My Life Story - Buhay Amerika

First of, I just want to tell you guys a little bit about myself & my family.

My name is Joemarie C. Cristi, I was born in the Philippines on December 23, 1992 and have more than 10 years of experience in the workforce (1 year in temp warehouse jobs, 1 year as team lead for xoom.com/other retail & customer service jobs, 3 years as CNA, 1 year as Pharmacy Tech, 3 years in rideshare/delivery as lyft/uber/eaze & 1 year in design/marketing/media work), 8 years of self education in mushroom cultivation/5 years in foraging, some education (CNA & Pharmacy Tech), and Bachelor's Degree in Multimedia Design/Graphics & Web Development. Currently, a full time dad of our over 5 month old baby & freelance graphic/media designer/mushroom grower & forager/part time gamer. I have a retired father who has a Bachelor's Degree in Biochemical Engineering, a hard working mother who has a high school diploma and an older brother who has a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Engineering and Technology and currently the manager at KLA-tencor. I've been married since 2018 to my wife who has a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry with a minor in history, a Doctorate in Pharmacy and is now the pharmacy manager of Lucky's. So who would've thought I would be where I am today? After all, I was just a poor little boy of the Philippines who migrated to California Bay Area back in the year 2002. I was only 9 years old and my older brother was 16 years old at the time and we lived with my dad and his brothers & their family. So for over 10 years I experienced living in a crowded place without much privacy (until I met Brianne who is my wife now around the year 2016). In the beginning, I experienced being picked on by other elementary school students because of my strong Filipino accent and the fact that I didn't know how to speak the English language very fluently until I was here long enough and took some ESL classes in middle school. I didn't get my high school diploma because of me getting distracted over a long distance relationship I had and thought it was real love at the time (when I was 17 years old) so I dropped out of high school just to meet this person in the Philippines but later on decided to get my GED, my driver's license, my first car (with my dad's help) and went through job after job.

I'd say, the culture here is very different compared to the Filipino culture. Everyone seem to be competitive & independent at times (at least the ones I've encountered) whereas in the Philippines you tend to find easy going/laid back people who has the best hospitality towards others. For instance, in the Philippines I've met people who wouldn't compare themselves to you whether you have money or not and will share whatever they have with you just to have a good time. I remember having a great time with friends in the Philippines with only a few bucks which can go a long way there! We had a simple time at a computer shop playing our favorite PC games while drinking some redhorse and munching on some street food you can buy from a local vendor. Life was definitely simpler back then but it felt real unlike today where it feels like you got to have some sort of money or things to offer in order to be accepted by some people or else they wouldn't want to hang out with you. It's sad but this is what I've noticed recently. Also, the fact that people have been so inconsiderate & negative lately that they don't seem to want to reach out, reply to your messages when you're the one reaching out or whatsoever & the fact that they like to brag or show off too much. In my honest opinion, bragging about things/money can get a little sensitive because other people may feel insecure and what not so that is why I don't have social media anymore due to that matter. When you do stuff such as flash expensive things or money then you're either inviting yourself to be a target of robbery or less fortunate people hating/being jealous. I don't like coming out as a show off or seeing show offs period. I don't understand why people can't just be humble. I look up to Manny Pacquiao for that matter because he is the most humble rich person on this planet. Not to brag, but I'm married to an established woman who was raised by educated/established parents and I look up to them a little because they're technically rich and yet they don't even have social media and don't buy expensive things or try hard to look rich. I guess you can say I got lucky because my wife alone makes more than enough to support the average US household. So even when we've agreed that I'm the supplemental income, my wife is totally okay with that because I have so much more to contribute than just money itself such as saving us more money on childcare by being the full time dad, keeping the house neat/clean/organized, creating our vegetable/mushroom garden (for both personal/professional purpose) and being the design/media person (for both personal/professional purpose). With that being said, no matter where you came from you never know what the future holds and it is always good to have good manners/attitude towards others no matter how rich/famous you are because we are just human-beings with feelings & limited time here on Earth. Treat others the way you want to be treated and I choose to be respectful towards those who respect me but forget about you if you're being a negative force in my life. You're forever forgotten, ignored and avoided.