I never imagined myself working in a foreign country.  I simply moved out of Philippine Airlines (PAL) after 15 years of service due to the worsening condition of our labor status. Our evil labor union president signed an outrageous agreement with the PAL management (headed by the equally evil, Mr. Lucio Tan), specifying that all salary increase will be frozen for 10 years. Ten years! It is like putting a lid on a growing seed in a clay pot.

But in fairness to the former management of PAL, I enjoyed my 15 years of service with the company.  The salary is low but the benefits are a bit better than most companies. I made use of my annual free ticket wisely. I go out of the country once or twice a year, depending on my budget. I’ve been to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and of course, the U.S. of A.  And during that time, the US embassy was very lenient in issuing tourist visas to PAL employees. But as time went on, PAL management kept worsening and employees became demoralised. Slowly but surely, employees went on to search for greener pastures until the US embassy noticed the influx of ex-PAL employees to America and never returning to the Philippines. That’s when the embassy began scrutinising every bit of information on every PAL employee applying for US visa.

When I left PAL and the Philippines on February 14, 1999, I was determined to do the best I can to enrich my new experience in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Thanks to God, my new employer (National Handling Services, NHS for short), is not like the other Saudi companies which exploit  its workers.  My Filipino colleagues and I were treated with respect and given the trust we needed in order for us to be at ease at work.  I did not experience too much culture shock as the other Filipinos did because I’ve travelled before to many other cities and dealt with different kinds of culture.  So, I adjusted well and good to the new environment, meeting new people here and there.  Going to fellow Kabayans’ houses from time to time and enjoy eating the typical Pinoy favorites: kare-kare, sinigang, bopis, dinuguan, and the all-time favorite, pansit.  Unfortunely, pork is banned here because the Muslims regard it as a dirty animal, not fit for human consumption. Heller! It’s one of the best meat in the world!  So all those favorite Pinoy foods are cooked without the main ingredient, huhuhu!  What a sad, sad note!  We just substitute it with beef or chicken meat.