Hello everyone again on the International Citizen channel, Paweł from this side, and in today's episode we will talk about tourism vs. life in the Philippines. The differences you need to know. What do I mean by this concept? So I would like to explain the difference between the experience of being a tourist somewhere, for example in the Philippines, and a real permanent life.
So the first point, let's start. As a tourist, we can say that we see the world differently than it actually looks like as a person who lives permanently. Life costs are certainly different, because as a tourist we spend more than if we lived permanently. So in addition, if someone wants to live, for example in the Philippines, these life costs would be higher.
Life costs would be lower than what we observe, just being on vacation. What else did I want to say on this topic? I don't know how many people, but I know that quite a large number of tourists sees the world and makes opinions mainly because of the fact that they visit the country for a short time. And here you have to pay attention to such a trap, because what a given country looks like from the perspective of a tourist is not what this country looks like from the perspective of a person who lives permanently. And I would say that this applies to every country, no matter what. The Philippines is not an exception, of course. I'm not saying that it's bad or good in the Philippines, but you have to have a little distance, because how real life looks very much often differs from the experience of a tourist.
And unfortunately, it happens that we think that, let's say for example, in the Philippines we will go on vacation for two weeks, from time to time, or even for a month. Everything is great, food is great, the weather is great, people are great. And then we have such a conviction in our head that it can be heaven on earth, that it is heaven on earth. And it not only applies to the Philippines, but it can also apply to countries such as Spain, Portugal, or any other countries in which we have been as a tourist. And there is the first "wow" effect, that is, the first love.
We see only advantages, and there are no disadvantages. And then it often comes to the fact that we idealize a given country, that in Poland, for example, it is bad weather. Everything is bad, but somewhere out there, behind the mountains, behind the forests, it's great.
And this is often a thought trap. That we idealize a place we don't know, we look at it only through the prism of the fact that we spent two weeks there, in such a place that is separated and created especially for tourists. And on this basis, for example, we can mistakenly make the decision in the future that "Oh, I will move there, because there is the best place, and where I am, it is useless." And this is one of the thinking mistakes.
Because every country has its own disadvantages and advantages, and there is no ideal country. And when it comes to paradise on earth, or an escape to such a place that is a paradise, then logically speaking, it is a fairy tale. If someone likes to believe in fairy tales, in the fairy tale of one thousand and one nights, it's his business, but there is no paradise on earth, which does not mean that there are no places that are good, but you have to be realistic and step hard on the ground.
Tourist places versus local community. This is the next point I wanted to touch on. And on this topic I can mention that it is not only about the Philippines, but about every place. That the places we go to most often, they were created for tourists from different countries. Because if there were no such places, then contact with the local, so to speak, world would be difficult and could be a barrier for some, not to be skipped, or it would very much turn this touristic trend into a nightmare.
And that's why, where we don't go, and whether it's the Philippines or Japan, or any country in the world, if we are surrounded by places that were designed for tourists, then we automatically do not see the real reality of the country we are in. And for example, I will give you such China. Or, for example, Taiwan. In Taiwan, yes, we will come to the international airport, to Taipei. For example. And everyone speaks English.
And there is actually a service. We will get along, there is no problem. And a taxi driver, something is bad there, but he can speak English. And we have such a conviction that, well, great.
And in the hotel they speak, and everywhere they speak. But when we go out into the street, and we go into the world, so to speak, and we leave these tourist routes, and we will not look at the guide, it will turn out that suddenly no one knows English. And either I speak Chinese, or I don't get along at all. Everywhere in stores, menu, everything is in such strange, so to speak, bushes.
What to do here? And it turns out that this is such an impression was created for tourists, and the reality is different. This is just one example. When it comes to language.
But also many places look different than in tourist places. People behave differently. And I will say this. Generally speaking, tourist places are just a little artificial. Because they had to be to some extent adapted to a foreigner, to have as much experience as possible, and wanted to leave as much money as possible in a given country.
It is logical. If we want to know an authentic country, for example the Philippines, we have to choose places that are less popular. And it is only then that we begin to slowly see what reality looks like.
Although as a tourist, even if we stay for two weeks, three weeks, three weeks or a month, we are not really able to get to know a given country and make such an honest opinion. It is difficult to present it generally speaking, so I will use an example. Let's imagine that we have a friend from work. We met him in a corporation and we have known him for two weeks, maybe a month. And let's compare such a situation that we have known him for a month, and the other person whom we have known for three years and we have spent time with her at work and after work and together, for example, we rent a house for a company and we did business together and we know our families and we have experienced And we know people from different sides, in different aspects of lives.
And that's the difference between the person whom we have known for three years from different perspectives and the person whom we have known for two weeks to a month and we know only only from professional life at work. And that's just such a big difference between being a tourist and living permanently. Therefore, the conclusions that we can draw from this experience of a tourist are most often absolutely different, far different from what the reality of a person who lives looks like. In a given country. As for the next point. Culture and customs.
On this subject, it is obvious that there are cultural differences. There are in every country. But what is even more important is that as a tourist, yes, we can observe a lot. Even if we are good observers, we will notice more than normal, average people, for example, a person who just came to burn himself, for example. But there are things that are simply not mentioned.
Customs and customs and various difficulties of everyday life that are not talked about because they are either politically incorrect or it is dangerous to talk about them or for any other reasons do not mention them. And there is such a thing. things a lot.
And we find out such things only when we start living in a given country, then we have a clash with the hard reality. And it's not just about the Philippines, but it's about every country and every country has something like that. So most often it is the case that someone who wants to move to the Philippines should first try to learn about the culture of a given country from various people who live there. But I'll be honest, it doesn't usually give him a full picture of reality, because as I mentioned, there are many things that you don't talk about or you shouldn't talk about, and you just discover them over time. And many times they have. However, it makes a decisive difference whether a given country will be good for us or not.
Another point when it comes to security, for example in the Philippines, is that as a tourist I think it's great, there are absolutely no problems, unless we don't know how to move in a given place and then, of course, some problems may occur. But as long as we move in the zones designated for tourists, I don't see any problem, it's safe. As for permanent life, it requires a deeper understanding of the local culture and simply being reasonable about where you can go and where you can't go, when you can and when you can't. It's a matter of cultural adaptation. You can also deal with yourself. You can deal with it and it can be safe because there are people and there are Poles who have been living there for many, many years and nothing happens to them.
The biggest problem is when we don't want to accept the fact that we are in a different country and there is a different culture and we approach the European or Polish with such a mindset that it should be the way we want it to be, and it's not always the way it is. And then we can have a different culture. There are some problems.
But if we adapt and be reasonable, I think it's also okay as it comes to security. We could of course make a separate episode on this. Work and business, because this is also an important point. As for the job, it seems to many people, though not everyone, that when they have some professional experience, they have certain know-how, construction worker or mechanic or welder or any other, they think to themselves in this way: I have high qualifications, I will go to the Philippines and somehow it will be.
And this is a European approach. And everything would be fine if the Philippines were in Europe, maybe it would work out. And when it comes to the Philippines, they are in Asia, everyone knows that. But the realities are different. So this approach that we have qualifications, it will be somehow, usually it will be somehow if we want to move.
It ends up like this: some people move to the Philippines, they run out of financial aid and they say that they have only money left to return to Poland and unfortunately they have to return to Poland with a so -called undercut tail. Because they came to the conclusion that it will be somehow. Well, that's it when it comes to work and how it will be. Of course, some work will be found somewhere, but the problem with work is that earnings in the Philippines are much, much lower than those in Poland and in Europe. Because the salary is lower, if we want to maintain any sense of standard of life, we will not survive from normal work, as long as we get it at all.
Yes, so there are of course some competitions, some very sought-after, but usually, I would say in 99% of cases, if we just want to work in the Philippines, we can forget, and our qualifications will be transferred to nothing. Of those jobs that work and have a chance, the most popular is work through the Internet. So, let's say we are a computer programmer, a computer graphic designer, we work in a call center and we work for a company that is, let's say, from the USA or from some other rich zone, from some European country, and we work remotely from the Philippines, then it's okay, because we get a salary, let's say in euros or in dollars, and we get it much higher than if we got it in the Philippines. So, if we have such a job, I agree that we can work in the Philippines and survive normally, in normal standards in the Philippines.
In another case, there will be... I would say it's extremely difficult, unless we want to lead a life coaching style, but if we are talking about any normal life standards, then in this case, the second sensible option will be our own business. We can, of course, do it, but it requires plans, experience and someone at the place who will help us. Someone who will tell us a little bit, help us.
Then, okay, I agree. So, I see two paths. When it comes to work, it is rather in 99% of cases remote work, and when it comes to business, I would certainly not allocate 100% funds to pack everything into business in the Philippines and somehow it will be. Because somehow it will be, this formulation, I understand that it is supposed to add to self-confidence, but in the Philippines, I would say that it needs a little more planning than self -confidence and a little more knowledge than self-confidence, because somehow it will be, it does not work in the Philippines. Because if it were, somehow it will be, everyone would go to the Philippines.
Such a joke. Well, businesses must be thought through strategically and you need to have a little knowledge. Okay? You can also make a separate episode about business, of course, and I would rather lean towards the fact that someone who is more experienced in this topic in the Philippines will mention this topic and develop it more. As for the Polish community in the Philippines, I don't want to talk too much about what it is like and go into detail.
There are usually, but generally speaking, there are very few expats and they are scattered throughout the country. So if we expect to meet a Pole on the street, we may not be able to wait. The largest group of foreigners is known in the largest cities, namely Manila. There we can meet, but typically Poles, we need to know where they are. It is known. If we connect with them on the forum on Facebook, we can find them, and so on the street, we will rather not meet anyone, unless there is a big accident, then maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.
Adaptation. Next point. When it comes to adaptation, I would also like to mention two aspects.
The first of which is Philips, is this paradise on Earth? Well, maybe I'll start with that. Because there is often such an catchy theme of paradise on Earth or escape to paradise. I'm not talking about such a channel, but generally about such a wording. Or for example: "Oh, I found the best place.
place in the world. And these are a bit of phrases, because they don't have much to do with reality. These are more marketing tricks, because in fact we live on a planet where there are people everywhere who are not perfect. This is obvious for anyone who has contact with healthy senses and is a full-fledged person and someone who doesn't have to cheat and wants to know the truth, knows that there is no perfect country.
And it often happens that Poles complain about Poland, that it is useless in many ways. And I agree that there are many flaws. Only that we usually have such a tendency that if there is, let's say, five information from which one is negative and the other four are positive, then there is such a situation that if we are presented with this one evil as the first, then the first one will poison our heads to the extent that we will not notice these four positives. Or they are insignificant. Or they are insignificant. And we see the rest of the information through this prism of this negative energy.
And I would say that there are many amazing aspects in Poland and that in many ways we can be proud of ourselves as Poles, but we often don't notice it. And it happens that some tourist comes to Poland and notices the beauty of this country. That it is so great.
And this country does not have it. Some quality of some food products or approaches to various topics. And they envy the Polish to something. And we, on the other hand, sitting in the country, complain that it is so bad. I'll say that Poland can be a paradise on Earth. Just like any other country.
This is only a matter of perception. There is no ideal country. And I don't think that one country is perfect and the other is useless, because that's just not true. It is a delusion of our perception and focusing on negative things.
Some time ago I was talking to my colleague and he understood it very well, because he said that Paul has no paradise on earth. If it comes to the country you would like to move to, it is only a matter of one thing. Analyze the country you want to go to. Get to know its flaws and its advantages. But in depth and really. Not from the emotional side, but analyze logically.
And ask yourself one most important question. What is it? Am I able to accept the flaws of a given country? Will I cope with them? And one more important question. Are the advantages that a given country offers, these are the advantages that are priority for me? If the answer is yes. It means that this is a country for me. And it's all on the subject. And it doesn't matter which country it is.
Whether it's the Philippines or Poland or any other. The only reason why most, for example, Poles complain about Poland is that they live in this country for a long time. And there is this psychological effect that we notice the flaws. And they.
This negative energy of these flaws. And so. They make our perception focus on them. We can hardly notice.
But the same, the disadvantages occur in every country. Whether in the Philippines or in Poland or in the UK. So it's just a matter of our approach, our mindset.
And when it comes to driving, it's to consider whether the advantages that a given country offers, these are the ones that are priority for us. It is the only one. And whether we will accept, we are able to accept the disadvantages of a given country. And that's all on this topic.
Could I add something else? I think that's all. If I missed something, I will definitely pay attention to it in the rest of the episodes. I hope you enjoyed it and I invite you to the next episode. Take care. Bye.
2024-10-05 07:30