I was walking to my in-laws house when I saw this and immediately I felt a strong emotion in me.
This was a flyer of a man offering his services in teaching computer applications. And that is something that I’m very familiar with.
It has been a while since I left my workplace while in Singapore. I used to be attached to different schools where one of my tasks was to teach students on how to use computer applications. While it can be stressful, at the end of the day, it felt very fulfilling to me when the kids say, “Hey Ms Marina! Thank you for teaching me video editing, it really helped me in my project” or “Ms Marina! Can you show me how to do animations? I think its fun to play with”
I really miss all that. That’s probably why I’ve stayed on for over 5 years being a multimedia educator.
Unfortunately, Italy doesn’t recognize my certifications (it is disconcerting to know that Singaporean certs aren’t valid in a lot of parts of the world) And while I’m a lot better than last year, I’m still not fluent in Italian. This frustrates me. Because, I know I can do everything the man advertised and even more at the back of my hand.
And of course, one of the biggest motivation is the money. Certainly the money would be very useful in contributing my to my whims. After earning my own money for many years, it just feels wierd having to depend on Cart. I like having new shoes, bags and other frivolous but pretty things. But being on a single income, I feel that I should be more responsible in how I spend it. And though Cart never complains, I don’t want to be a burden.
I’ve countless of people always telling me things like, “Oh you should open a restaurant and cook Malay food!” or “Why don’t you open a business importing Asian goods to Italy, I’m sure there is a market there”. I know these people mean well, and I love you guys, but it’s not that easy and intangible. Especially I’ve no experience in this sort of thing. If you really believe that I can do that, and have the confidence that I can sustain from this, it would be much more helpful to give me step by step directions on what to do instead of giving me such vague ideas.
I probably could try to be a part timer and teach kids and young people to learn English, or be a nanny, but I just am not feeling it. Moreover, it really stung when I read a classifieds online asking for a English teacher who speaks English but she must only be from Australia, America, Canada and UK. What? Only people from these 4 countries can speak English? It sickened me.
Asking me to do something that I have no passion in is like asking say, Michaelangelo to be a plumber. He could probably be even good at it, but everyone knows that he was meant for this greatness.
I feel I am meant for my own greatness. I have so much to share and contribute.
Yay! I love your goals 🙂 Work towards it… i’m sure you can do it. It’s best to know what you want to do and love doing. Good luck 😀
Thank you, I will do my best 🙂
Marin! Why don’t you try to do some freelancing on http://www.elance.com I’ve been doing online work from home for nearly 5 years. You have awesome skills to offer the world! Reach for the stars my dear!
Xoxo,
Suraya
Whops, misspelt your name! Sorry! I mean Marina! 🙂
Wahahaha! Marin sounds very stylo though :-p
Thank you for the link by the way, I hope that it works out for me as it did for you 🙂
hey rinaz, i wish someone would give u a job! have u tried contacting singapore embassy in rome? Maybe they can help u as a singaporean living in rome. i’m not really sure if that works but i was thinking tht there is no harm to give it a shot. Additionally, contacting singaporean people in rome who might be able to give u leads to freelance jobs in rome or some other? Or singapore companies who have offices in Rome? While ur IT qualifications r not recognized, surely ur 5 yrs of experience counts for something? Or do they hire only based on educational qualifications? Perhaps u could try applying for some other jobs other than IT? Maybe admin or something? I know it feels like a waste of ur diploma n IT related experience, it also doesnt mean u cannot explore other career options, ya?
Oh, there is no Singapore embassy in Rome. We only have a consulate here and believe me, they aren’t very useful when it comes to issues such as these. I’ve heard too much gripe stories from fellow Singaporeans and I’ve had personal not so par experience with them myself. They aren’t even run by Singaporeans!
Anyway I’ll try to keep to my 2011 goal. For now I think I’ll focus on getting my own mode of transportation and then I feel it gets easier from there.
i have an idea. why don’t u start a small tour guide business in future? u can offer tour guide services or homestay service to people from southeast asia who are visiting rome! 🙂
so quickly get ur transport license, and also, brush up on italian n ur knowledge of italian tourist places. u can be a niche service provider who brings people to quirky places tht r not featured on holiday guidebooks, etc. 🙂 that would be a really fun job!
u can set up a website easily, to advertise ur services. 🙂
That could be an idea! Having already hosted Jerrick and NTT and Sweska, its actually a lot of fun! I’ll keep that in mind, although you know, there are many Singaporeans living in Italy doing the same thing 😉
I’d have to ask Cart if he’d be open to the idea of letting strangers in the house first above all though!
If there’s a will, there’s a way!! *hugz* Keep working toward your goals, poco a poco 😉 I know you’ll get there. Good luck, but most importantly, never give up.
I’ll do my best *hug* Just need a lot of motivation so that I don’t lose hope and feel deflated and then stress-eat and then end up with more issues
you can do it!
*waves pompoms*
pergi pergi pergi!
jika chillycraps boleh buat ia, jadi boleh anda!
You know, direct translations like that sound as funny as Old Sister’s bird for Burung Kakak tua which is Parrot in Malay :p
It was your love of shoes which first led me to finding you and now that I drop by I see it’s square in your latest post 🙂
Your writing has improved though. Not that it needed it but there’s growth there since I last checked and that’s great.
Square shoes?
Anyway, thank you for your nice comment. I still like frivolous nice things like shoes though 🙂
I think Daphne has already shared some of my most immediate thoughts on this issue. I was just wondering if there is something that you can do over at Italy that doesn’t require your physical presence, and Suraya does have a point about freelancing too. The other option I was thinking about was how you can connect between Europe and Asia as a kind of friendship blog/social media ambassador. Are there companies in Italy who are keen to do business in South East Asia or Singapore?
I know of a person in Rome who is keen to do business in SEA (more Vietnam than anywhere else) but I don’t really have anything to advice him. I don’t have a business background. I don’t think I have anyone who is working in this particular industry.
Walter, you’d need to guide me more about this friendship blog/social media ambassador thing, because as mentioned, I’m really clueless and need a manual for dummies in this sort of thing :p
Keep trying!
Yay!
you can do it! may you reach all your goals before 2011 starts 🙂
I hope so. The only thing is not to lose hope and to keep motivating myself and keep the focus. Being very emo, I tend to fail at these so I should buy an Italian rotan.
*pat pat*
italian rotan?
hmm, give it to Cart 😛
That’s the problem with Working Class Singaporeans and Singapore School Education System.
Singapore can only produce Working Class. The minute someone mention “Business” , Singaporean starts to freeze.
Like already mentioned, I have no experience and knowledge about business. If one really think that I am able to or are confident that I am doing, they can help more by giving me more information on how to do it – like, what do I do to register a business, how much does it cost? what are the bureaucracy that I need to watch out? Is this legal?
I need practical and constructive advice rather than just being chided and being grouped as “That’s the problem with Singaporeans”
Dude, you sound kind of like a douchebag. I think one of the valid arguments against the quality of Singapore’s education system is the stifling of creativity and the lack of freedom of speech. That doesn’t apply here though.
If someone hasn’t gone to school for business management then what would they know of opening a business? I’m sure there are plenty of Singaporeans that are running businesses, since most of the labor positions go to imported foreign labor.
Your comment is the same as me mocking someone for not knowing how to make shoes by hand when they went to school to be a computer engineer.
just because u set up a blog about some chinese products and psychic services or whatever it is u’re selling doesn’t mean tht u have gd business acumen or tht u dare to set up a business.
some people set up business because of, oh i dunno, naivete perhaps? or just bad sense of business, and some people prefer to take a less ‘daring’ stance by making sure whatever risks they take are calculated risks.
not sure which is yours.
Interesting post. I can relate.
About your being disgusted by the advertisement wanting only native English speakers, my guess is they’re hoping to learn English with a native speaker’s accent.
You can do it Marina! You just have to really want it hard enough and put your words into ACTION! You can always think of freelancing, don’t be afraid just because you think your Italian isn’t good enough, most times you don’t have to speak Italian fluently not especially if you are thinking of teaching IT or even English. I know so many Singaporeans here who are working or who worked in jobs which didn’t or don’t require them to speak good Italian (or maybe not at the beginning), all you need is courage and real ACTION 😛 Have you sent your CV to IT firms???
I know exactly how you feel..well sort of. It really is terrible how it’s commonly assumed that “native” English speakers are well from the major European countries + America. When I first started school in Melbourne, I had some Australian friends come up to me to ask “hey where did you learn to speak english so good?”, they weren’t trying to offend me but it’s a little sad how oblivious they are. Anyway, good luck with your goals – don’t give up!!
Marina, I understand very well yr situation.. was thinking if ur up to try another kind of job? Like mine working in a moneychanger company?? As long as u know English and Italian(not that fluent also ok), I think u can try for it..if u want. Cos my company has a branch in Rome (Via Nazionale) and u can look at their website: http://www.bestandfastchange.it.