TRAVAILS IN JAPAN

BEING A FILIPINA living in Japan makes me feel disgusted at times. This is because of the public perception that ALL Filipinas here are JAPAYUKIs. CAN'T BLAME THEM, I guess.... MOST Pinays here are. Even those who have married Japanese nationals continue to work in pubs and snacks [a term they use to mean a place to drink, and be entertained] after marriage. But the bulk comes from the Philippines as they seek the "LAPAD" and find the men of their dreams. BUT THERE ARE THOSE who came here for different purposes. Some came as scholars and has found their mate, like Carmen, a former teacher in SBC Grade School who married her classmate in University here. She is now a Japanese citizen. Then there are more....names of whom cannot be published. There is also Paz who now works as interpreter in Japanese Courts for cases where Pinoys are involved. Add to this list, the NIKKEI-JIN/SANSEI-JIN [SECOND/THIRD GENERATION JAPANESE] to which I belong. BEING A MEMBER of an organization of Pinays living in my area, I have met a lot of Pinoys: good or bad, maingay or magulo, salbahe o makulay, lahat ng klase! Mas marami ang grabe! BUT WHAT PAINS ME MOST is the fact that most who come here are desperate in more ways than one. I remember a distant relative of my Lolo who came to me many moons ago. She asked me to answer the telephone call from a foreigner. Knowing that I could communicate both in Tagalog and English, we waited until the call came. Apparently that was not the first and definitely, not the last...until that fateful day...I hope. The voice on the other end perhaps thought it was my uncle-in-law who answered. So the voice [a girl's] started to blabber in poor NIPPONGO [JAPANESE [the language]] ...and said, "PAPA..KITTE KUDASAI, NEH" [PAPA, COME HERE, PLEASE]. I can't help but react: "PAPA?! DARE NO? [ PAPA, KANINO?] . Then I proceeded to talk in controlled voice [nainis na kasi ako at napahiya!] that she is calling to an old man and that the wife is angry; that she better not call again as she is causing these couple to fight. She answered: "Ganun ba?..Akala ko.." and murmured something unintelligible. I asked for her address. She never gave me one. I suspect she is a BETERANA: an old-timer who knew the tricks of the trade. I DO NOT KNOW what happened after that. My Lolo's relative-in-law has not been here since. MOST PINAYS I see in supermarkets with some old Japanese men in tow, are a-plenty. Some have the gall to walk with their arms all over. And the get-up! You can easily spot a Pinay two kilometers away! It makes me feel sick to see how the image of the FILIPINA has been downgraded BY THESE PEOPLE. IS IT BECAUSE OF MONEY? PERA LANG BA ANG MAHALAGA? SAAN NA NAPUNTA ANG PRIDE? NAWALA NA RIN BA YUN? NAWALA-> NAKALIMUTAN! Someone quipped: "Hindi namn nakakain nag pride, noh!"... GANUN BA YUN? HM....GOODNESS! I HAVE SEEN PINAYS working in factories here. They have made sacrifices and really sweat it out in factories all over this land. They continue to work and live decent lives. Most of them have stopped working 'at night' and show their growing kids that they, too, can assimilate in this society. I KNOW. I have experienced working in factories of all kinds: welding car parts for Suzuki Cars [from the tiniest to the biggest, I have done that, too!], re-packaging, re-bottling LIPOVITAN, re-bottling vitamins, assembling cup noodles, electrical wirings of cars, ...box-making.. LAHAT NA YATA! I was so curious what these factories are all about. I wanted to know what's inside those big warehouses, hence I applied at a brokering agency here. Sad to say, I lasted only a few months as these work are not cut out for me 0r is it vice-versa? Hmmm....My LOLO thinks otherwise: NAMAKEMONO [TAMAD!] daw ako?! EI? What's that again? LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY wouldn't be as bad if we only live honorably, decently. Let us act properly, and people will respect us. This reminds me of that saying: "Amor con amor se paga= Love begets love." In the same LIGHT, if we respect ourselves, people will eventually respect us. Parang MAGNET lang ang buhay. PINAYS living abroad must remember that we are reflections of our country. WHEREVER we go, WHOEVER we may be, WE must make it sure that the good supercede the bad.