good things come to those who wait..

the date was May 6, 2007....

the date i moved out from the old apartment in new jersey to my new apartment in philadelphia............... the date i finally had to stop sharing an apartment with 3 male co-workers (1 from india and 2 from pakistan)........... would you believe that? me, a female, a filipina under the same roof with three men......... well, they are nice people......  2 of them are married and one is single............. they would cook food and they would make some for me too....... they would give me tips on interviews and stuff................. but still, it's an uncomfortable set up...... oh yes, welcome to the life of a *FOB consultant.....

whenever my friends had to ask where i live and if i'm living by myself, i used to joke around and tell them: "yeah, i have 3 live in partners", LOL........... they thought i was still doing OK inspite of the uncomfortable set up but what my friends didn't know is i would cry like a baby at night and on weekends when there's nothing to do but stare at my window, stare at the falling snow........ i never hated weekends as much as i did that time............. it was during those times that i would ask myself again and again what was i doing in this country when i have a very good job back home........

i know what you're thinking........ that i should feel blessed.............that some people would move heaven and earth to go  to the U.S while i literally didn't do anything except post my resume online..............  but it's not all sugar and spice and everything nice when you get here........... to start with, living with 3 male strangers from different races is already a big adjustment for me, it's tough............ i don't have relatives in the U.S. and the nearest i have is in Canada.......... and let's not forget that i'm living on a meager $200/month allowance for 3 months because i don't have a client yet............ good thing though that the apartment is free and my employer provides us with groceries and our office is just a block away.............. plus! it was a good thing that i have saved enough money back home that would last for 3 months.............. enough to pay bills and have food on the table for my family (yep, a bread winner here)........... whenever i call home, my dad would ask me how i've been and i would always say i'm good....... ofcourse it's a lie, but i don't want to make him worry.......

whenever i have technical interviews or technical exams and i would fail--miserably....darn, i would always feel like i'm the dumbest of the dumbest java programmer........ and it doesn't help that my employer would ask me to "cook" my resume just so clients would take notice of me........ what the heck do i know about hibernate? spring? faces? i'm sorry i don't have jboss experience, i told you that a million times!...... worst is they expect me to learn that in a day..... nice.............

do you know what keeps my mind from falling into depression? i run...... there's a trail behind our apartment and i would just run and run until i'm exhausted enough that when i get home i won't have time to think and i'll just fall asleep........

may 6, 2007........ i finally moved in to my apartment......... 

i was told that i'll have to go to philadelphia for an interview..... i had to wake up at 4am that monday to prepare and catch the first bus (6am) that would take me to princeton junction.......... from princeton junction i need to take a train to trenton and from trenton station i had to take a septa train that would take me to suburban station in philadelphia, where my client's building is.............. i had to be there at exactly 8:00 am............. i remember seeing philadelphia's cityhall for the first time........ such magnificent structure, i've always been fascinated with architecture......... then i started walking finding the building i was so supposed to go to......... i even got lost but it didn't bother me......ah, new places really gives me adrenalin rush........... the next day (tuesday) i got a call that the client likes me and that they want me to start the next day (wednesday)................ it was a whirlwind, who would have thought...........

my client took me for initially just a 3-month contract but God is good, i was extended for another month then for another 2 weeks, then another 2 weeks...... darn, i didn't know weekly extensions are possible....... and then one day a guy from fort washington sent me an email telling me that he got my resume from phillyjobs.com (i swear, i didn't post my resume on that site but i did posted my resume at craigslist) and telling me about how he thinks i fit their requirements and that they want to see me for a face to face interview............ i had to take a half day off for the interview which was well worth it....... i started working for my new employer november 2007 a week after my contract with my client expired......

now it's May 14, 2008.........

i had to leave my first philadelphia apartment (i moved out december 2007), too many sad memories plus the commute going to and from my new work is killing me........... now, i have a cute apartment........... little by little i was able to buy some furnitures and appliances................. i have a permanent full time job and thank God i no longer have to worry about technical exams and technical interviews........... pramis, pag anaps ang nagi-interview, dudugo ang ilong mo at kung ano-ano pang pedeng dumugo! by the book sila magtanong! tsk! pero pag puti ang interviewer ko, dun ako pumapasa e..... yep, first client was puti and my current job is puti too......

God is good and to think i almost thought of just going home..............it's true what they say--  good things come to those who wait..........

kaya to my good friend in ?? who's in the same boat as i was before, just hang on..... hang on, hang on......... i'm just a ym message/phone call away and HE is just a prayer away........

*FOB = fresh off the boat

p.s.
oh! and no, i dont have to "cook" my resume for my previous client and my current employer...... when they found out i'm java certified that's it, i guess i got lucky....... with God's help ofcourse.....