An immigrant feels her way through American life

Christine and husband Roderick Sotelo on their wedding day in the Philippines. CONTRIBUTED

“Call me Christine,” she says, “this is how they call me here, because it is the name on my Security Security card.”

Before she turned 30, Christine Honeybelle Ramones-Sotelo had a flourishing career as a revenue analyst at Philippine Airlines. She has a BS statistics degree from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

When she applied for Social Security card in the United States, she was surprised that “Christine” was printed and not her full name. She complained to a supervisor to no avail. It was either Christine or Honeybelle, she was told. It’s just one of her confounding experiences as an immigrant to the US, and she’s still feeling her way through a new culture and lifestyle.

In the Philippines Christine worked at PAL for nine years. Her boss, the vice president of PAL told her, “Are you crazy?” when she handed in her resignation to get married and move to United States.

“I had a ten-year US multiple entry tourist visa. So it was not really difficult for me to go to the US. But if my husband stayed in our province, I would’ve stayed there too. And that would’ve also meant quitting PAL,” Christine, now 34, explains.

Long-distance love

Christine and Roderick Sotelo went to the same high school in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. Roderick went to the United States in 2010 and became a US citizen. He started courting Christine the same year.

“I turned him down thrice. I did not really want to live in the US. He was persistent, buying a $4 phone card every day. There were no free calls then. Thanks to Skype, Facebook and Messenger, we were able to communicate regularly, but that was around 2012,” Christine laughs.

Christine in her office at American All Care Services. CONTRIBUTED

In December 2013 they got married in the chapel of Divine Word College in San Jose. In June 2014 she went to the US on tourist visa. She spent her four-month stay visiting members of the Sotelo family all over California.

The newly married couple had only little time for each other because Christine went back to the Philippines to change her visa. It was cheaper than hiring an immigration lawyer. She wanted to spend more time with her own family. It took a year before she was given an immigrant visa, a Permanent Resident (non-conditional) status. After three years she will be eligible for citizenship.

‘American Dream?’

In February 2016 she finally flew to Burbank, California, to settle for good. While applying for jobs she spent most of her time at home waiting for her husband.

“I would just cry at home for no apparent reason. It was really difficult. I was not used being confined at home. Besides, I really don’t have the American Dream,” Christine explains.

She attended conversational English classes in the public library. Even if she spoke English well, Christine says that she needed to “talk like them” to make everything easier and to secure a good job. She also believed that with a large number of Filipinos around, she could cope well, although wasn’t really looking for a Filipino community to join. Christine says that her friends are just a “text and call” away.

“Speaking another language requires confidence, which you get from constant exposure to the language and practicing with the native speakers. It does not really matter if the grammar is correct — the accent is more important,” Christine realized.

People she met at the bus stops or in the church always told her to be in the health industry like nurses, caregivers, nurse assistants etc. because it is the most stable. Luckily for Christine, she landed a job after 60 days, in a company that specializes in digital marketing, Vision Star. She handled the company’s online marketing for real estate services.

She was just given computers and she had to figure out everything. She decided to create her own system–she created a total of 120 ads successfully posted online in just three days. It increased to 250 ads a day. She was lauded because it was unprecedented. She was given incentives such as insurance and overtime pay. But only for a short time. A Filipina applied for a job and asked Christine to train her. The new employee did not do well and was let go, and so was Christine.

“I was thinking like other immigrants. You take whatever job is available, even if it is mismatched with your degree. Earning dollars is important. But here it doesn’t really matter how much, unlike in the Philippines where respect depends on how much you earn,” says Christine.

Unlike temporary OFWs, long-term immigrants need to study again in an industry where they need to get an accreditation. Multitasking also happens a lot in the US. Because Filipinos are hardworking and highly educated, companies tend to exploit them. Christine says that if the company knows that a Filipino has other skills, it will ask you to do it as a part of your job but without pay.

Unequal pay

“Men, especially the whites are paid higher compared to Filipino women who are doing the same job. But what can I do, it’s their country,” Christine laments.

Presently, Christine works at revenue department of the American All Care Services. The company bills the hospices, hospitals and clients for the caregiving, nursing and all types of care they received from All American Care Services. She is in charge of managing the inputting of the prices, number of hours per shift, the assigned nurses to specific clients on different shifts. Although it is still far from her credentials back home, it is the nearest job that matches her experience.

“We have to abandon some of our Filipino or personal values in the US. We have to adapt to their lifestyle that is always in a hurry–“time is gold”—and always feeling entitled to everything. There’s no chivalry here. Complain if you are not given what is due to you. I am in the midst of making a decision whether to cling to the Filipino lifestyle or to accommodate this country’s culture. At the end of the day, survival is the ultimate goal of everyone,” Christine concludes.