Overseas F-ing Workers (OFW pod)

Jocelyn, Paola, and Marco have been working from home in Jakarta, Indonesia and Singapore for a few weeks now. And while the world has gone slightly mad and everyone's going a bit stir crazy, these 2 check in on their worries, problems, and what they think are some things everyone can look forward to. 

Are you an expat or overseas worker experiencing the pandemic in a foreign place? Share your ideas with us, rant, or ramble about your alcohol at:

ig: @ofwpod
fb: @ofwpod
email: ofwpod@gmail.com

NOTE: So this episode aged quickly.

Paola and her friend recorded this on 7 Mar, a full month after Singapore went on Code Orange, and two weeks before Europe became the epicenter. It was probably before WHO announced that #Covid-19 is officially a pandemic. At that time Singapore has gotten used to their new normal, and there was no expectation that this will even spread across the world. #SocialDistancing and #FlattentheCurve hasn’t entered our daily convos yet. So yes, the general sentiments on this pod are now insensitive and out of touch. Our deepest apologies.

We’ve decided to keep this part in because...hell, we were so f*cking stupid two weeks ago and we need to be reminded that we are stupid, and also to show how quickly things can change. Times are changing, and we need to adapt fast, or people will die

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ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION

Paola’s back! After a 3-month+ hiatus from the world at large, Paola finally decided to break her routine to ride a different bus to visit her friend Laurie. They had a quick chat about the #coronavirus in Singapore (time will change), and to discuss how it was like to be a black-French woman in the country. They talk about how she went about looking for work (so different from Paola’s), how she made herself comfortable, and of course, racism (time will change). Scattered in between are SG shoutouts (I think :P)

We have a pod trailer! 

Listen to conversations and random ramblings of 2 Filipino women working overseas in Indonesia and Singapore. Share it with your friends and tell them to tune in, like and subscribe, and mute the pod when there are children around because we occasionally curse and discuss adult things like POEA and insurance and kids don't like those. 

We're getting our sh*t together for 2020, so keep listening!

A Lawyer, a Creative, and 2 Marketing Bosses walk into a pod, and that's how we celebrated Joey/Jocelyn's 5 years in Jakarta, Indonesia! We talked with some of our Filipino friends to see how they've adjusted to life in The Big Durian as expats, OFWs and Filipinos!

This  episode includes:

• What is Jakarta dating like for foreign women? 
• What is Jakarta dating like for foreign gay men?
• What was the hardest adjustment to make when moving to Jakarta from Singapore? from Vietnam?
• How is it adjusting to the more relaxed work culture in Jakarta?
• Is it true that every Filipino that moves to Jakarta gets food poisoning?
• Do you have an exit plan?

Listen in and let us know what you think:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• ig and fb: @ofwpod

It's 2020! By the time this comes out it would already be close to the end of January, but we are very late. 

The two expats Jocelyn and Paola say goodbye to 2019 with much happiness and look forward to 2020. 2019 was a lot for these two: JOB CHANGES! JOB SEARCHES! MAD CHAOS! Is someone leaving Singapore? Will they still both be expats/OFWs? Will Nimler get Paola's plants? Can Jocelyn finally register her marriage with a proper Philippine embassy? Year end reviews are hard for expats too! Yearly contracts are tricky as hell.

We want to hear your own stories of good bye for 2019 and hello to 2020: 

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• ig: @ofwpod
• fb: @ofwpod

Jocelyn/Joey was in Manila waiting for her flight to Jakarta when the Taal Volcano erupted, leading to 240 cancelled flights. Chaos in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as everyone was asked to exit the airport. Stranded in Manila for 48 hours with her fellow expat Australian husband, there was nothing left to do but take videos of the ash fall. 

With her producer Marco, Jocelyn/Joey talks about:

• How long she was on hold with the Philippine Airlines (PAL)? 4 hours!!!! But she kept her cool because of her call center experience with Expedia!
• How bad is NAIA Terminal 2 in the Philippines and what are the worst airports for travellers? 
• Did she need to get a new OEC exemption from POEA? 
• Why she was in Manila in the first place? 
• Was the JoKoy Presents show worth it?
• Do they still check for Polio vaccines at the Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Airport?
• What do OFWs not miss about living in the Philippines?
• How does travel insurance work... realllyyyyy?
• Guessing what Paola would say in the episode but can't because she's on vacation in Vietnam. 
• And many many mooore

If you were also impacted by the #TaalEruption2020 or if you just want to share your experiences in bad airports, please send us a message at:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• ig: @ofwpod
• fb: @ofwpod

Since every expat that worked on this podcast took a long Christmas break, whether they went back to their country or origin or not, this is our Christmas episode. Paola and Jocelyn talk about their Christmas plans, when Mariah Carey's Christmas concert in Singapore was cancelled because it was a ghost town, and how Jakarta celebrates Christmas. Do all Filipino expats go home for Christmas? Do OFWs fly home for the holidays earlier than other expats? And what the hell is happening with the accents in this episode?

We want to hear your Holiday expats stories! Share them with us on:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• instagram: @ofwpod
• facebook: @ofwpod

Paola and Jocelyn discuss all the office -isms, from classism and racism to sexism and ageism. All expats need to get used to different work cultures when they work abroad and this episode goes into the different situations to get used to in Singapore and Jakarta. 

Have your own workplace -isms as an expat that you want to share? Share it with us!

• instagram: @OFWpod
• facebook: @OFWpod
• email: OFWpod@gmail.com

Joey tries to sugarcoat the meat market by calling it all dating, while Paola discusses the joys of Singapore dating and explains why she does not partake. 

Dating or meeting people/attending to physical needs is an important part of life, so can expats find these options in Jakarta and Singapore? The expat girls talk about how their friend groups managed and the very different prospects of LGBTQIA folks comparing both Jakarta and Singapore.

Episode includes: who is a plant, clubbing culture in Singapore, the local gay scene, LGBTQIA rights in Jakarta, first times with Italians, and some (mildly) scandalous secrets. 

Homesickness can take a lot of forms: being angry and frustrated all the time, comparing everything to where you used to be, and being thirsty (for friends and dudes). OFWs/Expats Jocelyn and Paola talk about when they were homesick, when they realized they were homesick, and how they managed to get over it. 

Share your own homesickness stories at:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• instagram: @ofwpod
• facebook: @ofwpod

OFWs/Expats Jocelyn and Paola talk about how they found their people in Singapore and Jakarta and how they settled in.

Share your own stories of your expat experiences settling in your new country/city of residence at:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ofwpod
• Facebook: @ofwpod

Jocelyn and Paola talk about how they set up their new lives in their new hometowns of Singapore and Jakarta. After a long episode talking about POEA struggles, we talk about leaving the Philippines, finding a home, getting used to different commute, and how to translate ideas for a different culture if you're a creative. 

Episode includes: Paola's privilege and auntie cushion, how eyeliner can be an indicator of someone's language skills, finding a good team that can say no, and the different cultures of Singapore. 

Share your own expat stories with us:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ofwpod
• Facebook page: @ofwpod

Jocelyn and Paola rant for over an hour about the Philippine Overseas Employment Association (POEA) and all its related associations (What is OWWA and POLO anyway?). POEA is where Filipinos need to register when they get their work permits and if Filipinos fail to do it they may have problems exiting the country,

Share your own POEA stories and follow us on:

• email: ofwpod@gmail.com
• facebook: @OFWpod
• instagram: @OFWpod
POEA please don't murder us

Paola and Jocelyn struggle through technical issues in their first LDR (Long Distance Recording) episode. Deep dive into why Indonesia and Singapore has such different environments and requirement for expats and their experiences and advice for other Filipinos that start looking for jobs overseas

Episode includes:

• extensive fangirling over Indonesia's unicorn GoJek (now with insurance and fitness classes)
• searching for a job overseas vs having the overseas job find you
• the difference in standard of living and expat situations in Singapore and Indonesia
• tidbits of: technical difficulties, wanting to be alone in a Grab car, POLO vs POEA, and humility

If you have questions, reactions, or stories, we'll try our best to answer them at ofwpod@gmail.com

Overseas F-ing Workers The Podcast Ep. 1 - How We Got Here (Expat Starts and OFW Hearts)

Jocelyn and Paola start the first episode of the OFW podcast with rum and cokes and talk about how they got started as expats, their excuses for having a podcast, and just general overseas Filipino things. 

Episode includes:

• crying in traffic and getting pulled aside at the NAIA immigration line
• finding a job in Singapore or getting interviewed in Singapore for a job in Jakarta
• figuring out where they are on the poverty line
• snippets on: Kris Aquino, Boracay, Duterte, Hamilton, Irvin's, and China-Philippine relations
• and other things in the expat bubble

For questions, complaints and stories, just send an email to: ofwpod@gmail.com