My Kind of Bed

South Korea is a sure more prosperous country, with a picture of wider streets and highways, faster trains coming to and fro in subway stations, as well as statuesque buildings housing Korean workaholics who constantly work in doubling their money and wealth. But these don’t exempt this country from the slightly unpleasant reality called poverty.

Read More...

Basic Homesick Tools

It’s been a few days since I finally completed my mobile phone and home internet subscriptions here, also remembering the first twenty-one days when I initially had no means of communicating with my folks back in the Philippines, other than the office internet and the after-work computer rentals in nearby PC “bangs” (rooms). Accomplishing the task wasn’t easy though, and we sure needed help from Korean colleagues who have been nothing but really helpful in assisting us with the transactions.

Read More...

The Future BPO Hotspot

Interesting article that I read from Wall Street this morning. In the wake of what seems to be a global slowdown, the Philippines’ economy is redeemed, aside of course from the ever-reliable remittances of overseas Filipino workers, by the growth of BPO companies that greatly addresses major labor issues (employment) in our country. And it’s good to know that it’s the FILIPINO SKILL that they are actually banking on, and not solely the cheaper labor that we are currently priced at, as compared to India.

Read More...

The Stock Trading Game

I have long been meaning to try this game that the Philippine Stock Exchange’s official website offers to stock aficionados. It’s called the Stock Trading Game. It’s a pretty easy procedure to follow since all it takes is an online registration. After filling up basic information which includes one’s user id and password, it will already prompt any investor-wanna-be’s to the world of securities and trading.

With the basic trading guidelines posted on the web page, one can always take that first dip into choosing the stocks to gamble on.

Read More...

What Am I Really Doing Here?

I don’t even know at times. I just constantly remind myself to plainly take whatever fate is slapping me with. EVEN THE UNFAVORABLE ONES.

I of course came to South Korea for work. Just like how a normal Filipino would treat outside-the-country endeavors. With current inflation hitting household pockets and business balance sheets, it would be impractical to say that it’s purely for fun or vacation. How I wish I were some old-aged Caucasian backpacker just out to squander all the money that his 401(k) is giving him. Hell no. But I am out to make my parents just like them, and so I am willing to take the risk, and the upright challenge and adventure that goes with it. I am in my twenties, done with school, and out to head on with anything to help paint my future, so I could give it all back to my parents who worked their asses out in letting me finish school. I am still on shaky waters, though.

Read More...

The Korean Subway System

The city of Seoul boasts of 15 train lines that make up the very efficient Seoul Subway Network. A total number of 2.2 billion passengers per year patronize the said subway system, and it is the fourth largest subway following London, New York, and Tokyo, in terms of scale.

Read More...

Thomson, Back Home

There sure was that little pride that stirred in me having stepped inside Thomson Reuters’s office in Seoul for our first day of training, which happened in the afternoon. I suddenly missed home and my life back at work, as well as colleagues that I spent working nights with at that time when I was employed with the old Thomson Financial. The branch office that Thomson Reuters holds here in South Korea banners OMGEO, the client-based department of the company. I only know a little about that department back in Manila, being the support group for Thomson’s financial data buyers. It is not really surprising for the now merged data vendor to have established a customer-focused branch office in a country like Korea, where securities companies that depend on a significant bulk of financial data, abound.

Read More...

Government Office Tours

As an overseas Filipino worker, the Philippine Embassy in South Korea and the Immigration Office prove to be the two most important government agencies to have official transactions with. The Immigration legalizes one’s tenure here, through the certificate of alien registration that every foreigner should apply and pay for, while the Philippine Embassy protects the welfare and safety of its Filipino workers through employment validation and contract authentication, among others.

Read More...

Sunday at Hyehwa

Filipinos are just about everywhere. And so in Seoul. We get so surprised with how Koreans are currently flocking the Philippines enrolling in English Language schools, and so we do our fair share of spread here in Korea. Haha. Everyone just brings about a certain level of comfort to one another, knowing that there are “kababayans”, who are just as friendly and hospitable as what we’ve always been known for, and whom each can always run to.

Read More...

First Week at Work

One thing sure, it’s going to be a real challenge for me. Adjusting with life at home with my roommate slash work colleague, and keeping up with the demands of the new job— it sure will test the wits and PATIENCE out of me.

Everybody in the research center has really been so kind and welcoming, making it easier for us to adjust and compose ourselves. We couldn’t thank them enough. I would still personally get skeptic at times, when I get those looks from people, and they then start talking in Korean, which I of course still do not understand. I just rest myself with the thought that it is just how people would normally react when they see something new, and, well… a little unique. Teehee.

Read More...