Tom Rodriguez, mas nakilala raw ang sarili nang tumira sa America | 24 Oras - GMAIN Interviews
Matapos ang hiwalayan nila ng ex-wife na si Carla Abellana, nanirahan ng mahigit 2 taon si Tom Rodriguez sa America.
Doon, marami raw siyang natutunan sa pagiging independent at mas nakilala rin daw ang sarili.
Doon, marami raw siyang natutunan sa pagiging independent at mas nakilala rin daw ang sarili.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00 [whoosh]
00:02 [chimes]
00:03 Welcome back.
00:05 Thank you Nelson. Happy to be here.
00:07 Good to see you again.
00:08 It's been too long, man.
00:10 Like, two years?
00:11 Two years.
00:12 How do you feel that you're back?
00:14 Well, I'm really excited.
00:16 [laughs]
00:17 But at the same time,
00:18 I'm happy that I'm here again.
00:21 But I miss the time I was left behind.
00:24 Because when I left, that was during the pandemic.
00:26 It's a bit different.
00:27 It's a bit different.
00:28 But a part of me feels like I never left.
00:31 I don't know if that makes sense.
00:32 Although I know I left half of my heart there.
00:35 A part of me feels like it's always been here.
00:38 I picked up where I left off.
00:39 Because when I left, like I said,
00:41 that was during the pandemic.
00:42 I just finished The World Between Us.
00:44 So that was after work.
00:45 Then a lot of stuff was going on in my life.
00:47 So I chose, you know, I requested to JMA
00:50 that it should be only two weeks.
00:51 Then I didn't expect that it would extend that long.
00:54 But I was very happy that they allowed me.
00:56 They allowed me to spend a long time with my family.
00:58 Because I didn't think I would see them for that long.
01:01 Actually, I remember what you said.
01:04 You said you'd be gone for two weeks
01:05 and then you're going to come back.
01:06 But suddenly, two weeks became two years.
01:09 I felt them with me.
01:12 Of course, during the pandemic,
01:13 we were all thinking that we wouldn't see our families.
01:15 But here, it's like reverse OFW.
01:18 All my family is there.
01:19 I'm the only one here.
01:21 So when I was with them,
01:22 and at that time, I was going through a lot,
01:25 it was nice that they became my shield.
01:28 They became my source of strength.
01:31 So in a way, when I was about to go back,
01:34 I asked JMA if I could extend and extend and extend again.
01:37 To which JMA was very gracious to me.
01:40 So I'm happy, at least.
01:41 I'm ready to resume my commitments here
01:44 and get back to work.
01:46 Tell me about your life in America.
01:49 It was refreshing.
01:50 It's low-key, quiet, and simple.
01:55 You can learn from the simple things.
01:57 You have to do everything yourself.
01:58 You have to do your own laundry.
01:59 Sometimes, you'll be spoiled that there's a laundry service.
02:02 In the water, there are water services that will take you there.
02:06 You'll be the one to get your own water.
02:08 You have a PA here.
02:09 You have a PA here.
02:10 You have to rely on yourself.
02:12 You cook, you clean.
02:13 Of course, I want to help.
02:15 Aside from my family being there,
02:17 and I really enjoyed spending time with them,
02:19 I also like getting that independence
02:22 and really getting to spend time not only with my loved ones
02:25 but also with myself.
02:26 What will you discover in being a domesticated life?
02:30 I can cook.
02:32 As in?
02:33 I used to be very scared.
02:34 But of course, I didn't want to.
02:37 Unlike here, you'll be a food panda.
02:39 The delivery is cheap.
02:40 The tip is cheap.
02:43 Everything is there.
02:45 You'll just eat.
02:46 Yes, it's expensive.
02:48 Even discovering, you'll be a coupon.
02:50 Couponing, discovering groceries.
02:52 It's addictive.
02:53 It became fun.
02:54 Fun to do.
02:55 You're going to hunt deals.
02:57 Then you learn to put together new recipes.
03:00 What I didn't learn first,
03:03 I didn't want to learn Filipino dishes
03:05 because I wanted to taste my mom's cooking.
03:08 I didn't want to change.
03:10 I did my own.
03:11 Pasta, pasta, burgers, steaks.
03:15 I feel like the things you didn't do here
03:19 while you were here,
03:21 you did the complete opposite here.
03:24 And a lot of self-reflection, of course.
03:26 Like I said, you get to spend a lot of time with yourself.
03:28 So really digging deep.
03:30 Since I was with family,
03:31 I was able to reconnect with my inner child
03:34 and really get to know myself.
03:36 Fall in love with yourself again.
03:38 Self-love.
03:39 Self-love, self-care.
03:40 Sometimes we're too hard on ourselves
03:42 and our own insecurities get the better of us.
03:44 And sometimes it leads us astray.
03:46 So there, getting to give care to the child version of yourself.
03:52 It's really nice to know.
03:55 Rediscovering yourself.
03:57 Yeah, your self-talk, how you talk to yourself.
03:59 Instead of always being mean to yourself.
04:05 This time around, you're thinking,
04:07 "What if you're going to be a nephew?"
04:08 Is that what you're going to say?
04:10 And I realized that it's different how I talk to my loved ones in life
04:15 and how I talk to myself.
04:17 It's hard, those two years.
04:20 Personally, there were times that were really challenging.
04:24 The personal turmoil that was going on within me.
04:27 So that's how I talk to myself.
04:30 But once I passed all that, it was nice.
04:33 You learn to just resign.
04:34 You don't try to wrestle control over your life.
04:37 It's like you're really letting God do it.
04:39 You're riding that wave.
04:41 You're letting it go.
04:42 You're not stressed anymore.
04:43 Because you know that what's for you will come to you.
04:47 Was there a time in those two years that you thought you didn't want to go back?
04:51 You were just there.
04:54 If I'm going to be honest, there really was.
04:56 Because life was so good, Nelson.
05:01 But at the same time, like I said, half of my heart is still here.
05:04 I'm very passionate about my work and I really do love it.
05:07 And it's hard to reconcile those two.
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