Difficult: The best word to describe my transition from a Class C citizen in a Third World country to a Class DE citizen in a First World country.
When I moved to Australia, I brought with me cash to help me survive while I went back to university and lay the foundation for a new career. Thanks to my parents who didn't kick me out of their lovely abode while I was in the Philippines and my stingy lifestyle which has earned me the much coveted title "Anghel ng Pera" (Angel of Money), I had enough cash to get me by until I graduated a year after.
Fast forward now... (SFX: chimes, please)...
A year after, I had a teaching degree and a sad piggy bank. After barely feeding my pig for a year, it started to show signs of deterioration: What was once pink and bouncy was now brown and flat. I thought that once I get my teacher registration, everything would be smooth-sailing from then on. But I was wrong. So much for the promise that there are a lot of jobs for teachers in Brisbane. Duhhh...
When I moved to Australia, I brought with me cash to help me survive while I went back to university and lay the foundation for a new career. Thanks to my parents who didn't kick me out of their lovely abode while I was in the Philippines and my stingy lifestyle which has earned me the much coveted title "Anghel ng Pera" (Angel of Money), I had enough cash to get me by until I graduated a year after.
Fast forward now... (SFX: chimes, please)...
A year after, I had a teaching degree and a sad piggy bank. After barely feeding my pig for a year, it started to show signs of deterioration: What was once pink and bouncy was now brown and flat. I thought that once I get my teacher registration, everything would be smooth-sailing from then on. But I was wrong. So much for the promise that there are a lot of jobs for teachers in Brisbane. Duhhh...
And so in my quest to resuscitate my ailing porky, I entered the world of ODD Jobs.
First on the list is my weekly delivery of junk mail. Being a junk-ee wasn't all too bad. It meant I had to sort and collate the mountains of brochures while watching TV the night before the real gig. This normally goes for about 1 to 2 hours, largely due to the distraction presented by The Simpsons, Masterchef and the like. I get up early the next day, with my fingers and toes crossed, hoping for a lovely sunny day -- or else I knew I'd be battling against the diversity of reptiles and amphibians this lovely continent is oh so proud of. Hazards of this job included back pains, numerous encounters with killer dogs (big and small... woof!) and possible "detours" (for me, it was pretty often because I let my wander a lot). Income from this job depended on the bulk of junk mail. The more back-breaking days brought in A$35, while the skippy-skip days brought in a measly A$17.
Second on my list is the transcription job. Presenting, the 8-5 or 8-8 job that paid me a remarkable amount of $10 a day! Mind you, that's in USD. Whoohoo! I will never forget that rainy and cold spring day when I got up at 5AM to get a headstart on the project. I toiled until 3PM. Only my filled up wee bladder and tummy singing "Papa, can you hear me" were the only valid reasons to take a breather. Working in the comforts of my double bed, my slide count totaled at least 30 times for that day. <Defintion: Slide Count - the number of times my back slid down while I cradled my laptop on my tummy>
Third on my list is responding to online surveys. This is an extremely easy but time consuming task. I think my blood pressure dropped way below the normal level everytime I did this job. All I had to do was answer surveys for 30-45 minutes and get about 300 points for that. However, I could only claim my precious $5 (again in USD) when I've accumulated 575 points. Hence, I looked forward with all the possible excitement I could muster to the next survey. Uhmm... yay!
Fourth on my list is my translation job. After many online applications that I lost track of, I was surprised to get a job order from a New Zealand company. Thinking it might be just another dodgy project, I asked them how they got my email address. Their answer put my paranoid self at ease, so I took on that job and many jobs after. What was required of me was to check the translated document in Filipino against the original in English and give suggestions if I thought the translation wasn't conversational enough. For a one-page document, I got A$20 for that. Aaaah. Finally, not bad!
Fifth and final on my list is my Filipino/Tagalog teaching job. This is the job of my dreams! Mabuhay! Who would think that someone (in their right mind) in this First World land would want to learn a language spoken by just 90 million people. Actually, maybe even just 30 million, since many Filipinos don't even speak the national language! For an hour of teaching, I sometimes get paid $30 to 50. But, I haven't been always lucky. I have one student who just ran off and never bothered to pay. Argh.
Now, I'm in between jobs. Bummer. I continue to do odd jobs from time to time. After all, I gotta do, what I gotta do -- all in the daring quest to earn the elusive super AUDs.
First on the list is my weekly delivery of junk mail. Being a junk-ee wasn't all too bad. It meant I had to sort and collate the mountains of brochures while watching TV the night before the real gig. This normally goes for about 1 to 2 hours, largely due to the distraction presented by The Simpsons, Masterchef and the like. I get up early the next day, with my fingers and toes crossed, hoping for a lovely sunny day -- or else I knew I'd be battling against the diversity of reptiles and amphibians this lovely continent is oh so proud of. Hazards of this job included back pains, numerous encounters with killer dogs (big and small... woof!) and possible "detours" (for me, it was pretty often because I let my wander a lot). Income from this job depended on the bulk of junk mail. The more back-breaking days brought in A$35, while the skippy-skip days brought in a measly A$17.
Second on my list is the transcription job. Presenting, the 8-5 or 8-8 job that paid me a remarkable amount of $10 a day! Mind you, that's in USD. Whoohoo! I will never forget that rainy and cold spring day when I got up at 5AM to get a headstart on the project. I toiled until 3PM. Only my filled up wee bladder and tummy singing "Papa, can you hear me" were the only valid reasons to take a breather. Working in the comforts of my double bed, my slide count totaled at least 30 times for that day. <Defintion: Slide Count - the number of times my back slid down while I cradled my laptop on my tummy>
Third on my list is responding to online surveys. This is an extremely easy but time consuming task. I think my blood pressure dropped way below the normal level everytime I did this job. All I had to do was answer surveys for 30-45 minutes and get about 300 points for that. However, I could only claim my precious $5 (again in USD) when I've accumulated 575 points. Hence, I looked forward with all the possible excitement I could muster to the next survey. Uhmm... yay!
Fourth on my list is my translation job. After many online applications that I lost track of, I was surprised to get a job order from a New Zealand company. Thinking it might be just another dodgy project, I asked them how they got my email address. Their answer put my paranoid self at ease, so I took on that job and many jobs after. What was required of me was to check the translated document in Filipino against the original in English and give suggestions if I thought the translation wasn't conversational enough. For a one-page document, I got A$20 for that. Aaaah. Finally, not bad!
Fifth and final on my list is my Filipino/Tagalog teaching job. This is the job of my dreams! Mabuhay! Who would think that someone (in their right mind) in this First World land would want to learn a language spoken by just 90 million people. Actually, maybe even just 30 million, since many Filipinos don't even speak the national language! For an hour of teaching, I sometimes get paid $30 to 50. But, I haven't been always lucky. I have one student who just ran off and never bothered to pay. Argh.
Now, I'm in between jobs. Bummer. I continue to do odd jobs from time to time. After all, I gotta do, what I gotta do -- all in the daring quest to earn the elusive super AUDs.
How I pray I could finally land a good teaching job and have a career shaping the minds and hearts of these Oi! Oi! Aussie kids! This way, too, I can also go back to being a Class C citizen -- but this time, in a First World country. Shalala...
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