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Experiences with Sponsorship
Given I lived in China up until 2010 (commuting monthly so nearly living) I had already experienced high volume and also high quality short term (ST) arrangements (although I never did a FR here but it is irrelevant now because the Guangdong scene is dead anyway).
My first foray into Filipino chatmates was back in 2007.
My approach was (and still is) to seek a girl for sponsorship.
My motivation for this approach is.
- I don't have a lot of time for a high volume of chatmates to establish the volume of contacts necessary for continual ST arrangements.
- given I am really fussy I would get tired of continual meet and greets. Knocking back most I would meet.
- generally you are going to get a better looking girl from a sponsorship than ST chatmates or P4P (in my view but seasoned experts may disagree).
My first sponsorship was a girl in Davao who I met on CB (I have an expat friend who lives in Davao but I keep the two worlds separate).
This worked out well and although I didn't go there that often, the girl finished college around 2009 and I still see her on a casual basis.
I was absent until 2013 when I decided to try again.
This time I sort of chose Cebu or maybe because I met a girl in Cebu, Cebu ended up being my focus.
This lasted 1 year with trips every 3 months. It ended when I caught her with another sponsor.
I had organised a trip and she said she would be in province. I said if she didn't meet me it was over. I still went anyway and luck shown down upon me because I was walking in SM and she was walking with a tall Australian guy (she told me later). I followed them and she knew I was following them and he also detected I was following them. I contemplated making a scene but walked away. Sorry Mr tall Australian man, maybe I could have saved you some misery and money.
I recently decided to try again and had lined up to meet in May 2015 1 girl in Manila, 4 in Cebu and 1 in Davao who I had discussed prospective sponsorship with who based upon photos and cam matched my expectations. Unfortunately the trip got delayed till the end of June meaning to maintain the relationship I sort of felt obliged to fund their initial enrollment early June. April / May is the best time of year to meet girls for sponsorship. Not going till end of June was a mistake.
The Manila girl (18 yo virgin) never turned up. 1 girl in Cebu I just agreed to a meet per pay arrangement (pretty but not enough for sponsorship). 1 girl in Cebu had a great personality but didn't match the photos / cam in real life. I had developed such a good relationship with her though I agreed to sponsor her one semester (with no relationship as wasn't interested). 1 girl in Cebu (who I was not sold on anyway) didn't turn up. 1 girl in Cebu who I thought from modelling photos would be my prime candidate in real life was a bit of a downer. Also she said she was a virgin and part of the deal was I inspected and although virginity is not a driver she was fibbing on that. At this stage I sort of had enough and was going to cancel going to Davao. But I went and the Davao girl was the gem I was seeking. Just my look and to date. A genuine personality.
As for costs. I over paid on my first Cebu foray in 2012.8000 per month plus school fees. Now I don't offer beyond 6000 per month including school fees but depending on the city this is probably the bottom end of what they need. Generally fees will be around 20000 per semester (depending on college / city) plus books / uniforms maybe 2000 per semester and 3000 per month transport / food costs (assuming they live at home). So over a 10 month school year that is 7500 pesos per month or spread over a year (with only living allowance in April / May) of 7000 per month. For this FR is the first time I have done the maths so 6000 per month does seem stingy. Anyone disagree with my numbers?
Of course the other factor is how far progressed are they. If they are just 1st year then that is a big commitment 4 years. In the case of the Davao girl she is 4th year so it is only 1 year.
Seasoned veterans may say this is a suckers approach because as I found out there is high chance you are not the only sponsor or there is a Filipino BF in the background or.
If I lived in the Philippines maybe it would be different but for a casual but regular visitor like me. It seems to be the best match to my drivers above.
Any views?
Photo attached. Original Cebu sponsorship as an example of what I define as attractive.