Adjusting to Cultures

Unfamiliar Leap

            Being away from your hometown gives you an awkward feeling, and yet the new culture could devour your true personality. At the onset, you would want to stand for who you really are; on the other hand you must settle for the reciprocity of what you are thinking and be able to adapt or learn the culture first. For me or for most of us - smart one’s (I guessJ), we wouldn’t want to adapt and find ourselves loosing our true identity. We go for learning or observing the culture and be able to position our uniqueness once we know how to dance to the new music.

            At my workplace in Cebu, I was no perfect or famous man yet people showed me their kindness, care, & love. They would check and ask you, from time to time, “How are you?” With so much empathy and involvement on how you are feeling. Whether it be, that day or on the things that you are going through in all the aspects of life (emotional, physical, financial, and in some special cases your spiritual life).

            In Manila, I felt the exact opposite of how Cebu was. Although, still the imperfect man, expectations were a bit high seeing me as tenured professional, people would care less especially on how you are feeling(Yes, seldom do we talk about personal life or if you are in agonizing pain from whichever department of life…). At a point, I thought I was being talked about by some higher level employees in a negative manner and to some same level employees as well like hitting you with some words in an idiomatic or poetic form. Anyway, I never got the chance to prove these accusations consequently I asked my friends on how I should deal with this situation. Funny that I always end up saying “Maybe, I heard it wrong”. As a result, answering my own question with JUST BE POSITIVE and as a must be cautious to use “Selective Listening”.

Down Time

            To a misfortune, I never got the chance to spend the holidays (Christmas and the New Year) with my family. At first, you’d be so sad to think about these things. Nevertheless, to a mature individual these were just a part of a process of making the strong stronger.