WHY BE AN EX-PAT IN THE PHILIPPINES?
A lot of people ask me why an American would want to be an expat, especially here in the Philippines. Well, there are probably a lot of reasons for that. A lot of expats over here are married to Filipina women and contrary to popular belief, not all Filipina women see an American as a ticket to the United States. A lot of them are happy to stay in their own country. Since many of the guys who marry these girls did so when they were stationed here in the military and most of those guys did multiple tours here, the Philippines inadvertently became their home.
A lot of guys here are also married to Filipinas and want to go back to the states but they can't get visas for their wives. It is much easier for a mexican to sneak across the border and get away with it and live in the USA and draw unemployment and get medicaid than it is for a Filipina woman to get a VISA to go to the USA if she isn't considerably rich, even if she is married to an American. If an American man is married to a Filipina, he has to go back to the states and maintain a home there for one full year before a VISA can be granted for his wife to come. That kinda makes things a little difficult if he has kids because the kids are going to either have to be separated from the mother or the father for that year.
A lot of guys came here for vacation, met a Filipina girl, either got married or moved in together and are enjoying life here. If an American is retired military and has a pension, he can live very well off of that pension on the Philippine economy and he can live in an American community here and not really have to deal with many of the day to day hassles of the Filipino culture.
Most of the Americans living here are retired military. Most of them did multiple tours of duty in the Philippines. In my case, I spent nearly 17 years of my 20 years in the military overseas, all of it in either Asia, Central America, the Middle East or Africa. After I retired I spent another 10 years travelling in Asia, Africa and Central America extensively. I learned when I was in the military that home is where the heart is. Home is also where you make it as long as you bring your heart with you.
Some people in the states may think that living in the Philippines has got to be a horrible experience. It's a dirt poor, third world country and that doesn't appeal to most Americans. However, almost all of my military time was spent in dirt poor, third world countries. Wherever I was, I had a choice. I could sit around and count the bad things about that country and be miserable while I was there, or I could look around for the good things and be happy. I did the latter and I managed to perceive all of those places I served in as a paradise by focusing on the good things about those places and just accepting that there are bad things wherever you go.
I love living in the Philippines. I'm able to live well with my retirement pension. The people treat me well and some would say that is because I have money, but I've found that isn't the case at all. I enjoy the warm smiles of the people here and it is inspirational to see how people who have so little, can find so much happiness.
Regards
A lot of guys here are also married to Filipinas and want to go back to the states but they can't get visas for their wives. It is much easier for a mexican to sneak across the border and get away with it and live in the USA and draw unemployment and get medicaid than it is for a Filipina woman to get a VISA to go to the USA if she isn't considerably rich, even if she is married to an American. If an American man is married to a Filipina, he has to go back to the states and maintain a home there for one full year before a VISA can be granted for his wife to come. That kinda makes things a little difficult if he has kids because the kids are going to either have to be separated from the mother or the father for that year.
A lot of guys came here for vacation, met a Filipina girl, either got married or moved in together and are enjoying life here. If an American is retired military and has a pension, he can live very well off of that pension on the Philippine economy and he can live in an American community here and not really have to deal with many of the day to day hassles of the Filipino culture.
Most of the Americans living here are retired military. Most of them did multiple tours of duty in the Philippines. In my case, I spent nearly 17 years of my 20 years in the military overseas, all of it in either Asia, Central America, the Middle East or Africa. After I retired I spent another 10 years travelling in Asia, Africa and Central America extensively. I learned when I was in the military that home is where the heart is. Home is also where you make it as long as you bring your heart with you.
Some people in the states may think that living in the Philippines has got to be a horrible experience. It's a dirt poor, third world country and that doesn't appeal to most Americans. However, almost all of my military time was spent in dirt poor, third world countries. Wherever I was, I had a choice. I could sit around and count the bad things about that country and be miserable while I was there, or I could look around for the good things and be happy. I did the latter and I managed to perceive all of those places I served in as a paradise by focusing on the good things about those places and just accepting that there are bad things wherever you go.
I love living in the Philippines. I'm able to live well with my retirement pension. The people treat me well and some would say that is because I have money, but I've found that isn't the case at all. I enjoy the warm smiles of the people here and it is inspirational to see how people who have so little, can find so much happiness.
Regards
posted by THE OBSERVATION POST at 7:14 PM
1 Comments:
I wrote a similar perspective in my very post of the more than 100 that I've written since I started blogging. I titled it "What I Like About Living in the Philippines ." Lately I've also been warning foreigners that living here can be hugely frustrating and in fact very dangerous, especially if you become complacent. I wrote a couple concerning my wife's recent run-in with an armed robber and called it "Too Dangerous in Angeles City?" and a follow-up to it: "Disappointment, Despair & Disillusionment."
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