[SparkStalker]

Originally Posted by slang

Before I reply I'd like to say thanks for you quick responses. I'm very curious about your trip here and to hear about specific experiences.

Not a problem...sorry I had to drop out yesterday...they expect me to occasionally work:p

Well, there is an unusually large community of gays there but it sounds like that was not the case for you.

The Tagalog word for gay is "ba-ding" and they always try to catch my attention. Most likely just because I'm a foreigner, American, and they assume that my opinion of gays is better than the locals.

In any case, they fling their hair, batt their eyes and even take their tops down a bit. The gay men here seem to have quite large breasts medically, I'm assuming.

We've got a few in the family here. It's a very interesting community, I'll say that.

No Zippy, I'm not a switch hitter.

We did run into quite a few, but they didn't seem to interested in me. I keep telling myself that it's because my wife was always with me...
And she said that a number of the guys in the call centers were giving her fashion and make-up tips...

Ok, this is making more sense to me. If you came here without any family or friends that are pinoy, no natives walking with you, they are cautious but friendly.

So, back to your experience, I can imagine them wanting to be friendly to you, to maybe learn from you and to make a new friend. At the same time they might be nervous because you have no direct connection, say your wife growing up in the Phils, so you might have a bad impression of them for the condition of the country compared to the US.

So, I cant imagine them keeping an eye on your for fear of you stealing something or the like. Curiosity most likely IMO.

OK, that is a bit assuring. Honestly, it felt like they were just waiting for me to do a grab and dash...not that I would've been able to even if I wanted to...I'm not much for warm, humid environments.

I'm so sorry to hear that. In that same situation my excitement would be gone as well.
My mother passed very slowly years ago with various cancers. It was the most difficult emotional event in my life.

Thanks...and my condolences to you. It's a horrible thing to go through. I hated every moment of getting on that plane. Worse yet, my wife and I weren't even seated together. Since she was traveling for business, she got world business class. I was in the sardine section. I still give her hell about it.

We have nieces and nephews that work in them. They love it and although they have bachelor degrees or above it's a very viable option here for a career. Not at all like the US.

There are two very important factors to being employed there. Their job is to offer technical assistance for a variety of IT and engineering type tasks, so having a tech degree is a must. The other must is the use and understanding of the English language.

Yes, it is true, in the US if you have hit bottom, you're only option might be a call center job.

In those cases though, the position is just as a salesperson on the phone. The call centers here in the Phils are often tech assistance centers to be more accurate.

There are tons of ads in the papers here that if you can pass the English test ( I think it's called the TOFEL) then you can get a position selling on the phone.

I wouldnt encourage any of our family here to do that. Those people have done nothing but irritate me over the years. They bring very little value to the world IMO.

For those that have English skills though, I suppose it's better than what life has to offer here.

The ones my wife visited were collection centers for a credit card company...she said that all the associates she worked with spoke almost flawless English...so much so that over the phone, you wouldn't be able to tell that they weren't native English speakers.

And if you don't mind, I may go through and pick out a few photos I took while we were there to post...