2013

From http://www.argeltiburcio.com/

December of 2012. I ended that year with a plan. I quit my job, decided to take a few months off work, then will head to New Zealand with my sister after their one month vacation in the Philippines. From there I would stay for three months, weigh things out, see if I could get a job, and if not, go back to the Philippines and start looking for a new one.

That was the original plan coming to 2013. By May I would be in New Zealand, and if fate wasn't on my side I would be back around August. Basically it would take more than half of the year. But, not everything goes according to plan.

First few months was going as expected - I was taking a break from work, mostly staying at home and just relaxing. I went to Hong Kong and Macau, then spent a weekend at Tagaytay having a one-hour massage every day. I was pampering myself without splurging myself.

I was also processing my tourist visa for New Zealand. I went to different government agencies gathering documents. I filled out the visa application form, as well as requested for a sponsorship document from my sister living in NZ. I reserved some flights, coinciding with the dates my sister and her family would fly back. Around March, I was done with the processing and I had a 3-month visa.

It was at that point that I got an invitation to work at a local branch of a global company. It was somewhat similar to our work before (which was related to financials). I was running low on funds (truth be told I could still support myself until the end of August, but I didn't want to risk it), and I figured that I could always turn down the job if ever, so I decided to apply.

The job interviews were somewhat rigorous. I had to go through at least 6 interviews and a technical exam before getting the nod to actually work there. I actually had a deadline - if I didn't have any concrete offers before the end of March, I wouldn't push through with any of my job applications. But, lo and behold, I had the interviews finished in a week, and before the end of March I was given an offer that I eventually decided to take.

Given that I had no prior job (thus no need for any 30 day notice which is a pre requisite in most companies in the Philippines), you would think that I would be able to start soon. That wasn't the case, however, as I still had to complete the pre-employment requirements, one of which included a background check with an estimated completion time of 1 month. That didn't really bother me much, though, as that meant that I had one more month to enjoy the bliss of having no work.

And, by the end of April, I was once again a part of the Philippine workforce.

The past 8 months back at work isn't what I would call a walk in the park. Sure it was a lot lighter than my previous work (the comparison of which is that I'm doing 1/4th of the work I used to do), but there are some hurdles that needed to be overcome. I didn't have any concrete training (as I was a pilot), so I had to learn some (or most of things) along the way. Another is the aspect of the job where I have to communicate with the clients, making sure that what I say to them is correct and concise. That's something that I'm not fully comfortable with and it's something I try to avoid as much as possible.

Even though there are hurdles, they weren't enough to hold me back. For one, I'm still able to go home on time most of the time, and I get to keep my schedule at the gym (I get to go to the gym 3 times a week), and with my salary I can even afford to get a trainer (I could probably get a trainer before as well, but it would cause a crunch in my budget). Speaking of budget, I get a splurge a little bit more now, and I think that's something I have to be thankful for - even though I don't get to actually go out every and take a vacation or go to new places every month like I planned, I still get to do things I never got to do before without the help of others - staycation at hotels, book my own flights, plan my own trips, etc. On my previous work it was sort of an unspoken benefit, sponsored by my boss. Now I can get to do them, with my own hard-earned money.

One thing that I guess would be the highlight of the latter part of 2013 is the fact that I was out for the most part of November due to a throat infection. It's something that had been recurring for a while, and so I had a tonsillectomy to have the cycle broken. After the operation I was out for another 5 days from work. All in all, I worked for 7 days the whole month of November. I also lost a great deal of weight during the whole ordeal, which I'm still trying to regain as of today.

2013 was full of twists, turns and loops. Some things went according to plan, some things didn't. Some things were good, others not so. But I guess that most important thing is that 2013 was the best year for me so far. Let's hope that 2014 will be something better.

Happy New Year to all, and let's look forward to the blessings and challenges this new year.