15/08/2026
๐ ๐๐๐๐กโ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐. ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐.
๐๐บ ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ชรฑ๐ข๐ด-๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช
Not every Filipino living abroad left the Philippines because life there was difficult. Not everyone grew up dreaming of migrating, earning in another currency, or building a future somewhere far from home.
I certainly didnโt.
Before Switzerland, I already had a beautiful life in the Philippines.
I had a career I was proud of. I had my family, my friends, my connections, and a life that I had already built for myself. I was happy with what I had accomplished, and migrating abroad was never something I felt I needed to do.
I wasnโt looking for a way out.
Then I got married, and suddenly Switzerland was no longer just another country on the map. It became a possible home.
But I did not immediately pack my bags and decide to leave everything behind.
I needed to know first.
Could I actually live here?
So before making Switzerland my permanent home, I stayed for about a month. I jokingly think of it now as my own probationary period with Switzerland.
I was not interested only in seeing the mountains, lakes, and postcard views. Switzerland is beautiful, of course, but visiting a country and actually living in it are two very different things.
I wanted to experience ordinary life.
How do people live? How does everything work? How does it feel to wake up here every day?
And very quickly, something clicked.
I loved how organized Switzerland was.
The structure. The cleanliness. The reliability. The discipline. The way things were planned. The importance people placed on time.
It felt strangely familiar to me, not because the Philippines and Switzerland are the same, but because the way Switzerland functioned matched the way I was already wired.
I have always been organized.
I have always valued punctuality.
Switzerland did not teach me how to be on time. I was already like that long before I moved here.
If an appointment is at a certain time, I want to be there on time. I like planning ahead. I like knowing what needs to be done. And I have never been comfortable making other people wait unnecessarily.
Maybe that is why I felt such an immediate connection with life here.
Switzerland did not change that part of me. Switzerland simply fit it.
And after that month, I knew.
I could live here.
That decision, however, was much bigger than simply choosing a country.
It meant giving something up.
I had to leave behind a life that was already good.
I left my career. I left the professional identity I had built. I left familiar surroundings, family, friends, routines, and the comfort of being somewhere where I already knew how everything worked.
Then I came to Switzerland and did something many migrants understand very well.
I started from zero.
There is something people sometimes misunderstand about migration.
Moving abroad does not always mean moving away from poverty, failure, or an unhappy life.
Sometimes you leave while you are doing perfectly well.
Sometimes you leave a career you love.
Sometimes you leave a place where people already know your name, your abilities, and your story, only to arrive somewhere new where you have to introduce yourself all over again.
Starting from zero is humbling.
There is a new system to understand, a different culture to navigate, and a language to learn. There are things that once felt easy that suddenly require effort.
You adjust.
You learn.
You rebuild.
And slowly, the foreign country begins to feel less foreign.
That experience also shaped how I see integration.
Even after years of living in Switzerland, I still sometimes encounter fellow Filipinos who regularly arrive late and laugh it off as โFilipino time.โ
I know it is often said jokingly. And of course, this does not describe every Filipino. Many Filipinos are extremely punctual and organized.
Anyone can also be late. Life happens.
But repeatedly being late simply because being late has become acceptable is something different.
For me, punctuality is not about being Swiss. It is about respecting someone elseโs time.
If we agree to meet at 2:00, you have arranged part of your day for me, just as I have arranged part of mine for you.
And if we choose to make another country our home, I believe there is also something beautiful about learning from its culture.
That does not mean erasing our own.
Integration should never require us to stop being Filipino.
I can keep the warmth, hospitality, humor, traditions, family values, and sense of connection that I love about Filipino culture.
At the same time, I can embrace the organization, discipline, punctuality, and way of life that I appreciate in Switzerland. I can continue learning the language and understanding the society around me.
Both can exist in one person.
I do not have to choose between being proudly Filipino and being well integrated in Switzerland.
That, to me, is what living abroad should be.
Not losing yourself.
Not pretending to become somebody else.
But allowing another culture to add something to the person you already are.
Years later, when I look back at the decision I made after that one month in Switzerland, I understand it differently.
I did not migrate because I was searching for a better life.
I already had a beautiful life.
I migrated because I discovered another place where I could imagine building one.
And yes, it meant giving up a lot.
It meant beginning again.
It meant starting from zero and creating a new chapter far away from everything that had once been familiar.
But Switzerland felt right for me.
Not because it transformed me into an organized, punctual person.
I already was one.
It simply gave me a place where those parts of my personality felt completely at home.
And perhaps that is the biggest lesson my migration story has taught me.
Sometimes moving abroad is not about finding a better country.
Sometimes it is about finding a place where the person you already are simply fits.
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