INTRODUCTION

Okay, here we go, start of a new life…aren’t I too old for a new start?

I really don’t know, but when you’ve been offered a job in a new country, earning 3 times your current salary, and, yes, a chance to get away from all your problems, it’ll be stupid not to at least take a glance at what is on offer.

So, what exactly do I mean?

(~TWO WEEKS AGO~)

Having worked at my PR Company for almost 4 months now, my boss, Elly, and my manager,Missy, called me to their office one slow afternoon. I was nervous, I thought they were going to reprimand me for surfing the net too much during my down times at work or something.

Elly: Ah, Rain, take a seat! Let’s wait for Missy before we start okay, how are you?

Me: Doing okay, it’s downtime again..it’s getting to be a roller-coaster type of workload nowadays.

Elly: True, but don’t worry about it, it’s not your problem anymore..ah, here she is!

What? Not my problem anymore? Am I being fired?!?!

Missy: Hi, Rain, how is everything going? Sorry we had to take you away from your station for a bit, this is a very important meeting regarding your contract.

Me: Okay, what about it?

Elly: Well, we know that you signed a contract to work with your current team for 6 months, but I’m afraid that’s no longer possible.

Me: What? Am I being fired?

Missy & Elly: No! We’re moving you!

Missy: Actually, we’re moving you, LITERALLY.

(~NOW~)

So, that was how it happened. To keep it short, about a month ago, while some VIP clients were at the office, a small ruckus occurred on the floor (the area where us, the agents work), Marie, one of the agents on the other team, kept dropping her call because it was being answered by an old lady..in Korean, so, Missy,almost losing her temper, said: “If you don’t know what to do in these situations other than drop the call, we’re in trouble”.

So, being the gullible chump that I am, I asked Marie to dial the number again and spoke to the halmoni on the other end of the line in my basic, struggling Korean and managed to save the day.

That incident was noticed by the VIPs, who were looking for someone to manage the South Korean company that they have built. Even though my Korean wasn’t perfect, they liked the fact that I stepped in, and would take no one but me, to fill the position.

Two weeks later, with all my bags packed, I arrived at Incheon International Airport.

It’s never easy starting a new life at a new company, but to start anew in a different country, where the written and spoken language is not what you grew up with, and everybody is a stranger…(oh, and did I mention that I would be working on Human Resources and Branding-that’s public relations- for a fairly large company?)…now, that particular challenge is enough to shake my resolve.

Having been given enough pocket money to take a taxi, I approached the concierge at the airport lobby and requested for a tourist taxi to take me to my new office at Gangnam-gu. I haven’t been given instructions yet on where I will be staying for the next few months, much more the next two years, which is what my company’s contract duration with the South Korean client.

Upon arriving at the HUGE building of the office, I asked the receptionist (a haughty-looking dragon who guards the lofty castle) to please direct me to the office of Mr. Han Sae Min, one of the directors and supposedly my direct supervisor for the project.

Receptionist: Mr.Han is in a meeting.

Me: Oh, is there a place where I can wait? I came all the way from Manila and my bags are pretty bulky. It doesn’t do much for the image of this lobby to keep these here and I might fall asleep on my feet, then we’ll both be in trouble.

Receptionist: Then, please go to the cafeteria. I will have someone call you when Mr.Han is available. Who are you again?

Me: Please tell him it’s Rain Jang, the new PR Manager. Thanks.

So, I got the chance to take a look around my new office building, it’s pretty huge, and there are a lot of people moving about. They all look different from one another. Some are very young and are dressed in colorful clothes, singing and dancing about on the hallways and even on the cafeteria. Some are quite a bit older, looking rushed and talking on their phones as they eat. Then, there are   quite a few, young, in their early to mid-20s, dressed to the nines, most of them..although some are just in jeans and shirts..but they shine brighter than anybody else in that big room. Well, they are, after all, the STARS.

So, this is my new home for the next two years. My new role in life:

Rain Jang, half-Filipino, half-Korean, 28 years old, broken-hearted, and the new PR Manager and Branding Executive of SM Entertainment.