Working overseas is hard. You work all day and get along with your foreign employee that at the end of the day, you just want to reconnect with who matters most to you: yourself and your family. But most days, you are too tired to call and initiate a conversation.

Maintaining connections back home is hard especially that you are too preoccupied in your work and also, you don’t know what’s the latest stories back home. Ring your family and cut the awkward and usual greetings, “Kamusta na si…” and start having a real conversation. Get in touch with your chismax side and start asking fired up questions on entertainment, politics, and other trending topics back home. Imagine this as your much-needed dose on telenovela, just like how Pinoys enjoy it back home.

Need a place where to start? The Twitterverse and the Internet is your best friend.

1. ABS CBN Closure / Job Security
   
   Job security and high salary is a touchy subject among Filipinos, especially for families of OFWs because that is the exact reason why they tried their luck overseas. But for most Filipinos back home, it means getting by with jobs available in the market.
    
   In these trying times, job security is a looming threat. With ABS-CBN’s closure and the exit of other notable multinational corporations from the country such as Nokia, Nissan, Honda and Wells Fargo, we are talking of more than 11,000 people’s jobs hanging in the balance.
    
   Get in touch with your sensibilities ask your family members what they think of the issue. You know their college degree and their skills and capabilities. Sweet talk them into trying their luck abroad. Who knows? You might be able to hit a spot and get them to open up on their goals and dreams.
    
   From politics and economy, if you are brushing up on your Kapamilya entertainment, the next topic will surely get your relatives talking.
    
2. #AshMatt
   

   To bring our fellow kababayan’s up to speed, it may be the second month of 2020 but this topic is already a candidate for the top spot in the “Wedding of the Year” category. Just like a real-life soap opera turn crazy, Matteo and Sarah’s secret wedding gets busted with #DivineIntervention.

    

   The details may be all over the internet, and it is best to ring your relatives back home for the juicy tidbits. After all, Filipinos want to talk about other people’s lives, you can use this as a jump-off topic conversation on marriage, (i.e. “So kelan na ba ikakasal si…?”), family, (“Ano ang latest kay…?”).
    
3. Coronavirus
   From nCoV to COVID really quick, but the fact hasn’t changed that this disease has taken the global community at risk. Cancelled flights, postponement of community and large– based festivals, kissing while wearing face mask during a mass wedding (i.e. love in the time of Coronavirus), the disease backs everyone in the corner and seems to halt our lives from enjoying.
   
   This is a perfect opportunity to ask questions on one’s health and welfare. Ask your family what keeps them occupied nowadays, or what measures they are doing to not get sick. Do they get enough rest after working all day? Do they exercise and if so, are they subscribed to a gym membership?
   
   Exchange stories on how Coronavirus is tackled back home and in turn, you can tell them how you and your fellow kababayans get by in the foreign country.
    
4. Vacation
   The first thing that kababayans would love is a month-long vacation to spend with their loved ones (Vacation? Baka nemen.). But in the time of Coronavirus, cancelled flights, and imposed two-week self-isolation for those who travelled to Coronavirus-afflicted countries, that dream vacation is put on hold.
   
   You can ask your family members which country you guys would like to travel altogether the moment travel ban is lifted. Keep the conversation flowing and even share a few travel stories of your own. You might even get to talk about other people who travelled to other countries and abiding by the mandatory two-week isolation.