This might not be the typical expat blog, written by a German expat, living in the Philippines since 1999. It's different. In English and in German. Check it out! Enjoy reading!
Dies mag' nun wirklich nicht der typische Auswandererblog eines Deutschen auf den Philippinen sein. Er soll etwas anders sein. In Englisch und in Deutsch! Viel Spass beim Lesen!
You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?
There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!
Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!
Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!
Why do Filipinos want to be light skinned instead of their traditional dark skin?
I remember someone says it's a “blessing to have a fair skin” and “a person with fair skin colour is blessed”. Sigh. Lol. I can't hide my amusement.
White people, don't get offended, please.
I want to emphasize that it's not only a Filipino thing wanting to be fair skinned but to some South East Asians as well. Same as white people wanting to be tan.
Two factors influenced why Filipinos highly regarded fair skin colour. It's a symbol of beauty and higher social class. The Tagalog phrase “Maganda sana, maitim lang” ( She's beautiful if only fairer) describes how most Filipinos considers fairer skin (and other western facial features) as more attractive compare to natural Filipino features.
I'm not surprised though, it's been ingrained (since history of colonization) that having a lighter skin symbolizes a higher social status, dark skin colour classifies someone of lower class status (slaves, farm workers, bandits). The mentality evolved from generation to generation until having a fair skin is a pre requisite for someone to be called beautiful. Aside from that, because Filipinos mostly can understand English, they look at Hollywood movies, fashion shows and even beauty magazines.
Below are images of indigenous people with “traditional dark skin”. Pure native Filipinos is rare I guess nowadays.
Mangyan people
Agta (Aeta)
Igorot
Isnag
However, take note, this is just a skin colour preferences for most Filipinos due to some influences (history, media). Filipinos still proud of being a Filipino regardless of what tribe they belong to.
Ein Vorschlag aus der Wirtschaft sorgt für hitzige Diskussionen: Der sogenannte Boomer-Soli könnte das Rentensystem entlasten – und bestimmte Rentner stärker belasten.
Immer mehr Menschen gehen in den nächsten Jahren in Rente – und das hat Folgen für das deutsche Sozialsystem. Um die Rentenkassen zu stützen, bringen Experten jetzt eine neue Sonderabgabe für wohlhabende Ruheständler ins Spiel.
Wen der Reformvorschlag trifft, wie seine Befürworter und Kritiker argumentieren und was dieser Schritt für die Altersvorsorge bedeuten könnte: Was Sie darüber wissen müssen, lesen Sie im Originalartikel bei SÜDWEST24. (yk)
Is there anything else that you would like to know?” I had just finished giving her a brief orientation on what was expected from her fellowship training. Her quick reply was, “Yes, Ma’am, how is the work-life balance?” I looked at my young and fresh-faced colleague, smiled, and gave her this reply: “That is a question only you can answer.”
One Tuesday morning, both consultants and trainees were treated to a session on a topic that served as a welcome break from academic discussions. The speaker was a young doctor who specialized in wellness. She started her talk by asking us to breathe in and out in counts of four. The brief exercise not only instilled a sense of calm but also served as a reminder of the power of taking a pause. We were off to a good start.
“What centers you?” Two colleagues volunteered to provide her with answers. One said, “family,” and the other, “God.” Agreeing to both, I silently added a third, “purpose.” She must have read my mind, for her next question was, “What makes you get up in the morning?”
Sharing some highlights from the workshop, one participant was able to sum up why a majority of us felt that we had little time for anything other than work. Inherent to our profession, which is people-oriented, we are hardwired to think about others before attending to ourselves. This, on top of attending to our other duties, eventually encroaches on the time and space that should be allotted to nurturing oneself.
Using her statement as a takeoff, much like how we gather the history behind a patient’s chief complaint, my mind wandered off to work schedules and the symptoms that may signal a diagnosis of imbalance. Are you manifesting any of the following? Forgetfulness, being always in a rush, lacking patience, being easily irritated, waking up tired even after seven hours of sleep, and worse, losing a bit of your sense of humor? The realization that one may be suffering from self-neglect comes to a head when we are no longer able to function with efficiency. This is a danger sign that we might be running on empty.
Too little time, so much to do, how can we achieve some sort of balance? What follows is not a one-size-fits-all, nor is it a foolproof plan. At best, it can make you rethink, remodel, or repurpose the way you go about achieving your goals. Hopefully, it doesn’t fall into the category of being a New Year’s resolution.
Begin by taking out a pen and paper. For the younger generation, your laptop, iPad, tablet, or phone. List down your goals by priority and rank them accordingly to include what is easiest to achieve. Next, create both short- and long-term plans to include the pros and cons. After you finish, which may take some time, analyze how all of these efforts can contribute to or lessen your well-being.
Having completed your list, create a structure. Calendar activities and map out a time frame to keep track of your goals. For now, focus on the more realistic ones. Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment from finishing a task, regardless of its enormity, and be sure to celebrate it. Make this a personal mantra: “Try to get enough rest, eat healthy, sneak in time for regular exercise, and explore a new hobby. Find out what makes you happy, sparks interest or excitement, and find a way to have a continuous dose.”
On a regular basis, declutter your workspace. Nothing beats an organized desk. Learn to limit your work hours and do a hard stop when necessary. Set boundaries for yourself and make this known to others so that they do not overstep. Learn to delegate and be flexible if things do not go as planned. From experience, being a micromanager can be exhausting. Compartmentalize tasks so you don’t shift from one to another. This can be tiring and nonproductive as well.
Last but not least, learn to say no. No one is indispensable. Taking in more than you can handle, even if you can, may take away the needed time for self-love. How you see and value yourself spills over to how you communicate and interact with others, and how you live your life.
While it is impossible to always be in control, there is peace to be gained in letting go and accepting things we cannot have a grip on, trusting that there is someone up there who knows best. To attempt to achieve that sense of balance will always be up to us.
Hopefully, this week will be the one where I start practicing what I preach. Wish me luck.
... I need to know! Know-it-all-better, who prefer an oppressing or suppressing crab mentality should be really out of place. They poison us and our dignity and our feelings of our own worth. Unfortunately, we can find these people at any corner.
I stayed in many places worldwide - places with people belonging to different kinds of religion. I really don't care which belief people are in. Most importantly, they believe in God and they live a Christian life. I am always very happy when I find churches or prayer places - always open and filled up with praying people.
I am always very happy, when I meet hopeful and promising Christians: priests, pastors, lay people, friends, family members, who know how to share and inspire, and also know how to be patient while starting with a -maybe - "new beginning".
I am also very happy, because I still observe infinite and endless good things every day coming into my life. Slowly but surely, I started to pay attention to such things. I observe several people, who don't! I really try to do preliminary exercises for instance, for amazing things or just for a simple gratitude. With these attitudes I'll be winning each battle a thousand times against those people who live believing that God's creation goes to the dogs and kicks the bucket.
I am really happy if I meet people who understand the real meaning of responsibility. Responsibility to a child, to the family, to a company and its employees, to a public service, an association or a registered society, or anything that supports, sponsors and promotes my surroundings without being egoistic, indifferent or listless. "I don't give a damn!"
I am always happy to notice people around me, who mean and act "YES" if they say "YES"!
I am always happy to notice something that is taken for granted: parents have time for their children and patience with the youth (really a difficult task sometimes!); someone who takes time to visit a sick neighbor or friend; someone who asks the address of a possible lonely fellow...
Every time period is in God's hands. Let's fulfill these periods and let's also allow our loved-ones at our side to live the same way. Know-it-all-betters, who prefer an oppressing or suppressing crab mentality should be really out of place. Unfortunately we can find such people at any corner. And, we must know how to deal with them.
Get ready for one of the most spectacular night sky events of the year! On August 12–13, the Perseids will light up the heavens with up to 100 meteors per hour streaking across the darkness.
Best Viewing Tips:
Watch after midnight for maximum activity.
Find a dark, open location away from city lights.
No telescope needed — just your eyes!
This annual meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the debris trail of Comet Swift–Tuttle, creating brilliant flashes as tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere.
DEFINITELY, it is not in being adorned with sorts of medals and public recognition, showered with all kinds of honors and privileges. It’s rather in being simple and humble, in having a heart completely emptied of its ego and filled with love and compassion for everyone, even to the extent of offering one’s life for the others out of love, the way Christ offered his life for all of us.
We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where the disciple asked Christ, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” (Mt 18,1) To this, Christ simply called a child over, and placing him in their midst, said: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18,2-4)
There you have the clear description of who can be considered truly great and how we can be so. It is to be like a child, simple and humble, the qualities that would enable us to be like Christ himself, able to capture and assume the very spirit of God in whose image and likeness we are.
We have to acknowledge the intimate and mutual relation between simplicity and humility, on the one hand, and greatness on the other hand. When one is great in his earthly stature and dignity, he knows he has to serve more and to give more, to be truly great. True greatness is never shown in pride and vanity. It is proved and verified in humility and simplicity.
Christ is the epitome of true greatness. And he showed it by going through this process of self-emptying that St. Paul once described in this way—that Christ “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2,6-8)
This mutual relation between humility and greatness is expressed when we manage to value others, whoever and however they are, above ourselves and when we look after their interest instead of our own. (cfr. Phil 2,3-4)
In other words, our greatness is when we are fully driven with love. That’s when we would not have any dull moments since we would always be thinking of others, of how to help them. We would even be most willing to make sacrifices for them. We would have our whole life dedicated to serving God and others.
This is what we clearly see in the life of Christ. Let’s call to mind that stunning example of his when he shocked his apostles when he started and insisted to wash their feet at the Last Supper.
For us to have this humility and greatness in our life, we need to be always with Christ. We need to be in constant conversation with him, referring everything to him, asking him for the answers to our questions, clarifications to the many issues we have to grapple with in life, strength for our weaknesses and temptations, contrition and conversion after our falls, etc.
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