comes up and green card numbers are available, your papers are there, ready to be issued a green card.That's because Filipino immigrants applying for green cards are one of the longest queues, 5th after China, Dominican Republic, India, and Mexico. (You can check out priority dates at the INS' visa bulletin website which is updated every month.) Mr. Murphy's office does not issue green card numbers, they don't make an exception so that you get a green card sooner than everybody else. They just facilitate the process so that your papers receive action promptly.

That was the case with the Filipino friend I met who was also told by someone else about Congressman Murphy. The rest of her family had gotten their green cards except her. When their lawyer inquired at the local INS office, they were told her papers "got lost". On the advice of a friend, she looked up Mr. Murphy's website and found the application they need you to fill out if you want help with immigration. They asked for the legal notices from the INS she had, including the Alien Certificate no., EAD, etc. They got a response on the same day, and was reassured they will look into it.

I was told that in one week, my Pinoy friend was contacted by the INS for an interview date with an immigration officer. Her papers miraculously were "found". Although she is still waiting for her green card, the interview with the immigration officer went well. However, they couldn't tell her why her papers got "lost" in the first place. All they know is that someone asked about it and that's how she was called. My friend thinks it was the staff at Congressman Murphy's office who "put the tracer" on her papers as Mr. Murphy's staff always updated her on the status of their efforts. Before she got the phone call from the INS, Mr. Murphy's staff had contacted her to tell her what they had done so far.

So if you're living in one of the counties of the 20th district of New York state, why not contact Congressman Murphy's office and ask if they can help you? Remember, if you're here illegally, no matter what strings you pull, you won't get help--which, I think, is just fair. The service is free. Neither of the people I know above were charged a fee.

However, if I know us Pinoys, it is our sense of utang ng loob (debt of gratitude) that will push us to do something about this. You can donate to help Mr. Murphy get re-elected and help him help more of our kababayans. Halos maiyak ako nung malaman ko na meron palang politician na handang tumulong sa atin, especially since some politicians are decidedly racist against any immigrant, whether they're legal or not. The last presidential elections has shown that to us. It helps if people like Congressman Scott Murphy is on your side. People like him realize the contribution immigrants make to the US in the work force, in society, the economy, etc. Although both legal and illegal immigrants do make a huge impact to the whole country, it helps to know that those of us who are here legally can have recourse and have our immigration concerns acted upon.

If I were you and you're reading this blog, I suggest you look up the politicians in your state and find out who is like Congressman Scott Murphy--i.e., someone ready to help legal immigrants with concerns even their lawyers can't help them with. If you were helped by Mr. Murphy or someone like him, please make sure you donate to their campaigns if they're up for re-election. After the last presidential election and the anti-immigration sentiment in most states, we need all the help we can get.

Photo of Congressman Scott Murphy courtesy of http://www.moboysstate.org/mbsinaction/archives/2009/speakers/index.asp

Harry Potter's Saga

2009-07-27T15:50:00.009-04:00

Two weeks ago we joined thousands of Harry Potter fans in watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Though we took advantage of Fandango's online purchase and print tickets, we should still have been prepared for the line at the theater. By far, however, I loved this movie more than any of the other Harry Potter movies. I just have 2 reasons why:

1. It's probably the only one out of the 6 so far that stayed true to most of the events in the book. The other movies in the series more than had their fair share of additions in scenes or dialogue that weren't in the book, or deleted characters that were in the book, or hinted at things that weren't in the book (i.e., a possible romance between Hermione and Harry in HP.1 and HP.2, and Cho Chang being Harry's possibly undying love forever in HP.2). JK Rowling did such a good job of keeping the remaining unwritten books a secret while the first 2 or 3 movies were playing so that Harry Potter 6 had to make up for these mistakes by showing a hint of things to come that were in the last book and, hopefully, will be in the last 2 movies of the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Although a lot of events were cut that most fans believe should have been in the movie (i.e., the intrusion of the Deatheaters into the muggle world, the "partnership" of the British Prime Minister with the Minister of Magic), plus there was the addition of that scene in the beginning with Luna and in the end with Snape, the more important scenes that move the story along from book 6 to 7 were retained. Therefore, you will see several scenes of Harry and the pensieve, crucial scenes of Tom Riddle, and the quest for the third Horcrux that is the true focus of the book.

2. More mature characters with better, subtler and more natural acting. The kids in HP.6 have finally grown into young adults. Their characters show their maturity, and even the way they act now reflect their "seasoned-ness" and years of acting experience--even if most of that acting was honed in the different Harry Potter movies. I particularly like the way they developed the character of Ginny Weasley into that of a firm, resolute, strong young woman.

So if you're a Harry Potter fan, don't fail to watch this sequel. If you're not satisfied with it, there's supposed to be 2 movies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so that should more than make up for the lack of all the earlier movies and tie up all the loose ends in those movies as well.

Photo courtesy of impawards.com.

Witch Mountain: The Mystery Continues

2009-03-19T20:49:00.022-04:00

When my parents took my brother, sister and I to see Return from Witch Mountain, I was fascinated with what was then the height of special effects in movies. I wasn't even 10 at the time, and I didn't even know there was a prequel, Escape to Witch Mountain. I'm not even sure if that first movie even made it to the Philippines. Or maybe my siblings and I were too young at the time to watch the first movie. This is why I was eager to bring my own family to what I thought was a remake, Race to Witch Mountain.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the movie exceeding our expectations. Movie special effects are so much more advanced today than they were 30 years ago (has it really been that long?), and Disney used quite a bit of them to their advantage. As usual, the story revolves around 2 kids who need to get to Witch Mountain where their spaceship is hidden so they can get back home. Alexander Ludwig (known to us as Will Stanton in the movie version of The Seeker) plays Seth, and AnnaSophia Robb plays his sister, Sara. Ludwig does a great job of being the intense and serious Seth throughout the movie, befitting his special powers and abilities, which is changing his body's molecular structure to either be as hard as steel or as fluid as gas atoms flowing through solid objects. Sara (Robb) is the telekinetic one, able to move things with her mind.

The movie also stars Ciaran Hinds, one of my favorite actors because he plays both villain and protagonist very convincingly. As Henry Burke, he heads the DOD's advance guard meeting extraterrestrials. (I hope the US government has a better way of welcoming aliens--if they indeed exist--than experimenting with them or killing them.) Dwayne Johnson, another favorite actor, stars as Jack Bruno, the unfortunate cab driver whose taxi was the one the kids chose to take them to Witch Mountain. And so the chase is on. As in the older versions, it is always a couple helping these kids, not just one man. Enter Carla Gugino (Silk Spectre in The Watchmen) who plays Dr. Alex Friedman, an astrophysicist ostracized by the scientific community because of her belief in aliens. Together, she and Jack escort the kids and try to protect them (or is it the other way around?) as they race to Witch Mountain before the government could completely destroy their spaceship and their chances of going home.

Unlike the older movies, Race to Witch Mountain is fast-paced, never dragging. You sort of hold your breath and never get to release it until the very end when you're sure the kids have accomplished the mission they were sent to earth for and are safely in their ship en route to where they came from. A nice touch that I absolutely loved was the homage Disney paid to Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann (now known as Iake Eissinmann) who appeared as Tina and Antony. Tina is a waitress in a diner in Stony Creek, whose sheriff is Sheriff Antony. Stony Creek is a small town where Jack and the kids stop over to eat and have their cab repaired.

All in all, I wasn't disappointed in Race to Witch Mountain. To all my Pinoy friends out there who remember watching this in their early childhood, the movie is still showing in several theaters. In fact, I believe there are quite a huge group of people out there who took their families to watch the movie during premiere weekend (like we did), because they remember the Tia and Tony from the older Witch Mountain movies. The movie had already grossed $25 million by Monday, March 15, three days after its premiere, $$7 million more than The Watchmen had earned in a week. So if you haven't watched it yet and you remember those paranormal abilities/special effects that looked cool in 1978, then you better watch Race to Witch Mountain and see how they made it even better!

Pictures courtesy of IGN.com.

Sosy Christmas Gifts for the Budget Conscious

2008-12-16T09:47:00.008-05:00

Sosy gifts don't have to be expensive to look sosy. Just like with clothes, nasa pagdadala yan. Some of the gifts from the online places I wrote about yesterday can actually be made by you at home if you got the time, patience, and inclination to do so. Here's where you can buy some of your materials:

A.C. Moore and Michaels are 2 of my favorite arts & crafts stores. They have everything from plastic flowers, yarn, architect and artist supplies, stenciling tools and supplies, vases you can decorate, jewelry-making materials, and plain shirts you can do iron-ons and decorate yourself. I was actually able to make some candle holders similar to an Illuminations jar, but using ivy-lipped bowls about 6" in height sprayed with translucent paint, gold leaves strategically stenciled around it, and spray-painted with transparent lacquer/varnish so the leaves won't fall off or peel. The bowls cost less than $1; each sheet of gold leaves less $4.99 but was able to go on 4 bowls, and the spray paints about $7 (I only used up slightly more than 2 each of the paint and varnish, because I had a can left of the 3 each that I bought). I was able to make 10 jars for less than the price it would have cost me to buy 10 medium jars from Illuminations. All it takes is creativeness and ingenuity. You can also make decorative wreaths, faux floral arrangements and potted plants reminiscent of Petals.com. There are lots of books in your local library that shows you how to make floral arrangements, wreaths, etc. If you know how to knit or crochet, a warm throw, scarf, or hat will be a coveted gifts. These craft stores have books, free designs, and the tools to make all these possible.

Joann's is also an fabric and craft store. If you love to sew like me, you can buy fabric for clothes and home furnishings here. Suggestions for Christmas gifts would be fleece blankets, scarves, or sew and give a quilt. Joann's has patterns for curtains, seat covers, couch covers, and lovely fabrics to make them from including upholstering your sofas and couches. You can make a table runner as a hostess gift, or if you're adventurous, a tablecloth or sunny kitchen curtains.

Baked cookies never go out of style during Christmas. If you scour your supermarket's freezer (in our place it's the dairy freezers), you can find cookie blanks or cookie dough that you can just slice, spread on a cookie sheet, then bake. If you place them in some festive tissue inside little gift tins from any of the stores above and below, you've just made yourself a gift you can give to neighbors or to your hostess at Noche Buena.

Target. I go to Target for sosy-looking gifts that do not cost as much if I bought them at Macy's or even JC Penney. They have everything from electronics and electronic games, toys, to clothes and shoes. Their clothes, bags, and shoes for working people are priced slightly higher than Wal-mart, usually by a few cents, but I have to admit that they last longer, look better (especially if you just started working and need to build a wardrobe from scratch). For brands that are everywhere like Levi's or Hanes, the quality goes with the name no matter where you buy it. I'm talking about clothes and shoes that each store carries as the exclusive seller for a particular designer. In Target's case, one of them would be Isaac Mizrahi. I have bought ladies' tops, bags, and kids' clothes to give for Christmas at Target just because they sell items that look and feel classy, yuppie-sh, and sosy like expensive designer brands, for less than the price you pay for the latter.

Wal-mart sells practically everything for less, including food (at their superstores). If they hadn't downsized their crafts department, I would have suggested going there if you have a yen for hand-made gift-giving like I do. Their clothes and shoes are very practical, and their toy department in some branches comes close to Toys R Us in the range of products they offer. Compared to the other stores above, you can buy anything for anyone at Wal-mart and its budget/discount warehouse store, Sam's Club.

I probably haven't covered everything that is to cover about gift-giving in terms of selections and places to buy. I'm sure you have your own places to go to that give you good deals and discounts. I believe that any recipient of Christmas gifts should be grateful that he/she got gifts, even if they don't look sosy or expensive, because millions out there don't get gifts at all, whether Christmas or birthday gifts. So count yourself lucky if you are able to give gifts and infinitely blessed if you are receive and are able to give gifts in return.

Sosy Online Christmas Gifts

2008-12-14T21:34:00.014-05:00

Christmas is just 2 weeks away, and some of us may not have finished our Christmas shopping yet. I don't know about you, but gaya sa Pinas, binibigyan ko pa rin ng mga maliliit na what we call knickknacks ang mga taong gusto kong ipakita na naalala ko sila ngayong Pasko. Bangkero ako noon sa Pinas, and when Christmastime came around, my boss would give me a list of Central Bank officers (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP), insurance execs, A-list clients, and other people our department wanted to give special gifts to, not necessarily the company gifts with the company logo, but also special bottles of wine, food baskets, etc. When I became the boss, it became my turn to remember my staff and those same people we do business with or risk losing accounts, valuable contacts, and a good network. My Accounting professor here in the US actually said that this Pinoy tradition of giving gifts was bribery. That was when I was less than a year here. Now I wonder if he even works in a firm that knows about Christmas at all because I've found that other places, in the medical business anyway, do the same thing we do back home. Med reps always give us gifts and drug lunches year-round, and they get particularly extravagant during Christmas. Some patients also give us gifts, and other doctors' offices also send us presents for referring patients to them, and I have yet to hear someone tell any of these people, offices, and companies that what they're doing is bribery. (I guess that Accounting professor of mine never got anything for Christmas if that is what he thought of client gift-giving.) So here's a list of some of the online places I've bought from that were classy not tacky. A few of them are expensive, but most are well within an average Pinoy immigrant's budget. (If you still want to save further, read the next topic after/above this.)

Petals.com To get it over and done with, I'm starting with the most expensive. I heard about Petals.com from one of my Pinoy friends who married a relatively well-off senior gentleman. I admired one of the vases of flowers she had on display and she told me almost all her faux flower displays were from Petals.com. The silk flowers and potted plants they sell are so realistic and crafted with a fine attention to detail you can only find in nature. You can buy centerpieces for your dining table or mantel, floral accents for side tables for your home. My friend mixes hers with real plants, which are placed in areas of the house where the sun hits them. The thing with faux plants is that you have to be diligent at dusting them or else they can get grimy pretty quick and give away the fact they're not real. On the other hand, if you don't take good care of your real plants, you can get plant bugs and other plant diseases that you wouldn't want to have inside the house. If you have someone that you may want to impress for whatever reason, this is one of those places you can shop. Their flowers will look good wherever you put them, at home or in the office.

Cookies by Design. I found out about them on some sort of mall fair for kids where there were these different tables from different stores/companies selling kids' stuff. Cookies by Design were selling shortbread cookie teddy bears that were undecorated, and they would show kids how to decorate them. At their table, they had a finished basket of cookies that they call a cookie bouquet. Their bouquets are excellent as corporate gifts and for special people you'd like to show special appreciation for or who are in the hospital or who just had a baby, you name it and they have something appropriate for that occasion. My husband gave me a cookie bouquet for my birthday, and it was one of those gifts that made me cry, simply because I could eat my gift and not just put it in water and leave on the china cabinet until they died. Hey, I'm still practical, and gifts of food are way up there on my gifts-I-like-to-receive list because then I could also share the pleasure to my kids. Cookies by Design personally delivers your gift on the same day just like flower shops do, and I believe they are available practically anywhere in the US. They seldom have sales, but once you order from the branch closest to you, you get on their mailing list, and they mail you special offers, promos, and discounts. If you also visit their store, you can find free cookie samples and buy cookies by the piece. Besides the decorated cookies, they have gourmet cookies by the box that are sinfully yummy and delicious!

Illuminations. For me, this is the best candle shop I've found. They are not lying when they say their candles burn clean and are fragrant down to the last drop of wax. They have all kinds of candle accessories, decor, and furniture that will look good in any home or office. What's more, their candles range in price from below $10 to more than $100, and they often have sales and discounts for when you buy in bulk. If you're pressed for time and need simple yet classy-looking, sosy gifts, this will be the place for you. Scented candles are big gifts around here, especially during the cold months when windows are seldom open long enough to get rid of any bad smells in the house. Fragrant candles ensure any room smells wonderful instead of just-cooked tuyo (dried fish) or paksiw (fish soup cooked in vinegar, tomatoes, and tamarind). If you have co-workers or neighbors or your children's teachers you'd like to remember, this is a good place to shop.

Liberty Orchards. I first learned about this when my mom and dad got home from their first tour of the US when I was a kid. They brought back boxes of these fruit and nut candies that we kids devoured. I don't think they lasted a week! I forgot the name of these candies because it was such a long time ago, but I remembered the little card they have inside each box that told a brief story of how they started their business. On one trip to CVS Pharmacy here, I saw sampler boxes of Liberty Orchards candies for sale and bought a couple. When I opened the first box, I absolutely squealed because there inside was the card I had remembered from about 30+ years ago. I ordered a catalog and visited their website, and from then on, every Christmas, we ordered from them. Their flagship products are Aplets and Cotlets. Like Illuminations, Liberty Orchards also have sales, promos, and discounts. For the Christmas season, they always have the free unlimited gift wrap option that you don't pay for, and as the day gets closer, they will even upgrade your shipping for free. They have lots of candies to choose from, and they have a bakeshop section that includes Eastern goodies like paklava, kourabia, and locoum.

Lands' End is my favorite practical clothing store even when I lived in the Philippines. That's because their clothes and shoes are soooo durable they last through many washings. And you know how some labanderas at home can wash: some of them will wring and twist and scrub your clothes like crazy to get dirt and stains out, that your clothes will actually be safer in a washing machine than in their hands. This is not to malign or put our labanderas down, but it is just a fact that there are some who are truly energetic and love their work and will love your clothes to pieces, too, unless you handwash them yourself. That's why I love Lands' End. Kahit sinong labandera ang humawak sa mga damit kong galing Lands' End, di siya sirain agad and lasts several years. No wonder when I first arrived here and had to buy winter clothes, I chose Lands' End. My kids practically grew up on some of their stuff, especially their winter wear. Now if you're practical like most Pinoys are, you'd want to give gifts of clothes to the children of your friends, clothes that will last for years so that your friends can pass them on to the other kids in their family or to other friends' kids. That's what I do with some of my kids' clothes. Dahil ang mamahal ng mga damit ng bata dito, almost as much as adults' clothes, we pass them on to the parent with the child whose size is closest to the clothes we're giving away. Those that I send back to the Phils. still look good that my family there can't believe that my rowdy, rambunctious kids have actually worn them. So if you're also thinking of gifts to give your inaanak (godchildren), I suggest Lands' End. They often have sales and a section called Overstocks and NQP (Not Quite Perfect) where prices are low because they are discontinued and did not pass their quality test, respectively. But just because they're NQP doesn't mean the quality sucks. No way! As a matter of fact, I have bought NQP items that arrive looking as good as their regular stuff that I try to look for damage or whatever it is that made them classify the items NQP in the first place. They also have a section called On the Counter where items are put on sale beginning on Saturday and successively discounted lower and lower until Friday of that week, then on the next Saturday, new items are put up for sale. Usually, the best deals and items are gone by Tuesday, if you're lucky. If you prefer to check actual Lands' End merchandise first before ordering online, their merchandise are now available at all Sears department stores nationwide as a result of their recent merger about 3-5 years ago.

Besides the above, I also frequent the online sites of department stores like Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, and Bloomingdales for gifts and promos they may have available online only and for items that their brick-and-mortar counterparts are out of stock of. I usually go to these sites only when I have found a particular item or items that are exclusive to them. And when I say exclusive, I mean that even if you go to the maker's website (which is what I usually do to save money), they will not have it because they only make it for that one particular store. Otherwise, it makes no sense to order from them online when you could go to the store and just get it there.

Well, I guess this is it. By no means is this my complete list of places to buy gifts, because I usually tailor my gifts to the recipient's personality or how much I know him. So read my other articles on Christmas gifts in the next few days, and you'll find out more.

The Days After the Ice Storm

2008-12-14T19:04:00.015-05:00

Thursday night's winter ice storm was the worst one I've ever seen. We've had our share of sleet, but the one on the night of Dec. 11 into the early morning hours of Dec. 12 brought so much ice that the branches of trees fell from the weight of the ice on them and power lines were downed in practically the whole of New York's Capital Regino and other parts of upstate NY.

Our power was cut off around midnight but came back on, then was gone completely by 3 a.m. Dec. 12 and didn't come back on until 6:30 p.m. on Dec.13. Some areas and communities still don't have power as I write this. The mayor of Troy, Harry Tutunjian, declared areas of Troy in a state of emergency by Friday morning. Two shelters were set up, one in the Hudson Valley and the other just a mile up the road from our place by the old town hall. Schools were closed. We never expected power to be gone, not when it was 16-20 degrees F. outside (freezing point is 32 degrees F). And if that were not enough, it snowed from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at our place on Friday.

At times like these, you never realize how blessed you are with creature comforts we take for granted like 24-hour electricity and a power company (National Grid) that are usually able to get power back on in less than an hour under normal circumstances. You never realize how cold it is and how it must be for hobos (homeless bodies for Pinoys who may not know). Although hobos sleeping outside are illegal here and should be inside rescue missions or shelters by a certain hour at nightfall, sometimes policemen are not able to see all of them and they are still living, sleeping, and eating out there in the cold.

On top of all these, I used to gripe to my husband about having an apartment on the ground floor because we didn't have a balcony. Each time an apartment on the third floor opened up, we would go through a discussion/argument/fight about moving up there. But because I was usually the one left at home, I knew I would be the one to do the bulk of the moving if ever. So we never really moved, and we finally decided the only time we would move is when we finally bought a house. I was never so thankful for having an apartment on the ground floor than the past 2 days when we didn't have electricity. That's because we had water while the apartments on the second and third floors didn't have any. We were all able to take regular tabo-and-pail hot baths (as we call it back home) instead of our regular showers. Our Pinoy neighbor above us was even able to take a hot tub bath in the early morning before the water in their tank became too cold for them to do it, and since their pump didn't work to get more water up, their water finally trickled out. I was so thankful that we still had water throughout the 2 days we didn't have power, even though it got too cold to take a bath with by Saturday morning. At least we were still able to wash dishes!

My point here is, a lot of people in the world, including several million in the Philippines take tabot-and-pail baths everyday with cold (sometimes freezing cold) water, if they're lucky at all to have running water. Even more people don't have electricity at all and live at night by candlelight or warm themselves by any type of fire they can muster. Sometimes we never realize that until something like this hits us. And then we realize how we don't even remember our kababayans at home who may need these basic necessities.

My family and I prayed for all the people all over the area who were suffering as a result of the power outage. We thanked God that so far, no accidents have happened around intersections and dead stoplights, where every car driver in the past 2 days have stopped in turn to let the other driver through. (As of today, 2 deaths were reported because of carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from the storm.) We thanked God that even though we didn't have heat, we had the assurance that it would soon come back, and so we also prayed for those who never have heat at all. We thanked God that we had water and prayed for those who didn't throughout the year and died as a result. We thanked God for the personnel at National Grid who labored around the clock to bring back power slowly throughout the region, and the people who volunteered at the rescue missions and shelters to serve those who came to stay there.

So why not give others a merry Christmas and the reason why we celebrate the season by looking around your area and finding out how you can help the less fortunate? While you're at it, remember our kababayans at home who also do not enjoy the necessities of life that we have by giving to ANGCOP? (See my topic on Non-Profit/Charitable Organizations You Can Support.)

Non-Profit/Charitable Organizations You Can Support

2008-11-29T16:52:00.020-05:00

After reading my blog on Pinoy Charity Burnout?, those of you who don't have familial obligations back home but would like to help others, here's a list of my favorite charities. You don't have to give to them all the time, and you don't have to give as much as you send to your families back home. Sometimes just $5 will do. I have to warn you, though, if you start donating to these organizations, you will soon be inundated with junk mail. So if you want to avoid that, make sure you opt out of that by checking the appropriate boxes. So here's my list:

1. ANCOP Foundation USA is the US arm of Gawad Kalinga. The acronym itself stands for Answering the Cry of the Poor. (The word in Tagalog, angkop, means fit or proper.) Basically, they solicit donations and support from mostly Filipino expats and OCWs living in the US. These are then channeled to Gawad Kalinga (literally, "bestow care" or "give help") in the Philippines. Gawad Kalinga builds houses for the poor, rebuilds villages and towns devastated by typhoons, gives free vaccinations to school-age children, finances sports and art classes for designated public schools, and even provides scholarships to deserving students who may not otherwise be able to go to school or college. To help Gawad Kalinga when you live here, you go through ANCOP. ANCOP has links and articles on their website about what they do, how they are set up (i.e., your donation is actually tax deductible), and how to be a partner if you want to keep helping them consistently. You can send your donations to them by mail or do it online.

2. Fuller Center for Housing. I would have directed you to Habitat for Humanity if the founders weren't ousted by the money- and power-hungry execs at Habitat for Humanity. (Nevertheless, just to be fair, the link here to Habitat is active.) Habitat for Humanity was founded by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda. Under his leadership, Habitat for Humanity built several houses in poor communities in the Philippines, and that's why I liked them. However, when Fuller refused to give pay raises to the other executives in Habitat, they voted him out of the company. So now I have doubts as to where my donation to Habitat will go, especially since a bigger percentage of it will surely go to those execs who wanted the pay raise in the first place. (So much for being a charitable organization.) That's why I followed Fuller and direct you to his new website as well. You can donate online using Google checkout.

3. Compassion in Action is a nonprofit organization supporting the medical work of one doctor, Dr. Bob Paeglow, my former boss, for whom I worked as a volunteer for 3 years (while waiting for my EAD/green card) at Koinonia Health Care. He provides truly free medical care (which is practically nonexistent in the US) to the Arbor Hill area in Albany. I'm sure there are other people like him in your area you can donate to. I only mention him because he awakened civic responsibility within me and the realization na kahit sa US ay maraming mahihirap.

4. Your local Rescue Mission. I can't give you a link here because rescue missions are all over the US. There should be one near where you live, and you can google their website or donate to them directly, if they haven't asked you for donations yet. I got connected to our local Rescue Mission through Dr. Bob Paeglow (see above). The rescue missions take in homeless people off the streets, operate soup kitchens, and even direct people who need help to the right government or nonprofit organization to go to if they have specific needs.

5. St. Jude's Children's Hospital is one of the more profitable, high-profile nonprofits out there. Donations you give fund cancer research, especially cancers that afflict children and cancer cures specifically tailored for children. I have children, and children are gifts from God. I feel helpless sometimes when my kids are sick, hoping I could ease the pain and suffer with them. That's why I give to St. Jude's.

6. Your own church, community, and library. Close to home, there's your local church and/or community center and library. Gaya ng sabi ng ating mga pari sa Pinas, "Charity begins at home" and "To give is to receive." What better way to donate than to give back to your local church, community, and library who serve you? The church takes care of your spiritual life and spiritual health, the library has lots of cool neat programs for kids and seniors, and your community center will have childcare options, summer camps, and rides for the disabled and seniors.

7. Unless I'm mistaken, Samaritan's Purse is founded by one of Billy Graham's sons, Franklin. It is an international aid and relief organization famous for the Christmas shoeboxes they send to poor children all over the world called Operation Christmas Child. I got connected to OCC through our church who buys several boxes each year to fill up with little items. The boxes can be gotten from your local radio stations and dropped off by the deadline at the same place. Besides the items in the shoebox, you have to put in a check made out to Samaritan's Purse to cover the shipping of that box (anywhere from $5 to $7 per box).

8. Finally, there's also something to satisfy those of you who are environmentally conscious: World Wildlife Fund. The reason I like it is because it's truly international, almost like the Red Cross. They have a Phil. office and is known locally as Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas. The WWF works to help save the planet for future generations by helping to conserve plant and animal wildlife, the climate, environment, etc. I first got connected with the WWF in the US through my daughter who once asked for a subscription to Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard, which are publications of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). I don't know if they are related, but we got a mailing from WWF, and from then on, my daughter was hooked: they give stuffed toys of the endangered animal you want to support if you donate $50. You can donate lower than that, but to get the animal, you have to give $50. This is probably my most expensive donation to a single organization, so I only do it once a year, usually around Christmas. Despite the cost, I keep doing it because it's a good way to teach giving and charity to my kids. An expensive lesson, yes, but nevertheless a good way to show that giving doesn't hurt, it could actually be fun.

So there you have it, my favorite charities. If I was a millionaire, I might have a longer list. But for now, this is the best I can do. You might have your favorite charities, too, and I hope you don't forget or give up on them. It feels good inside to be able to give and help others and make a very tiny, small difference in this world. It doesn't even hurt because here in the US, you actually get a tax deduction if you donate. If that's not enough incentive, then I don't know what else is.

Pinoy Charity Burnout?

2008-11-29T14:13:00.022-05:00

Recently at a Pinoy kid's birthday party, I choked on the bilo-bilo in my ginataan when someone in the group said, "Di na kami nagpapadala sa Pilipinas."

"Ha?" I croaked, after some coughing cleared up my throat enough for me to respond.

"Oo, at matagal na rin kaming di nagpapadala ng balikbayan box sa Pinas."

"Bakit naman?" someone else asked this time. And so began a discussion that I thought would never happen within Filipino circles. Do Filipinos ever stop giving to their families in the Phils.? Is there a threshold when OCWs feel like their obligation to give has been fulfilled and they can finally stop supporting their loved ones back home?

Most Filipinos are motivated to work hard so their kids can go to better schools/colleges, graduate with a degree, and have a better life than their parents before them. This is the carrot most Pinoy OCWs have dangling before their eyes when they seek employment overseas. Attached to the carrot is usually a very long string tied to family and relatives in our traditional obligasyones at responsibilidad sa pamilya thing.

So it's no wonder that when we get here in the US, most of us send home anywhere from $200-$500 a month to our families. This is true for anyone, single or married and with a family. On top of supporting our own immediate families here, we also support extended families and relatives back home. Then when November rolls around, we contact our Pinoy friends here who work for balikbayan box companies back home so we can send a huge box of goodies.

Even if you don't have a family to support back home (like we do), the traditional Christmas balikbayan box is still something every Pinoy looks forward to filling up and sending back home. What usually goes in are: chocolates and what we call PX-type food (named after those shops in Greenhills that used to be the only ones to sell imported food) like corned beef, fruit cocktail, other canned goods, all sorts of chips, bake mixes, etc.; clothes, especially clothes that our kids here have outgrown (nope, we don't always send brand new clothes because they're still more expensive compared to those back home); towels (because they're thicker); bedsheets (because they last longer through many washings); toys; books; and others that you can fit in it without destroying the box. Every Pinoy family I know back home who has relatives abroad always look forward to the Christmas balikbayan box. So it was truly a shock to me (and others at that table) when we heard that one of us wasn't sending them anymore.

It turns out, she wasn't the only one. There were a few who were also planning to stop giving, and who now felt they will because one of us admitted they had stopped. The reasons given were varied, but the common denominator was "kasi nag-iipon na kami para makabili ng bahay". That makes sense. The $200-$500 sent each month back home can go towards saving funds to come up with about 20% of the cost of a house (so we don't have to get PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance). But is that all? It turns out, it wasn't.

Because of what I heard at the party, I went around and did an impromptu survey of my own and interviewed my other Pinoy friends to ask when, if at all, they had stopped sending padala and/or balikbayan boxes to the Phils. Some who had been here several years (less than 10) sent padalas erratically but regularly sent a balikbayan box. The newer ones (1 to less than 10 years here) send both fairly regularly. Some who were here more than 10 years had stopped sending money or the balikbayan box or both. The older ones who admitted to this said that their families are already cared for, i.e., the nieces and nephews whom they paid tuition for school for had already grown up, graduated from college, and now earning their own money to give to their parents (which their uncles and aunts here used to do). They also usually have some of their brothers, sisters, even their parents, already petitioned as American citizens, so they're already living here and are being supported here, if not working here themselves. What struck me, though, was that the older they were (not from my generation), the more it was likely that they still sent money home, even if it was for their apos (grandchildren). It didn't matter what their profession was: I know of a successful Pinoy doctor who is still sending money to his apos and anak ng mga pinsan, and another woman who still cleans offices and houses despite her age who also still sends money to her children's children. The reason given was, family is still family and you do all you can to help them.

It was those who belonged to my generation and younger it seemed, what my folks like to call the Martial Law and post Martial Law generations, who are beginning to suffer from charity burnout. The constant giving has brought on a sense of helplessness and of things being out of their control: I mean, "kelan ba kasi titigil ang pagdepende nila sa amin?" was one of the questions asked at the birthday party. There is always the danger that our relatives who rely on us back home will get used to depending on us that they don't do anything to better their lives themselves. I mean, how many Pinoys do we know whose relatives would squander the remittances we send? We don't have to look far because each one of us has a few of those in our families. At the first sign of trouble, they don't try to see if they can help themselves; they immediately e-mail us and ask for money. These issues eventually come up, and we know that, masakit man gawin, we have to teach our relatives how to fish instead of giving them fish all the time, so to speak.

However, sometimes with the sense of helplessness comes self-preservation or survival: "kelangan ko rin alagaan ang pamilya ko dito". These are all good reasons, but as time goes by, self-justification for our actions soon sets in: "Di ko naman kelangan magpadala kasi may trabaho naman sila. At kelangan ko rin magtrabaho at ng mga bagong damit sa trabaho at ng bagong sasakyan para di na ako mag-bus. At kelangan ko mag-ipon para sa bahay. Tutal naipatayo ko na sila ng bahay dun sa mga naipadala ko sa kanila." Then guilt sets back in and we sometimes end up sending a padala for no reason at all to quell our guilty feelings. And so the cycle starts all over again.

There's nothing wrong in suffering from charity burnout. There's nothing wrong in not sending remittances, as long as they are all in perspective. If your family is middle class or you know is not naghihirap naman, then I believe it's perfectly okay to not send something regularly. Look at me, for example: my family is so well off I didn't bother sending them anything at all in all the years we've been here. (Come on, they have several properties all over and my nieces and nephews are going to Poveda now.) I mean, the original reason I'm here at all is because, let's face it, I married beneath me (as my mom would say). Although my husband's family wasn't exactly impoverished, this geeky couple wanted to prove to everyone that we can make it on our own without help from old money (mine) or the family business (his). And we are doing good, thank you very much! Not great (i.e., raking in thousands everyday like Mama is probably doing right now just by sitting at home in Greenmeadows) but well enough so that we aren't lacking for the basic necessities of life. With this kind of situation, do you blame me for not sending anything home to them? We do send goodies to my nieces and nephews on my husband's side, though. Yun lang nga, dahil medyo maykaya din sila, pati ang mga hinihingi nila ay sosy. We once sent a $175 telescope because my brother-in-law wanted one.

But what if naghihirap talaga pamilya mo? The person at the party who said they had stopped sending money wasn't exactly well off back home. Their families on both sides don't live in a good area, and their brothers and sisters on both sides have erratic jobs, not because they're lazy or anything, but because they're just not that well equipped mentally. On both sides of this couple's family, their immediate relatives rely on their monthly padala. At least, that's what they told us a couple of years ago. So what has changed? Well, like my friend said, saving up for a house changed things. That and charity burnout--and maybe even a little bit of luho. In that group, she and her husband were the first to become a 2-car family, the only one I know who goes outlet shopping every spring and fall, and the one who took their kids out of private school (when they found out they could do something with the money they paid).

So I guess, to answer one of my original questions, when do we feel our obligation has been fulfilled and we can stop giving, I guess the answer lies within us. We can always justify charity burnout--why we stop giving to our families--with a lot of reasons that has nothing to do with the economy or our situation in life right now. Those of us who are here are almost always better off than those we left behind. Most of us earn more than our families at home are earning. We give to them because we realize they have a need. Pretty soon we realize that we have this power over them because we give to them: the power to stop the flow of money if we want to. I feel it is our responsibility to spread some of the monetary blessings we receive to our families and, if possible, beyond our family circle. Tulad nga ng sabi ng uncle ni Peter Parker sa Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." Money is power (just ask anyone with a lot of it). Therefore, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility: the more money you have, the more you should use that money wisely, and part of that should be to give some to your family. After all, they are your family, and family is family.

Nagsisimba Pa Ba Kayo? (Do You Still Go to Church?)

2008-11-15T12:51:00.017-05:00

What a stupid-sounding title, you say. Why should there be any place for church-going in this blog? Maybe I should rephrase that question to this: When do Pinoys stop going to church once they have lived in the US for some time? What is the minimum number of years that Pinoys will faithfully go to church before the materialism and the hustle and bustle of the American way of life starts getting to them that they finally stop going to church? Or at least, only go on special religious holidays like Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas. Why do they go to church at all in the first place if they're going to stop attending anyway later on?

Before I go on, let me just summarize here the state of Christianity in the Philippines for our other non-Pinoy readers (which, I hope, there still are). As many probably know from a basic knowledge of history, the Philippines is the only country in Asia that was colonized by Spain. (Spain did try with the other Asian countries, but because of the Treaty of Tordesillas, they probably had to cede the other countries to Portugal, and maybe even the Netherlands and France.) Since Spain was allied with the Roman Catholic church, practically the whole country was converted to Catholicism. When the Japanese and, later, the Americans came, the basic doctrines of Catholicism was so entrenched that by 1946 the Constitution had named Roman Catholicism as the religion of the whole country, a marriage of country and religion not seen since the Reformation and French Revolution of the 16th-17th centuries. Nothing is ever decided without the say of the Archbishop or Cardinal. Every child was baptized in the Catholic way, and very few were not Catholics. (This few included Muslims who then lived in the south and Chinese immigrants, later naturalized Filipinos.) In fact, you couldn't have your child enrolled in a good school if he/she didn't have a baptismal certificate. Conversely, most schools will actually accept a baptismal certificate as proof of identity rather than the birth certificate, unless you're a foreigner and a non-Catholic. If the latter, then you better attend a different school, usually Chinese school. (Some public schools in the hinterlands and provinces also require the baptismal certificate, but in the major cities this is not required anymore.)

Most Pinoys regularly go to church. No matter what status in life, churches are always full every Sunday on every hour the Masses are on. Since the Catholic church passed an edict that sunset Mass on Saturdays (usually beginning at 5:30 onwards) was like going to church on Sundays, there practically was no excuse for the ordinary Pinoy Catholic to miss Mass when he/she has to work on a Sunday. Sunday Masses usually begin at 6 AM, and one is usually on every hour from that time until the last Mass at 6 PM, with a break for lunch (meaning, no Mass from 12-1 PM). In the cities, the 10-11 and 11-12 Masses are usually the most full. If the church is known for some miraculous signs to the locals, each Mass is always full. In the provinces, almost every hourly Mass is full. Sometimes there are so many churchgoers that there would be 2 or 3 parish priests per church, and no one parish priest actually personally knows each and everyone of his parishioners.

In this regard alone, the Philippines has so much in common with other countries that Spain colonized, including most of South America and Central America. Some sociologists have attributed the fact that our country hasn't made it to the first world (or maybe even the second, if there is such a thing) as due to Spain's colonization and the deleterious effects of the influence of the Catholic church on economics and politics.

But we're not concerned with that. What we're concerned about is the fact that 100% of Filipinos who go overseas as workers or immigrants invariably bring their faith with them. The OCW head office in Manila acknowledged this fact in the early 1990s when it started including "evangelism" as one of the topics in some of its mandatory seminars to outgoing workers. (Most Pinoys don't go to the seminars, feeling that they're useless, but they are actually very helpful. They inform OCWs of their basic rights and how to keep themselves safe, especially in countries where there is precarious peace. They also give you names, numbers, and places of embassies and Pinoy offices in the countries where you plan to work so that if you need help badly, you can call these people and seek help immediately.)

Anyway, as I was saying, "evangelism" is now included in some of these seminars, but not hard-core evangelism that we usually associate with missionaries. It's more like, given the chance in the country where you're working, you should talk about God and Jesus, and maybe try to bring some people to Christ or a knowledge of Christ and the Bible. Additionally, because Pinoys do bring their faith with them wherever they go, these talks give you information on Pinoy communities where OCWs will be going and the churches they go to. Where there are little enclaves of Pinoys, they usually have a church most of them will go to on Sundays to hear Mass, then afterwards they have gatherings where they chitchat, gossip, catch up on the latest news, and generally ask about each other's welfare. These Pinoy enclaves or gatherings are more common in Asian countries such as Hongkong (where Pinoys congregate in a park/plaza) and the Middle East (in each other's houses).

In the US, the more Pinoy families live in one area, the more likely they are to start a club or organization. Some of these clubs will be religious-oriented and will welcome any Pinoy--except most Pinoy Catholic orgs where they will insist you are a Catholic before you can even attend any of their social gatherings. The ironic thing about this is that Pinoys who aren't Catholic are more welcoming of Catholic Pinoys in their own clubs/orgs, whether or not they are organized along religious lines. In the case of Catholics, though, even if you're not a church-going Pinoy Catholic, as long as you're Catholic, you're in.

Needless to say, I know of many Pinoys who start off their first couple or so years in the US religiously going to church every Sunday, rain or shine, unless the church itself closes for the day due to inclement weather (i.e., hurricanes or snowstorms). They build networks of friends and cement them a little with a few after-work activities, then once they're firmly ensconced, their faith lags behind. The exception is when they have little kids and they are concerned that their kids are not getting any sort of Catholic catechism--as opposed to the home country where Religion with a capital "R" is actually a subject in each year of elementary until high school. If they have little kids, they realize that public schools do not support any one faith, so they either put their kids in Catholic private schools (very pricey) or in Sunday catechism classes with their local church (if their kids go to public school).

I guess my point in all this is, the average Pinoy worker and his family who live in the US usually go to church regularly for the first 2-3 years they're here, then after that attendance kinda falls off. The exceptions are seniors (older Pinoys like our moms and dads, or even lolas and lolos who we brought here to watch our kids), times of dire need (like bad economic times such as now), and Christian Pinoys (those who aren't Catholic). Because Catholicism is so much a part of everyday life, it has become an accessory to the ordinary Pinoy churchgoer, a habit we've fallen into like brushing our teeth or shaving. Ask a Catholic Pinoy what the Apostle's Creed means and its origins, he most likely won't know. Why does he say the "I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters..." near the beginning of the Mass, he probably won't have any idea why. His catechism-taking kids might know for a while, before they forget once they get older. What they may be concerned with is if their kids are confirmed (Sacrament of Confirmation), had their first confession and subsequently knows how to confess regularly after that (Sacrament of Penance), and had their first Communion (Sacrament of the Eucharist). When their kids get married, if they're what we call "Catoliko sarado", they will insist on Catholic spouses and the Sacrament of Matrimony (preferably with no fornication or living together). Later on, they will ask their kids to make sure they get the last rites (now known as the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, previously Extreme Unction or Last Rites) when they're about to die. Pinoy Catholics usually know they are saved as long as they had been baptized at the very least, confess their sins, and take communion regularly. As long as they don't commit any mortal sins, they have an assurance of ending up at least in Purgatory. But if you pay to burn candles in church to offer to saints and ask for prayers from dead loved ones and dead saints, then maybe you can have a toe in the door of heaven. If you pray a bit regularly, maybe a brief one each night, and sometimes do a novena every once in a while, then maybe you have a foot in already. Since Pinoys know that their afterlife is already assured since they were born, true conversion of the heart or a true relationship with God or the Savior will raise eyebrows because they believe that doing all the above I outlined is the relationship with God. When things are going well, the Catholic logic goes that we are blessed because we are okay in the sight of the Lord, we don't have any unconfessed sins or bad secrets. Living in an affluent society like the US reinforces the feeling that we are being blessed all the time. As long as kumayod tayo ng kumayod, uunlad tayo. After all, "nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa" (the Pinoy version of "God helps those who help themselves"). This is the primary reason most Pinoys eventually give up going to church after living in the US for at least 5 years. Guminhawa na kasi ang buhay e. Church attendance goes up only on Good Fridays (still a most sacred holy day to Filipinos everywhere), Easter Sunday, Christmas, and New Year. Some of my Pinoy friends now tell me they've started going back to church, paying for Mass petitions, and saying novenas, if only to petition God that they or their husbands don't lose their jobs in this bottoming economic climate.

On the other hand, Christian Pinoys, I've found, understand that God should be sought whether or not life is bad or good. Though extremely fewer than Catholics, whether in the Phils. or abroad, most Pinoy Christians were formerly Catholics and have a better understanding of Catholic doctrine than the regular Catholic Pinoy. That's why, they will tell you, they ended up "converting" to another religion. They actually talk more genuinely, shall I say, about what religion's role should be in our lives, and they talk both from the heart and the head. They know what they got into when they chose to convert or become born again or surrender themselves to Christ--no matter the language, they sound more like they know what it's all about in this life and the next. They're also not exclusivists unlike some Catholic Pinoys I know. They will welcome you to their Bible studies, marriage encounters, or prayer meetings, whereas some of my Catholic friends will actually ask newcomers if they are Catholic before they will ask them to join. And Christian Pinoys will actually go to their church consistently, not because it assures them a seat in heaven, but because they believe it is part of having a relationship with the Creator.

So, I ask you now, if you're living in the US, do you still go to church? If yes, why do you go? If no, why not?

Can We Survive These Difficult Times?

2008-10-10T20:31:00.012-04:00

The current state of the US economy has not gotten better since the beginning of this year. Despite numerous bailouts of mortgage companies, banks, insurance companies, and other failing corporate entities by the federal government, the economic stimulus package of George Bush, etc., the only positive thing that has happened was the decline in gas prices in the past 3 weeks. From a high of $4.50 in our area, gas prices have gone down as much as a dollar and now costs $3.50. (I still can't help thinking, what's the catch? When is the other shoe going to drop?) The stock market continues its downhill slide despite encouraging ads saying this is the time to buy now (when stock prices are rock bottom--or almost rock bottom). The real estate industry has put out several ads and commercials along the same lines--i.e., that now is the time to buy when the housing market is at an all-time low. However, banks and mortgagors aren't exactly going easy on first-time lenders. Loan approvals have been slow, some houses have been up for sale for more than a year now, and foreclosures go on the market sooner than a house is sold. For those of us Pinoys who find our money isn't stretching farther than it used to, here are a few tips:

1. Wag masyadong maluho. (Don't be self-indulgent.) Other Tagalog-English dictionaries may translate maluho as "luxurious" or "sumptious", but it misses the point and the connotation of luho. Just because you know your salary can buy a $350,000 house doesn't mean you have to buy it, unless you know you can pay the monthly mortgage and property taxes on it on the same salary for the next few years (especially since not everyone is getting a salary increase these days). Now is also not the time to buy a new car unless you absolutely need it. The excuse "I want to have a car that will save me gas" is not enough, particularly if you have to pay more monthly for it than what you currently have, which defeats the purpose of saving money when the money you save on gas is going to be eaten up by the car mortgage payment anyway. Don't go on too many outings to save both gas and money. This is the time to put money in your savings in preparation for harder times. Don't buy stuff you don't absolutely need.

2. Prepare for the worst. How sure are you that you're going to still have your job at the end of the year, particularly if you're on a working visa? Most companies who hire foreign workers also let them go first when the economy turns sour. The reason is because if they fired the American worker, that American worker is entitled to unemployment, which the company will be paying the Dept. of Labor for until the worker finds another job. They don't have to do that to a foreign worker because even if they deduct UI (unemployment insurance) on your paycheck, because you're an H1 (or other working) visa holder, you're not entitled to collect monthly unemployment. So if you have a job you hate, stick with it for a while because during hard times like these, companies are not bound to hire new foreign workers because of the cost of lawyers' fees and all that. If you have a job, work well at it and be happy you have one.

3. Don't buy too much on credit. This actually follows on #1 above, about not being maluho. If you pay cash for purchases and do not indulge your luho, then you'll be in good financial shape. Saka ka na lang mamili pag medyo maayos na ang ekonomiya.

4. Save whatever, whenever, and wherever you can. Turn off lights in rooms you aren't using. While taking a bath, don't let the shower or faucet run on and on. It's a matter of leaving a good legacy for your kids behind more than it is about global warming. At work, switch off computers when you know you will not be using them for quite some time. Take the bus to save gas. It will be good exercise, too if you have to walk short distances to the bus stops. When doing the laundry, make sure you wash and dry a full load instead of just a few pieces of clothing. Some of my Pinoy friends don't use the dryer too long when it's not winter. In the summer they hang out their clothes like we used to do back home so the sun dries them. (Nothing smells as good as sun-dried laundry that has been "sterilized" clean by the UV rays of the sun.) When they don't have a backyard but have space in their laundry room, they will hang out their clothes there after running the dryer on a cool setting for a few minutes (so your laundry room doesn't get little puddles of dripping water, which is what happens when you hang clothes up straight from the washer). Don't sleep in front of the TV without turning it off. Don't eat out a lot. At home, cook only what you know you can eat, especially if you hate leftovers. Otherwise, recycle leftover food or eat them before they go bad. This also means you buy food you know you will be able to eat before the expiry date so that you don't waste money by throwing them away when they do expire. Teach your kids these things, too, so all your saving work is not undermined because your child leaves the light in his bedroom open and the TV on while you all have dinner downstairs. Live by example so your kids also learn how to tighten their belts during tough economic times.

5. Hedge your other investments with interest-earning, safe and stable CDs (certificates of deposit). By now you already know that your 401k, IRA and other investments are probably earning poorly, if at all. And your stock broker is probably telling you to not panic when the markets are jittery, and that maybe this is the time to buy stocks when prices are really low. Well, the market has been bad for the past 9 months now, and stock prices haven't really gone up in general as well, so the people who followed their brokers' advice back in March are probably losing more now because the prices of stock fell even more. The thing is, in a prolonged economic downturn such as this, the stock market or stock prices may be at an all-time low, but because the economy still stinks you don't know if they've hit rock bottom yet. How low can you go in terms of sustaining margins on still falling stocks because you're hoping they would go up soon? Unless you have a lot of disposable income, kelangan mo panindigan ang stock investments mo by putting up margin to sustain your stock purchases. During these times, it actually makes more sense to put your money in a CD because banks need more cash now than ever and so are prepared to give high interest rates. The point is to have one really safe investment that you can rely on, in addition to your regular investments. To give you an example of how bad things are, the interest we earned over 2 years on our 401k and the college fund my husband and I set up for our kids were lost in this year alone so that we were actually left with what we started (the principal). Although we have shuffled things around so they are now in a different portfolio mix and are finally earning a little once more, our main earners right now are our online savings account and bank CDs. Because they have been earning while the others were losing, what we lost on the latter we gained on the former.

Right now, no matter what the news or financial forecasters say, there seems to be no end in sight to this economic downturn, at least until the presidential elections are through. Then maybe the markets will pick up again depending on who gets elected. If the new president's fiscal policies are sound, then the wounded bear might recover and get up and start running again, bringing up stock prices and spurring lending again. Until then, we really need to tighten our belts and sit out the bad times by working, saving, and putting off substantial expenses that can be bought later when the economy picks up again.

Wag Niyo Naman Kami Ipahiya (Don't Embarrass Us)

2008-08-04T20:30:00.010-04:00

Since November 2006, foreign nurses entering the US do not get automatic green cards (Schedule A or priority processing). Instead, they now have to go through the H1-B (working visa) process in order to work in the US. Many Pinoy nursing recruitment agencies for US hospitals have known this, but they still tell our kababayans that they are going to the US on H1-Bs because the quota for Schedule A has run out. This is an outright lie. The law with regards to foreign nurses going abroad have already changed and have been in effect a long time now. Bakit?

Speaking as an insider, one of the reasons, I'm told, is because several US hospitals now have several incentives and special funding programs granted either by the US government or other agencies, institutions, and foundations that give priority nursing education that leads to full-time nursing employment to US/American citizens.

The healthcare industry is probably the only industry that is not affected by the economic slowdown this country is currently experiencing. Although the demand for nurses is not likely to decrease, Americans entering the nursing profession are increasing. Mga Amerikanong nawalan ng trabaho o walang trabaho ay tinutulak ng mga BOCES o VESCID programs na mag-aral ng nursing para magkaron ng trabaho. Nursing is one of the few professions where hospitals or some government agencies (DOLE) may actually pay you to enter: they will pay for your tuition (after making sure you have your GED and meet the minimum requirements physically and mentally) and then hire you as a CNA or LPN. If you decide to go on and get a Nursing degree, they will also help you on your way to your goal by making sure you're gainfully employed so you're actually paying for your tuition. Because of these incentives, some states actually do not need as many foreign nurses as they used to.

The second reason doesn't sound so good. Di ko yata masikmura ang mga naririnig ko tungkol sa mga bagong saltang, mga baguhan na Pinoy nurses na nagdatingan a few months ago. Di na daw masyadong magaling ang mga nakukuha nilang mga Pinoy nurses, at least in this corner of the US anyway. Some lack experience, some lack English communication skills that make it difficult (even dangerous) to conduct quality care that could mean the difference between the life or death of a patient. This doesn't sound like the Pinoy nursing education I'm familiar with and have known with our other kababayans already established with good jobs here. As one healthcare worker put it, "It's like they're not all there," (meaning, may kulang sa taas o sa kokote).

In the 1970s to 1980s, it was considered a privilege if one of the nurses treating you was a Filipino nurse. They were just that good. Consider: one of the now deceased Christopher Reeve's nurses was a Filipino. So what happened? What happened to our nursing education?

Sa mga estudyanteng nurses na kasalukuyang nagne-nursing ngayon sa Pinas, galingan niyo naman ang inyong pag-aaral. Magsanay at mag-aral ng husay ng Ingles para di tayo masabihan na di na magaling. Kung kaya niyo, e manood ng mga English TV shows at movies. Intindihin niyo ng husay ang pagsasalita ng Ingles. Pag sinabi ng recruiting agency na kelangang ng kung ilang taong experience sa ganito at ganyang klaseng ospital or clinic or employment background, siguraduhin ninyong ginawa niyo lahat yun at na-meet niyo ang mga requirements na yon. Balita namin e meron mga nurses na nandadaya na at dinodoktor na ang kanilang mga resume para lang mapabilis ang pagpunta dito. E kung nakarating nga kayo dito ng kulang ang kaalaman at experience, at nagkamatayan ang mga pasyenteng responsibilidad niyo, e di nakakahiya nga. Not to mention baka ma-deport pa kayo o mademanda ng ospital na pinagtratrabahuhan niyo dito. Isipin niyo na rin ang ibang mga nurses na nais sumunod sa inyong mga yapak: mahihirapan sila kung kayo na na-recruit ay di maibigan ng inyong among ospital dahil di na sila kukunin dito. At sa mga kamukha namin na andito na, nagiging iba ang tingin sa amin once nalaman na Pinoy kami--unless naging American citizen na siguro kaming lahat o medyo magaling na kami magsalita ng Ingles. Unfortunately, we're still going through the process, and most Pinoy nurses who are American citizens have been here for more than a decade already. So please lang po, if you're a Pinoy nurse planning to work in the US, wag niyo naman kami ipahiya. Maraming salamat po!

Serious and Costly Doctor's Clinic Mistakes

2008-07-05T16:04:00.019-04:00

With the numerous scary articles (both hoaxes and real) abounding about people who wake up with 1 kidney left, you'd think more people by now will have more sense than to completely trust the people they see at their doctor's offices. Unfortunately, a lot of people still make common mistakes at their doctors' offices that could potentially harm their health, mistakes that could have been prevented if common sense had prevailed. Do read on. ...

1. Know the people in your doctors' offices. The best advice I can give here is, go by the letters after the name. Several medical practices have any or all of the following:

MD - the medical doctor or doctors in the practice. Understandably having undergone more than 10 years of medical study, passing the US medical board, internship, and residency, this is the top banana in the medical office that you can literally trust with your life. Your PCP would have this designation, even if he/she actually does not see you for an office visit. Your insurance provider should know if your doctor is a doctor in good standing, i.e., not retired, actively practicing, and the medical field he/she practices in (oncology, cardiology, internal medicine, etc.). When in doubt, research. One of the best ways to find out if your doctor has any malpractice suits in his past is to check. All doctors in good standing are members of medical associations in their respective fields, all of which have websites or available in the phone book and library archives. Call or write them to find out about your doctor. Online you can use www.WebMD.com or www.choicetrust.com to check your doctor's credentials. Is this important? Yes! You wouldn't want to be seen by a quack, do you?

PA-C, RPA-C - are Physician Assistants ("C" is for certified and "R" is for registered). A step down from the doctors, PAs are almost like doctors and can do almost everything doctors can do like getting medical histories, performing exams and procedures, ordering treatments, diagnosing illnesses, prescribing medication, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, referring patients to specialists when appropriate, and may assist in some minor surgeries. They are usually employed by medical clinics to assist in the huge volume of patients that doctors now see. A PA always has to work under the supervision of a licensed physician. This means that they cannot hang up a sign and open a clinic by themselves (unless the laws change in this regard) and start seeing patients, even though they can do practically everything else the other doctors in a clinic can do. Moreover, a PA has to maintain his credentials and re-register every 2 years and complete the recertification exam every 6 years.

FNP, NP - Family Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Practitioner are nurses with master's degrees in nursing. What they can do in a clinic is regulated by the state they live in. In NY state they can work in hospitals and doctors' offices/clinics. They can do everything a PA can do except surgeries. They also have to practice under the supervision of a licensed physician. If they are OR nurses, they may be surgical nurses doing what other surgical nurses do, but they still are not licensed nor have the training to actually perform any surgery. NPs are common in ERs where they usually see patients in an urgent but non-life threatening illness or situation. All NPs were RNs, meaning they finished a BS degree in Nursing, before acquiring their Master's Degree. (An FNP would have a Master's Degree in Family Nurse Practice.) Recertification varies by state: some require every 2 years, others every 3.

RN - or registered nurses are slightly lower than NPs in that they do not have a Master's degree. RNs are employed as bedside nurses, by physicians, attorneys, insurance companies, private industry, school districts, ambulatory surgery centers and fire departments, among others. They perform basically everything an NP and MA does, except diagnose illness, perform surgeries on their own, and they cannot sign prescriptions.

LPN - Licensed Practical Nurses can work either under the supervision of, at the very least an RN, and a doctor. They can administer most medications, may start IV's and administer IV push medications, monitor patient response to medications, implement wound care, measure vital signs, maintain patient records, help with patient-care planning, surgery, Basic Life Support, and sterilization/isolation procedures. Education usually consists of 2 years of training in anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and practical patient care. They must pass state or national boards and renew their license periodically.

CNA - Certified Nursing Assistants are usually responsible for Activities of Daily Living, which include bathing and feeding patients. They should also have a strong grasp of emergency procedures and be able to stay calm in stressful situations. They must be able to initiate a Code Blue and be well-drilled in CPR. They must be well-versed in what is known as nursing assistant skills, as well as complete 12 hours of continuing education annually, and their basic training consist of at least 75 hours of training and 16 hours of practical clinic training.

MA - Medical assistants can be licensed (CMA or RMA) or unlicensed and perform administrative and clinical tasks that keep doctors' and other healthcare offices running smoothly. In small practices they handle both administrative and clinic duties while reporting to a nurse and physician and/or office manager. In larger practices they may tend to specialize and report to a group of doctors in one specific specialty only, as well as to the nurses and office managers. Most MAs received their education in vocational schools, technical institutes, or community colleges. Since they are not licensed professionals, they are always required by law to work under the direct supervision of a licensed health care provider such as a physician, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant whenever they provide direct (hands-on) patient care.

2. Know who is performing medical treatment on you. A lot of people don't realize that there are a lot of overlap in duties that MAs and nurses can perform. There is a fine line between what some of them can and cannot do. For instance, an MA can do venipuncture (i.e., give you injections or a skin test), but a CNA cannot. An RN and MA can write prescriptions but an MD, PA-C, or NP has to sign them. Only an NP, PA-C or MD can change your medications and their doses, not an RN, CNA, or MA. Only an RN and NP can be called a nurse, but not an MA. I don't know why, but go figure. Apparently it makes a difference. Make sure that the person you think is a nurse at your doctor's office is not an MA, because your perception of what they are can cost you, i.e., if you think she is a nurse, you may allow her to treat you and do medical procedures to you that only an NP, PA-C or MD are authorized and licensed to do. If you see the MA in your doctor's office do things to you only an RN or NP, PA-C or MD can do, then you could have a potential malpractice suit developing in your hands. So find out what the designation is of the person who is treating you so you don't regret it later, because CNAs, LPNs, and MAs won't usually tell you what they are, especially if they have too important a view of their skills and lead you to believe they are more than what they really are. On the other hand, NPs, MDs, and PA-Cs are proud of what they are and have accomplished and will not hesitate to introduce themselves to you as "Hi, I'm Joe Smith, the physician assistant."

3. Beware of doctors who tell you to not to see any other doctor except themselves. Some doctors are just so good at what they do that they may have earned your trust so much, that you don't want to go to anyone else. This is fine, but what if that doctor retires? Doctors who are worth their Hippocratic oath in salt will refer you to several physicians they know so your health can be monitored. At the very least, they will refer you to the other doctors within their old practice because it would seem that they know the colleagues they meet almost everyday better than someone else outside the practice. Beware if the outgoing doctor tells you not to go to see the other doctors in the practice or anyone else besides him/her. You should start asking questions why he/she doesn't want you to see anyone within the same practice. If you are told why, research and go to other sources and find out if your retiring doctor is telling the truth, or just plain backstabbing the other doctors because of personal issues. Insist on an answer if the doctor seems vague about why he/she doesn't want you to seek care elsewhere. At the very least, your radar should go up and wonder why all this underhandedness is necessary. If your doctor really cared for you and your health, the least he/she can do is to hand over your care to another competent physician.

Let me give you an example of how bad this can get: a doctor suddenly gets a serious illness and has to stop working for a while. Expecting to return to his practice, he doesn't tell his patients anything, and his colleagues think he is coming back once he is well. Meanwhile, they see his patients because the patients believe the other doctor is coming back. A year, maybe 2 years pass, and the illness seems to be winning over the doctor's health. By this time, you as the patient, should start looking elsewhere if not already transferring your care to the other doctors in the practice. Let's say you just cannot trust any other doctor, and you're so close to your doctor that he's on your speed dial and you see each other at Christmas parties. And so you wait. After more time has passed, you hear through the grapevine your favorite doctor isn't coming back. So you finally and reluctantly go and have that physical you've never had for 3 years because you just couldn't bear to see another doctor except him who is now sick. The new doctor sends you for the regular blood work. Guess what, something's wrong with your blood. More tests are ordered. Hey, something's now really wrong with you, and you now have a dread illness. If your insurance provider is one of those I mentioned in a previous blog, the fact that you haven't had routine physicals for 3 years could be grounds for your provider to deny you the expensive treatment you now need, the logic being that if you had followed routinely and annually, the disease might have been arrested (or not even developed) because the proper care, treatment, and medications would have been instituted 3 years earlier. Because you either insisted on seeing your favorite doctor, or fell for the line not to see any other doctor because no one else is as good as your favorite doctor, now you have to pay for it, both with your health as well as financially. (Before the other government health programs kick in, sometimes you have to pay a premium to be covered for the dread illness. Furthermore, if you are gainfully employed and had medical insurance, your financial bracket may not qualify you for some programs that could now help you with your dread illness. So you're left footing a huge medical bill.)

4. Insist on seeing a doctor if you truly feel you need one. If you're feeling bad but not bad enough to go to the ER, if it's a regular working day, you know you can go to your doctor's office and be seen urgently. If they can't see you that day, make sure you get a referral from them sent to an urgent care facility of your choice so you can be seen for your problem, or else go straight to the ER. In the event that your PCP's office is able to squeeze you in, insist on seeing the doctor or, at the very least, an NP or PA-C if they have any. If someone else besides these 3 is seeing you, make sure they take your vitals and put you in an exam room so you can wait for the doctor to see you. If the person seeing you says "you're fine" and says you can go home (but you don't feel fine), ask him/her if he's a nurse, doctor, or physician's assistant. If the answer is "no" to these, then tell him/her you have the right to stay put until you actually see any of the above. If I were you, I would go so far as to threaten to sue that person if he/she still insists on me going home when I know full well there's something wrong with me. I have seen this happen so many times behind my back that if I was aware of it sooner, I would have run after the patient and told them to wait, lest our practice get sued for malpractice. Oh, yes, your doctor or the office manager may not even be aware that one of their staff is making medical decisions about their patients without the training or credentials that allow them to do so unless you report the incident to them. That is a violation of all existing health laws, and maybe even HIPAA to boot, so yes, go ahead and be as threatening as you can to such a person.

Several years ago, Reader's Digest once wrote an article about the "malpractices" I mentioned above, e.g., CNAs pretending to be nurses and administering medications and getting away with it, doctors without the proper license hanging up a clinic sign, doctors without background in a particular field practicing in that field, etc.

So far these are the main things that could unwittingly cost you your health or money. It's so sad to see patients who could have avoided treatable illnesses become suddenly sick just because they want to go on seeing their favorite doctor who's probably retired by now. It's maddening to see unlicensed professionals get away with pretending to be nurses and jeopardizing people's health. Don't be one of them. Know the doctors and other professionals who treat you. Your life just may depend on it.

Note: A major reference used for this Serious and Costly Doctor's Clinic Mistakes is Wikipedia.

Saving Some Healthcare Dollars

2008-05-25T14:15:00.011-04:00

Working in the health industry has made me privy to a lot of mistakes people can make with regards to their health, mistakes that not only cost them their health, but also a lot of money. With the current economic climate and skyrocketing health and medical insurance, how can you save money on your healthcare?

1. Enroll in Medicare, Medicaid or buy healthcare/medical insurance. Choose your insurer well. Before thousands of you drop your mouths and tell me I must be out of my mind for suggesting this, consider that if anything happened to you and you're not covered by any form of medical insurance, the only place you can go to for your medical care is the emergency room? If you get a 102-degree fever along with other symptoms you know for sure means a "really bad illness" and you don't have medical insurance, the only way you'll ever be able to get treated or medication for your illness is to go to the ER. Unless you're an illegal alien, the ER may not even provide you with enough antibiotics and whatever else is needed to treat your sickness. So you need to be covered in some way so you don't die of whatever it is you've got.

Medicare insurance is for senior citizen Americans age 65 and older. If you are disabled or have kidney disease but are younger than 65, Medicare will still cover you. Medicaid, on the other hand, is administered in some form by the various US states and only covers people with very low incomes and high medical bills. Medicaid takes into account your age, disability (if any), family status, and your total family income into consideration before they qualify you. This means that, if you're falling through the cracks between these 2 government-funded programs, you have to purchase your own medical insurance either by working or asking a member of your family to list you as a beneficiary on their medical insurance policy. (Even then, some insurance providers will not provide coverage to kids or dependents who are over 23 years old, even if they are still full-time students or bumming around.) There are very few clinics around who will take in a person who will not be able to pay for a visit to a doctor. And it's not a matter of money but liability.

2. Familiarize yourself with your insurance plan and coverage. What will your insurance provider pay for? How much is the co-pay for regular office visits? for referrals? for consultations? for out-of-network doctors? ER coverage and deductible? deductible on procedures or surgeries done? Knowing these early by reading your plan brochure will give you a better idea of what to expect and what they will and won't pay when you do get sick.

3. Establish care with a primary care doctor. The best way to keep your health costs down is to make sure you get a primary care physician (PCP) once you're covered by medical insurance. Make sure the doctor is one of the accredited doctors listed in your provider's physician network. Granted, you had to pay maybe 1/3 of your month's salary to get covered in the first place, but once you establish yourself with a PCP, all you need do is pay for co-pays or deductibles and the rest should be easy.

4. At your first visit to the PCP, make sure you apprise him/her with your full medical history. The worst thing you can do is, as Dr. House (i.e., House, MD) is always fond of pointing out, lie to your doctor. Letting your doctor know your full medical history will enable him to make informed decisions with regards to your care as well as make the right referrals to other specialists when you do get sick. Just watch House, MD each week, and you'll find out how patients make their doctors decide on the wrong treatment by not divulging their health information. Besides, the HIPAA Privacy Act guarantees that everything you reveal to your doctor and thenceforth written in your medical records are protected information and can only by seen by the people you authorize (spouse or partner/close family member, insurance provider, other doctors involved in your care) other than a court decree. If you believe your medical information has been compromised, then the HIPAA website will help you with taking the necessary steps in taking corrective action. I have had opportunity to put the HIPAA system to work, and believe me, it does work. They actually acted very fast on my behalf, that the problem I e-mailed them about on a Monday was already resolved by Friday of the same week, with them contacting the medical facility(ies) concerned and bearing down the full weight and authority of the government upon them.

5. Have regular annual physicals and regular followups, the latter as decided by your PCP. This is also known as preventive care. Did you know that some healthcare insurance providers will actually deny you care for a dreadful illness if you have not followed up regularly with your physician? If you don't have medical insurance and have not been following your health status or taking care of yourself, and you're suddenly diagnosed with a dreadful illness that will require thousands of dollars to treat, Medicare or Medicaid can actually deny you coverage until you pay some sort of fee up front? I know it sounds terrible, but that is how it is.* Let me give you an example: my family and I once had medical insurance that specified strict annual exams for everyone covered. For myself, this included an annual gyn exam that covered a routine annual mammogram, depending on your age. At the time I was younger than 40, so the plan will only cover for a mammogram every 5 years, except if I have a family history of breast cancer for which they would require a mammogram every 6 months. If I missed one of the 6-month mammograms, and a year after the last mammogram I was found to have breast cancer, the insurance provider will actually deny coverage for my treatment for that cancer. Their logic is that, with my family history, their plan strictly required that I have a mammogram every 6 months, which would enable my doctor(s) to catch any sign of disease at the earliest possible stage during which time the hope is that it would still be easy to treat. But because I had missed one 6-month mammogram and took it at a one-year interval, they could deny payment for the treatment because the reasoning is that if I had not missed my regular 6-month followup, the disease would have been spotted and been easier to treat, therefore, less expensive to pay. This is another reason why you really have to familiarize yourself with your plan and what it covers as I already mentioned above in no. 2.

Almost all healthcare providers, doctors and insurance companies alike, stress preventive care more than anything else. Some insurers will actually give you discounts to gyms or to attend a regular exercise program, whether it's in the form of dance, yoga, pilates, etc. In addition, they will stress annual physicals that is usually the best way to spot any disease or illness at its earliest stages. Some medical insurers actually give their policyholders the additional incentive of a free annual exam, just to make sure their members do not miss having one. I mean, if it's free, then seriously, you don't have any excuse not to go for it; you've already paid for some of it with your monthly contribution to your plan, so take full advantage of it! At these annual physicals, make sure you ask for and get the works: urinalysis, blood pressure (BP) check, EKG (not annual if you're younger than 40), stool exam, chest x-ray (not annual if you don't have any habits or exposures that may preclude future pulmonary disease later), mammogram (for women), rectal exam (for men's prostates), complete blood work inclusive of a CBC (complete blood count), BMP (basic metabolic panel that checks your enzymes and electrolytes), lipid panel (checks for cholesterol), TSH, and PSA (this last for men). For older people, the bone density or DEXA scan is fast becoming a standard test to check for osteoporosis. Most medical insurers cover 100% of these tests (meaning, again, that they're free) when taken in conjunction with your annual exam.

Each of these tests are now deemed standard by insurance companies as well as doctors, so that for one single co-pay you are actually getting a lot. The urinalysis will tell your doctor if your kidneys are functioning well and whether or not you have infections in your genitourinary area. BPs can give you a clue if you're becoming hypertensive or not. An EKG will determine if your heart is functioning normally for your age. The stool exam detects early forms of cancer as well as any bad pathogens you may have like E. coli, etc. The chest x-ray is particularly important if you're a smoker or have asthma. The mammogram will detect some signs of early breast cancer, while the rectal exam, in conjunction with the PSA and sometimes the urinalysis, can tell you if you're at risk for any prostate infection, BPH, or prostate cancer.

The CBC can tell you if you're anemic or not, have an infection or not. The BMP will tell you if you're liver and kidneys are working properly, as well as tell your doctor if you are about to develop diabetes, while the lipid panel will tell you if you've developed hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) already. The TSH tests for unusually high or low thyroid-stimulating hormone in your blood that can make you either hypo- or hyperthyroid. Used with other TFTs (thyroid function tests) that checks for free T4 and T3, it is a good indicator of thyroid disease. So in case you're in doubt about whether you should go to the lab with your doctor's blood work script, then I hope what I just wrote about what these blood tests do to help your doctor determine the state of your health will convince you that you should

6. If anything doesn't check out well in your annual exam, and your PCP refers you to a specialist for a further check and/or testing, make sure you have a referral. A referral from your PCP can mean the difference between your paying full price for any tests done by the specialist or just the deductible as specified in your medical coverage plan. When I say specialist, I mean one of those other doctors who specialize in specific areas like cardiology (heart disease), pulmonology (lungs), endocrinology (diabetes, thyroid problems), gastroenterology or GI (stomach), etc. (A PCP usually is someone who "specializes" in internal or general medicine.) Most medical insurances will not pay for a self-referral: this means you going to a doctor's office because you believe yourself to be sick of something that needs a specialist's treatment. When you do have a referral, make sure it is dated before or on the date of your visit and covers any or all treatments and tests related to the problem you are being referred for so your insurance company can pay for all these. Most doctors' offices will fax your referral and then give you a copy so you can go to the specialist's office with it in case the other office "misplaced" the fax (as they usually, if not often, do).

Some insurance companies will not allow back-dated referrals: this means that if you forgot your referral and went ahead to the specialist and get billed for it, even if you go back to your PCP and ask them to back date the referral, your insurer already knows full well you didn't have it at the time of your visit, so unless you didn't sign a waiver, you're stuck with a huge bill that you will now have to negotiate payment for with the specialist. Still other insurance companies will not accept referrals given by a specialist, which means all your referrals should come from your original PCP in the first place. This is all the more reason why you really should establish yourself with a PCP first as mentioned in no. 3 above. Let me give you an example: let's say your PCP referred you to a cardiologist because he found something off in your EKG. The referral that your PCP's office gives you should cover all reasonable services and regular tests that cardiologist's offices usually do to confirm or verify the EKG finding. Let's say the cardiologist thinks you should undergo a special test that's usually an optional treatment -- optional, meaning not everyone goes through that test because there are other alternatives -- and the only reason you're going through it is because he wants to absolutely rule out you don't have what he suspects you have. The referral for this special test should still come for your PCP, not your cardiologist, UNLESS your plan coverage allows you to have the cardiologist make the referral (which is very, very seldom). At the very least, the cardiologist should contact your PCP, or ask you to contact your PCP, to get the referral from them. Otherwise, your insurance will not pay for the test. And believe me, when specialists refer you for special tests, that usually means the test will cost somewhere in the vicinity of at least $1,000.

7. Do not insist on brand medications if there are generic alternatives available, UNLESS your health is going to suffer severely if you take the generic. Due to the high cost of medicines, medical insurers have varying prescription plans that will usually have several tiers of medication coverage. The one that costs little to you are those on the plan's list of approved medications, usually including generics and other common prescription medications. Almost all insurers will not cover OTC (over-the-counter) meds, so the only way you can get paid back for those is if you have a flex plan at work that can refund you that money. Unless your doctors have proven that you do better on branded meds, most insurers will not allow you to get the brand-name medication even if your doctor writes DAW (dispense as written) in that little box. Any medication not on your plan's approved list will require prior authorization ("pre-auth") from your insurance company. Your doctor will receive forms he/she needs to fill out in order to justify why you need the particular med that's not on their list. Moreover, they will usually supply your doctor with a list of similar, approved meds that they strongly suggest he have you try first before even asking for pre-auth for the special med. A good doctor will go over these options with you and tell you which of the meds will have the same effect as the original medication he or you were planning to take. So other than severe allergic reactions to the suggested meds on their list or a poor response to them, no way are you going to get that particular med. Furthermore, if you do have proven allergies to the approved meds on the list, your insurance company will pay for the bulk of the special med, and all you'll end up paying is just co-pay anyway. If you don't have any other reason than because you just want that particular med because you read on the internet it's "the best", then you'll literally have to pay the price for it.

8. Nothing beats a good diet and exercise. Finally, I guess there's nothing that will save more money for you than a good diet and exercise. Let's look at it this way: if you don't care what you eat and you don't exercise at all, one of the first problems you'll be faced with is becoming too heavy for your height (the body-mass index, or BMI, ratio). If this problem becomes uncontrollable, you soon will become obese. When you become obese, you soon become hyperlipidemic (accumulate bad cholesterol in your blood). If you don't take action by trying to control this with lifestyle modifications and changes in your diet, the next thing your doctor will be looking out for is your blood glucose level. Numerous websites and magazines will tell you that obese people are more prone to diabetes. Both hyperlipidemia and diabetes are controlled with medication , and insurance will cover most (if not all) of them. But as you grow older, the lack of good diet and exercise will take its toll because pretty soon you'll be hypertensive (high blood pressure), maybe in your 30s or 40s, by which time there is no way that you can get rid of the numerous meds you have to take for these 3 alone without addressing the root problem: eating a good diet and increasing your activity level. Note that your doctor will also give you advice on diet and exercise when he realizes you are hyperlipidemic, diabetic, and hypertensive. When you reach 50, your bones will start feeling your weight: the strain of it will be giving you either muscle pain or bone pain, particularly in the back (the main support for your skeleton) and the knees (the main supporter of your body). This will give you even more problems as you drive your doctors crazy prescribing meds that will relieve your pain. If you have other habits that affect your health such as smoking, then it will just compound your problem. And so it goes on.

So besides #1-7 above, make sure you are proactive about your health by taking good care of yourself with regular exercise (walking is a good start) and eating a good diet (not so much of the chips, salt-ridden, fatty, and oily food, and more of the fruits, vegetables, as well as 6-8 glasses of water a day). When you see your PCP, ask him/her what they suggest in terms of a good diet and a good exercise regimen. If you are already now concerned about your weight, talk to your doctor about referring you to a nutritionist. Check your health plan now and find out if they will give you discounts or incentives to join an exercise or weight-reducing program. Believe me, the benefits can be tremendous, because if you can put off by several years the time your body succumbs to age and starts having conditions that are "normal" with aging (among them hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and adult-onset diabetes mellitus), then you will have saved several dollars on followups, specialist visits and co-pays, as well as prescription co-pays on meds for conditions that you could start paying for when you're already a senior. Besides that, when you aren't in good health and you apply for a life insurance policy, you will be asked to have a complete and thorough physical, sometimes done by the insurance company's own nurses, doctors, and labs. The poorer your health is, the higher your premiums will be when they approve your application. So in order to actually save money on your healthcare, you have to start by taking care of yourself, then make the most out of your health plan by making wise choices about your health and healthcare providers, and following up and consulting with your doctor about your health.

* It's not as if it's any better off in the Philippines where your employer, who pays for your medical insurance, can actually deny coverage to you for a pre-existing illness that you've had before they hired you. I.e., if you have untreated cancer and you went to work for any company in the Phils., and the illness was discovered in an employment physical, most companies will not cover that illness or any complications arising from it, so you're left to pick up the tab. But then again, the cost of healthcare there is not as prohibitive as it is here.

US Recession? I Doubt It

2008-05-10T13:58:00.025-04:00

For the past months, we have heard nothing stateside on financial or economic news except the effects of the housing and mortgage crisis. A few months before this hit, friends and relatives at home and in other countries report that they have been hearing news that America is headed for a recession -- if it isn't in the middle of one now already. So, is the US in the middle of a recession after the mortgage crisis?

I guess you could say the answer to that question is pretty much subjective and depends a lot on where you are living right now. If you're in the US, you'd never believe the country is in a recession. As you go outside US shores, you realize how precariously balanced the US economy is on a weakening US dollar so that if world financial markets were unanimous in not supporting the US dollar, the US economy would enter a greater depression that would make the Great Depression look like an economic hiccup.

Hey, I'm no economist, and my only claim to financial or economic analysis is about a decade's work as a financial and credit analyst in the Philippines. I'm pretty sure you can find out more about how the US economy works by reading financial publications and US newspapers with staff writers who actually went to school for this. What I aim to talk about here are the things US financial analysts seldom (if at all) realize is contributing to the continued stability of the US economy:

1. The gold standard and fixed currencies. Most countries' currencies at the beginning of the 20th century were pegged to a specific amount of gold. This means that each country's currency was convertible to a certain amount of gold on the assumption that the price of gold per ounce never changed. You can learn more about the gold standard by doing a simple Google search. My purpose here is to say that some economists/financial analysts blame the United States' decision on abandoning the gold standard as the reason for the shockingly high prices of oil today and the supposed recession. You see, when the US dollar (as well as other world currencies) were pegged to the gold standard, the price of a barrel of oil remained the same, albeit artificially in the sense that the price probably would have remained the same today if the oil supply remained constant and did not decrease. Of course, this was also dependent on whether or not currencies everywhere had a fixed exchange rate amongst each other as well as its value to gold.

2. Reserve currency. At the time the gold standard was adopted just after World War II by 44 Allied Nations, the United States was the only country that did not suffer significant damage to their infrastructure, society, and economy as a result of the 2 world wars. This made the US dollar the strongest currency (read, the one with the most purchasing power) among the nations that later formed the IMF and World Bank, so that it became the reserve currency of choice by the IMF. On top of that, among these nations, only the US dollar itself was backed by gold at $35/ounce, meaning that if you bought US dollars, your money was "as good as gold". The other countries, particularly those in Europe, were severely war-torn and -ravaged and needed money to rebuild their countries and economies. As a result, the need to rebuild made the Europeans "give up" more gold by buying US dollars to fund their recovery. This transferred a lot of gold into US treasury coffers (read, increased gold reserves), making the US dollar the most powerful and stable currency, so that the rest of the world eventually pegged their currencies to the US dollar.

To illustrate how this is significant to my Filipino countrymen, you might remember your parents or grandparents telling you that in the 1960s-1970s the exchange rate of the Phil. peso to the US dollar remained stable at P4.00 (give or take a few centavos) to $1.00 before it slowly started rising in the late '70s to more than PHP10~US$1. Unfortunately, 3 events took place over the course of a few years that gave way to the huge disparities among the world's currencies today: funding the Vietnam War, the oil shortage crisis, and the strengthening economies of European countries and Japan that effectively narrowed the per capita income between them and the US.

3. Exchange rates. To address the new problems above, the US dollar was devalued several times with respect to gold to as much as $70+ per ounce of gold. With the declining confidence in the US dollar's devaluation, other foreign currencies stopped pegging their currencies to the dollar, until finally the US abandoned the gold standard and the rest of the world followed suit, giving way to floating exchange rates and floating currencies. To keep their currencies from losing too much value in the FOREX (foreign exchange) market, most countries still buy and sell US dollar reserves, as well as other currencies, in order to maintain a value range that would not impoverish their economies, as well as keep the products they export competitively priced. In the case of the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral would buy or sell US dollars depending on the rise or fall of the peso against it.

Most goods and services (imports, exports) worldwide are still paid for in US dollars, and the US dollar is still considered a primary currency in Forex markets (as opposed to secondary and even tertiary currencies). In practical terms, if you lived in the Phils. (or any country except the US or Europe), you would have to buy US dollar-denominated traveler's checks (primary currency) in order to buy something in Japan or Canada or Brazil or Mexico, because all these other countries accept the US dollar as a viable currency second to their own national currency; i.e., these countries will not accept your Phil. peso (tertiary currency) if you wanted to buy something in their shops.

With the US entering into war with Iraq, a similar economic situation that was originally brought by the Vietnam War occurred: Bush's promise to have tax cuts effectively stopped that avenue of funds for the war, so the US resorted to printing more new money. The economic boom was fueled by low mortgage rates that, in turn, made buying houses more attractive, so that the demand for new homes increased. When demand outpaces supply, the price of the item in demand usually increases: hence, market values of homes all across the US went up, even if it really didn't cost that much to build them in the first place, or they were too old to justify a ridiculously high market value. However, because of too many new homebuyers wanting to get a slice of the pie, America's poor savings rate, the average American's overestimated earnings potential by creditors, and too many Americans not qualifying as prime borrowers (i.e., subprime), the real estate bubble finally burst: across the nation subprime borrowers faced foreclosure, prime borrowers faced higher loans on their houses while they saw the cost of their property revert to normal, and a couple of big mortgage insurers closed.

4. The Euro. On the international scene, the European currency, the euro has been gaining value against the US dollar. From a humble beginning of about 40 eurocents to a US dollar, it now costs about 65 eurocents per US dollar, effectively replacing the German Deutsch mark as the secondary reserve currency, and reflecting the confidence of other countries on this 8-year-old currency that is backed by several European countries' currencies. A few countries have already started buying euros to build up euro reserves in addition to their US dollar reserves, contributing to the steady rise of the euro vs. the US dollar. It is rumored that just before the US entered Iraq, Iraq was already planning to ask the other oil-producing countries (former OPEC) to begin asking euros in payment for the barrels of oil they export. (Iraq being one of the biggest oil producers would have had much clout at that meeting, and it is rumored that it is because of this plan that the US decided to shift its focus from hunting down Osama to bringing down Iraq to its knees and, maybe, control oil production and distribution for that country at least.) Unfortunately, despite the US' efforts, oil prices still went up as Iraq's oil infrastructure was slowed down by the war and Brazil, herself a major oil producer, as well as Iran now seem to have definite plans to sell oil in euros. Maybe the only thing stopping them is a US war intervention threat? Who knows? Some say Norway is now joining the voices of those who want to sell oil in euros. Would the US go to war in Norway to stop them from doing so? The point is that it may take considerably more than just the euro being 65 eurocents to a dollar before the US economy will truly enter a recession. 1 euro~$2 maybe? Again, who knows?

5. Savings rate. Meanwhile, everyone here and broad still decry the poor saving habits of Americans vs. Japan's or other European countries' savings rate. Having lived here for several years now, I don't blame Americans if they choose not to save too much. I mean, who'd want to put their money in a savings account that only earns 1%-2% p.a.? If you saved $500, you'd only earn a measly $4.90 at the end of a year, enough to buy yourself 2 kids' meals at McDonald's. You might argue, why not try a CD or money market? Sure, if I had at least $20,000 maybe. Otherwise, I'd just be earning the same interest rate as if I had a regular savings account. Online savings accounts with a few international banks like HSBC and ING will give you around 3% p.a. Though it's higher than most banks, it's still lower than the 4.5%-5% they were offering about a year ago when mortgage rates were also higher, and considerably lower than other countries' bank rates, some of whom are offering between 10%-20% if you invest with them in hard US currency. The low savings interest rate is why most Americans prefer to throw in their life savings into a house rather than save money at the bank. Their house is their savings account! My experience these past 7 years here shows that the only thing that appreciates in value in the US faster than money in the bank is a house you've mortgaged your life to in the hope that when you sell it, you'll be getting a nice little nest egg to fund your retirement. Well, the current mortgage and housing crisis sure put an end to that -- at least, temporarily.

6. The Federal Reserve. Finally, the bulwark against any American economic storm is the Federal Reserve, the US' central bank. In order to ensure that Americans' savings and retirements don't go up in smoke, the Fed intervenes from time to time during crises such as this. The government basically bails out either homeowners or lenders (bankrupted mortgagors), depending both on who are sitting in the Oval Office and in the Senate, while the Fed helps by lowering interest rates. Sometimes, even if the government allows the chips to fall where they may when mortgage companies fall and houses are foreclosed, the Fed is still the biggest factor behind how soon the US economy recovers after any significant dip, this one included. In just a few months, we have seen interest rates go lower than they have been in quite some time so that real estate brokers are now back on TV urging Americans to refinance their now unaffordable housing loan or, for those who don't own a house yet, to buy one now that they "cost cheaper" and "interest rates are lower".

Yes, even with the way things look right now, I doubt we're ever going to have another recession, no matter what the rest of the world thinks. With all the above going for us, I am guessing the only thing that will push this country towards a true recession is if the euro keeps increasing vs. the dollar so that it gains ground against it. If the rest of the world catches on before it does so, then they just might buy more euros as reserves instead of dollars, so that in the intervening time frame before the Fed likewise catches on and protects the dollar, the damage has been made and inflation finally comes home to US shores. For now, there's just still a bit too many things stacked against the euro for it to make much difference and truly create a US recession.

Some of My Favorite DS Games

2008-03-29T09:54:00.016-04:00

Here is the list of Nintendo DS games I promised I would give to girl gamers out there. (Just because I say girl gamer doesn't mean this is only for little girls. I meant any girl or woman be they a kid, teen, college student, single yuppie, working mother, housewife, or grandmother.) One of the people I work with is actually a grandmother (she's in her mid 50s), and she plays her grandson's Gameboy and DS because they were what her children used to play when they were growing up in the '80s. Without further ado, my favorite DS games:

1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village was my favorite until I finished the game in one week. I would've finished it sooner if I didn't have a day job to go to. At least they have weekly puzzle downloads. By the time I downloaded the second, I was through with the story. For younger kids this will be a good way to hone their thinking skills, especially the thinking-out-of-the-box kind of thing that we often lose when we get older. This game will keep the brain sharp better than the Brain Age games. There are 2 new sequels to Prof. Layton in Japan, I'm told, and the first of these is now being translated for the US market. Can't wait!

2. My Word Coach is a current favorite. It's supposed to help you with your vocabulary. However, if you already have a good vocabulary, this game will help refresh your memory with meanings of words that are seldom used but can sound really good when you use them while giving lectures or teaching others. Sort of wracks up your smart points up there. The Expression Potential is the measure of how good you are with your vocabulary. Don't worry if it tells you your vocabulary is that of a high school (or even younger) student. It always says that at the beginning so you feel you're making progress when your vocabulary does improve. The game advises that you play it daily for 20 minutes, and I find this doable on a busy schedule ... until I unlocked these other mini-games that you can play as long as you want or as long as the clock doesn't run down on you. If you're good with vocab, then the time doesn't run out, and so you end up playing more hours than the 20 minutes you thought you would.

3. Nervous Brickdown is a remake of the classic Breakout game where you hit a ball with a horizontal paddle so the ball will bounce off bricks on the top. There are 10 worlds with 9 levels each, 4 of which are unlocked when you first start, all of them different takes on Breakout. Like the usual DS games, there are boss levels (called "SP") on each world. The good thing about this is that you don't have to win in the boss level to get to the next world; all you have to do is go through at least 6 levels, and the game will unlock the next world after that. The other good thing about this is you are given 6 lives for each game, so you can sometimes complete the easier worlds/levels without losing a life. This game is a true test of hand-eye coordination, particularly at the boss levels.

4. The NY Times Crossword Puzzles. This one I love! They chose puzzles from 2003-2005 and put it in this game chip. If you're familiar with the NY Times crosswords, the difficulty levels are ranked by day: Mondays are the easiest, Sundays the hardest. I usually play this on long commutes. When I get bored with it, I go to the next game in this list.

5. Picross DS which is like Sudoku with pictures. You fill in blocks on a grid (sometimes 10 x 10 or 15 x 15 or more) by following the number clues per row and column. There are also downloadable puzzles via WiFi just like Prof. Layton, so this game has never tired me yet.

6. There are SIMs that are maintenance games and easy to "play". I call them maintenance games because they require you to play them at least once a day so your character doesn't die or your town doesn't become a ghost town or something. These are Animal Crossing, MySims, and Nintendogs (Labrador Retriever and Friends). Just a note on MySims: the Wii version is definitely better than the DS one, and if you have to choose between MySims on the DS or Animal Crossing, go for Animal Crossing because it has way more ways to advance your character and life in your town, except for the mortgage that keeps getting bigger and bigger each time you pay it off. Animal Crossing will not allow you to go on playing once you pay off your mortgage, so you have to take a new one each time. The nice thing about the mortgage, though, is you can drag your own sweet time about paying it (as opposed to real-life ones)!

The other games I play on the DS that are laid back like the ones I mentioned above are Tetris DS, which is the very first game I bought; Clubhouse Games, another good game to play on long commutes, specially since it has a lot of the common card and board games I grew up with; Puzzle Quest, a turn-based puzzle game I can definitely put down once in a while; Puzzle Planet League which is a slower version of Meteos; Meteos, a game of falling "stars" or bricks that you have to launch back up to the atmosphere by lining them up in vertical or horizontal lines of at least 3 blocks each; the cuter Disney Meteos has Disney characters on the blocks (you'd think this was easy, but wait til you try to go through the levels on the"Difficult" mode); Chocobo Tales which is a spinoff from Final Fantasy; Mario vs. Donkey Kong in March of the Minis; and Cooking Mama which has the added plus of having recipes you can actually cook in real life!

The "faster" DS games I play are the ones that allow me to move frantically to race against the clock to go to the next level (RPG) or the ones that I have to "fight" to advance to the next level (platform games). These are Diner Dash, Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, Diddy Kong Racing, Yoshi's Island DS, Mario and Luigi Partners in Time, DK Jungle Climber, Worms 2: Open Warfare (this is so cute, and I loved it so much that I bought the Wii game almost just like it: Worms: A Space Oddity!).

Today is Earth Hour

2008-03-29T09:20:00.004-04:00

In 2007 Earth Hour was created by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia to make a statement about energy conservation and climate change. Tonight, at 8-9 PM in major cities' respective time zones, the second Earth Hour will be observed almost around the world.

Much of the world's prosperous nations rely on electricity to power virtually everything in business, industry, and the home. A significant amount of this electricity uses fossil fuels (oil) and radioactive nuclear energy. The former depletes the world's already dwindling supply while the latter pollutes the environment from the air above to the land and sea below.

When we left the country a few years ago, it was still common to have brownouts at specified hours of the day to save electricity; the color coding of license plates was in effect to loosen traffic gridlocks (with the much-needed side effect of saving gas); and water was frequently turned off in several areas of Manila because of water shortage. Our kids still remember brownouts caused by typhoons. Now that we are here where electricity seems to be on throughout the day, it is harder for them to appreciate energy conservation. We have had to drill into them the necessity of shutting off appliances and lights when not in use, to make sure the faucets are not dripping when they turn them off, and to turn off the shower when they have to soap and shampoo (instead of leaving it permanently on from start to finish).

Tonight we are making a big deal of Earth Hour so they can appreciate why it's important to save energy for future generations. We bought candles so we can burn them and tell real, true-to-life stories in candlelight about how the lack of electricity and running water is an everyday fact of life in most of the world. I want them to be thankful for every drop of water, watt of electricity, and gallon of gas that we are able to buy or pay for and to be generous in supporting causes that make sure these resources are saved.

Sa mga Pinoy na nasa America, why not remind your children kung saan tayo nanggaling, at paalalahanin sila na napakaswerte nila na andito na sila sa lugar na wala silang nararamdamang brownout at water shortage? Tayong mga Pinoy OCWs ay pinagpala ng Diyos na mabigyan ang ating mga anak ng pagkakataon sa mas magandang buhay gawa ng ating trabaho dito. Wag natin sana kalimutan ang Pinoy value ng pagtitipid ng gasolina, koryente, at tubig para di mga anak natin ang magbayad bukas sa mga kawaldasan natin ngayon.

For more information about Earth Hour in the US, please go to: http://www4.earthhourus.org/

Confessions of a Girl Gamer

2008-03-08T07:41:00.022-05:00

Good morning, everyone, my name is Mammu and I'm a gamer. ...

If there was a group called Gamers Anonymous, this is how I'd probably introduce myself. In the past year, while waiting for my EAD, I've discovered the world of handheld gaming through my most-prized possession (second only to my cellphone), the Nintendo DS.

My husband and I had planned to buy one for our child on Christmas 2006, but because it was then the current gift of the year, stores around here sold all their stock before we could get our hands on one. Fortunately, by the end of January 2007 they got new stocks in, so we decided to give it as a Valentine's Day gift instead.

One week before Valentine's Day we bought a white DS. Our daughter couldn't wait for Valentine's Day, however, so we decided to open it. From the moment I heard the opening sound, I was hooked -- permanently and forever and irrevocably hooked. I was so hooked, in fact, that I refused to give it to my daughter and told her to wait for Valentine's Day -- by which time my hubby and I had already bought her a pink one.

Since that time, life has never been the same. I discovered the joy of gaming and the pleasures offered by my Nintendo DS that I absolutely can't find anywhere. I would stay up all hours of the night to complete a stage or level or break previous records. I probably won't make waves or even be able to compete head-to-head against younger, more experienced gamers like my daughter and other kids I know, but I do hold my own in most games and can actually say I completed a few games by myself from start to finish. I just wish my list of completed games would grow. I even put down "Complete 5 Nintendo DS games this year" as one of my New Year's resolutions. I figured that was a reasonable enough number considering I work 8 hours a day and have a family to take care of. (Excuses, I know.)

I wish I could say my addiction stopped right there, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. Because the DS has a slot that accepts Gameboy cartridges, I discovered I also liked to play some GBA games. Having more than 3 Nintendo products by then, I registered online to get free 3 months of Nintendo Power magazine. Without waiting for the 3 months to be up, I signed up for my own subscription. A couple of months afterward in May 2007, I wholly supported my husband in his purchase of a Wii. (A good thing, too, seeing as the Wii was 2007's Christmas gift of the year. The Wii is so hard to come by now in our area that most stores will only have 1 or 2 units available before they are gone that very same day.)

Now I've got it so bad I've had complaints from my family about dinner not being served on time; the house not being clean enough; laundry not being done; too many dishes in the sink; butting into conversations with a question about how to beat a certain boss at a certain level; YouTube always being on at the same time as the TV (I need tips, you know, and when you're playing on one, you need the other for hints); being rude at parties because I start playing in one corner once the conversation starts to get boring or the others start drinking (why don't they get a Wii so we can actually start dancing to DDR?); suspiciously oily Wiimotes that I eventually bought colorful, temperature-sensitive sleeves for all of them, so now the complaint is, "Mom, the pink Wiimote isn't pink anymore, it's purple! How long have you been playing?"; and even rushing through sex so I could play before I slept. My husband tells me he's thankful his job isn't in England or else I'll probably have it worse than I do now.

The only people who haven't complained are the people at work, my daughter, her friends, and other kids at kids' parties. My boss once said, "Boy, Mammu, you've finished that project way before the deadline! Very well researched and well done, too! I think I'm gonna give you a little bonus for that." Boy, did I need that. After all, I need to finance my addiction. My daughter's friends think I'm so cool, while their parents gave me strange looks once or twice when I recommended games for their kids. My Filipino friends' kids who have DS's know they can confidently and secretly tell me their birthday wish lists and know for certain that I'll be whispering in the right ears so they can be assured they will get at least 2 new games by the time the big day rolls around. I have an agreement with my daughter about when she can use the Wii, not because she uses it too much but because I need my airtime, too and, as a mom, I feel I'm entitled to more gameplay. If the Wii wasn't so hard to come by, I'd buy a second unit and place it in my bedroom. Fortunately, we don't have to fight over the DS. And to keep my gamer hubby happy, I gave him his much-coveted GBA Micro for Father's Day. (I was going to wait for our 14th wedding anniversary but it was 6 months away. Meanwhile, I didn't need to hear any more complaints about "rushing sex".)

By now you've probably caught on that we're a gaming family. Prior to the DS, my gamer hubby would play using our PC (it's practically his job so I guess you can hardly call it "playing"). For the first few years of our marriage he has tried to entice me to play with him or against him, but I didn't like the huge thing he calls a controller. He's now so proud I've osmotically absorbed his gaming hobby that he proudly tells everybody he bought me my first DS. Yes, I won't close the book on this being my first DS -- or handheld gaming device for that matter. Now that my family has gotten to grips with and have finally accepted my condition, it's safe to say I'll be a girl gamer for a life. My most fervent wish is that when I reach my golden years, nursing homes will have Wii's and DS's (or their equivalent) so I can play til the day I die.

Coming up next: My Favorite Games and How to Teach Your Gamer Kid to Balance School and Gaming

Bayanihan: How a Filipino Value has Deteriorated in the US

2008-03-06T09:01:00.029-05:00

Bayanihan is a word that means helping one another, mutual aid and cooperation. It is a heroic part on several Filipinos in a community that results for the good of at least another person or group of persons within the community. When Filipinos hear the word bayanihan, only one picture comes to mind: several people working together, side by side, carrying a house to help move it to a new location, like this one I found on flickr.

Unfortunately, not every Filipino is true to the spirit of bayanihan. Kahit naman sa ating bansa, may mga taong hindi talaga matulungin. Some attribute this to our regionalistic tendencies, i.e., people from one province will tend to look down on a person from another, especially if the latter has just moved into the former province and speaks a different dialect. Unless anyone else noticed, most instances of bayanihan today involve the same people from the same community in the same province. Additionally, for several years now, people living in Visayas and Mindanao feel that the national language Pilipino should not be based on Tagalog, the dialect of most of Luzon (the biggest Phil. island), since there is a significantly higher percentage of the population who speak Cebuano. If there is this continuing inherent dislike among ourselves just because we come from different provinces, what about in the US? Is the bayanihan spirit alive and well among the various Filipino communities in the US? I don't think so. And here's why. ...

I've realized that a lot of Pinoy immigrant professionals adopted the term bayanihan for the name of their club. In at least 2 different areas from 2 different states, the first group to take the name are usually composed of doctors. The sad thing is, they've both become this exclusive clique who refuses to take in new members (other than established doctors). In our area alone, the Bayanihan Association is now mostly composed of aging doctors in their 60s and 70s. A few are in their 50s, none in their 30s or 40s. There are no members who are nurses, and the only other members I know who aren't doctors are 2nd generation Pinoys born in the US who hardly speak Tagalog (if at all). I myself and my family were denied membership in this club. The association supposedly "organizes fund-raising events, medical missions, cultural presentations and activities to promote camaraderie among the Filipinos in the area, and assists recent Filipino immigrants to integrate into the American community and lifestyle." I have yet to see one of their members actually do this to any new Pinoy nurses and their families and Pinoy computer programmers and their families.

Why do they do this? Is it because the rest of us nurses and programmers don't earn as much as they do? Maybe not as intellectual as they are? Syempre para maging doktor ka, mautak ka dapat. However, there are a lot of Pinoys who are nurses and programmers who are as intelligent (if not more so) than these doctors. Some of them may not have had the interest to study medicine, or maybe not enough money. Some of them deliberately chose to be nurses so they can easily emigrate to the US. That doesn't mean we're any less Pinoy or intelligent as they are. A lot of them still have their Pinoy accents that still gives them away for what they are. Kahit ano pang gawin nila para umarteng mas mayaman kesa ordinaryong, middle class na Kano at Pinoy, kulay moreno pa rin ang mga balat nila at may punto pa rin magsalita. Unless they studied in Ateneo or La Salle, Greenhills or Poveda when they were younger.

At ang bababa po ng tingin nila sa mga tulad naming mga nurses at programmers lamang. Parang utusan ang tingin nila sa amin. Maybe that's why they never opened membership to our groups. So where is the bayanihan spirit in there? Where is the pagtutulungan? One of the nurse practitioners (NP) I work with actually said that on the group's annual Christmas parties, there are no kids, and the doctors are so old that the music they play are unrecognizable to the NP because of their ancientness. Maybe they play songs from my grandparents' day. This NP says there's no new blood in the group, no new member since she and her husband (2nd generation US-born Pinoy who doesn't know Tagalog) started attending 7 years ago. There are always a few Americans attending for the first time, most of them in their 30s-40s, who usually worked in the offices of the various doctors there. However, since they are literally snobbed and not acknowledged by their own bosses (as if they didn't know them), these first-time attendees never come back for a second party the following year. How tragic!

On the up side, if there is any up side at all, because this group prefers to maintain an elitist image, by the time they all die out, there will be no one to carry on with their activities -- unless they realize their mistake and start taking in new members (read, doctors). Then that means other Pinoys will just go on with their legacy of higher-than-thou attitudes and member exclusivity. Also, if they are true to their goal of organizing fundraisers, then they might be doing some of these for our Pinoy brothers and sisters back home. Maybe they are big enough to do medical missions, too. My question is, do they look credible to you and to me after finding out they're philanthropic but can't be bothered to incorporate other Pinoy immigrants into their circle because we happen to be "beneath" them? Napakabalimbing po, mga kaibigan, kung santo't santa ang mukhang pinapakita nila sa mga Pinoy sa Pinas na pinag-uukulan nila ng kanilang mga fundraiser, pero isnabero at matapobre naman sa mga Pinoy nilang mga kapatid na tagarito. The rest of us had to form their own group just so we have a network that will help other Filipinos integrate into communities here. Guess what? We have a couple of doctors and their families, with kids in their teens and pre-teens. (I bet they are there so their kids have other Pinoy kids their age to play with.)

Like I already mentioned, it's really, really sad that we have Pinoys like these living among us. It's an insult to an outstanding Pinoy value and the spirit of bayanihan because they certainly haven't helped any other Pinoy here besides themselves. Konti na lang nga kaming mga Pinoy dito, di pa kami magtulungan. Marami sana kaming magagawa kung nagsama-sama kami at tumulong sa mga kababayan natin dito at mga kapatid sa Pilipinas. Kelan kaya sila magbabago? Sobra na! Umaabuso na! Palitan na!

Blogger now in Filipino

2008-02-24T17:30:00.010-05:00

A few days ago Blogger announced that it's now available in Filipino. This was wonderful news to me, and I'm hoping more of my Pinoy expat friends here will soon get the blogging buzz and start blogging. Unfortunately, when I checked it out, it looked like it wasn't translated well into Tagalog.

Oh, yes, and can someone tell Blogger please that Filipino is what you call a person who was born or is a citizen of the Philippines, and only one of the languages is Tagalog (some will accept Pilipino) not "Filipino"? Tagalog is only one of several Filipino dialects, although some linguists classify them as languages because the words in each "dialect" are totally different in meaning from that of another.

Here's my attempt to get a screenshot of the new Blogger in Filipino opening screen. Even my grandma didn't talk Tagalog this way. It's just a little anticlimactic to find out that the language isn't contemporary Tagalog at all, i.e., not the Tagalog we speak back home anyway. I mean, not even the soap operas and Pinoy telenovelas on TV sound this way. On the AM radio maybe, but certainly not most Filipinos, including Filipino bloggers, who are well-versed in Taglish (a mixture of Tagalog and English). Credit that to the good educational system we have back home where English is still the primary mode of instruction in more than half the schools, including public schools. All I'm saying is that if I translated English into Tagalog for my Filipino clients the way this was translated, more than a number of them are going to say "What did you say?"

If English could be contemporary on the English-language Blogger, then I think the Tagalog (Pilipino) version could be the same way. I mean, wouldn't "Take a Quick Tour", translated as Maglibot ng Mabilisan", translate better into "Pasyalan" to connote what tour really means in Tagalog? " And more" was translated to "at higit pa" when we would've used "atbp.", short for "at iba pa". I don't know. ... Maybe I just don't want Filipino Blogger to sound like a hard-to-understand Pinoy textbook. ... And what's with the wrong spellings? Kumuka and buohin?? Maybe I've gotten old, but do they teach that spelling already in schools back home now? Also, wouldn't "Gawin ang iyong blog" sound better? A Filipino reading "Mga Kapuna-punang Blog" is less likely to read them because puna connotes a negative kind of attention, more like criticism. A better translation I would've used is "Mga Kapansin-pansin na Blog", which gives the true meaning and nuance of "Blogs of Note". Let's hope they have a good Pinoy editor to put things right. ...

What if You're H-4?

2008-02-23T19:34:00.010-05:00

For 6 years I was an H-4. To those who don't know what this is, it's the visa given to spouses and children of foreign workers with an H-1 working visa. The -4 suffix after the letter limits what you can do in the US, i.e., you can't work for pay. This status isn't likely to change for at least a couple of years, depending on whether or not the employer of the primary visaholder (the one with the H-1) decides to sponsor him/her for a green card and on how fast the INS approves such requests in your state.

In my case, it took 6 years because we came in just before 9/11 occurred, and my husband's employer's application for his green card was filed 2 years after the event. The usual time it took for a green card application to be approved is 3 years, but because of 9/11 which happened here in NY state, a huge backlog developed as the INS and DHS started going through green card applications with a fine tooth comb. The approval process has shortened somewhat due to the new PERM law authored by the Democrats, but until the people in the old backlog are given their numbers, applications under PERM are unlikely to move forward, too. Meanwhile, what can you do if you have an H-4 visa, can't work, and are waiting for your spouse's green card application to be approved?

1. Study. Faced with the prospect of getting bored during those months the kids were at school, I opted to study one course to see what it was like and to brush up on that subject (Accounting), with the hope of eventually finding an employer to sponsor me to work. However, having no family here and few friends in the first couple of years here, I didn't have a babysitting option for my kids. So I changed tactics and the following year, I took up courses that would eventually give me a medical transcription certificate in a few months. After graduating from the course, I took volunteer jobs as an MT and interned in 3 different medical practices to gain experience so that, by the time I got my EAD (Employment Authorization Document card) and SS card, I already had the necessary experience to actually work for online transcription companies from home. Since I did volunteer work, I was able to set my own hours and be home when my kids came off the bus stop.

Some say they registered to study to get rid of their H-4. This may not be true in all states, universities or colleges, because the INS and most universities and colleges do not require you to change your status to a J (student) visa when you register for courses. In fact, the INS often denies an H-4 switching to a J-1 because the mere fact a person has an H-4 means he or she is a dependent of the primary visaholder and has financial support. This means he or she doesn't have to work to pay for the college courses. (Some H-4s apply for a J-1 not because they need to work part-time to fund their courses, but because they just want to work or earn extra income.) The one and only occasion I've heard the INS approve a switch is if the following conditions are met: you're a university scholar for a master's degree, your scholarship stipulates that your education is not 100% funded but you have to maintain a full credit load to maintain scholarship, which means you do have to work part-time to pay for the shortfall in the scholarship. You see, there's no way an H-1 worker can pay for several credits on a master's degree without going into debt for it; they are just way too expensive. So if your goal is to use education to hopefully change your H-4 status, then make sure you meet the above requirements. Otherwise, you'll be in no such luck.

2. Develop meaningful crafts or hobbies. This turned out particularly well for my family. I love reading and, during my spare time, went to the local libraries to borrow books. When a friend in church gave me her old electric sewing machine, I decided to learn to sew. I borrowed books from the library and bought a couple so I could learn how to sew clothes. In a few weeks I was able to sew my kids their first tops. Now I have graduated to making their special occasion gowns/dresses that they use for school concerts, parties, etc, and I've begun to sew my own. This turned out to be economical for us, especially because kids grow up so fast that they sometimes change sizes twice a year. I sewed practically all my formal dresses for the Christmas dinners that the Phil-Am club holds annually. Those that I didn't sew, someone just gave to me.

When I got "tired" of just sewing clothes, I tried my hand at quilting. Again borrowing books from the library, I learned how to quilt. When birthday parties came up, I would sometimes give quilts which are easy to make and sometimes cheaper than the latest electronic toddler toy. What's more, the parents loved the quilts and there were usually requests for me to make more and that they were willing to pay for. If I wasn't busy with my studies and later, the volunteer job, I would probably have made a small tidy income just sewing quilts.

3. Babysit. Maraming Pinoy at Kano ang nangangailangan ng babysitter, especially on emergency situations. If you have integrated yourself into the community you live in and you know a few Filipino families already, you'll be surprised at how many need babysitters, especially on snow days when parents find out on the day itself that the kids have to stay home and the daycare and aftercare in school are closed. Watching some of your neighbor's kids when the parents go on dates can also give you some sort of small income. Do not take in more kids than you can handle, though, because you're not a daycare. Additionally, make sure you took a CPR course for infants and children so you're prepared for an emergency with any of the kids you're watching. As with no. 2 above, don't be greedy and make sure you only do this on emergent situations and not on a regular basis, because if you earn too much money and are paid in checks, the IRS will take notice and tax you. When they tax you and you don't have an SS no., then the IRS will come after you and deport you for working illegally in the US. Note also that some parents put their babysitting expenses into a Flexplan at work, which means they declared that money as nontaxable. If that money is declared, then you will need to declare the amount they paid you as income on your tax return. Otherwise, the IRS will come after you and, on their heels, will be the INS.

4. Keep yourself fit. Staying at home for long periods of time or going to the mall to while away the hours until your kids come home is not exactly a good thing. If you're not studying and you're not necessarily craft-y or like to babysit kids, then why not enroll for an exercise program at your local gym or Y? Pilates, yoga, tai-chi, cardio, even dancing classes are available everywhere and cost less than a college course does. With me it was swimming. Before long I was swimming a mile per day 3 days a week during lunchtime. I took the next step and took the lifeguard certification course. Now I'm a certified lifeguard, too, and will have another source of income this summer.

5. Volunteer your time. There are several ways of doing this. One of the most fulfilling I've found is volunteering at my kids' school for their parties. I met other parents who volunteered, too, some of them working as cafeteria personnel, some as bankers on school banking day. Volunteering exposes you to different workplaces and work environments that can help you with choices of jobs later on -- not to mention your marketability -- when you finally get your EAD and SS card. With all the volunteer work I've done, I've learned a lot about medical practices/clinics, medical insurance companies, youth camps, support jobs in schools, and lifeguard work. Now that I've had my SS card for several months, I have second and third jobs lined up for the summer when the days are longer and there's more opportunity to work at several jobs simultaneously.

These are just 5 things you can do while you have your H-4. I'm sure you can add or think up some more. Just make sure working illegally isn't one of them. Alam kong maraming Pinoy ang TNT hanggang ngayon, but what choice do they have? Mag-isa sila pumunta dito, so kelangan nila talaga kumayod for their families back home. E ikaw na H-4 na may asawang H-1 at sumusuporta sayo, bakit mo itatapon ang opportunity ninyo for a green card by working illegally? Remember, if your spouse's employer already has a green card application in the works and you're caught working illegally, that endangers your spouse's application and will be cause for the two of you (not to mention your kids) to be deported back home. Deportation is not exactly the way you've planned to come home as a balikbayan. And when you're deported, depending on what the cause of your deportation is, you will be permanently banned from entering the US anywhere from 10 years to forever. So why trade a few years' worth of change money (illegal work) in exchange for you and your family's entire future in the US? I'm telling you now, from several Pinoys points of view, it's not worth it. You're already a legal alien with your H-4, so use it wisely and responsibly, be patient, and in time, that will soon be a green card and you can start working again.

Baón sa Utang: Digging Yourself Out of Debt

2008-02-23T09:36:00.012-05:00

What if you're now buried under a lot of debt and can't seem to get out? Do you sign up with those companies that tell you they will help you pay your debt by consolidating all your loans so you just "make one monthly payment"? What's the catch? Consolidating all your debt so you make one monthly payment seems a good way to start getting a handle on runaway debt. But doesn't that open more avenues and opportunities for you to get into more debt? Below are some of the tips and advice I've learned from people who have either gone through this process or work in credit collection themselves:

1. Do not sign up for any debt consolidation scheme ... One of the most vehement advice I've gotten on this matter was not to go to those companies who advertise online, on TV, radio, and sometimes by telemarketing calls to your house, and ask them to consolidate your debt. For a minimal consultation fee, these companies and their representatives will talk with you and see where they can put all your debt together, divide it into manageable monthly payments for x number of years, and then ask you to pay one monthly installment, usually to their company. Then they will be in charge of disbursing the portions of your payment to either the credit card companies or your bankers. They tell you that this is the best way to clean up your debt and your credit history.

This arrangement sounds incredibly appealing, especially when you feel you can't get out of your debt burden anymore. In one sense this is a good thing, especially for compulsive borrowers and debtors, because paying one monthly installment frees up the rest of their disposable income and "allows" them to borrow more. And so they get into the whole cycle again of borrowing and not being able to pay their debt, going for another debt consolidation, until someone out there finally wises up and denies credit to them.

For the rest of you who aren't exactly that way, the catch is, your credit score plummets to zero as if you never had any credit history at all. The moment you sign up and your new payment program kicks into place, the credit bureaus get wind of it and somehow you're now earmarked as a poor candidate for any credit. So if you were later on trying to buy a new car or a house, you'd find dealerships and lenders asking you to have guarantors or down payments or even deny you credit altogether until you re-establish your credit history. So now you're back to square one with trying to establish credit all over again. But what if you do owe a lot and want to get on solid financial ground again? Then read on.

2. ... unless you are discussing debt restructuring with your bank or mortgage lender. Unless the debt you're trying to pay off is your monthly house mortgage, debt consolidation with another company other than your banker or mortgage lender is not a good option. If the debt you're having difficulty paying is your house mortgage, talk to your banker or mortgage lender. There are what you call second or third mortgages, refinancing, or debt restructuring. These 3 will allow you to avoid defaulting on your mortgage and/or take advantage of lower interest rates. This is totally different from the type of debt in no. 1 above, which is mostly for those who have so much credit card debt that all they can manage to pay monthly are the minimum payments due on their various credit cards that they have little or no disposable income left, so they resort to using whatever balance(s) was (were) freed up in their credit cards to finance that month's expenses.

3. Seek help: talk to a financial advisor, your accountant, banker, or someone who knows about using credit wisely about your options to pay off your huge debt other than no. 2 above. Face the facts, be honest with yourself, and admit you need help with managing debt. This is the first step. If you keep fooling yourself into believing you have a handle on things, then think again. Like chronic alcoholism, there is such a thing as compulsive spending. Talk to a friend and ask if he or she can direct you to a good financial advisor. If you have an accountant or banker, talk to them. They are in the best position to advise you because they can see your monthly bank statements and your annual earnings. If they tell you they can't help you because it's not their "field of expertise", the only other solution I've found that worked best for a couple of Filipino friends was Crown Financial Ministries.

As their website puts it, "Crown is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that teaches God’s biblical principles of finances to people around the world. We teach through our award-winning radio programs, church teaching solutions, newsletter, and products, including workbooks and software." Now your eyebrows may be going up by now thinking what can an obviously Christian company do to help me out of my debt? Do they require me to be a member of their group or believe what they believe in order for me to get the financial help I need? Though Crown is a non-denominational organization, what my Pinoy friends liked about it is that their volunteers (called Crown Money Map Coaches) were able to help them reduce their debt and advised them on wise spending, and Crown's plan to help you achieve financial freedom using what they call the Crown Money Map actually worked for them. I have looked over their website just before writing this, and they now have a separate website purely for helping people with debt reduction and achieve financial freedom at CrownMoneyMap.org. So if you think you need to talk with someone for help about reducing your debt, I believe this is one of the best people to go to.

4. Finally, if you're already in debt trouble, stop using credit NOW. Do not apply for additional credit cards. If no. 3 above did not work for you and you have chosen to go the way of no. 1, then do not get more credit cards. Note that with your credit score severely undermined by debt consolidation, any new credit application you make will reflect negatively on your already poor credit history because you have so many declines on your applications (if you keep trying). If you did not seek any debt-paying advice yet, then read nos. 7 and 8 of my topic Pagtitipid: How to Save Money ... and Keep Some of It. Now is the time to start paying off your credit cards until you're down to one or, at most, 2.

Being in a huge amount of debt is not good. It creates stress (maybe even marital trouble), sleepless nights, and reduces what could be a good life to a mere hand-to-mouth existence. I mean, let's face it: we tried to escape near poverty in the Philippines by studying and working hard so we could get to a place where we don't have to worry about money anymore. Why throw all of that away with our keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality or upgrading our lifestyle to one we weren't used to just so to make ourselves feel we've done it or we've arrived? Arrived at what? Near bankruptcy maybe? Believe me, living and working in the US can be more enjoyable without a millstone of debt hanging around your neck. ...

Pagtitipid: How to Save Money ... and Keep Some of It

2008-02-05T17:18:00.004-05:00

Most Filipinos tell you that they aim to save money for retirement, for their kids' education, or for their families back home in answer to the question "Why are you going to work abroad?" I mean, let's face it: the Phil. economy has been left far behind by some of our other Asian neighbors, and we now walk side by side with war-ridden or -torn economies like the former Cambodia, former Burma, Vietnam, and seldom-heard Laos. Even Thailand has outstripped our economy in the last few years. The Phil. peso just doesn't buy more stuff these days than it did 10, even 5, years ago.

One of the officers in the company my husband now works for said that the biggest export the Philippines has is its manpower. Everywhere you go in the world you see Filipinos working in more affluent countries. The countries of choice are usually Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations of the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Japan, and the United States. Europe is now also seeing a lot of Filipino workers in the past decade. Do those of us Filipinos who work abroad really earn a lot as what some of our relatives boast about back home? Are we able to send money home? Are we able to save at all?

First, let me dispel a misconception that most of our countrymen have about Filipinos working abroad. A lot of us think that just because other Pinoys work abroad, especially the US, they already have a gazillion money. The relatives back home calculate the exchange rate of the dollars their loved ones earn in the US and exclaim at how big their salary is, and how far that salary will go in the Philippines. Unfortunately, even if US dollar-denominated salaries seem huge by Pinoy standards, we also have to spend dollars to buy anything we need. A bottle of water that costs 70 cents already translates into PhP30. A $5 medium-sized value meal at BK or McDo seems exorbitant at PhP240, when you could buy a similar-sized one for about PhP150 back home. Mind you, there's also the difference in the size of the sandwich, drink and fries you're getting here compared to back home. So even though we seem to be earning a lot to the folks back home and sending them some money, it is actually them who can sit back and relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor while we go on slaving over here to send them more.

Now that we have that all cleared up, let's go to the basics of saving some money. Hopefully, by the time you finish reading this you will be able to brainstorm more ways of saving money for yourself. This list can also help our folks back home who can benefit from a little monetary advice.

1. Make a monthly budget and stick to it. To me this is my starting goal in saving. Here in the US you already know how much you have to pay monthly for your rent or mortgage, car loan, cable and internet, and phone bill(s). Utilities like the electric/gas and/or water bill usually have a range that you will soon be able to establish after at least 6 months of living here. If 3 of those months are in the winter, that's when heat use makes your utility bill go up and you can have a good estimate of your highest monthly usage. Food purchases vary greatly, as well as gas, clothing, and recreational expenses. So when you make your budget, put right there at the top 10% of your salary (see below for more info), the rent/mortgage, car loan, cable bill, phone bill, and utility bills. If you are regularly sending money home, put a fixed amount down there, too, inclusive of remittance fees. Then estimate your other variable expenses including credit card bills. When you add everything up, try to leave yourself a few hundred of your salary that you can also put aside to save.

2. Save 10% (or more) of your monthly salary. This is a common saving tip that I hear often advertised here. Compared to most Asians (except probably Filipinos), Americans are notoriously poor savers. If you had already read some of my posts here, to have a life in the US actually means to have some sort of credit -- credit history, that is. To build that, you gotta borrow money and prove you can pay it. My Pinoy common sense had a hard time dealing with that for a few months because it literally tells you to borrow money, and your credit rating depends on how well or soon you pay that off. (Contrast this with showing the bank you have some savings and a good portion of your salary left over each month in the Phils. before they will actually give you a credit card.) But I digress here.

Before you even think of spending your salary on rent, utilities, food, etc., put aside that 10% in a savings account. Don't give in to the temptation to use that money unless you lose your job. Make this 10% a part of your monthly budget so you don't even feel it's an optional or voluntary thing. Make it compulsory and obligatory on your part to save this, and consider it an expense so you don't think you can go back to your savings account and withdraw the money. If your salary will be severely depleted by saving 10%, then try saving 5%. When your salary increases, then you can save 10%. If you're in a position to save more, then do save more. If you have any money left over because you have wisely stuck to your budget, then save that, too.

3. Consider opening an investment or long-term savings account. The beauty of saving 10% of your salary each month is it soon allows you to build up your financial resources so you can open a CD, money market account, investment account, or start a retirement fund. If your company has 401k and other investment opportunities for employees, take advantage of these. They will usually match a portion of what you save, and some of these are nontaxable (unless you withdraw) and will actually lower your income bracket so the IRS gives you more in terms of a refund for the following year. If you are more daring and financially savvy, you can probably go into stocks or bonds or get a financial broker to invest for you. One tip my mother always told me when it comes to investing in the stock market and other similar products is this: make sure the money you put into these riskier investments is money you can wave goodbye to. Otherwise, when the value of your portfolio goes down (which seems to be what is happening in the past few months), you might lose more than what you have originally invested.

Once you're able, set up a college fund for your kids. You may set up one for each kid or one for all of them. Different states and companies have different investment plans for this. There are plans that let you save while you "spend" such as Upromise. The one we like is the 529 program that is administered differently by every state. Check your state and find out how you can enroll your kids for it. In New York State, a monthly deduction from your checking of as little as $25/month can set you up for a 529 account. The money is not taxed, so you get a refund based on the total amount you put in. They have several tiers of investment depending on how old your child is and how fast you want the money to grow at a certain time. As your finances permit, try increasing that amount so your child has something to rely on when he goes to college.

4. For clothing and shoes, buy only what you need, and maximize the use of the things that you do buy. When you buy, make sure you buy quality. I cannot stress this hard enough because this is the biggest problem area we Filipinos encounter. Para bang nakawala na tayo sa corral pagdating sa US at napapansin mong lahat ay posible mo ng bilhin. Just because you see everyone around you seems to be affluent, you want to keep up with them so-called Joneses and buy what they have. And with the way credit cards are given away here, it's so tempting to just buy and buy and buy. When you have been used to so little back home, suddenly you can't stop yourself when you see so much that you can now afford with a few pieces of plastic. And before you know it, baon ka na sa utang, and your debt hole is so huge you've actually made the creditors love you that they want to give you more credit -- starting a vicious cycle of more borrowing. Pretty soon you're up to your ears in debt that your life soon becomes a hand-to-mouth existence with little, if at all, saved for a true rainy day. (I mean, think of your kids' college funds!)

The first luho most Filipinos fall prey to, especially women, are clothes and shoes. You don't have to change your clothes with the change of season. Buy more clothes and shoes that are classic and time-tested in style so you can store them when the weather changes. Use them until they are truly worn. You can probably still send them to the Salvation Army or other charitable organization for the less fortunate even when they are worn. Buy only a few clothes/shoes that are in fashion so that if they're not around next year, you won't have wasted a lot of money on something that won't come around again until your daughter is probably in her teens.

Buy clothes and shoes during sales and during the off-season: i.e., if it's late winter, most stores will be putting cold weather stuff on sale, sometimes as much as 50%-75% off. When this happens, buy coats or jackets that are durable and have classic cuts so that you can use them for several winters. Shoes, sandals and boots especially, go on sale near the end of summer and winter, respectively. This is when you can actually put your mental exchange rate conversion into good use: a pair of good boots would normally sell at almost $100 (PhP4,800) around the fall season when people start buying them, but would be half that by the end of January or February. Think of what the $50 would do to your savings, or even to your family in the Phils., if you waited until February to buy that pair you've always wanted and sent the rest to them!

Looking back now on our first year here, we arrived in spring, at about the time winter clothes were at rock bottom prices. Acting on some of friends' advice, I immediately went online at the library and ordered winter coats for me and my family. They only cost $20-$30, and they were all from Lands' End. If you know Lands' End, then you know they make high-quality clothes that cost way up there if bought in-season. We are still using the coats and jackets I bought for my husband and myself 6 years ago. This is what it means to buy good quality and on sale. Just because you bought something on sale doesn't mean you have to buy cheap quality clothes or shoes. The better quality they are, the longer they will last (unless you gain an exorbitant amount of weight, which most Pinoys do after a couple of years here). It will still cost you some money in the long run if you bought a cheaply made coat for $10 when that same coat fell apart in one winter of use.

If there is anyone you should buy clothes frequently for, that should be your kids. Exercise discretion, good sense, and take the time to browse several stores to get really good deals. Just because your toddler looks cute and pretty in that Baby Gap pair of pants doesn't mean you have to buy it in every color the store carries. Kids grow very fast: what they wore this season this year will not fit them next year in the same season. It also doesn't make sense for you to buy designer shirts, pants and shorts that you know your little boy will wear out (even tear) after one month of wearing and playing in -- not to mention food and drink spills that never come off in the wash and areas that tend to fray (like the knees) because kids tend to act like little kids: they live to play. You may also want to think about investing in a sewing machine and sewing your kids' clothes. Since they grow up so fast, it's sometimes cheaper to make some of their clothes. But that's another story or, in this case, another blog topic.

If you have Filipino friends with kids, don't be embarrassed to ask for hand-me-downs. Because some kids grow faster than others at certain stages in their lives, they will sometimes be changing sizes within a season during that growth spurt. So the clothes or shoes their moms bought them can easily go to your kid who might be just the same size or growing into that size.

5. When buying food and groceries, buying big or economy-size is usually not economical. Use coupons whenever you can. You might have heard of BJ's or Sam's Club where everything you buy is in bulk. The prices tend to be low when you divide the number of items in the economy-size package vs. the single item itself when you buy it at a regular store. Unless you plan to send 40 of the 50 bottles of shampoo you buy every month to the Phils., then buying in bulk is not saving money at all. Do you really get to use 100 rolls of tissue paper or 50 paper towels each month? Besides that, these items consume a lot of space, and they tend to go down slowly. (I mean, who actually gets to use 1 tissue roll a day per person -- unless you have diarrhea or a cold?) The space they occupy can be used for other stuff.

The same principle applies to food. Even if it's cheaper to buy several pounds of garlic or onions or beef, pork and chicken, the vegetables will dry out (if not rot) in a couple of weeks, and eating long-frozen meats defeats the purpose of trying to eat fresh. If you buy cereal or bread in too much bulk when you know your Pinoy family eats more rice than cereal and bread, then the cereal will expire and go stale and the bread moldy. Same thing goes for canned foods: they do expire within the year so buying them in bulk is not economical if you have to throw most of them when they've gone beyond the expiry date. Buy food in bulk only if you have a huge family (2 or more kids, with your parents or in-laws visiting you from the Phils.), or kids in their teens, or hosting a big Pinoy party.

Another way to save some money during grocery shopping is to cut coupons from the coupon books that come with the Sunday paper. Cut only coupons of brands you know you always buy. Your local supermarket also has weekly deals that you can take advantage of. My daughter is always awed when I hand over coupons to the checkout cashier: we almost always end up saving more than $10 per grocery trip weekly.

6. Do you really need that second car? The biggest luho as well as status symbol most Filipino families in the US soon fall prey to is buying that second car. If your husband is the sole breadwinner because he's the one with the H-1, what do you need a second car for when you and your kids are H-4? You certainly don't need it to go to work since you know if you're H-4 you can't work. During the school season your kids won't actually need it because they surely will be taking the bus. Why not drive with your husband to his place of work and then drive the car home after dropping him off if you really need a car? Or why not take the bus to the mall? Or ride the bus to the nearest stop at your house, then walk the rest of the way home? On emergencies, call a cab. That's why it's important to wisely choose where you live those first few months or couple of years, so you and your spouse can take advantage of public transportation while you are establishing your financial base and credit history. (See my other topic: Starting a New Life Part 1: Where to Live.) Having 2 car loans puts a huge dent in your monthly income, not to mention huge maintenance and loan expenses down the line, particularly in 5 years when you probably already bought, or are considering to buy, a house. If you absolutely need a second car, consider leasing so your monthly car payment for the second car is lower. After 3 years and your financial, as well as H-4, status has improved, you can return the leased car and lease a new one, or buy the leased car, or even buy a new car. (See my other topic: Establishing a New Life Part 3: Buying a Car.) Either way, buying a second car should be a decision made wisely, only an absolute necessity if your old car is more than 5 years old or has more than 100,000 miles to it. If you have a 16-year-old who's ready to get his license and you'd like him to have the old family car, then maybe it is time to buy a new one. Better yet, why not teach your 16-year-old some responsibility by telling him he can have his own car or the family car if he helps pay for part of it?

7. Use credit wisely, if at all. Ideally, you should only have one major credit card. A lot of people reading this will probably be shaking their heads in disbelief or laughing at what seems to be a silly advice. Some will probably think what I mean is have just one credit card with a huge credit limit rather than several with small credit limits each. Actually, I meant just one credit card with a credit limit of not more than $5,000 per couple or per family. This means one spouse carries an extension card; your kid in college can get his own credit card (again, to teach him fiscal responsibility).

The hardest thing to avoid is runaway debt. This is when you have so many credit cards from so many different banks and stores that your monthly salary is eaten up by paying the minimum balance on each that doesn't even make a dent on the amount you owe on any of them, thus, relegating you to a hand-to-mouth existence (unless creditors start denying you new credit first). How can you save when your monthly budget consists mostly of credit card payments? Before long, any extra dollars on your salary is gone, and you're using up the amount you just freed up by paying last month's credit card bill.

Before you even end up this way, read this and stop applying for new credit cards, even if they are pre-approved offers that seem to give you enticingly low APRs. Store credit cards are the first that gets out of hand: you can't resist a department store pre-approved credit card that offers an additional 10% or 15% when you're checking out, and before long you have 3 or 4 of them. Guess what? The APR on them, when you don't pay the full amount you owed by the end of a billing cycle, is actually more than the discount you got on your purchases in the first place. Because store credit cards are usually the ones that have higher APRs than major credit cards, you end up paying back more than the price of the things you bought. So beware of store credit cards.

If you're already on the boat with a lot of credit cards, try paying them off fully one by one and closing the account by giving the creditor a call. This will help clean your credit history, too, and give a signal to potential big creditors (i.e., of housing loans and car loans) that you're fiscally responsible. Paying off credit cards one by one til you're left with one is not easy, but it's well worth it. One way is to use your tax refunds to completely zero out the balance on at least 1 or 2 credit cards. Start with the store credit cards first because they're the ones with the huge interest rates. If the company where you work gives you bonuses at the end of the year, pay off the rest until you're left with one major credit card. If the limit on that one credit card is lower than $5,000, you don't have to call the bank and ask them to increase it up to $5,000 just because you've paid off all the other smaller cards. Unless you're buying plane tickets to go home to the Phils., you won't need a huge credit limit on even that major card. The benefits of having just the one card with this reasonable limit is that you have more disposable income left over from your monthly paycheck. Extra cash means extra money for you and your family. Hopefully you will save some of that extra cash, too.

8. Control recreational and hobby expenses. This is another area where we sometimes can give in to splurges. Let's face it: Filipinos are known for their social life and hospitality. This means get-togethers, parties, trips and activities planned together, etc. As long as these events don't need you to fork several hundred over each time, then you're safe. For example, if you're planning to watch a movie with the kids, eat lunch at home so when you get to the movie house you're all full and not likely to buy from the concession stands. Better yet, eat a good home-cooked breakfast then catch the matinee, which is usually cheaper than the other show times. If you want to have some unique movie fun, you can also try watching the movie at a drive-in. Drive-in theaters like the Hollywood Drive-in Theatre in upstate New York are usually open from spring until late summer. When we go there, our kids are usually in pajamas with their favorite stuffed toys and/or pillows. We eat an early dinner, bring some snacks, and buy a little food at the food kiosk they have. The prices of their food are way cheaper than those at the regular movie theater. On top of that, you are helping keep the drive-in continue to do business by supporting them whenever you purchase a few dollars of food from them. You may also opt to wait for the DVD of the movie to come out if the movie you're planning to watch isn't actually a blockbuster. Especially with little toddlers who can get restive and ask a ton of questions so that you lose track of the movie, it's sometimes better to wait for the DVD so you can rewind and repeat those scenes your toddler keeps wanting to see.

When you go out for a weekend outing, do you really need to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner outside? You can save money by just eating one meal in a restaurant, like brunch, then have an early dinner when you get home. If you're going out of state for an extended vacation, plan well. If the distance is considerable, maybe it will be cheaper if you fly there instead of drive over (especially with the price of gas nowadays). If you make ticket reservations well ahead of time, you can actually get a good discount on plane fare. Consider timesharing a condo instead of staying at a hotel/motel. Instead of renting an RV, why not go camping?

If you love to read books, why buy when you can borrow them from the library? Libraries here are so well stocked with books that some of them are actually rejecting book donations. After you read a book, it will only gather dust sitting on your shelf, unless it's got wisdom you'd like to impart to your kids. Additionally, there's the internet. Some books are available in electronic form. Sometimes it's now actually cheaper to download an e-book than to buy the hard copy. Some stores like Amazon are now selling e-book readers. Always use whatever resources around you that are widely available and cheaper to use, not to mention friendlier on the environment.

This goes the same for music: CDs are so outré while mp3s are in; buying classic/oldie DVD movies or season TV shows are out, Netflix and Blockbuster Online are in. (Now don't get carried away on the latter: just get the one-DVD-out-at-a-time and you should be good. Even if you get the 2- or 3-out-at-a-time, you won't be able to watch 2 or 3 of them simultaneously anyway. Meanwhile, while you're watching one of the DVDs during a school night, the other 2 are sitting there, and you've paid more than $20/month to have them sit there at any one time. Duh!) Another tip on renting movies: Blockbuster has a Rewards program where you can "rent one borrow one" free from Monday to Wednesday. For a small annual fee, you can save $4.31 per second DVD that you borrow and get a free rental coupon on your e-mail as well as a free rental if you borrow 5 DVDs a month. As long as you don't borrow more than 6 paid DVDs a month, you're fine. Otherwise, if you borrow more than that, it's better to sign up for their loyalty program where you pay a $300+ fee but all your rentals per month are free already.

If you are already doing some of the tips given above, then chances are you are on good financial ground. If you are like me who wants to visit the home country every 2 1/2 years or so, then you know that saving money wisely is the key to being able to do this without digging yourself into a financial sinkhole. There is a nice feeling of satisfaction when you know that if anything happened to you, your family will still have the house you bought for them, your kids will not be saddled with a huge debt they have to pay off (thus, ruining their dreams of college or a good education), and you will be living comfortably on the fruits of your investments when you finally retire. Remember, the SS pension was not meant to be your only source of income when you grow old -- despite what many people think. So start watching where your pennies go each month and make sure you're saving some of them for those days when you truly will need them.

Sources of Pinoy Recipes

2008-01-14T18:57:00.001-05:00

The smells of Filipino cooking bring back memories of home. I've often been asked recommendations for books on Filipino cooking and where to find recipes. Below is a short list:

1. The Philippine Cookbook by Reynaldo Alejandro. I stumbled upon this book by chance at Barnes & Noble because it was on their sale shelf. I leafed through it and like what I saw, so I bought it. This is probably one of the best buys I've made in terms of books. I have used this cookbook so often kulang na lang na manilaw ang mga pahina niya sa sobrang gamit. Mr. Alejandro does not skimp on ingredients that will truly make your Filipino dish taste like the way your mom used to cook it. If the ingredient is not available here, he will give you the American counterpart. The book is still available online at Amazon and Borders for $12.71, and at Barnes and Noble online for $16.95 ($15.95 for BN members). I've yet to see it again in Borders' or Barnes' brick-and-mortar stores here. Some Filipinos I know don't like it because his recipes use original ingredients (i.e., like you would if you were back home) and not the ready-to-mix stuff that you can now buy in some Asian food stores. To me this is all right because I long to recapture the Filipino taste and not the substitute, so to speak.

2. Filipino Cuisine by Gerry G. Gelle. Filipinos who don't like the first book above swear by Mr. Gelle's book. If it was still available, I would probably buy it myself. However, most copies of this book are already probably gracing Filipino chefs' households, so good luck to those who find it!

3. Online sources. Filipino Recipes and Pinoy Cook are 2 of the sites I go to for help when I need a Pinoy recipe immediately and badly. Pinoy Cook almost always has the hard-to-find recipes, while Filipno Recipes has the more common ones. I haven't tried all of them yet, but those I've tried are enough to bring memories of home and praises from my husband about how well I cook his favorite Pinoy dishes. Pinoy Cook also has a link to a video of an American cooking chicken adobo(I'm guessing he's probably Fil-Am). It's so cool to watch. You can find the video at Pinoy Cook's chocolate polvoron recipe page. Scroll down to below the picture of the colorful polvoron and click on the words video of an American cooking chicken adobo. The guy sounds like my daughter attempting to speak Tagalog.

If there are other sources of good Pinoy recipes, I'll make sure to include it here the next time.

Establishing a New Life Part 4: To Cell or Not to Cell

2008-01-14T12:28:00.002-05:00

Cellphone popularity have finally crossed over to US shores. More and more people from all ages and all walks of life now own cellphones. Some don't even have landlines but have cellphones. More and more families have family plans so their kids can also have cellphones. America has finally caught up with the rest of the world in terms of cellphone technology.

One of my biggest disappointments when I first came here slightly more than 6 years ago was the outdated cellphones I saw here in upstate NY. There were only 4 providers, Voicestream (now T-Mobile), Verizon, the then Cingular (now AT&T Wireless), and Sprint. Nextel was not yet in the cellphone business at the time. Only Voicestream had a GSM network that was like the rest of the world's, but their coverage wasn't that great. The others' phones were analog cells and were really old models that were circa 1998 in the Philippines, considering that was the year 2001.

About 3 years ago, this changed and the US started catching up with the rest of the world. Maybe I should rephrase that to the US cellphone companies and/or the Federal Communications Commission asked cellphone manufacturers to manufacture phones that will be compatible with the hodgepodge of cellular networks the US has. This allowed foreign cell makers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG to start marketing phone models that were similar to what the rest of the world has, tweaking most of their more popular models to work with US networks. At the same time, Cingular converted its network to GSM 850, so that in areas where Voicestream was unavailable, Cingular took the market.

GSM or not? If you live in the city where GSM cell sites abound, the logical and natural way to go is GSM. Here in the northeast US, there are only 2 choices: AT&T Wireless or T-Mobile. (T-Mobile's roaming arrangement now allows it to piggyback on GSM 850 cell sites, allowing its subscribers more coverage.) The choice you make depends on your credit history (yes, you still need that), how often you plan to use it, and the type of phone you want. T-Mo has more minutes for the money, but it has less coverage than AT&T, unless you're in the city or heavily populated areas. If you don't travel a lot out of the city, T-Mo may be good for you. AT&T has wider coverage, even in more rural areas, so this is a good choice if you travel a lot. If you live in mountainous or varying terrain areas like some places here in upstate NY, GSM coverage may not even be available where you are, so the best choice would be Verizon.

If you don't have an established credit history, all cellphone providers have prepaid plans. The problem with these is, you can rack up your charges each time you use your phone, so it's still advisable to switch to a plan once you're able to. I particularly like AT&T's Go Phone Pick Your Plan prepay because you pay a monthly fee just like a regular phone plan, minus the credit check or credit history, then depending on the plan, you can actually have unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes and a certain number of night and weekend minutes (unlimited if you choose the $70/month plan).

Some hospitals also provide their nurses with mandatory cellphones once you start working for them. These are usually T-Mobile phones, and the reason for that, I think, is an incentive to the newly recruited Filipino nurse: the hospitals understand that only 3GPP GSM cells can communicate via text message with another real GSM cell -- read, to keep in touch with your family in the Philippines who either own a Globe or Smart cellphone, you need a T-Mobile phone. Don't ask me how or why, but many Filipino families have learned through experience that text messaging to their loved ones in the Philippines is easier if you have T-Mobile than AT&T. Your loved ones usually won't get an AT&T text or multimedia message, even though AT&T will tell you their network allows international text/multimedia messaging, but they always get a T-Mobile-sent message, even if the price is higher per message. Roaming on T-Mo is also easier when you go home to visit.

The minutes described in each plan are both for calls you make and calls that you receive. The same thing goes for messages received: each incoming and outgoing text or multimedia message is counted as 1 message. This all sounded ridiculous to me when I first came here, being used as I was to paying for only the calls you make, whether you're in Europe or Asia: whoever is making the call to you, whether using a landline or cellphone, is already paying for the call with his/her own monthly phone bill, so why pay for an incoming call, too? I guess phone companies feel they can't get paid enough if subscribers only pay for outgoing calls, so they charge incoming calls, too. So factor this in with your choice of plan: you should anticipate if you're going to receive a lot of calls on your phone so that you can choose the right plan. Otherwise, you're stuck with the plan you signed up for for the next 2 years (unless you change before 30 days are up) and will be facing additional minute charges if you exceed your plan minutes. Messaging is an add-on to your monthly voice plan, necessary if you anticipate sending text and multimedia messages. If you want internet on your cell, that's another add-on. If you don't answer the phone immediately, your voicemail kicks in, and that will also eat up your plan minutes. So make sure you get only what you need to keep costs to a minimum. It makes no sense to buy an internet-capable cellphone when you don't plan to use it to go online on your phone or you don't have an internet plan (unless the phone is free). There are also numerous taxes and surcharges and fees that could add as much as $10-$15 to your plan, so factor this in your choice of plan.

All cellphones are locked to their provider. Most providers will give you a free cellphone or two (for family plans) if you're a new subscriber or your contract has expired and you're eligible for an upgrade. If you're like me who's a techy gadget freak, you'd probably want a spiffy, really techy phone that has GPS mapping, bluetooth, a more-than-decent camera, PTT, e-mail, WiFi, etc, then you're better off investing in an unlocked phone. Any major city has them, but the price can really be off the charts -- but well worth it if you need to live your life almost permanently connected to something other than a notebook (and I don't mean the spiral one). An alternative is when you go home to visit, you can buy an unlocked phone there (always bound to be cheaper) then bring it over here and just buy an OEM 110-v charger when you get back so you can charge the phone and use it here.

Consider your bottomline. Only buy a cellphone if you absolutely have to. We initially bought a cellphone that was used exclusively by the person who had the car for the day (we only have one family car). This was to enable us to coordinate pickups, schedules, etc. Otherwise, since at least one of us was at work with regular working phones, we didn't need a second one for 6 years. We also have a landline, and our monthly plan on it is the barest minimum we could get: caller ID, local calls, and pay-as-you-go long distance calls. We need the first to screen out telemarketers and crank calls, the second for when the person with the car has the cellphone with him, and the third so we can dial 1-800 numbers. Our landline phone bill is actually lower than our monthly cellphone plan, because we use the cellphone to make 98% of our calls, local and long distance, because it's now cheaper that way. So find out your phone habits and tailor your cellphone plan accordingly.

One final word: make sure you list your cellphone number immediately on the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov. Otherwise, you will be paying for telemarketing call minutes made to your cell. Make sure you also confirm the number you listed by replying to the e-mail they send you, so you truly get the benefit of the do not call law.

Establishing a New Life Part 3: Buying a Car

2007-11-09T15:23:00.001-05:00

One of the trickiest things we've had to do was buy a car. Most of the Filipinos we know were excited to buy their first car even before their first paycheck arrived. That's because it's relatively easy to buy a car in the US compared to the Philippines, where capacity to pay and a very strong credit history is usually needed to buy a new car and cash up front when buying a used one. Although a lot of websites already offer a lot of advice on how to buy a car with savvy and smarts, I will simply summarize below some of the things we learned along the way. ...

1. Research, research, and research. We found out earlier on that Asians who look younger than their age are usually the target of a lot of sellers, particularly those they realize have zero credit history and are fresh off the boat, so to speak. To compensate for our seeming "gullibility", my husband and I have taken to researching. Our sources were invariably the internet, local newspapers, and friends (both new American friends and Pinoy friends). Some of the best sources online for car buying tips for first-time car buyers are the credit union and bank websites, Kelly Blue Book, MSN Autos and, someone told me, Carbuyingtips.com.

2. Brand-spanking new vs. used car. If you're a first-time buyer with no credit history at all, it's actually better to buy a used car rather than a brand new one. For one thing, your total loan will be lower, insurance coverage on the vehicle will be lower, and if you're just a newbie driver fresh from driving school from the Philippines, there's more peace of mind to practicing your driving with a car that won't break your heart (or pocket) when you ding or, God forbid, crash it. Your credit and insurance companies will also consider you a better risk if you buy a secondhand car and give you lower rates.

If you're planning on buying a used car and are patient enough with research, MSN Autos gives you the lowdown on maintenance patterns by car brand based on customer surveys. It shows you the year at which most commonly bought car models will start requiring heavy maintenance due to parts breakdown. This means that you'll have to start looking around for a new car by the time your model car reaches the age MSN Autos' surveys shows it's most likely to start breaking down. Their website also includes common hourly labor rates and the prices of the part(s) that commonly deteriorate by that time, so you have a rough idea how much you will be needing to spend later on. It doesn't take long to realize that there is a correlation between how quickly a car brand starts needing maintenance heavily and its resale price. Cars that have low re-sale values by 3, 5 and 10 years are usually those cars that break down easily. No wonder some say, "Buy Japanese" when it comes to used cars.

Here, as in the Phils., knowing a good mechanic or auto body shop is key, especially if you plan to buy a car from a used car dealer or a private owner. Ask the mechanic to accompany you to look at the cars on the used car lot or the one in the private seller's garage and give you a recommendation about them. Since that may be a bit impossible for the new immigrant, talking to Pinoy and American friends, neighbors and office workers for advice, suggestions and referrals would be helpful. Otherwise, your best bet is to go to a car dealership (not an authorized used car dealer) and buy a certified used vehicle that just got off a lease (as opposed to a plain certified used car). (For more about leasing a car, read no. 3 below.)

Certified used vehicles are probably the best used cars you can buy because there are usually warranties that come with the certification. What a certification basically says is that the used vehicle you are planning to buy has been inspected thoroughly, repaired of any minor breakdowns, and worn parts have been installed with brand-new ones. These vary by car manufacturer, and you can find out what items or parts and others are certified by each if you just go on to their websites and click on their "Certified Used" car link. Before you finally decide on a specific car, though, make sure you have researched the warranties included so you'll know what exactly it covers. (You can do this online or ask the dealer for a copy of the actual warranty.) Sometimes you could get lured by a salesperson's canned talk about the warranty on the certified used car that you end up thinking the warranty covers everything that will eventually break down when it actually doesn't.

You can also research any used car's VIN (vehicle identification no.) on Carfax.com and find out the previous owner(s) of the vehicle(s) you are considering to buy. Carfax will show you whether the car came off a lease, how many previous owners there have been, whether the car has been involved in an accident, if it was part of a fleet or not, etc. In our case, before buying our first car, we bought a month's membership on Carfax so we can search unlimited VINs before making a final selection. For $29.99, it was a worthwhile investment. Carfax includes VINs of certified used cars, so this is also one way to check if the dealer is telling the truth when they tell you the car came off a lease. Alternatively, you can also ask the dealer to print you the Carfax reports on all the cars in their lot that you are interested in, because dealers have their own Carfax membership and can provide you with the reports at no cost to you.

After reading the above and you still prefer to buy a brand new car, read on.

3. Lease vs. owned. If you still prefer to buy a new car, then you might want to consider leasing vs. owning one. A new car lease typically lasts 3 years. Leasing a car requires a minimum downpayment; however, the monthly payments are considerably lower than if you bought the car. As with any car, you are still required to pay insurance on it, gas and regular maintenance. You cannot drive the car for more than the annual no. of miles the dealer specifies, or else you have to pay any overage in miles. In short, you need to really take good care of the car, sometimes even better than if you had bought the car to own. After 3 years you return the car, or you have the option to buy the car if you want, by continuing to pay the regular loan rate towards ownership. The advantage to leasing a car is that you can drive a new car every 3 years; the total 3-year payment you make is essentially the depreciation in value the car incurs for the 3 years that you have it. However, the original market value of the car less the depreciated value that you're supposedly paying with your lease payments does not equal the resale price the dealer can sell the car at, especially if the dealer certifies the vehicle and especially if you bought Japanese. Hence, my advice here is to buy American if you're leasing because you'll be losing considerably more if you buy Japanese, specially since the resale value of Toyotas and Hondas are high. The dealer will make a huge profit off the lease as well as the resale of the car later on.

Finally, if you still opt to buy a new car, then just make sure you negotiate a good loan interest rate with your credit union or bank. Getting your car loan at the dealer isn't advisable because they usually offer higher rates. Moreover, if your credit history is new or isn't good, and the dealer you are approaching promises credit approval in spite of that, prepare to be saddled with a higher loan interest rate than normal. Coming up with a downpayment is still a good way to go: your bank or credit union will realize that you are a good credit risk (thrifty) if you can come up with a downpayment and, hence, will lower the rates. A downpayment can also reduce the number of years you have to pay for the car. So consider saving some money for a new car downpayment before actually buying one.

4. Don't be pressured by the dealers or sellers into signing or buying anything if you don't like the terms. Do not sign anything or buy anything until you understand all the warranties, loan rates, amortization payments, and all the terms and fine print for the car you are buying. Most car dealerships play the "good cop, bad cop" routine with first-time car buyers, particularly those with zero or bad credit history. This routine happens when you have finally made up your mind about what to buy, and the salesperson (usually the supervisor of the one who showed you around the lot) suddenly comes up with all these requirements you never heard of when he was just showing you around and you were just test driving the cars. The salesperson you are actually dealing with will act sheepish or apologetic when he/she tells you that, unfortunately, your credit history is not good enough and you need to come up with blah, blah, blah. Or sometimes it will be the sales supervisor who will approach you and say that you have to come up with blah, blah requirements. When you say that the other salesperson did not tell you about these requirements, this second person will say that the first person you spoke with probably didn't know, is probably new, or didn't check everything in your background/credit history, etc. This technique is designed to make you scramble to come up with the requirements so you can buy the car you covet. As you try to make up your mind or ask for more time to decide or even come up with the requirements, you will probably receive numerous calls that are designed to pressure you into making a decision, some of them to tell you that if you don't make a decision now you won't get the car you like, and some of them with supposedly new or better or lower offers if you decide now or come up with said "requirements". These 2 sales personnel know the classic signs when a buyer is ready to cave in to their demands, and you're not even aware of it. This good-cop, bad-cop routine happens right to the very end when you finally sign on several dotted lines that resulted in any or all of the following: higher loan interest rates; $5,000-$10,000 added to the original price of the car; additional warranties that, in retrospect, you find are unnecessary because if you computed the actual prices of these add-ons, you'll find they only amount to something like $1,000 instead of the $5,000 or more that was added to your loan amount as a result of buying the warranties; made your monthly payments more than 50% higher as when the bank or credit union had originally illustrated for you; saddled you with more debt that you can actually pay off. When the salesperson at the dealership begins telling you you can drive out of there with your new car, then prepare yourself for the good-cop, bad-cop routine. If the demands start becoming unreasonable, all you have to do is walk away. You should NEVER allow yourself to be taken advantage of in any way, your being a new immigrant and foreigner to boot notwithstanding.

Here in upstate New York, we have found the Honda dealerships to be one of the few dealers to shun the good-cop, bad-cop routine. It didn't matter where the Honda dealership was located, they just don't do that. May I add to that the fact that Civics and Hondas have the highest resale values in their respective car categories that it really made sense for us to buy a Honda (two, as it later turned out). I particularly patronize Rensselaer Honda where the maintenance personnel are some of the best I have dealt with so far.

5. Gas vs. hybrid. Gas prices are never going to get cheaper. This serves as incentive to some car buyers to buy a hybrid. Again, do your research. If you live in an area where you will be doing a lot of highway driving, a hybrid car won't make much difference in fuel costs from that of a regular vehicle. This is because a hybrid car actually becomes more economical in city driving where the car stops frequently, conserving energy when you brake, and transfering that energy into reserve power in its battery pack. Additionally, it seems that in areas where there is winter, having a hybrid doesn't help much because then the battery pack expends itself by providing heat to the car interior. If you are a keen driver like myself and delight in a smooth and immediate acceleration from a stoplight, then a hybrid might disappoint you as they usually are slow starters coming off a light, especially when some part of the engine had turned off to conserve braking energy. Finally, the cost of a hybrid is usually more prohibitive by several thousands of dollars than a regular gas-fueled car. This means higher loan rates for you and gas savings that will only be realized after several years of driving the car (if it doesn't break down before that time).

Additionally, hybrids are relatively new. To date, there aren't enough auto repair shops with mechanics trained for the repair and maintenance of hybrids in the next 5-10 years, except the car dealers. Spare parts like new batteries may cost higher and incur recycling costs when they finally run down in 10 years. How badly they break down or get run down with age still remains to be seen, as well as their resale values. My advice is to do a lot of research before deciding to buy a hybrid. I suggest you read the good article MSN Autos has on gas vs. diesel vs. hybrid cars.

This is my own two cents about the whole car-buying process. I'm sure other books and websites offer more information that will educate you so you don't get fooled into deals you don't want. However, in my experience, the stuff above were most helpful to us when we bought our first car while starting a credit history from scratch.

Some English Translations of Common Pinoy Words

2007-10-05T16:59:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we think we fully understand English. American English, that is. And why not when we have more American movies coming into our country each month than we have local ones? One would think we know the nuances of the English language. Below is just a small list of some words that we think will translate nicely or in the same way when we go to the US and actually start using them. You'll be surprised that some of them don't translate well at all, even if we are already using the English words. This just goes to show how strong the European influence remains in our part of the world. ... Sometimes we also take English words and give them a whole new meaning (see "jingle"). The Filipino words are presented first, followed by an example of how they are used, and then the Northeastern US English equivalent.

For takeout. While ordering at McDo, "I'd like to order meal #5 for takeout, please" = To go. Using the same example, "I'd like to order meal #5 to go please")

Dine in as in "Would you like that for takeout or dine in?" = Eat in as in "Would that be to go or eat in?"

Daddy, Papa, Dad or Tatay = Father, Dad, Daddy, Papa.

Daddy, Dad, Papa = Honey, Babe, Dear, Sweetheart, or any other nickname you'd use to call your husband.

Mommy, Mama, or Nanay = Mother, Mom, Mommy, Mama.

Mommy, Mom, Mama = Honey, Babe, Dear, Sweetheart, or any other nickname you'd use to call your wife. (Honestly, I think we're the only country where married couples are in the habit of calling their spouses "Mommy" or "Daddy".)

kotse ("wheels", "chekot")= car.

van (refers to SUV or van or any privately- or family-owned vehicle that is bigger than a car) = truck if it's an SUV like Ford Escape or Ford Explorer and similar vehicles in the same weight class; van if it's a vehicle that seats more than 5.

truck (refers to pickup trucks and flatbeds) = pickup; truck.

eight-wheeler(or six-wheeler or twelve-wheeler; it's the number of wheels that gives it the name. Think Optimus Prime.) = semi.

trailer = RV (for "recreational vehicle".)

bangka = canoe, raft, fishing boat, and any small boat with an outboard motor.

boat (refers to any seaworthy vehicle bigger than a bangka) = speedboat, yacht.

barko = ship.

salbabida (literally, "life saver") = floaty or floaties (use the words "life jackets" or "life preservers" for the ones you have to wear that usually has belts and snap-on buckles). Also, a tire's inner tubing, since before floaties started showing up, these were what kids used to stay afloat in the water.

Uminom ng gamot (literally, "Drink medicine") = take the medicine.

Magtoothbrush ka na. = Brush your teeth.

colgate = toothpaste. Colgate is a brand.

ref = fridge. ("Ref" would be short or slang for "referee".)

makina = machine or engine.

makina ng kotse = car engine.

washing machine = washer as in laundry washer.

softdrink = soda.

bilbil or love handles = muffin tops.

Patayin (word literally meaning "kill") as in "Patayin mo ang ilaw." = doesn't translate as "Kill the light," but rather switch off or turn off as in "Turn off the light."

Buksan (word literally meaning "to open") as in "Buksan mo ang ilaw." = doesn't translate to "Open the light," but rather turn on or switch on as in "Switch on the light."

aircon (as in "I-on mo ang aircon." = air conditioning unit or ACU (as in "Switch on the ACU.").

xerox (used as a verb, as in "Paki-xerox yun dokumento." and a noun to refer to the photocopier) = photocopy. (Xerox is a brand of photocopier.)

tissue refers to tissue rolls = toilet paper.

Kleenex refers to boxed tissues = tissue. Kleenex is a brand.

napkin as in sanitary napkin = pad as in sanitary pads.

napkin as in table napkins = napkin.

bill (what you get after dining at a restaurant) = check.

waiter = server (the one who takes your order and gives them to you, as in "I will be your server today."); busboy (the one who cleans up and takes away your dirty dishes when you leave a restaurant).

GRO (short for Guest Relations Officer) = hostess or food hostess or host (the maitre d' or the one who makes you wait and then shows you to your seats when they become available at the restaurant).

hostess = hooker (prostitute).

shoulder bag or handbag (containing keys & other essentials) = pocketbook.

pocketbook = trade paperback, softcover.

wallet (contains money, ID and credit cards only) = purse. (Can also refer to a very small bag, known as clutch in the Phils., that contains at least a lipstick, money, IDs, credit card, cellphone, and other really small stuff.)

backpack = bookbag.

panty, bra, lingerie and briefs (for men) = underwear or intimates. They will only use the individual words if you're at home and you're talking privately with your bestfriend. Otherwise, they'll look at you weirdly when you ask customer service at any department store for the "lingerie department".

puruntong = boxer shorts.

comfort room, also known as CR = restroom. In more upscale places like a fancy restaurant or a hotel, they would understand you better if you used the words powder room.

jingle (usually used by women)= to pee.

diligan (word literally meaning "to water" as in "Water the plants") = to pee (if it is a man).

Sh-- and other swear words we often hear in American movies that we often use as a substitute for Pinoy swear words like P.I. or something worse = Not used in everyday language, not used in polite company, certainly not used in the presence of others. American movies give the impression swear words are used commonly by anyone everywhere, and no one bats an eyelash. Say "sh--!" out loud over here and people will look at you in shock, turn their backs on you, and not even talk to you anymore.

puke as in feeling nauseous and needing to vomit and used as "I wanna puke" = throw up. The word puke is also not used in everyday common language, and certainly not in the presence of other people. It's considered a bad word, even though most American movies show you that it's a pretty common word.

Part 4: If You Want to Emigrate ... Acclimatizing

2007-09-05T16:11:00.001-04:00

One of the things we've had to get used to when we got here was to get acclimatized to the weather. Before coming here, we were frequently in contact with one of our friends who had been here 3 years before we came. I would ask him what each day's weather was for about 2 weeks prior to leaving and checked the weather online and did the conversion into Celsius to get an idea of how cold it would be. Even though I did this, I totally did not have a clue how cold 45 degrees F. (7.2 degrees C.) would be to someone who has grown up in a country that's almost constantly 77 degrees F. (25 degrees C.) throughout the year.

The reason I'm writing this post is because I think it's a good idea to find out what the temperature range is in the place where you plan to go to. This enables you to pack for the weather so that when you come here you're prepared with the right clothes and all you need to buy are the coming season's clothes. You see, it's more expensive to buy clothes that are in season than those that are out of season, i.e., if it's the beginning of winter and you buy coats or jackets, you won't get bargain prices on them because everybody needs them. And believe me, the most expensive clothes you can ever buy here are winter wear because of thicker fabrics and all the insulation that goes into making them.

So if you can, try to plan to go to any state in the US that's higher than 40 degrees latitude in the summer. That way, both indoor and outdoor temperatures will be similar to, if not as hot or hotter, than the Philippines. Other Filipinos say that if you're going to California, Arizona, Texas, or Florida (I guess they mean any of the southernmost states), it doesn't matter what time of year you go. That's because snow doesn't fall on these states, and temperatures in the summer could be sometimes hotter than a heat wave in the Philippines, mainly because of the lack of humidity. (One major thing we have going for us is the ever present humidity, which makes it cool to sit in the shade with a drink and some sort of fan going to cool you down.) A lot of Filipinos love these states (especially Hawaii and Florida) because of their close resemblance to the Philippines in terms of weather and beaches.

If you're about to be assigned to a state that's higher than 40 degrees in latitude, then it's important to check the temperature of the place a few days before you leave. Check to see if their spring usually brings on heavy rains or cold nights and mornings. Temperature conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius is easy. When Asia was embarking on its program to adopt SI (Systeme International) or the metric system in the early 1980s, the Department of Education sponsored a commercial that created a jingle that went something like this: "Just multiply inches by 2.54 and then you'll get centimeters. The feet multiplied by 0.305 will give you equivalent meters. Multiply pounds by 0.45 and you'll get kilograms it's true. The gallon times 3.79 will change into liters for you. Subtract 32 from degrees Fahrenheit; the result keep it in mind! For you'll multiply that with 5 over 9, and you'll get Celsius this time." Anyway, so much for that trip down memory lane. Normal room temperature in the Philippines is around 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.), which would roughly be indoor summer temperatures in the northeastern states. It still gets hot outside over here, but I've yet to see the mercury go beyond 100 degrees F. (37.8 degrees C.). Some Filipinos who did come over here in the summer find this temperature comfortable.

Spring and fall temperatures in the northeast US could range anywhere from -1 degrees C. (30 deg. F.) in the evenings and early mornings to 18 degrees C. (65 deg. F.), which is the temperature of an air-conditioned room in a five-star hotel in Manila and the temperature in Baguio City in the mornings. If you find Baguio City mornings to be quite cold, then it might surprise you to know that we consider that temperature here to be pleasantly warm (not cold). So if you come in the spring or fall, prepare to feel cold while at the same time wondering with frustration why everyone around you seems to be wearing short-sleeved shirts already. In time, your body will be able to acclimate to these types of temperatures, but it will take months. The younger you are, the easier to get used to it. The older you are the longer. So pack warmly if you're scheduled to arrive in spring (March to May) or fall (September to November). If you're coming between November to February, then I suggest you take advantage of that stopover in Japan and buy yourself a nice thick warm coat before getting back on the plane again. Believe me, the Philippines doesn't make coats that can effectively protect you from the winter chill in states above 40 degrees in latitude.

Then there's DST or daylight savings time. This is the country's way of trying to get as much out of the long daylight hours in the summer by moving clocks forward one hour. By the height of the summer, some sunsets in some states will be setting at 9 PM each night -- a far cry from the Philippines where daylight and nighttime hours are almost evenly divided into 12 hours each. Imagine waking up very early because the sun's already out, but finding it hard to sleep at night because the sun is still out!

Add to this jet lag. It was 3 AM Philippine time when we got here, which meant 3 PM EDT. Boy, was I very, very sleepy! I was so sleepy I couldn't even walk to the conveyor belt to get my luggage; my husband had to do it for me. I was moving like a drunken person all this time. Sure, we were able to sleep at the right time, but for about 2 weeks since our arrival, we would wake up at about 4 AM everyday because our bodies were telling us it was 4 PM back home. This didn't help my husband who had to be at work by 8:30 AM because he would feel so sleepy at 12 noon! Slowly, however, our bodies got used to it, and we settled back to some sort of normal routine.

Oh, yes, maybe I ought to tell you, too, that in the northeast anyway, no one opens an umbrella in the summer (even when it's very hot) or when it's raining (unless it's a torrential downpour). People here tend to wait it out when it's raining, because it usually lets up a bit, enough for you to make a run for the parking lot or the bus stop to and from work. Newspapers or a bag above your head is more the norm than umbrellas. In the summer, it's hats or caps. Some people will actually laugh at you if you used an umbrella in the summer!

The fastest way to get acclimated -- whether it's to the weather or DST or getting over jet lag -- is to be outside in the sun during the daytime. The sunlight helps your body reorient your circadian rhythm and readjust your body temperature. Even if you have to wear a jacket and look stupid because everyone else is in shorts or short sleeves, it's better to look stupid for a few days than for several months because you refused to go out so you can avoid the "cold". The sun on any exposed part of your body will also help your body get used to the outside temp. Even if it's hard, try to be awake when everybody else is awake by about 3 days after you arrive (unless you don't have that amount of time to get over jet lag because you have to report for work the following day). The longer you leave this off, the harder it will be for you to get over your jet lag. Some say the vitamin supplement melatonin helps. But I don't know how it helps or if it's actually safe at all to take to overcome jet lag. I hope the above tips will help you survive the first few weeks or months of a different climate until your body acclimatizes to it so that, by the following year, you'll also be wearing short sleeves when the temperature "drops" to 16 degrees C. (60 degrees F.).

Tips on How to Establish Good Credit

2007-08-19T10:28:00.005-04:00

I copied and pasted the article below, which originally appeared in About.com: Financial Planning* by Jeremy Vohwinkle.

No Credit? No Problem!
Here's How to Establish Good Credit With or Without a Secured Credit

If you've never had credit in your own name, it can be difficult to get a car loan or credit card. Having no credit history can be as much of a problem as having a bad credit history. Students, other young people, and newly divorced or widowed women who have always obtained credit jointly with their husbands often find themselves in this situation.

It seems like a vicious circle: you can't get credit because you've never had credit, but you've never had credit because you can't get credit. What's a person to do?

Don't despair. Here are a few tips to help you establish credit in your own name.

~ The best way to establish a credit history is to apply for a small loan or line of credit from your local bank or a credit card from a local department store. Ask whether they report to a credit bureau. If they don't, having the card or loan won't help you establish credit.

~ To get a credit card without a cosigner, you must be at least 18 years old and have a source of steady income. Gas cards are relatively easy to get. Apply for one and use it to establish credit, but pay it off every month to show that you can pay your bills responsibly.

~ If you can't get a small loan or gas or department credit card on your own, try to find someone to co-sign for you. Again, make payments regularly and on time.

~ Increase your chances of getting the loan you're applying for by coming up with a large down payment. If you don't have the cash, consider borrowing from a family member.

~ If you don't have a checking account, open one. You have very little credibility with lenders if you don't have at least a checking account and preferably a savings account as well.

~ Just as importantly, be sure not to overdraw your bank account. Bouncing checks sends a signal to potential lenders that you can't manage your daily finances and are therefore not a good credit risk.

~ Know what lenders and credit card issuers look for when issuing credit. There are other factors that affect credit approval besides just your payment history, such as how often you move and how often you change jobs. It also helps if you've had an apartment or utility in your own name. If you don't have a telephone number in your own name, you may find it more difficult to get credit.

~ If worse comes to worst, you may find it necessary to get a secured credit card. These cards require you to deposit money in an account to secure the loan or credit limit, and they often have fees and higher interest rates. If you default on your payments, the lender takes the money from your account. After a few months of making payments on time on the secured credit card, you may be able to obtain a regular credit card. Remember to make sure the company reports to a credit bureau before applying for a secured card, or the card won't help you establish a credit history.

Before you apply for a credit card or car loan, get your ducks all lined up. Think like a lender. Applying to a number of credit cards in a short period of time can decrease your chances of getting approved. Lenders see this activity on your credit report and steer clear because they think you're getting in over your head, so pick and choose carefully and have a plan of action.

Being rejected for credit can also look bad. Apply only to cards whose requirements you are likely to meet. Read the small print and call the company to make sure your income and other factors qualify you for the card. Just because you get an offer in the mail doesn't mean you qualify.

With careful planning and a little knowledge of how lenders issue credit, you CAN establish a credit history fairly painlessly. There are many businesses waiting in line to take advantage of you by charging exorbitant fees or interest rates, so be careful out there.

*Please note that About.com may sometimes edit, rewrite, or take previously written articles off their website at their discretion, so the link above may not reroute you to the original article that I copied and pasted here.

Starting a New Life Part 2: Establishing Credit

2007-08-19T10:23:00.001-04:00

Probably the most important thing that you will need to do when you arrive in the US is to establish credit. After 6 months you will have what is known as a credit history, and after one year you will have a credit rating. Actually, you can have a credit rating even before that, but it almost amounts to nothing when you're just a newbie. Depending on how well you maintain your credit (credit history), your credit rating will determine whether you will get good rates on future credit cards, car and housing loans.

If you had read my original post If You Want to Emigrate (Part 1) about the things you should bring with you to the US, you would probably then have brought along copies of or your actual credit card billing statements from your Philippine-issued Visa, Mastercard, or American Express, or Diners Club credit card. If these were issued by an international bank (e.g., Bank of America, Citibank, HSBC), it will be fairly easy to go to their American branches and ask for a credit card application. Inform the bank officer who will be processing your application about your Philippine-issued credit card and ask that they be included in your application because they will help the bank make a final decision as to what credit limit and APR (annual percentage rates) to give you. Of course, the lower this is, the better. Some of these banks will not take copies of your recent billing statements but will just ask you for the credit card number. Once they have this, they will cross check with their Philippine branches to find out about your payment history. If you're lucky, they will actually give you the equivalent credit limit in US dollars that you had in the Philippines.

Another easy way to begin to establish credit is through a company-sponsored credit card. Your recruiting company may issue you a credit card that they give to all their employees. They will also tell you the terms of payment on the card. I believe the most attractive one is where you don't get APR or finance charges on any purchases or cash advances made; the caveat, however, is you have to pay the full amount you owe at each payment period. If you are good at watching how you use your credit card and budgeting the payments each month, this should not be a problem for you. In the end, this actually leaves you with more cash in your pocket that's left over from your salary at each pay period as compared to the other one below.

Although a company-issued credit card that allows you to slowly pay off your balances seems to be the better deal, chances are, the APR and finance charges on this type of card will be very high, sometimes higher than if you had gone to another bank and applied for your own. The other disadvantage to this latter type is that you are encouraged to spend up to your credit limit and then pay off just the minimum each month. This practice will soon enslave you to living monthly on how much of your limit you have left so that your balance never gets lower than a few hundred more than your minimum payment (if at all). As opposed to the first type above, this will leave you with less and less available leftover cash in your pocket from your salary. So if you were given a choice on what company credit cards to pick, I strongly suggest that you ask for the one that has no finance and APR charges but allows you to pay off your monthly purchases completely. It reflects very well on your credit history if someone inquiring about your credit rating finds out that you regularly zero out your monthly balances because you pay them off completely.

If your company does not offer credit cards to their employees, then you have no recourse but to start establishing credit on your own. There are some sites that give you information on how to do this. Two helpful ones that I have found are in About.com and smartcredittips.com. (If they're not available anymore by the time you read this, please post a comment anywhere on my blog, and I will e-mail you the article.)

Some of the advice given in the 2 links I wrote above are for American citizens. I have found that applying for a gas card or a department store card (like Macy's or Sears or even Wal-mart) is considerably harder if you're a foreign worker. Here is where you start using your networking skills and get to know about the other Filipino or foreign workers in your company. Find out about other Filipinos living in your area. Ask respectfully for their advice; Filipinos will tend to give you as much advice as they can when you're a newbie to help you get with your credit. In our case, the best advice I received was to go to a credit union. There are several in each state, but not all will accept foreign workers. Some are connected to certain companies and will only accept employees of those companies as members (e.g., a teachers' credit union will only accept school teachers from a certain district). Others limit their membership to Americans only and will not even accept permanent residents. These limitations are not because they discriminate against certain types of people, but because their charter or the specific reasons they were formed were to meet the financial needs and requirements of the specific group of people they serve. It's like a co-op in the Philippines. Don't worry, though, because credit unions abound everywhere, and some even accept out-of-state members. This means that if you're living in, say, California, you could still be a member of a credit union in Texas. Just make sure you check out the credit union you plan to join at the National Credit Union Administration website to find out if they're okay.

Most credit unions will accept new members if one of their existing members recommend the new member. This was the case with us. One of my husband's friends who came here ahead of him recommended him to the Universal Federal Credit Union (UFCU), based in Texax. However, I am particularly indebted to Excelsior Credit Union* who accepted my husband's membership application also without any referral or recommendations. To me that's saying a lot. These 2 credit unions issued us our first credit cards. Although the credit limit on UFCU's card was lower than the one given us by Excelsior, UFCU granted us a lower rate on our car loan. This just shows you that you shouldn't keep all your eggs in one basket. Shop for the best rates, too. If one credit union that you particularly like is giving you a higher rate on a credit card than another one, you can always talk with the one you like and ask if they will match the lower rate the other one is offering you. Usually they will match the other credit union's rate, especially if they want to get your business. The only time they won't is if they already know something of your credit history, and the info they have isn't that good.

Another suggestion is, if you're married, please make sure to give your spouse an extension card, specially if your spouse is on a dependent visa (H4, L4, or J4). You never know: if your spouse eventually finds a job, you will be doing him/her a great favor by letting the credit bureaus know of his/her existence, even if he/she still has to establish his/her own credit later on.

Once you have your first credit card, make sure you make payments on time. If you can, try to pay more than the minimum balance each month. Even if you're tempted to, don't go on a credit-applying spree by going to all the stores you want and apply for store credit cards. Each time you do so, the stores you go to will be pinging your credit account that is now on file at the 3 credit bureaus that track all the credit ratings and histories of any person with credit in the whole United States: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The more pings your account gets, the more your credit rating suffers because this is a sign you need credit badly. By the time you get to your fourth store, when that store pings your account, a response will be given to them stating that your first 3 store credit card applications have been denied. This makes the fourth store even more uneasy in giving you a credit card, because a person needing credit badly isn't good from the perspective of the credit bureaus or creditors.

Another reason you shouldn't do this is because your credit is bound to be low when you get your first credit card. Creditors want to know how good a credit risk you are first before they will lend you more. If you just be patient and wait 6 months at the very least before applying for your first store card, chances are your application will be approved right at the register. Also, if you have to get a store credit card, get it at the store you use most often. It's no use having a Macy's or Sears credit card if you buy most of your stuff at Boscov's or Target.

This advice about credit-applying sprees goes for car buying, too. If you can help it and public transportation is available where you live and work, don't buy your first car the moment you step off the boat, so to speak. Try waiting at least 6 months. This will save you the problem of having to get a co-signor or guarantor to your car loan. When you're a newbie at work, some of the other Filipinos and foreign workers will sometimes let you carpool with them. They will be more than willing to help if you are humble enough to admit you do need help. Of course, if it's very necessary because you just will not have a way to get to work otherwise, then go ahead and buy your car; just don't expect to get a good rate on your car loan, and/or expect the dealer to ask for a guarantor or co-signor on your account. We know some people who got carried away and so excited with buying a car the moment they got here that their total car monthly payments were so high, it was as if they had bought the top of the line model in the dealer showroom.

In the event you do end up with 5 credit cards, this is the time to tell yourself to stop. It would be wise to pay off the balances completely on at least 3 of these so you have more cash and leeway in your paycheck for medical emergencies and savings. Leaving yourself with more cash each payday means you will be less likely to use the cash advance facility offered by your credit cards. Once you make a cash advance on your credit card, your cash advance finance charge kicks in, which can be 15-20 percentage points higher than the APR. The more cash advances you make, the more untenable and harder it will be to pay your credit card bill.

Also, if you limit yourself to just one or two major credit cards, it will be easier to manage the monthly payments. Additionally, you can ask for better APR and finance charges as well as negotiate for a higher credit limit. A higher credit limit with lower APRs on 2 major credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, Amex, or Discover) is better than 5 or 10 lower-limit credit cards with higher APRs. Just add all the APRs on all your credit cards together and you'll be surprised at what you're paying each month and each year on charges alone. Remember, the more credit cards you have, the more likely successive ones issued later will have higher APRs. And the more credit cards and balances (loans) you have, the more of a credit risk you become, and the less likely you are to get prime rates for the more important purchases in your life, say, like a house.

Establishing credit takes time and patience. Don't let yourself be your own enemy in establishing good credit. An excellent credit rating takes several years of well-managed expenses and timely payments with some balloon payments to pay off other credit cards. It takes a disciplined mind to resist additional increases in your credit limit which, when taken, will result in you having more and more debt so that each paycheck you earn goes to pay for debts instead of going into other stuff like retirement savings or your children's college fund. Always remember to compute your bills and budget money wisely so that you still have some cash left over from each paycheck after paying your rent, car, utilities, and credit cards. If you don't, you'll be on your way to bankruptcy. Once you do get there and a credit consolidation agency has to help you manage your payments into one single payment so you and your family can survive, your credit rating goes back to zero, and you have to start establishing a good clean credit history all over again.

*Note: Excelsior Credit Union recently merged with Capital Communications Federal Credit Union. During the writing of this post, there has been no news yet of what the new name will be. The links to Excelsior Credit Union in this post are still active. Hopefully they will redirect all hits to their old website to the new one in the event they change their name and their website URL.

Part 3: If You Want to Emigrate ... Driving

2007-08-16T18:37:00.001-04:00

One of the most important things someone told us to do before we went to the US was to learn how to drive. This is especially important because outside of major cities, the only way to get around is by car.

Buses are more numerous in bigger cities, and one bus comes by every few minutes. In fact, public transportation in bigger cities like San Francisco, LA, and New York is the best way to travel because of heavy traffic in these areas. In addition to the buses, they also have subways, trains, trams, bards, and ferries (for inter-island travel like that between NYC and Staten Island). The name, I think, depends on which state or city you're in.

As you go further away from the city, buses will be fewer and farther between, with arrival and departure times sometimes varying from as short as 10 minutes to as long as 40 minutes. The times will also vary and will be fewer in early morning and late evening; sometimes there's no bus service on the weekends, particularly Sundays. If your future place of work happens to be nearer the suburbs, then knowing how to drive is a must.

Six years ago I took a refresher driving course. Natuto ako magdrive at 15, at nung college nako, minsan ay papayagan akong magdrive ng tatay ko sa school. This was during the time when traffic in Manila was not as bad as it was 6 years ago. (I'm told it's far worse now than it was then.) Since the early 1990s, traffic volume in Manila has multiplied exponentially that pretty soon it was inconvenient to take the car to work, not if you still wanted to have quite a bit of gas when you got home. Dahil sa bihira ang automatic transmission na kotse before the 1990s, konti lang mga babaeng natutong magmaneho ng manual transmission (they call it standard transmission or "stick" for stick shift over here). Pag di ka kasi sanay magtimpla ng clutch, maiipit ka in between impatient drivers and noisy car horns. Eventually, nung dumating ang mga automatic na kotse by the 1990s, still very few women learned to drive because driving schools at the time offered lessons in automatic transmission cars at very high prices. Additionally, di pupwede na mahinhin ka magmaneho sa Maynila. You have to think fast, monitor practically your whole outside environment, and multitask quickly in order to get to where you're going in one piece.

Despite all these frustrations, it still pays and is to your advantage to learn to drive in the Philippines before you come here. For one thing, roads are better and drivers here are just borderline crazy vs. insanely berserk in Manila. This means you'll be able to drive in a more relaxed way, ideal for Filipino women who may otherwise not be able to drive back home. Mas mainam na yun matuto ka sa magulong lugar para medyo nasanay ka na sa magulo, para pagdating mo dito gulat na gulat ka na lang na mas madali pala magmaneho dito.

You can take your driving lessons at A1 Driving Academy if they are still in operation. They used to be the best when I learned how to drive. There was also the lesser known Socialite's Driving School. If you live in the provinces, just ask your dad or older brother or uncle to teach you how to drive. The best person to ask for lessons in the provinces, I have found, is someone who drives a jeepney. They drive very well (if not insanely fast sometimes). Just make sure it's someone you trust, and that someone is able to transfer his knowledge to you. Meron kasing magaling magdrive pero di naman marunong magturo. So mahirap din yun. The reason I suggest a jeepney driver is because mas magaling pa rin magmaneho, magdiskarte, at sumingit-singit ang mga Pinoy drivers. Mas mabilis mag-isip at kumilos ang mga driver natin, so bilib na bilib pa rin ako sa mga Pinoy drivers.

Once you have finished your driving lesson, take the driving test and get your driver's license immediately. A1 Driving Academy helps you through this process by giving you tips on how to pass your test. For a fee, they will also expedite the processing of your driver's license so that you can get it immediately before you have to leave for the US. If you live in the province, just ask from the municipal office where you can take your driving test. Some provincial areas have their own DMV office. You can also take your test there. It's actually faster to get your license from a provincial DMV office than from the DMV in Manila because of the sheer volume of new applicants and renewals in the latter.

After you get your driver's license, apply for an international driver's license. Unless they have changed the Philippine license and started writing it in English, then you will need the international driver's license so you can drive in the US while waiting for a US-issued driver's license. The international license doesn't take the place of an American license; wherever you live in the US, you will have to apply for and get a driver's license as this is the primary form of identification everywhere you go. What the international license does is allow you to drive while waiting for your US license. When you get caught for a traffic violation, you present to the trooper both your original Philippine license along with the international one, so they will be able to understand your Filipino-worded license. The international driver's license will not save you, though, from any fees you have to pay if you disobey US traffic rules and regulations. You still will have to pay for traffic tickets if you're caught. Gone are the days of troopers who don't know what to do when presented with an international driver's license (i.e., they usually let you go when they flag you down for speeding). Most states now have laws in place that allow troopers to still charge you for any traffic ticket you get, whether it's just a mere parking ticket, towing charge or, worse, a speeding ticket.

Finally, let me share with you the best benefit I got from having followed the person who gave me this advice: I was able to drive and go anywhere I pleased in the years that I was waiting for my husband's green card to be processed. (My visa is an H-4 visa, meaning it's dependent on whoever in my family has the H1-B or working visa which, in this case, was my husband.) Di ako nakaprente sa bahay, getting bored to the whites of my eyeballs. Although naging driver ako ng asawa ko for a while (I would drop him at work then pick him up again), at least I was able to get my bearings and go around on my own until I was able to meet other Filipinos and started making lakwatsa with them. On the days I would take the bus, I learned shortcuts and other neat routes that I would never have learned driving on my own with the lack of a GPS. So all in all, maigi talaga kung matuto ka munang magmaneho sa Pinas, para pagdating mo dito, manghang-mangha na sayo ang mga Kano dahil sa galing mong magmaneho!

The Thorny Problem of Immigration

2007-08-13T11:37:00.005-04:00

For the past several months ever since the current presidency's immigration reform bill was voted down, immigration has been the hot issue for most foreigners, legal and illegal alike. There is a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, some of them directed towards legal aliens who have been peacefully residing on US soil for several years. As someone put it, "Why do they hate us so much?"

The presidency's efforts at trying to curb illegal immigration are commendable. However, each immigration bill or law or revisions to existing immigration laws addresses the issue on only one front: how to stem (if not stop) the tide of illegal immigrants. This is certainly not the fault of the current presidency nor of the ones before him. Each law or bill that has been passed by previous presidents and previous Congress representatives collectively made the situation worse today than it ever has been. Unless the issue is addressed on several levels at once by changing or revising existing laws not limited to immigration, then illegal immigrants will continually be this nation's thorn in the side.

Does America need foreign workers? It seems the overwhelming answer is "Yes!". Below are two reasons why:

Problem #1: Lack of workers. It has always been the refrain of most companies who hire or outsource labor to other nations that the US doesn't have enough workers. This is true with almost any labor category, from farmers who harvest crops to computer software professionals. There just aren't enough Americans qualified enough to do some of these work and not enough Americans willing to do some dirty work. Unemployment has been in the teens for the past 6 years that I've been here. This means that, despite all the illegal immigrants and sponsored working professionals already in this country, there is still a dearth of workers. There just isn't enough people to answer and fill the job vacancies in all the country's want ads.

One reason that I hear on chat often is that there are jobs Americans just are not willing to do. Among them are the farm work and sweatshops that are commonly found in border states; nursing jobs and being servants are others. I have a friend whose daughter refused to consider a nursing career even though her parents assured her she already has a ready job once she graduates because of the demand for skilled nurses. When asked why she doesn't want to be a nurse, she says it's "dirty work".

What Americans classify as "dirty work" seem to be those types of jobs where some sort of physical work is involved. Though you will see gyms full of Americans working out, the idea of physical, possibly backbreaking labor (which, ironically, is also called work) is not something they'd like to do. To be fair, some feel it's because their rights to fair labor practices, vacation leaves, sick leaves, and high hourly rates, will not be met. If there is an inkling that their rights may be denied in some way or another, then they won't do it.

This is where immigrants step in. Because huge farms, sweatshops, clothing factories, food processing plants, etc. do not have the huge resources of hospitals and software giants, they sometimes have no choice but to hire an illegal immigrant to do the job. They have to watch their bottomline. The average American wish to buy clothes and toys at affordable, sometimes third world prices; they wish to eat $1-$2 burgers at fastfoods; God forbid that the supermarkets ever run out of stock on any food item, while prices have mostly remained stable in the past 6 years. What's an American farmer or factory owner to do? Even if an American would suddenly come to their doorstep and want to work on his farm or plant, the farm owner will have to pay health insurance, days off, etc., which could undercut his bottomline, leading him to charge higher prices for his goods, which could mean his losing his buyers who will obviously be buying stuff from someone who will give the buyer a lower price. It's all a matter of elementary economics, really, what is known as the law of supply and demand where each person at each end wants to benefit financially.

Other illegal immigrants work as servants for wealthy or semi-wealthy middle class families. Only the truly ("filthy") rich have the resources to sponsor foreign household helpers. Those who don't fall into this category, but consider themselves as reasonably wealthy anyway, will hire (or leave their majordomos to hire) immigrants to do what slaves used to do a century or so ago. In fact, if truth be told and you're familiar with American history, the jobs that illegal immigrants now hold are what the black slaves used to do about a hundred years ago. Slaves used to work on sugar plantations and serve as maids and household helpers to the sugar barons. Slavery may have ended for African-Americans, but it's definitely enjoying a huge comeback with illegal immigrants filling in some of the shoes slaves used to fill.
Possible Solution #1: Consider lowering legal fees for seasonal workers that include factory, agricultural, and other industrial workers. Let's face it: crop farms need agricultural workers so they don't lose money when harvests start to rot because of the lack of people to harvest them. Working visas for seasonal workers fall under the H2-B category. The current initial application fee is $320 (form I-129). Legal fees, however, are very prohibitive and can add anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 to each worker application. If speedy processing is needed by the employer, the cost is another $1,000. At more than $3,300 a worker, it's already as much as the total salary a seasonal worker will earn in about 1 1/2 months, which would most likely be the number of months he is required to work. Looking at it from the employer's perspective, I can understand why he would hesitate to pay those fees for each agricultural worker he hires when that amount could pay for one illegal immigrant worker already! Software companies and hospitals can afford those fees, especially when the personnel they're hiring are all degreed workers (RNs and BS graduates). But then, which Congress representative or president would like to pass a law that lowers a lawyer's legal fees?

Corollary to Solution #1 above is the need to re-educate, encourage, and take away the preconceived notions in young school-age Americans that nursing is a dirty job, or that computer programming is for guys alone, or that the young American girl who has an uncanny aptitude for mathematical sciences and logic will be labeled a nerd for life if she considers a technical, engineering, or mathematical career. One reason why hospitals and software giants tend to look overseas for workers is because not enough incentives and encouragement are given to young Americans to excel enough in school in order for them to be good enough to pursue engineering and technical careers. (Of course, the other reason is because foreign workers tend to accept lower salaries. But more of that later.) Additionally, as if the sky-high tuition is not enough to put the poor student in debt well into his adult life, some colleges set too high a standard for accepting students. On top of very stringent requirements, college quotas are also observed so that, as is more often the case, the more technical, mathematical, or engineering slots end up being filled by mostly Asian students.

Which leads me to my next corollary: the school system in the lower years (elementary to high school) should be revamped so that students graduate with a more realistic knowledge of subjects that will be introduced in college. For example, in most public high schools, some AP (advanced placement) subjects are standard fare for most Asian high schools -- meaning, each high school student has to pass these AP subjects in order to graduate. This gives most of them a cutting edge to passing college entrance exams and better prepares them for actual college courses. Once they get to college, again, some courses are required in order to complete a degree, even though, at first blush, you'd hardly think some of these courses are needed for what the student expects to be working on after graduation.

Problem #2: The US dollar. Anyone reading this article will probably be surprised why I consider the US dollar a problem to the immigration issue. Simple. The US dollar is the currency of exchange the world knows today. The stock, financial and foreign exchange (FOREX) markets trade using this currency. In the bank where I used to work, the US dollar is called a primary currency. All other currencies, including the now strong euro, are classified as secondary currencies. Even smaller value currencies from most third world countries are classified as tertiary currencies. An importer of US goods will have to convert his currency to US dollars to pay the seller in the US. An exporter of foreign goods is paid US dollars for items shipped to the US. Countries that have strong currencies like the euro and British pound still have to convert their currencies the same way if they are to import or export goods outside the European continent. Additionally, because the US dollar is the currency for trade (the base currency, so speak), most countries have to stock up, or keep in their bank vaults (whether digital or otherwise), reserve money denominated in US dollars.

Most other countries outside Europe have currencies that are valued lower than the US dollar. These include the Spanish-speaking countries of Mexico, Central and South America. Anyone living in these countries will want to work in the US because for the same type of backbreaking job that they are doing back home, they actually get paid more if they do that job here, even if, under American standards, their salaries are actually way below the minimum wage. When they send some of their earnings home, their families are now able to enjoy more of the basic stuff every human being needs to live: food, clothing and shelter.

This "problem" is an incentive used to advantage by some US companies, for this means that, for the same quality of work (if not better), they can hire medical, engineering, advertising, and software professionals from abroad. Small software companies, in particular, like to pepper their workforce with a number of H1-B (the working visa category for degreed professionals)-sponsored employees who will help keep their bottomline in the black. The same thing goes for hospitals who are struggling with mergers and closings because in spite of having more empty beds, they still cannot meet either state or federal requirements of keeping a certain ratio of nurses to patients in their wards. Mind you, almost every state and hospital now have special programs and incentives to entice people to take up nursing as a profession, yet these are not enough to meet the numbers they require.

Improbable Solution #2: Change the world trade currency to something other than the US dollar. For now, no one dares change the status quo. Imagine the chaos that will create in the world's financial markets! I am told by some conspiracy sources that some countries had actually tried to do something like that: they wanted to start selling oil using the euro as their base currency, mainly because the euro is a now a more stable and stronger currency than the US dollar than when it was launched a few years ago. These conspiracy buffs say this is what caused the US government to shift its sights from running after Osama bin Ladin and his army and punish them for what they did, to bringing down Saddam because Iraq is one of the biggest producers and one of the strongest voices among the oil-producing nations advocating a shift to the euro as the world currency. Go figure.

Why do some people hate immigrants so much? Some people are against any kind of foreign worker "stealing" American jobs, whether it is through outsourcing or through sponsored working professionals or agricultural and household workers. They are against immigrants, whether they're legally here or not, saying that these foreigners use up welfare, "steal" benefits that rightfully belong to them. This is a misconception because any legally sponsored foreign worker makes the same contributions to medical insurance and Social Security that other American employees do. Some business websites actually state that, without the contributions of foreign workers, the Social Security system would implode faster than it is about to. This is because as long as that foreign worker does not receive his green card, he is forbidden by law from collecting any SS benefits. This means that if the worker dies and he is still not a citizen, his family doesn't get any death benefit or pension from the SS. Furthermore, not all foreign workers get to stay in the US and not all get to have green cards. A considerable number are sent back home after they have finished their contracts, substantially more so than those who are approved for permanent residency. These workers' contributions to Social Security through the years are now in numerous Americans' pockets in the form of pensions and other SS benefits.

Now illegal immigrants are a different matter. Besides not paying taxes, they also don't pay SS contributions (unless it is to a dummy or fake SS number). Most of them aren't even able to afford health or medical care. Hence, when they get sick they go to emergency rooms to get treated. If there is any "stealing of benefits", then this is the most likely culprit, for tax dollars that go into most hospitals also go into treating illegal immigrants who may not have the money to pay for their treatment.

Some people believe that benefits that automatically accrue to immigrants' children are being given to these kids illegally. They think that, for example, when a woman gives birth to a baby in a hospital, and she is given formula, diapers, etc. to help care for her new baby, she is taking away something that shouldn't be given to her. On the contrary, the formula and diapers (as well as whatever welfare checks or cards each state awards poor women so they can go buy more of these for their babies) are for the benefit of her baby, who now happens to be an American citizen. This is because of the jus solis law that the American constitution set forth centuries ago, that grants automatic American citizenship to any infant born within US borders. Contrast this with the jus sanguinis law most other countries have that recognizes an infant's citizenship by blood -- meaning, whatever is the citizenship of the parents, the baby will take that.

It seems logical now that unless someone in government takes the initiative to change that law, illegal immigrants will continue to find it to their advantage to bear children here with the hope that their kids will assure them American citizenship (and benefits) when they come of age. Maybe if that happened, some of them will just come here to work and return home because those kids won't be American citizens anyway. This is hypothetical, however, since, like I mentioned above, the still almighty dollar makes it attractive for immigrants to come and work here because the money they earn can buy so much back home. Changing the law about citizenship will not stop them from coming either. If the euro was adopted as the world currency, the immigration problem will only shift to Europe as inflation goes back home to US shores and drastically affects the economy. If ever that happens, the rest of the world will realize that working illegally in Europe will provide the same benefits as working illegally in the US now gives. By that time, surely the United States' problem with immigration will be gone permanently.

Starting a New Life Part 1: Where to Live

2007-08-12T18:29:00.001-04:00

Now that you are probably on US soil, more likely than not your employer has put you in a temporary housing situation. It could be a house or apartment that they own or rent (i.e., it's in their name) and where other Filipino families in the process of moving out or moving in are also living. It could also be one of a group of subsidized housing that they offer where you have to pay part of the rent while your employer pays the rest. When it is the latter (as is most common with most hospitals who hire Filipino nurses), your employer may tell you the terms of your lease or rent. The lease may be long-term or short-term, depending on what you have agreed with your employer or what your employer wants you to. Usually whatever housing situation your employer has arranged for you, it is temporary. Because it is temporary, sooner or later you will have to move out and rent your own apartment or house. This is to help you in your search.

One of the first things you may want to consider in choosing an apartment or house is its proximity to your place of work. It's a good idea to visit several apartments during rush hour -- i.e., just around or after 5PM and just around or before 8:30AM. Also, you have no choice: since you will be busy working 9 to 5, the only time you will have for apartment or house hunting is after work. So set your appointments to meet the rental office manager or landlord just before or after you go to or leave work. This will give you a rough idea of the traffic volume you may encounter when you do start living there and have to go to work. Some landlords or rental managers will suggest making an appointment with you over the weekend. This is fine, but remember that when you do go on the weekends, traffic volume is lighter and, thus, you will not get an idea of how bad it can get until you are actually living there already.

I strongly suggest that you choose a place that is on the bus route. This can be particularly helpful if you haven't got a car yet. Another reason why I strongly suggest this is because when you're on the bus, the bus doesn't always take the "normal" route, e.g., one that Google or Yahoo maps has given you. Some buses are known to take shortcuts or lesser known routes and avoid the freeway (highway para sa inyong mga baguhan dito). These routes tend to be less congested because almost everyone will try to take the "faster" route, which would be a major highway. A third reason why being on a bus route is favorable is because you get to know your immediate neighborhood and the places it has to offer like supermarkets, pharmacies (drug stores), fastfood joints, banks, etc. If you have the good luck to be in a nice friendly neighborhood, then most of the people on the bus will be people you will soon know by face and, if you're lucky, you'll be able to start conversations with them. Once you get to know some people from your new neighborhood, they can be a very good source of where to buy what. Knowing where to buy what is key to making sure you don't go broke each payday!

Additionally, if you're on the bus route and take the bus regularly for maybe at least 6 months (a year is better, but 6 months is okay), that would help you establish some sort of credit so that when you do buy a car, you already have a few months' worth of credit history that will hopefully help lower your car mortgage payments than if you bought your car before you had even been living here a month.

If you're in a more city-fied place like New York City, the subway is always there, and the trains are as dependable as clockwork. Other cities in the US may have some sort of public transportation similar to New York's subway system. If so, then find out if it's to your advantage to be near a public transportation route so in case your car breaks down, you have a fallback. Cabs (taxis for those of you who are newly arrived here) can be very prohibitive, and cab fare certainly costs more than bus or subway tickets.

A second thing you may want to consider when you have to strike out on your own and find a new place to live is to check out the public school district in that area. In the Philippines, we have been used to the fact that the public school systems in most areas suck. That's why a lot of us tend to put our kids in private school. When we come here, we bring with us our experience or knowledge of the public schools back home and immediately want to put our kids in private schools. Most private schools are Catholic or Christian schools. Because they are private, tuition fees are very, very, very expensive. No kidding. On top of that, because they do not receive government funding like public schools, they tend to solicit outside sources of funds. This means you. Each month you will be asked to support some sort of fundraiser or other. When you're new, you don't know that many people or families to sell cookies or chocolates or whatever to. So you end up paying for the minimum required in the fundraiser out of your own pocket, which could be a minimum of $50. Add that to your monthly tuition of about $400 a month, you're already paying for a second car at that rate!

The public school system in the US is very, very well funded. These schools actually have more equipment, books, and better-qualified teachers than private schools, mainly because the state and federal governments fund the schools and pay the teachers' salaries (which are usually higher than private school teachers' salaries). Hence, the quality of education is comparable to (if not even better) than a private school (unless, of course, you go to an elitist private school, in which case you probably need to have the blue blood as well as the wealth to send your kid to it).

Consider also that part of the rent you pay goes to fund these public schools in the form of school taxes. If you have a house, on top of annual property taxes, you are required to pay school taxes as long as you have children, even when your kids do not go to the public school district in your area. So why not send your school to the public school in your district since you're already paying for it whether you like to or not? Otherwise, you're already paying for your kids to go to 2 schools each: school taxes as well as tuition. Of course, if you had the very good fortune to get married to a rich old American who didn't ask you to sign a pre-nup, then why not spend his money anyway and put your child in private school? Anyway, to set your mind at ease, why not research the rankings of the public school districts in your area so you can make a more informed decision on which public school to send your child to? These rankings are available online and in local newspapers at around the time the schools are done with statewide and/or nationwide aptitude tests.

Questions to ask the landlord or rental manager when you're apartment or house-for-rent hunting:
1. How long is your lease? A lease is the minimum period of time you promise to live in the apartment when you sign up. The most common lease contract period is one year. Can you break your lease in the event your employer suddenly re-assigns you to a different job? In New York state (where I live), if your new work assignment is out of state, you can legally break your lease without incurring penalties, i.e., paying monthly rent for the remainder of the months on your lease. However, you may wish to have your employer's lawyers review your lease contract, especially if you already know your employer has a tendency to uproot and re-assign its foreign workers at short notice. At the very least, if your company is the type who farms out their workers to different sites in the US, you should let your Human Resources manager know about the terms of your lease so that he or she can smoothly arrange for a transition or transfer without the landlord or rental manager subjecting you to monthly rents for the remainder of the lease.

2. Who maintains the property? Whether it's a house or apartment you're renting, you and the landlord should be clear on this. Apartment complexes owned by a company/corporation usually have their own maintenance personnel that are on call 24/7 (i.e., 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). If anything needs repairing in your apartment, even if it's only as simple as a clogged drain, they will send their personnel over if you will only call. If you live in a state that will get snow in the winter months, it makes good sense to ask who does the snow shoveling and until where do they shovel? Will they shovel up to your doorstep or just to your walkway or just in the parking lot (the latter 2 means you will have to buy your own snow shovel and shovel your way to your car)? They will not shovel to get your car out, but some may clear around your car (unless there are other cars parked beside yours), which makes it easier to shovel the remaining snow away from your car after they've done their job. The same goes for yard work: will they pick up dead leaves, cut the shrubs, or weed the little patch of garden beside your door, or is that your responsibility?

Other privately owned apartments or houses may require that you do maintenance or repair work up to a certain dollar amount, which will be included in your lease contract. This means that if you have a clogged drain, you'll have to buy a drain declogger and unclog your drain yourself. If a repair is needed (a window you broke for instance), you will have to shoulder the cost of the repairs if the amount is lower than what you and your landlord agreed upon.

Most other minor stuff like busted light bulbs you will have to take care of yourself, i.e., buy your own bulbs or lighting. You may have to buy your own lighting fixtures in the first place since most apartments in the US do not have lights affixed to their ceilings, except in the bathroom and kitchen. This is in contrast to most houses and apartments in the Philippines where the lights are all built in, and all you have to do is buy new bulbs when the old bulbs burn out.

In the event your landlord does take care of all repairs or maintenance or yard work, it makes sense to surreptitiously ask one or two of the existing tenants if the landlord does take care of all these in a timely manner. You wouldn't want to end up in an apartment where the snowplow personnel come to work at 9 AM just like everybody else, when you yourself need to be at work by 9 AM and, therefore, need your parking lot cleared and salted so you can drive off to work. (Another reason why it's a good idea to be on the bus line: when the snowplow is late coming to your apartment, you can always take the bus and still be on time at work.)

3. Are utilities included in your monthly rent? Some apartments include utilities in the monthly rent you pay. They will usually advertise this in their ads. Sometimes your rent may be expensive because heating, cooling, and water are included. States that experience cold winter months usually have 2 options for heating: gas or electricity. So far, gas heat is still more affordable than electric heat, so find out if the apartment or house you are planning to rent has gas or electric heat. If gas heat is used, come winter you will be paying for both gas and electricity as part of your utility bill. There may also be washer and dryer facilities (for laundry) included as part of your major appliances, which usually includes a dishwasher, range, and refrigerator. If there is no washer and dryer available in your apartment itself, find out if the building has a common laundry room where all the tenants can go and do their laundry. This is especially convenient in the winter so you don't have to make a trip to the laundromat to wash your clothes. The summers can be pretty hot (dry heat instead of humid heat)in higher latitude states, so airconditioning is a must in the summer months. Find out if your apartment has one or if you have to buy your own.

If utilities are not part of the rent, ask the landlord what the average utility bill is. Find out how much an average electrical bill is in the summer and how much it is in the winter. This is important since your utility bill will be more expensive in the winter if electric heat is used. The difference in the two bills will also tell you whether it is more economical for you to rent an apartment that offers gas heat or one that offers electric heat or even one that includes utilities in the rent. A good and accommodating landlord will actually pick up the phone to call a tenant in your presence to ask.

Are there phone, internet and cable hookups in the place you will be renting? This question is to verify whether there are existing lines going into the house or apartment you will be renting. If there are, all you have to do is call the cable/internet and phone companies to activate accounts in your name. Otherwise, you'll have to pay for the cable and phone companies to create connections to your home.

An extra perk that most apartments have is an exercise room or facility within their premises that is free for you to use. Take advantage of the exercise machines in there because the privilege of using them comes as part of your rent.

4. Find out who your neighbors are. Subtlety is key here. If the apartment you are considering is near a university or college, then the likelihood of you having college-age neighbors is pretty high. Will you be able to tolerate loud noises when they have parties, especially when you have toddlers or school age children? Your immediate concern are the neighbors either side of you or, if you're in a building, on either side of you as well as above and below you. For example, if the people living below you are seniors, they may not like the running footsteps of your kids.

Consideration for other neighbors works both ways. This means that if you yourself make trouble or too much noise, neighbors on either side of you or above and below you can also file a complaint against you. Therefore, find out the policy your landlord has when it comes to having late-night parties. Filipinos invariably seek each other out and get together on holidays. Madalas may inuman sa mga get together na ito. We are also fond of singing and dancing, which means we will most likely have a karaoke going on. We have to remember to set the volume on our karaokes (for the whole party, in fact) to a bearable maximum, one that will not incur a visit from the State Police at our doors as a result of a noise complaint from a neighbor. So find out what your landlord's policy is on noise so you have reason to make a legitimate complaint against a neighbor as well as not incur a complaint from your neighbor.

5. Read your lease contract , even if it takes too long and tires your eyes out from the fine print. Taking the time to take home the lease contract and actually reading it will prove beneficial to you in the end. You will get a general idea of things you can legitimately do, which is a better way of saying you will know what you cannot do so that your future landlord or a neighbor doesn't have cause to file some sort of complaint against you. Once you sign the lease, you cannot claim ignorance later on of some rule or regulation or item that you "never knew" and which your lease contract already discussed or explained in detail; you just didn't take the time to read it fully. Not reading it is also not a good excuse to tell your landlord when you are cited for doing something your lease contract specifically prohibits.

One final and important advice: take out renter's insurance as soon as you move in. The apartment or house will have its own insurance that is paid for by the landlord. In case something happened to the building, the landlord will get the proceeds from these insurance policies. You, on the other hand, get nothing. If your belongings get burned in a fire, waterlogged in a flood, or even stolen or vandalized, your landlord's insurance will not pay you a single cent because the property (i.e., house or apartment) is not listed in your name. So renter's insurance is your own personal type of coverage on all your belongings in case the events I described above do happen to you. The annual premium is not that expensive (less than $100 a year), yet the coverage can be substantial and can include everything you own that you had listed with the insurance company. This is particularly advantageous because this means you will have the money to buy a new TV or computer in case a fire does happen or someone burglarizes you. In case the latter happens, your insurance company will be in a good position to pressure your landlord to burglar-proof the house or apartment you are renting. Additionally, if something occurs that renders your apartment inhospitable for you to live in for a while (i.e., fire or flood damage), your renter's insurance coverage will ensure you have a place to stay like a nearby inn or motel or another apartment until your landlord tells you it's all right to move back in. Your renter's insurance will cover the cost of that stay at the inn until your apartment is back to normal.

I hope the above information helps you settle down and begin a new life in the US. There's probably more advice out there you can get from new friends and other Filipinos you have met in the area where you are in now. If so, maybe you can also ask them some of the questions I have outlined above. It helps to be more informed and knowledgeable before you face your future landlord and sign that lease so that your future stay will be peaceful and you will not be taken advantage of.

The Current Immigration Atmosphere

2007-08-09T13:00:00.001-04:00

The article below appeared in The New York Times online. It shows the sad state of affairs that immigration policy has reached in the US.

The Misery Strategy
Editorial from The New York Times published on August 9, 2007.

The path the country has set on since the defeat of immigration reform in the Senate in June enshrines enforcement and punishment above all else. It is narrow, shortsighted, disruptive and self-defeating. On top of that, it won’t work.

What it will do is unleash a flood of misery upon millions of illegal immigrants. For the ideologues who have pushed the nation into this position, that is more than enough reason to plunge ahead.
The latest phase of the crackdown, expected to be announced this week, would require employers to resolve discrepancies between their employee records and those of the Social Security Administration. If the data don’t match, presumably because a worker is an illegal immigrant using a false number, the worker must be fired. There are millions of people in thousands of workplaces who could be caught in that net, and the government is promising to start dragging it zealously, with stepped-up raids around the country. “We are tough, and we are going to be even tougher,” said a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.
Toughness is now the mantra at every level of government. The Senate had struggled for years to erect the immense framework of bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform, coupling stricter enforcement with a citizenship path and an orderly future flow of workers. But restrictionists pushed the unwieldy structure over, and now even its architects have fled the scene.
Senator John McCain, trying to keep his presidential hopes aloft by jettisoning his courage and good sense, has leapt to the enforcement barricades, joining Senators Jon Kyl and Lindsey Graham in sponsoring a bill that is essentially a Minuteman’s to-do list of fence-building and punishments. He has shamefully repudiated his commitment to giving illegal immigrants a way to get right with the country. Senator Arlen Specter, meanwhile, wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post titled “A Less Ambitious Approach to Immigration,” in which he endorsed the creation of a permanent noncitizen immigrant underclass, saying it is the best we can hope for until “a more hospitable America” emerges.
The federal government’s abandonment of comprehensive reform has been matched by unprecedented crackdowns at the state and local level. Lawmakers this year have introduced more than 1,400 immigration-related bills in all 50 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and enacted 170 of them. Many of the bills severely restrict where immigrants can live and work, and leave them vulnerable to exploitation and fearful of the police. It’s the federal approach of raids and aggression, metastasized across the continent.
The country will have a long time to watch this approach as it fails. The politicians who killed the Senate bill for offering “amnesty” have never offered a workable alternative. Their one big idea is that harsh, unrelenting enforcement at the border, in the workplace and in homes and streets would dry up opportunities for illegal immigrants and eventually cause the human tide to flow backward. That would be true only if life for illegal immigrants in America could be made significantly more miserable than life in, say, rural Guatemala or the slums of Mexico City. That will take a lot of time and a lot of misery to pull that off in a country that has tolerated and profited from illegal labor for generations.
The American people cherish lawfulness but resist cruelty, and have supported reform that includes a reasonable path to earned citizenship. Their leaders have given them immigration reform as pest control.

Part 2: If You Want to Emigrate ... Things to Bring That No One Tells You To

2007-08-03T09:53:00.002-04:00

So you got the phone call or letter or other notification saying you've been accepted by some hospital in the US to work there as a nurse. The good news includes the fact that you can bring your family with you, and they will pay for all your plane fare. What to bring then?

Before going on this long Pacific trip that could take anywhere from 16 hours (on a nonstop flight to the West coast) to 22 hours (with a couple of stopovers en route to the East coast), please make sure you checked your airport's rules and regulations for things that you can bring in your carryall or hand-carried luggage. These regulations change frequently because the FAA in the US sometimes adds to or deletes items from the list of things you can bring. The sooner you follow these regulations, the better for you, because it will mean less lines and less delays at the terminal check points. If they find anything suspicious, they can choose to chuck it all away or, at the worst, bring you to an office and make you miss your flight until they are done interviewing you or going through all of your luggage. These rules are also for your protection. Sayang naman kung nagawa mo na ang lahat at handang-handa ka na pumunta sa US, tapos sa airport ka pa haharangin dahil may dala kang nailcutter sa handbag.

Among the paperwork you should bring that your future employer or recruiting agency will tell you to bring, make sure you have the following:

1) Any diplomas and certificates and licenses that you or your spouse and kids have earned, including formal transcripts of records. This will help your spouse and yourself get your degrees accredited in the US later on (more about that later). The one who has been hired in the US, though, already had his or her college subjects credentialed. In the case of kids, if you can obtain one computerized list of all their marks (grades) in all the levels they have gone to in their schools, and have that signed by the principal or registrar, that would be great. This list should be in addition to their report cards. These academic records will help your kids' future schools place your kids in the right grade level. Note that most of the subjects taught in our grade levels are more advanced than the equivalent grade level here, so if you have a formal summary signed by the principal of all their grades, including any results from any nationwide tests they may have taken (i.e., NCEE, NCAT), it may help in placing your child in a higher grade level than what she left behind. Strikto din sila sa ages dito, so you have to be a certain age before you can enter a particular grade level. But if your child is advanced (which most Filipino kids are), then he or she may benefit from studying in a higher grade level.

2) Original copies of birth certificates, marriage licenses, and baptismal certificates.

3) All medical and immunization records of all members of your family. The usual thing is for the parents to bring their kids' immunization records only. This helps a lot, but only your kids. When your employer processes your paperwork for permanent residency, the process will include a very thorough physical examination that will include inquiries into your past medical history. So kung wala kang bakuna sa tanang buhay mo, bago ka umalis, magpabakuna ka na at ang iyong asawa. The ones they will be looking for are the tetanus booster (taken with DPT if possible), MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), and VZV or varicella (chicken pox). For healthcare workers or medical professionals, they will require you to have the full hepatitis A and hepatitis B series of vaccines. The tetanus/DPT, MMR, and VZV vaccines usually stay active in your system for at least 10 years. Hopefully, by the time they ask you to go for your immigration physical, the markers in your blood against these diseases are still there.

What if you already had some or all of these diseases? Well, let's say you had mumps and measles. Your blood test will most likely show that you have been exposed to these diseases. But if you haven't had German measles (the "R" component of MMR), then you still will have to get the vaccine. Also, having the disease doesn't necessarily mean your blood will still show signs of immunity. This is because the computers that will analyze your blood samples have certain minimum level requirements of immunity: if the markers they check in your blood are in the in-between range, they will print the result as equivocal. Once the USCIS-licensed civil surgeon (doctors who are authorized and licensed by the INS/USCIS to give immigrant applicants their physical exams) reads the lab results that show you have equivocal immunity to any of the diseases above, they will have to give you the shot right then and there. And you will have to pay for it, because even if you end up having medical insurance when you get here, they (the HMOs) do not pay for immigration physicals. Mas mahal ang mga doktor at mga gamot dito, at kahit anong iniksyon o procedure ang gagawin sayo ay napakamahal din. Kung may medical insurance ka, co-pay lang babayaran mo. Pero since ang immigration physicals ay di binabayaran ng medical insurance, magbabayad ka talaga out of pocket. Sa Pilipinas, libre pa yun ibang mga bakuna dyan, lalo na kung pupunta ka lang sa munisipyo ninyo at magtanong ka sa health center kung pwede ka magpabakuna.

Along with the immunization records, you and your spouse should have at least one baseline x-ray each, if you can afford it. The reason I say this is because recently, there was this guy who was caught traveling while being a TB carrier. As a result of this, doctors here are now on high alert for any signs of changes in your lungs that can be seen on x-ray. The Philippines is one of those countries where TB is still endemic. Even if you haven't had the disease, every child is vaccinated with the BCG vaccine that is supposed to protect us from getting TB. Now people who have had the BCG vaccine will sometimes trigger a positive PPD (the Mantoux skin test they will put on you to see if you have TB; unfortunately, it can turn positive for both active and old or inactive TB). This test is part of any pre-employment physical as well as the immigration physical. When you get a positive PPD, they will then send you to get a chest x-ray. Swerte mo kung negative ang x-ray. But if the x-rays turn out positive, that could derail and hold up your immigration papers. So have a chest x-ray (AP and lateral) before you leave, and ask for the films. Bring the films with you (properly protected so they can't be bent in your luggage). When you go for your immigration physical and get a positive PPD, when they require you to have an x-ray and the x-ray shows some abnormalities, you can then show the x-rays you had taken before you left the Philippines to compare. If the x-rays appear the same, then that means any abnormality they see in the current x-ray is baseline (or normal) for you. Hopefully, the doctor will say the same and go on and process your papers. But if you don't have any x-rays from the Philippines to compare with the current one that shows any abnormality, then they will have you undergo a lot of other stuff just to definitely rule out the possibility of you having a TB infection, and your immigration medical exam will be put on hold. If you have kids who have had treated primary complex (essentially TB infection in children), their x-rays may also show changes that doctors here could misinterpret as active TB. Hence, it would also be a good idea to bring with you the latest chest x-rays (AP and lateral) of your child who had the primary complex. Hospitals in the Philippines only keep x-ray records and films for 5 years; after that they're discarded.

You may ask why would some doctors here misinterpret an active TB infection from an inactive (treated) one. Well, I was told by some doctors here that US-trained diagnostic radiologists do not have the amount of experience Filipino radiologists and pulmonologist have in reading x-rays that reflect changes wrought by previous TB infections. TB in the US is still limited to prison populations, a very few high-density nursing homes, immunocompromised individuals, and poverty stricken areas. Filipino radiologists and pulmonologists read and interpret several x-rays a day that show both healed scars from prior TB infections as well as changes from active (current) infections. They have become highly experienced in telling apart x-rays that show healed TB infections from that of x-rays that show active infection. What are the consequences if you get a positive PPD here and an x-ray that shows changes consistent with either old or new TB? Lacking x-rays from the Philippines to compare with, the least that could happen to you is being put on medication as if you have active TB; the not-so-bad scenario will be sending you for more bloodwork or to a pulmonologist to determine if you have old/healed TB or active TB; the worst that could happen is being quarantined by the CDC (such as happened to that globetrotting businessman who went on a plane despite being told he shouldn't travel because he has resistant TB).

The same goes for any medical condition or ailment you have: ask for a written medical history and bring whatever records your physicians have on you. If you wear glasses or contact lenses go to your eye doctor and have him write up your eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions as well as any eye conditions you have had or presently have so when you get here, the next time you need to have your eyes checked, the doctor will have a baseline prescription and some medical eye history to work from. If you have any other disease that you usually take medication for (e.g., asthma), have the specialist doctors you see for these problems write up your medical history in the form of a letter or certificate, which should include the list of medications you take or have taken in the past to combat these ailments. If you also have allergies to any medications, now would be a good time to ask the doctor to list them down as part of your medical history.

4) Have complete dental work done on your and your family members' teeth. Mura mag pa dentista sa aten, so kung kaya mo pa, magpadentista ka na. Dental insurance costs are prohibitive in the US. Some medical insurers will have dental insurance and offer it, but most don't. It is an optional addition to most medical insurance policies, but it still costs a lot when you do add it on to your plan. Add to that, I still have yet to find a dentist whose expertise is comparable to newbie dentists in the Philippines. What I mean to say is, magagaling ang mga dentista natin, at kahit mamahalan ka sa singil nila habang nasa Pinas ka, pagdating mo dito, aabutin ka ng daan-daan (pasta) o libo-libo (pustiso) sa dentista. Saka dito, konting pasta lang, iiniksyunan ka na ng anesthesia. Sa atin, magagaan ang mga kamay ng mga dentista natin, kaya di ka kelangan anistisyahin bago ka pastahan. Pag pinastahan ka dito, masisira muna yun ngipin mo dahil palalakihin nila yun katiting mo na cavity, tapos papastahan. Sa atin kasi, if the dentist can save your tooth, he or she will strive to do so. Kung maliit na maliit lang ang cavity mo, di niya palalakihin ng husto yan hanggang sa shell na lang ng ngipin mo ang natira. I have Pinoy friends here who go for their complete and routine dental work each time they go home to the Philippines, dahil ala silang makitang dentist sing galing ng mga dentista natin. Maiingat ang mga dentists natin, so have a complete dental exam prior to leaving.

5) Ask for employer references at your previous job. If you changed jobs in the past and you can still trace down your previous bosses, ask them for employer references, too. Most Filipino OCWs are recruited to work in the US because their professional skills are needed and cannot be filled by an American worker. That is the basis of a working visa (H1-B) sponsorship. One of the things your employer or the recruiting agency relied on before they decided to take you was your work experience reflected in a good, strong written resume and a reference letter from your then previous or current employer. You need additional ones to bring with you when you arrive here. This is especially useful when your employer here processes your immigration papers: one of the requirements the immigration lawyer will ask you to provide is a written reference from your previous employer in the Philippines that shows you capable and more than qualified to hold the existing job you have now and for which you were sponsored. If you wait until your immigration papers are being processed and the immigration lawyer asks for this, your boss in your previous place of work may already have moved on or retired.

These references will also help your spouse look for a job when he/she gets here. Of course, in the case of your spouse, if he/she does not belong to any of the H1-B-sponsored jobs, he/she will need copies of his diploma and/or transcript of records duly signed by the school registrar or principal or dean. Once your spouse gets here, he/she should get his transcript certified by a credential evaluation service. This means, he/she will submit his records to a company that compares college degrees earned abroad with college degrees earned in the US. For a fee, the credentialing company will tell you if the degree you earned back home (whether a certificate degree like AS or AA, or a full or postgraduate degree like BS/BA and MS/MA) is the same as that earned here. When they certify your spouse, he/she can then look for a job in the same area or line of work he used to do.

6) Copies of your credit card statements and any Visa or Mastercard credit card issued in the Philippines. One of the things you have to establish upon arriving and working in the US is a credit history. Newbie creditors are given higher interest rates with low credit limits on credit cards, unless it's an employer- or corporate-sponsored credit card (in which case you are sometimes required to pay your balances in full at each statement period). If you were able to have a Visa or Mastercard issued by any of the top banks in the Philippines, make sure to bring copies of your credit card statements showing payments made on time. Showing this to the bank or credit union when you ask for your first credit card here can help them retrace your payment history in the Philippines through one of their offshore banking tie-ups. Additionally, if you have a Bank of America or Citibank Mastercard or Visa, you can easily go to any Citibank or Bank of America branch here in the US and apply for a credit card, submitting copies of your Phil.-issued credit card statements from these banks. They will then check your payment history at their Philippine branches and use that as a basis for issuing you a credit card. I find that these banks will tend to give you better rates and higher credit limits than if you started cold turkey with them.

For now, these are the few things I wish someone had told me to bring with me before we came here. As it is, most of us Filipinos learned all of these the hard way. Some of us knew to bring one or the other. Most of us knew to bring nos. 1-3 (except for x-rays) because it's commonly known. Few of us thought to bring nos. 4-6 unless they were smart enough to think about it (foresight) or had friends and family already here who told them to bring them. The US employer or recruiting agency gives you little time to prepare between the time they tell you you've been accepted to work in the US and the time you have to leave the country. So the tendency is to hurry with the packing and tying up any lose ends, and hardly anyone ever thinks of bringing paperwork that will help us establish a new life in the US. I hope this list helps you, and if I find out about any more paperwork that needs to be brought due to constantly changing immigration requirements, then I will add it to this blog.

Part 1: If You Want to Emigrate ...

2007-08-02T17:16:00.001-04:00

Emigrating to the United States is a very thorny issue. For several decades now, ever since the US helped our country win the war against the Japanese during World War II, our countrymen have been so enamored with the American GI that the love affair, so to speak, has been nationwide (except maybe in small pockets of ultra nationalism and patriotism). I remember my grandmother telling stories about the exploits of the GIs in their province, of the GIs' meals that came in little cans or boxes, their kindness and generosity, especially in handing out little treats like chocolates to the kids. For a while there, she says, there was even talk of making the Philippines one of the organized unincorporated territories of the United States. * That never came to pass, but the notion that life is eternally better in the U.S. has remained stuck in our psyche.

One of my husband's colleagues at work once said, "I think the Philippines' biggest export is its manpower." How true that is to this very day! Every year millions of Filipinos leave the country to seek better jobs elsewhere. Among the top countries where our OCWs** go are the more affluent countries in Asia (Singapore, Japan, Malaysia), the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates) and the United States. Most of our architects, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers end up in Asia and the Middle East. Most of our nurses eventually make it to the United States. And a lot of our entertainers go to Japan, Malaysia, and Guam, the last being an organized unincorporated US territory.

Unfortunately, because so many of our countrymen wish to have a better job in order to send home money and give their loved ones a better life, some of them go so far as to emigrate illegally. The US is not the only country who receive illegal Filipino workers even though it is the most publicized. I find that illegal immigration in whatever form, whether it is to the US or another country, has jeopardized the chances of our other Filipino countrymen to go find work in those countries that now have significant nos. of Filipino illegal aliens. Kung di dahil sa mga nag TNT** sa US, di sana mahihirapan ang mga legal OCWs natin sa pagpunta sa US. Other Filipinos would strongly disagree with me (particularly TNTs) and say that they have paved the way for us, the future generation of workers who are now in the US. But how can that be when most of the legal Filipino workers going to the US are now given very stringent requirements and guidelines and literally have to go through the eye of a microscopic needle in order to get there?

Let me tell you that life in the US is not all that it's made up to be back home. The only thing we have going for us if we work in the US is the exchange rate. If you want to earn enough money for our retirement, then do the right thing and emigrate legally to the US, save some of the money you earn, then go back home. Otherwise, life is just as problematic with more complicated problems to face than we have back home. There will be the constant need to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak, as you struggle to try to make ends meet both here as well as back home by sending remittances to your family. Whatever befalls an ordinary American can also befall you: losing a job (in which case, unless you're a citizen or green card holder, you can't receive unemployment or welfare checks), muggings, grave illnesses, accidents, lost children, etc. And there are certainly more of that here than back home, not because we're a better lot, but because there are more people here population-wise.

On the other hand, if you're an illegal worker, your problems multiply exponentially. Due to separation from their families, some are forced to give up whatever morals they have in order to work a life hiding all the time. That's why we call them TNTs for tago ng tago or, literally in English, "always in hiding". They get jobs that other Americans refuse to do, but because they are illegal, they are under the radar and are at the mercy of their employers. No one can come to their rescue when they are taken advantage of and exploited, whether it's rape, a lifetime of servitude, or unholy debt obligations. They are a non-statistic: that means if they die , no one will even bother to bury them properly because no one knows they're there -- certainly not our home country and not the US either -- except for their immediate families. Even that information is sometimes kept a secret; outside their husbands or wives and children, no one knows if you have emigrated illegally to work in the US because no one wants the consequences at both ends of the spectrum if you are caught: your family because they then lose their main source of income, and the US because you get thrown immediately in jail then deported.

So if you want to emigrate, I suggest you do it legally. Do it the right way. It's the morally right way to go. If you're a student, study hard and target a degree you know will eventually turn you into a worker who is badly needed abroad. Among these are the engineering fields, nursing, computer programming, and the arts. (Some here will add be a penpal of an American, but the jury is still out on that, and I will certainly cover this topic up in another blog entry.) Think of all the other Filipinos who also wish to follow your footsteps and work on the up and up abroad. Don't give them a bad example by doing what others have done and, as a result, did not earn the good fruits of their labor. If you do it the right way, you will eventually get here even if it takes a long time. Even those who arrived here legally waited a long time to become permanent residents. Nothing good in life comes to those who can't wait. Basta lang masipag ka at di mo ipagpalit ang dignidad at pagkatao mo para sa panandaliang mga dolyares na makukuha mo bago ka mahuli at ideport pabalik sa Pilipinas.

Footnotes:
* For more about organized unincorporated territories of the United States, please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_territory. Guam is an example of such a territory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam.
** OCW - overseas contract worker, a term used to describe Filipino workers abroad. TNT - tago ng tago, a word literally translated as "always in hiding". It is a term used for Filipino illegal workers in the United States.

Status Symbols

2007-07-27T16:45:00.002-04:00

O, ano na naman yan? Status symbols baga. Siguro alam na natin kung ano ito. Ito ang mga ari-arian natin na binibili natin habang tayo e umaangat sa lipunan. Wow, ang lalim ano!

Simply put, I guess you can say status symbols are the possessions and other stuff we like to buy when our income rises and we wish our standard of living to rise along with it. Buying status symbols and keeping up with the Joneses is not a trait unique to us. Every living, breathing human being who is not barely eking out a living nor surviving a hand-to-mouth existence falls prey to buying and keeping status symbols.

Isang halimbawa na lang ang napansin ko dito. Yun mga galing India na nakatira dito sa bandang amin ay mahilig magsibilihan ng mga BMW. Ewan ko bakit BMW ang hilig nila. Grabe din sila mag-drive, reminiscent of India's tight and crowded streets. Pag may nakita kang "Beemer" na kaskasero at pa-ekis-ekis magmaneho sa daan, 80% out of 10 taga-India yun driver.

In our huge Filipino community here, there are 2 types of cars of choice. Depending on which generation you belong to, yun ang bibilhin mong kotse. Therefore, pansin kong karamihan ng mga Pinoy professionals na may edad na (in their 50s at the very least), ang car brand of choice is Mercedes. Understandable yan kasi nung lumalaki ako sa Pilipinas, lahat ng may kaya ay Chedeng ang minamaneho dahil sila lang ang tanging can afford to do so. So nung nakarating dito yun mga Filipino seniors ngayon (na karamihan ay mga doctor), once they were able to get financially up on their feet, nagsibilihan ng mga Chedeng. Syempre, lahat halos ng mga anak nila ay sa Catholic private school na pagaral. But they remain enamored to the Mercedes Benz brand, dahil karamihan sa kanila ay may at least isang 3-year-old model Chedeng sa kanilang mga garahe ngayon.

Now with regards to our generation, we grew up seeing boxy Toyota Corollas and Mitsubishi Lancers back home. Very few were able to buy bigger cars when the SUV started making its appearance in the Philippine car market scene. So pagdating dito ng mga ka-edad ko, mga SUV naman ang inatupag. Mind you, hindi kami kontento sa isang kotse lang. Before long, natulad na kami sa mga Kano dito: 2 na ang nagiging kotse natin, and it is not unusual to find that both of them are SUVs. Kahit di naman malalaki ang mga pamilya namin (i.e., konti pa rin ang may more than 2 children), we find every excuse to buy an SUV for the mere satisfaction of saying that we now own an SUV.

What other possessions do we crave besides an SUV or two? Well, there's the Sony digital camcorder after buying a Sony digital camera. And the PSP 2 or PlayStation 3 (PS 3). Kahit mas maganda at magaling pa rin laruin ang Wii (Nintendo), gawa ng feeling natin na magandang brand ang Sony, halos lahat ng electronic devices natin ay Sony na: from the TV to the cellphone. Kung alam niyo lang ano talaga ang Sony .....

But I am digressing. The point here is, di mawawala sa tao ang pagbili ng mga ari-arian that will show the rest of the world we've made it. Whether or not you're sosy, we are all this way because we are all human. As long as we know when to end all this mad, nonstop, keeping-up-with-the-neighbors mentality, then we aren't in danger of losing the very shirts off our backs just because we got loaded down with so much debt as a result of all that status symbol mania. Mas mahirap atang ma-foreclose at ma-bankrupt kesa mawalan lang ng PlayStation. Saka minsan naman, magtipid din tayo. But that's another blog.

Beyond "How are You?"

2007-07-22T10:18:00.001-04:00

Ang mga tao dito ay may kaugalian na bumati sayo at kamustahin ka kahit di ka kilala. On my second day here, the bagger bagging my groceries at Hannaford asked me, "How are you?"

Like any girl raised right by her parents, I automatically replied, "I'm fine, thank you."

I guess he thought my reply was funny because he shouted across about 6 cashier lanes to another bagger, "Sean, how are you?"

And Sean replied, "Good."

Hmmm, since when did it become grammatically correct to answer "good" to "how are you?" I guess that, just like many other revisionist American historians, they will now rewrite children's books and etiquette books to make it grammatically acceptable to reply "Good." or "I'm good." to the common courtesy of, "How are you?"

Anyway, short of becoming stupidly persistent about which was grammatically right or wrong, in time the different members of my family and I got used to answering, "Good." After all, in Tagalog, when we say to each other, "Oy, kamusta na?", the common courteous reply is, "Mabuti, ikaw?" I'd like to say they transliterated our Tagalog courtesy into American English, but that wouldn't be true.

Another common courtesy they have here is saying, "Have a good day," or night or weekend or vacation, depending on circumstances, when you part ways. The polite thing to do is to wish them the same.

This common nicety aside, sometimes I wonder if they ever mean it when they ask you how you are. I don't mean the other friends and neighbors and the different store people or parents of your children's classmates who, out of a budding friendship, will ask you how you are, and you can seriously tell them how it's been, and they really sympathize with you, whether things have been bad or good. I mean all the other people like the cashier at the gas station you never visited before or another passenger on the bus who happened to sit beside you. Do they actually care what you answer? Do they care if you replied, "Not good."

As an experiment, I tried this out on one of those days when I felt mopey (as in depressed but not clinically depressed). I went to a local Price Chopper supermarket, and the teen-aged checkout girl asked without looking up as she started to scan my items through, "How're you?"

And I replied, "I'm not so good. And you."

She goes, "Good, good," punctuating each word with a small nod of the head. I stared at her from under my lashes and wondered if she even heard what I said. The older woman who was the bagger at the time wished me a good afternoon. The moment I turned my back and was 3 paces away, she tapped the checkout girl on the shoulder and whispered to her. I'm guessing she was telling her her "Good, good" answer did not sound all that appropriate on the heels of my "I'm not so good."

I tried the same reply to 3 other strangers I "encountered" that day, and only one seemed to actually listen to my reply because she said, "Oh, that's too bad. I hope you feel better soon." Other people who are, you might say, passing acquaintances, because I see them often enough each week to know to smile and exchange pleasantries besides the weather and "how are you?" with them, commiserated and asked why I was feeling bad, and how it might all pass away soon, along with the depressing summer weather we've been having.

So I've come to the conclusion that people here normally exchange pleasantries and chitchat with you because it's their habit to do so. Practically everyone does it, including teachers, parents you meet at your kids' schools, and extroverted children. For service-oriented people like the bank, pharmacy, etc., they are trained to ask each customer "how are you?" and to reply politely to them. Sometimes it's hard to weed out the person whose habit it is to say "how are you?" as part of his/her lifestyle from that who only mouths the words because he/she was told to do so. Only your friends or acquaintances actually care enough to ask you and find out how you are. This is not a bad thing, and I'm not writing it to say it is or to criticize what is, otherwise, a polite way of greeting strangers. I'm just writing it only to say that it's not particularly exceptional nor striking that people around here include a "how are you?" with their greeting; Filipinos who work in service-oriented jobs back home are equally (if not more) polite even though they don't ask you how you are. In fact, Filipinos are so polite that many take advantage of our cultural good nature . But then that's another story...

Bakit Sosy?

2007-07-18T18:23:00.003-04:00

Ok, so bakit Buhay Sosy sa U.S. ang title ng blog ko? Well, ganito po yun. Nung nasa Pinas po ako, tinutukso ako minsan with the moniker sosy because I went to school at Poveda Learning Centre.

Admittedly, girls who graduate from Poveda automatically are sosy. It comes with the inherited wealth if not the genes. Either kilala ang mga magulang mo sa industriya, gobyerno, sports, o ekonomiya or mayaman ka lang. During my time at Poveda, formerly known as Institucion Teresiana, the girls were predominantly children of families who were well-connected in government or business. Their last names were names you see on newspapers or the annual reports of multinational companies. The school also had a policy then of not letting the public eye get to any of the girls, and they usually did not accept girls who were actresses or commercial models. Kung lumabas ka na sa pelikula o sa TV, di ka na nila tatanggapin. Maybe because your fame might bring in unwanted media attention to the rest of the students whose parents paid for the privacy along with the top notch education. (Poveda used to hold the no. 1-ranked spot for turning out high school graduates that consistently topped the then NCEE (National College Entrance Examination) tests.)

Besides being sosy, some students in Poveda were credited for inventing a different kind of Taglish, including several words that later became famous: kikay, kilig to the bones . Alumni from Poveda from about 1980-1990 spoke a different kind of Taglish that was recognizable by fellow alumni. Some will actually say they can distinguish the Taglish spoken by someone from CSA (Colegio de San Agustin) or Assumption and that spoken by someone from Poveda. For this reason, I decided to use http://povedan.blogspot.com as my blog address.

Now for the rest of the title, that will hopefully be made clear in my future posts. For now, let me just say na mahirap maging sosy sa U.S. where the average person's networth is already a wealthy Filipino's networth. This is because there is a huge population of middle class in the U.S. who own a house (or two), several cars, and other myriad possessions (several computers, an iPod or two, maybe an RV or boat, and other "toys" ordinary Filipinos consider extravagant luxuries). The disparity is made possible by the almighty dollar and the ease with which you can buy these things if you're creditworthy enough. So for a sosy from the Philippines to be classified as a true sosy in the American sense of the word, you'd have to be the offspring of politicians and big business names like Trump or Kennedy or something.

I guess what I mean to say is that kung original ka na sosy sa Pinas, pagdating mo dito, middle class ka lang. You're not the big fish in the pond, just one of the minor league (or even smaller) fishes in the pond. And because the pond is so big, there are so many big fishes that you're actually the minnow among them. My goal is that this blog will document some of me and my family's adventures and experiences since living here, to compare them with our past life in the Philippines, and to help other Filipinos emigrating to the US transition into their new life here.

First Impressions

2007-07-16T12:24:00.001-04:00

My first impression of the American way of life was one of plenty. Parang alang posibleng magutom dito gawa ng saksakan ng dami ng pagkain ang mga department stores, supermarkets at groceries dito. Later on I was told there were night shift workers called restockers na ang tanging trabaho sa gabi ay punuin na naman ng mga laman ang mga store shelves. May ibang supermarket na 24 hours open. Kahit anong oras ng araw o gabi ka pumunta, di ka makakakita ng mga shelves na alang laman. You know how they put every item close to each other, side by side, row by row? Pwede mong makita na nabawasan ang first row, or maybe until the second row. But to have all rows gone and one particular product item out of stock in supermarkets is practically unheard of. At least, in the 6 years I've been here, that is. (With toy or department stores, it's a different kind of story. You may find some shelves empty if the item you want is hot and in demand.)
Ang layo nito sa mga groceries at supermarkets sa Pinas. Minsan pag may matinding typhoon o baha o brownout na inaasahan, tiyak na maraming mag papanic buying. Pag nahuli ka sa panic mo, swerte mo na lang kung may aabutan ka pa. Dito kahit mag panic buying ang mga tao, di nauubusan, so what's the use? What puzzles me here is why should there ever be any panic buying at all?

Another thing I noticed was that the parking lots of any supermarket, grocery store, or department store is always bigger than the footprint of the store itself. Ibig sabihin nito ay mas malaki at malalawak ang total square area ng mga parking lot nila compared sa total square area ng first floor ng tindahan nila. If they're located in a huge mall like Crossgates here, the parking lots alone are several square miles. Never pa ako naubusan o nawalan ng parking slot. This is because karamihan ng mga Kano ay at least 2-car households. Pag may at least 16-year-old teenager na anak na nakatira pa sa magulang, expect mo may sariling kotse sya, kahit kakarag-karag yun. Napakadali kc bumili ng kotse dito na kahit 16 years old ka siguradong makakabili ka ng kotse. Yun lang nga, kabata-bata mo pa mababaon ka na sa utang.

This brings me to the third thing I noticed. Lahat ng tao dito ay may utang. Maraming utang. The most common thing na maririnig mo dito ay credit score, which is a measure of a person's creditworthiness but not necessarily his ability to pay. The lower the score, the higher interest rates you will get on any loan you take, whether it's a credit card loan, a car loan, or a housing loan. Ang pinakakawawa dito ay yun mga teenager na at least 18 years old na papasok pa lang sa kolehiyo. Dahil napakamahal ng tuition dito, kelangan nagtratrabaho ang bata para lang makakuha ng mga subjects or courses towards his/her college degree. Pag nakascholarship sila, usually hindi 100%. So kung di kaya ng sahod ng trabaho mo at ng scholarship mo ang tuition mo, based sa grades mo, papautangin ka ng school loan. Yun school loan na yan ay maaaring bayaran mo after you graduate, by which time ilang daan libong dolyares na yan. So minsan yun iba dito e may asawa at anak na, nagbabayad pa ng school loan. By that time, meron na rin silang 2-car loan (gawa nga ng 2-car household sila), credit cards, at baka housing loan. So dahil sa sobrng karaniwan at dami ng mga taong may utang dito, it gives you the impression na lahat nga e may kaya at mayayaman or, at least, middle class. Ang tanong dun e, anong porsyento ng kanilang mga ari-arian ang talagang pag-aari nila? Kung baga e, ano ba ang totoong networth nila? Ano ang mga gamit nila ang meron na silang equity? (Equity is yun portion ng utang sa isang bagay na nabayaran mo na. Kung halimbawa may utang ka ng kotse na originally ay $10,000 (ipagpalagay na natin na kasama na diyan ang interes), kung nabayaran mo na ang 30% niyan after 2 years, may 30% equity ka na dyan. Habang nababawasan utang mo, lumalaki equity mo hanggang sa totoong sa iyo na yun bagay na inutangan mo.)

After you dig down through the facade of these initial impressions, minsan maiisip mo kung saan ba mas mahusay ang buhay mo: sa Pilipinas na mahirap magkautang dahil inaalam muna kung mahihirapan ka sa pagbayad, o dito na madali ngang magkautang pero baon ka naman sa utang na pag namatay ka ang anak mo na ang hahabulin ng mga creditors para bayaran ang utang mo? So I guess you could say this is a land of plenty and want in a sense, because when someone here wants something, madali niyang makuha. Ikumpara mo sa mga bansang land of want in reality gawa ng maraming mahihirap doon at maraming mga bagay-bagay doon na di nakukuha ng ordinaryong tao. ...