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| photo credit: http://www.clubbnb.com/blog/1114/its-more-fun-philippines-my-dream-vacation |
Have you ever climbed a mountain only to focus on the soil you're standing on? Instead of enjoying the beauty around you, you just focus on how black or brown or rough the soil is. Instead of feeling accomplished after the long hours of walking to the top, you're just looking forward to go down because of the small piece of soil you're standing on. To just focus on that trivial soil after all the climbing and with all the majesty around you is just ridiculous, right?
Well, I've been ridiculously like that a couple of times in my stay here. I focused on the trivial things that irritated me. I complained and ranted when inconsequential things don't go my way. I've forgotten how rare this chance is for Filipino English teachers. I've forgotten how long and difficult it has been before I get to work here. I've failed to see the safety, the beauty and the opportunity that surrounds me. Instead of reliving the climb and enjoying the view, I've concentrated on the roughness of the soil I'm standing on.
Thanks to an enlightening conversation with a man I highly regard, I was reminded why am I in Japan. I'm not here just for myself. I'm given a chance to improve the face of OFW's. I'm here to represent the best of Filipino professionals. I'm here to show that it's possible to climb this mountain, that is Japan.
For Americans, British, Australians and other Native-English speakers, I may sound absurd. I'm just teaching English in Japan, what's so special about that? Foreigners come and go yearly for that. For native speakers, Japan is just another mountain to climb and explore. For Filipinos, Japan is one of the few mountains we're allowed to climb. Japan is one of the few countries we can teach English and be paid at par with native speakers. No matter how fluent we are in English or how good we are as teachers, Filipino English teachers are not so welcome in other countries. (It sucks but who says life is fair?) Hence, being a Filipino English teacher in Japan is special and rare.
And so here I am writing this piece for myself. This is a personal reminder of why I am here and who I really am. I've climbed this mountain not just for myself. I'm not even here just to enjoy the view from the top. I'm here to mark a trail for other climbers. I'm here to set the Philippine flag on stone atop this mountain to say "A Filipino has been here."
PS: I've also written this piece for the man I've talked with. He's an inspiring person. And he's not a Filipino but he believes in us. Thank you!
