LEAVING PHILIPPINES / WORKING IN SOUTH KOREA

JULY 16, 2007

We left Manila, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, 5 minutes before midnight of July 16. We boarded on plane ASEANA Airlines at 11:35 PM. I feel nervous, shaking but excited at the same time...thinking of new adventure in life i might be facing in korea, maybe a beautiful country than philippines but of course theres a fear at the back of my mind, if my employer is okay, is my work is ok, the homesickness, the season there (Winter), my ashma, my loveones i left in the philippines including my friends that i will be missing for many years...Everything is like fruitshake in my head....then i choose to get a sleep after the take off the the run-way of NAIA. Its better to relax myself than worrying...

Seconds, minutes, hours seeing the map on the screen we are near to our destination, i check my wrist watch as we are approaching in korea its becoming late, almost an hour compare to the time on screen in my front, it means were almost here...few minutes later...they are announcing that were already approaching to the Incheon International Airport, Just keep our Seat Belt until we finally landed on the ground. Thank you for taking your flight with us.

JULY 17, 2007

3:30AM we exactly arrived in Itcheon Internation Airport. Viewing the window at my left side wing of the plane, seeing the runway, the lights from the post, the big hangguk (korean) letter on huge buildings around the airport, i told my self this is it..im really in south korea...Huh!!! I have my opened mouth, taking my deep breath, my eyes is bubling, i feel alone standing in nowhere, turning my head around, like a child who saw a huge cone of ice cream, in different flavors and color , Korea is really beautiful.... Inside the airport, my fascination contineuos with their facilities, cleanliness and orderliness. when we reach the lobby its like a hotel...and the company of a passenger are free to enter inside the airport premise (unlike in the philippines) hehehe!!! After the immigration counter pass, we goes down top the luggage counter conveyor to get the luggages then a korean guy approach us and told us to fall on line after we get our things. Headcounts....then a filipino guy from Philippine Overseas Labor Organization (POLO) came and give us some briefing...again...how to treat koreans, how to behave ourselves, what to do, who to call and where to go incase we have a problem with our emlpoyment. My fellow EPS are just listening...i don't know what does they feel at that time, the same feeling i do..nervous inside but trying to calm myself..hehehe. Then the moment of truth the korean guy from HRD Korea return and ask us to go to the other side of the airport near the other exit door while waiting for our bus that will send us all to HRD. After another 30 mins of waiting he ask us to fall in line again for another headcount, (according to my fellow EPS there are some filipino that when reach airport under the EPS Program runs away and choose to become TNT here in kore )...thats why they are tighten their security on us...then the final call to go out the airport...and again i was fascinated with the beauty of their airport, the flowers cascading in the front facade of the airport, very clean sorrounding and fresh air welcome us as we goes out to the exit door of Incheon Int'l. Airport. There are two tourist bus waiting for us, were only 49 passengers so there have an ample seats for all of us. I am so ashamed to admit but in my entire life i've never been stepped in a bus as comely and convinient as these..... As we travelled along the hi-way, most likely an expressway to us, the only difference is they have wider road compare to us 4-5 lane of each side, with toll gates also in every exit, i notices that korea is souranded by mountain, from left to right, not far you will see ranges of mountains ...everywhere mountains, trees, farmland of different vegetables . Then i feel asleep. After 30 minutes i awake were still in transit...occasionaly we entered towns then mountain again..hehehe. Finally after 1.5 hours of travel we enter a small some sort of a way, a path goes inside the mountain which a suspected were near the HRD Korea Training Center....and im right after few minutes more we reach the training center....in the middle of nowhere!