An Ex-Expat's Story

The idea that he'd be away from home for an entire year didn't even hit him until he found himself in the middle of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport surrounded by what seemed like black and white colored giants. He was only 17 yrs. old and the longest he's been away alone in the past was just a week. He was literally just a kid when he left, but a only a year later he returned as man.

One night he woke up in the middle of dream--a dream in English instead of his native tongue Filipino. This isn't surprising considering that he hasn't spoken a word in Filipino since that flight from Washington D.C to his host state Michigan. He was the only Filipino exchange student in the entire state, in the school there were Filipino's but none of them knew how to speak the language so that didn't help much. Soon after, snow begun to fall and Christmas time was just around the corner, he was awed by the beautiful snow around but due to that he caught this thing called--homesickness. It's disease meant to be caught by anyone who's far away from the home we are used to. It's a terrible disease that we Filipino's are more susceptible to because we are those who are often away from home. With little or no options at all, we leave our families and our present lives behind for the future's sake.

Isang taon lamang ang naging stay ko sa America, at sa loob ng isang taong iyon tatlong beses lang ako naka-encounter ng Pinoy ngunit ang tatlong pagkakataon na iyon ay higit ng halimbawa para sa iba't-ibang kapalaran ng Pinoy OFW. Wala na akong iba pang mas maisip na mas mabuting paraan upang matutunan ko ang karanasan ng ating mga kapwa Pinoy kung hindi ang marinig mismo ito mula sa kanilang bibig at dahil sa kanilang mga kwento at ang pansarili kong karanasan hindi man kasing bigat ng kanila dahil ako ay isang estudyante ay sapat ng dahilan para suportahan ko ang anu man layunin na makakapag-pabuti, o makakatulong sa mga Pinoy Expats/OFW.

I started this post hoping I could come up with the right words to share those stories, but i couldn't. I still couldn't write about it. It's just a sad story that I wish it ended differently.

Naku..napaka-random ng post, at napaka-random ng paragraphs pero isa lang naman ang nais ko talagang iparating sa post na ito at ito ay ang paghingi ng suporta sa Ka-Blogs. Blogging is an excellent way for expats/ofw's to help them cope with homesickness. Even small efforts like this makes so much difference. Suportahan natin ang Ka-Blogs, ang mga OFW/EXPAT bloggers sa blogosphere. Expect to see great things coming from the Ka-Blog Team na binubuo ng mga magagaling, dedikado at talented na bloggers. Isama mo pa ang ka-kyutan ko, so wala ng dahilan para hindi ka pa maging involved.