10.844 kilometer bee line, the distance which lies in between me and my home. Separated from my family and friends through countries, mountains and sea. It's been a long journey but here I am: in the Philippines. My new home for 11 months.
Hey there!:)
My name is Miriam and I am a 19 year old German girl who is currently living in the probably most beautiful place in the world: Cebu, one of the 7107 islands of Philippines.
But how did I get here?
I am doing a voluntary year. We in Germany have the chance to do a so called FSJ (Voluntary social year) after Highschool. Young people work there in a social, cultural or ecological project without getting payed. It is just like an internship which provides an insight into social work.
Doing a FSJ in your own country is quite popular back in Germany.
But I wanted something different. I wanted to see something new. I wanted to go abroad.
That's why I decided to do a voluntary year in a developing country. In doing so, you support the development in your host country directly, you help disadvantaged people and assume global responsibility.
I am aware that I wouldn't just go there and save the world. But I am convinced that when many small people do many small things, the world gets a little bit better. Therefore, I have decided to give the most valuable thing I have - my time.
Why Philippines?
This is the most popular question I have been asked. To be honest when the most Germans hear Philippines, they think about beaches and vacation. They are not aware of all the problems Filipinos have to face. Behind the facade is a lot of poverty: people lack resources, medical care, money or education. They lack social protection against life risks such as unemployment, illness, old age or natural disasters.
Of course I was not aware of this as well, at least before I came here. But I researched about this country. As more time I spent on the internet, reading articles and watching videos about the Philippines, I became more and more interested in the culture. It supposed to be a really varied country, influenced by the Spaniards, Americans and Japanese.
I couldn't imagine how life would be in this Asian country. I hoped to get an insight into the culture, the customs and the life of Filipinos. I wanted to experience the perspective of life of people who are living so far from my place.
Moreover I wanted to develop my personality. A year far away from home, my family and my friends would not be easy for me. It was and still is a very big challenge for me.
I am not a professional writer and my English is quite bad but I would like to share some of my experiences with you. I am one of this persons who need to write down their thoughts in order to deal with them. Furthermore I am curious about what's other peoples opinion and experiences. I guess Steemit it is the perfect place for such an exchange.
Servus Miriam!
willkommen auf Steemit. Wenn Du Fragen zu Steemit hast, oder Dich mit anderen deutschen „Steemians“ austauschen magst, schaue einfach mal in unserem Chat vorbei: https://steemit.chat/channel/deutsch
Hi Miriam! Welcome to steemit! I’m glad that you start posting some stuff here! Feel free to use these tags: philippines story life blog, the tags are limited up to 5 words. If you have any question just ask me and I’ll assist you. Enjoy steeming!!! 😘
hey ate ninyea thank you very much :)
You're very brave to travel to such a far place at 19 :). It's awesome that you want to develop yourself and improve your skills in a place that has so many poverty problems, it must get overwhelming at times.
I hope you will find a supportive community here on steemit and also a place to learn about the wonderful world of crypto. If you have any questions about how steemit works feel free to contact me or other "older" steemians.
I'm looking forward to see more amazing post from the Philippines. Stay awesome :)
P.S Your English is very good, don't stress about it :)
Thank you really much for your nice words :) I really hope to learn more about the world of crypto. I have never dealt with it before what makes everything a bit confusing and overwhelming at the beginning. But I am happy that I took the chance now.
Thank you for your help. In case I need some I will definitely come back to your offer.
Take care :)
Hi Miriam, willkommen auf Steemit. Wünsch dir ganz viel Spaß hier und vor allem auf den Philippinen! 😉
wollte ich letztes Jahr auch hin, hat aber nicht geklappt.
vielen lieben Dank:) Ich würde dir auf jeden Fall empfehlen mal auf den Philippinen vorbei zuschauen. Schade, dass es nicht geklappt hat... aber es gibt ja wie man sagt immer ein 2. Mal :)
Hi Miriam, welcome to Steemit. : )
Good job for deciding to go so far away to help and experience!
The world is build on billions of small things, not a couple of big things. ; )
I'm also new to Steemit and I would love to exchange opinions with you. I'm writing about life and society philosophy mostly.
Cheers!
Hey it's a pleasure to meet you. Your ideas sound really interesting, I will absolutely check it out.
I just activated my account, everything is still so new and overwhelming :) But I would love to exchange ideas and opinions with you as well
pleasure to see that miriam!! 😊
thank you:)
Welcome to Steemit @m1r1! It's awesome you're living abroad even if you get home sick, remember it's all apart of the process! I work with more foreigners from dozens of different European countries than I do with Americans in the summer time. Some stay, some go back home, but they all say they loved coming to see america and the world so kudos to you for traveling!
Thank you very much for your feedback :) Yes indeed a lot of things weren't and still aren't easy for me. But I think I will grow from this, it is an amazing life time experience
amazing history :) php is just an amazing country! i loved in one of the last paradises on earth. enjoy and welcome to steemit!
Hi Miriam, and welcome to Steemit. I'm sure you're going to love it here.
I too am far from my home because I'm in Thailand, but my home country is the UK. I wasn't sure how long I would be away from home, but now I've just past 16 years.
I'm sure you'll love your time in Asia and if you get the chance try to visit the other SE Asian countries. They are great, too.
Good luck with your Steemit journey. :-)
hey thanks :) wow 16 years is such a long time. What made you stay in Thailand? I will definitely visit more Asian countries !!
I had a job here I really liked and I also liked the culture and lifestyle. I was able to have a much better standard of living than I would in the UK, and also not forgetting the weather. LOL
I do miss friends and family, though, so I always visit home once a year. There again, I never know what the future might bring, so I only live one year at a time here, but once you get used to the Asian way of things, it's quite difficult settling back into life back home.
I actually missing the cold weather back in Germany, especially now during Christmas. But I am also so glad that I have the chance to have this unique experience.
Yes they are always talking about the reverse culture shock when you come home. I am curious how it will be for me. But for now I still have 6 more month to explore this amazing country and to get to know more of the culture :) You are right let's see what will happen in the future
Welcome to steemit @m1r1. Nice to meet you..
thank you very much for welcoming me :) nice to meet you too
Welcome to steemit! Upvoted!
thank you very much for your support :)
Welcome to Steemit m1r1!
Nice post. I'm looking forward to view the next one.
thank you very much :)
Servus Miriam :)
Freut mich, dass du deinen Weg auf steemit gefunden hast :) Bin auf deine Erfahrung aus dem FSJ gespannt!
Habe dich mal mit @welcoming und @neuvorstellungen geteilt, zwei Accounts die neue User teilen!
LG
vielen lieben Dank, auch für die Einladung dem deutschen Chat beizutreten! Ich werde auf jedenfall vorbeischauen
liebe Grüße
Hi Miriam,
Die Philippinen klingen echt hammermäßig, ich hoffe, du genießt dein FSJ und hast eine Menge toller Erfahrungen.
Ich freu mich auf weitere posts von der sonnigen Seite (:
Cheers
Marcel
Hey Marcel,
vielen Dank :) Ich habe gelesen du warst für ein Jahr in Finnland? Was hast du während dieses Jahres gemacht? Ich habe auch einen Freund, der momentan einen Freiwilligendienst in Finnland macht. Ich bewundere ihn echt für sein Durchhaltevermögen diese Sprache zu lernen haha
Seit ich den Film Snow dogs gesehen habe bin ich fasziniert von Husky Schlitten Touren. Das steht absolut auf meiner to do list! Wenn du vielleicht Zeit hättest könntest du vielleicht etwas darüber erzählen, ich würde mich riesig freuen :)
Liebe Grüße
Hi Miri,
Ich habe dort studiert (zumindest offiziell :p) aber bin auch sehr viel gereist! Nach Schweden, Norwegen, Estland, Russland etc :) Es ist wirklich eine wunderschöne Gegend allerdings auch sehr kalt und dunkel im Winter!
Die Husky Schlittentour war wirklich eines der highlights dieses Aufenthalts :)
Ich kann jedem nur empfehlen, auf jeden Fall mal nach Finnland zu reisen!
Liebe Grüße
Marcel
Welcome to Steemit @m1r1. You have great courage. You may not save the world as one person but you can influence other people to do the same and that can change the world :)
Thanks a lot :) Yes exactly. If just one person thinks about it I have achieved more that I expected. It is such a great opportunity for intercultural exchange, it helps to understand and comprehend other cultures and can prevent more conflicts.
welcome @m1r1 ! Nice Post keep following
Welcome! Nice to have you here 🌹🤗
Herzlich Willkommen Miriam!
Welcome to Steemit
Welcome to steem. Good luck.
Writing is the best way to deal with thoughts and feeling. I encourage you to check out the contest i am running, I think you will like to take a look and write down what happened in 2017 :)
Your contest is a really brilliant idea but sadly I just had time to check it out and it is already to late... I am so excited to watch all the other videos and maybe I can join your next contest :)