A Belgian colleague of hubby was recently assigned in Manila. He left Belgium rather hesitantly; relocated his wife and new born child because of the assignment. I tried to tell ML that he should try to cheer the guy up. The Philippines is not so bad at all. It just sounds so because most of the documentaries that are shown here are films about the bad economic and political conditions of the country.
The smoky mountain, for example and the people living there was one documentary shown here in Germany, wherein even my parents-in-law found it quite disturbing. Hubby had to take pictures of the area where my family lives to show them that the entire country is not a big garbage-dumping area. I don?t blame them for having had those fears, but right after they have seen the conditions of the area where I came from, they definitely feel much better each time we fly back to my homeland. But, I digress. I told hubby to tell Mr. Belgium the possible community where they would probably want to live in and the places where they can go to for recreation and nights out. Of course, I gave him quite a selected list basing the referrals to the quality and standard of the Belgian society. I told hubby that when he goes there to visit, then he can bring his colleague to the more local spots where he would be able to see for himself the true Filipino culture. The very same places where I also brought hubby, during the first couple of times we went home, in order for him to have a wider understanding of the Filipinos and their charisma.
One day, Mr. Belgium same-timed hubby regarding some strange characteristics of the Filipinos that he noticed. It seems that the minute the Belgian colleague got to their office in Manila, the ladies were already giving him warnings about going somewhere with the men on a night out. Then, on the night that he went out with the men, apparently, they started giving him tips on how to be wary with the ladies and that he should try to stay away from them because they may look na?ve and so sweet, but they are actually scheming. Naturally, he wondered what was going on? He claims that Filipinos are not only weird but also paranoid.
He knew that ML is married to a Filipino naturally he wanted to know what was going on. Hubby on the other hand called me to pass on the information which was quite new to him for he never heard about this rumor mongering the opposite sex before. I was shocked! The Filipinas are scheming??? Yeah, okay?hmmmmnn? maybe just a little! But the way I see it, it was like the primitive way of keeping ones own to themselves. Knowing full well that foreigners get easily attracted to the exotic beauty of the Asians, Filipinas in this case, their basic instinct tells them to try to keep the foreigners away from the local women. Of course, having foreigners around also means harder competition. The explanation actually is simple and so primitive. What I couldn?t explain though, was why the women were trying to warn Mr. Belgium from the men? Can it be they meant that the Filipino men would just bring Mr. Belgium no good? I somehow cannot understand the logic. Honestly, until now, I wonder.
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by svelterogue on Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:58 am
sounds like classic crab mentality to me. na anywhere in the world you go, meron. i don't think it's race-specific. no need to malign our kapwa pinoys. belgians would do it at a drop of the hat. they can be so much worse.
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by missP on Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:42 am
hello svelte dear,
was i being irrational?
I was not trying to malign the kapwa Filipinos. I myself have never heard of such a thing as the filipino men warning the foreigners against the women. sa totoo lang. the men i know, they would rather help the foreigner to understand more the Pinoy culture "para hindi na masyadong mahirapan ang pinay makisama" later.
on the other hand, to the non-pinoys, i guess it is actually racial mentality..referring to westerners, alam mo naman grave ang racial descrimination dito...