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How do non-Filipinos feel about Philippine culture (people, food, places, etc.)?
johnnyjones
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How do non-Filipinos feel about Philippine culture (people, food, places, etc.)?
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I’ve stayed in the Philippines for just over a year, so my answer is depending on that level of experience. I’m also married to a Filipino. I need to caveat the answers with the clarification that that only represent a portion of society – in particular from my experiences in Metro Manila. I have travelled elsewhere and some things are different on different islands, it’s a huge country and culturally diverse. I’ve used Filipinos as writing ‘Filipino/Filipina’ every time is cumbersome. I know everyone else has said it and I’ll repeat it. People are really friendly here. Not just making friends but people are welcoming with nodding smiles on the street and friendly expressions and many people look out to protect foreigners.People keep warning me about dangerous people but in one year I haven’t had a bad experience. I’m reasonably street savvy and have lived elsewhere in Asia for a decade, but I generally feel safer here than in many other Asian capitals (excluding areas like Malate).Generally speaking most Filipinos are hard working. I find they look after each other and put the interest of the business higher than some in more ‘developed’ economies. It’s less likely to see someone here use a job as a stepping stone, however this could mean a lack of ambition.Manila is less culturally diverse than many cities. This is evidences by the frequent question ‘where are you from?’. The corollary in more cosmopolitan cities is ‘are you from [London/New York]…?’ without the assumption someone is foreign based on skin colour.Racism. There’s an assumption many have that fairer skinned people are wealthy and darkskinned people are more likely to be criminals. It’s like transporting back to the 1980s in small town England/USA. It is improving but it does feel like being back 30 years.The obsession with fair skin. If I see another person walk around with skin painted to look paler than Marilyn Manson with anaemia, I’ll scream (being British I’ll quietly tut and roll my eyes but assume a scream in my head). Every supermarket has an aisle selling skin whitening products.Filipinos are proud of their beauty and very aware of it. They often talk about Miss World/Miss Universe and are confused by western criticisms of the event, especially the effective network ban in the UK of what is a major event here.Some Filipinos are obsessed with finding a western partner. They don’t care how old or fat the person is, they just want the partner. It can result in some very odd looking couples but if they’re happy why not. However I hear of a lot of these relationships collapsing due to personality difference due to being at different stages of life (that’s a no brainer), however I’ve seen many (possibly the majority) become long term relationships/marriage.Many Filipinos have no desire to move outside Philippines other than for the purpose of sending money home to support their families. Even many of those who marry foreigners still see time abroad as being temporary and look to invest in property/land for their retirement [in the Philippines] and the good of their family.Many Filipinos don’t get subtlety. It’s way too often I have to explain a point. Perhaps this is good and a criticism of British culture where reading between the lines is endemic (to be fair most other cultures need some explanation).My own cultural background means I’m reserved even by English standards. Few Filipinos knows what reserved is. I’ve found when I go back to the UK I’ve lost a lot of that aspect. As they say it’s more fun in the Philippines and this is infectious.Many confuse ‘accent’ and ‘slang’. “I don’t understand your slang” to someone speaking crisp BBC English.The accepted version of English is quite sloppy but effective. I say sloppy because many need to re-learn it if they want to work in a call centre.Speaking of call centres – it’s a very aspired role here when it would be considered an entry level role for graduates in a western country. Also many doctors become nurses in western countries. Both aspects combined lead to a brain drain.CVs and résumés are often very poorly designed. I find I’m interviewing people who present CVs that I’d file in the ’round metal filing cabinet’ if there were presented to me in the UK. I’ve yet to read a well written covering letter. CVs often use excessively flowery language or have too little detail. It might work here but it wouldn’t work for overseas employers (I design CVs/résumés and covering letters as a sideline).Their education system is too compact. While it’s a very good system and at 18 they’re slightly ahead of most western countries, it’s also where it usually ends. They call high schools universities and have undergraduate degrees that are only slightly ahead of what a school leaver would have in a western country. A postgraduate degree here is the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in a Western university (on the accepted equivalency scale). I don’t blame the students or the system, it’s an economic restriction with the urgency of starting work as young as possible. There are some western standard universities but they are thin on the ground.It’s difficult to get ideas where there’s a ‘Yes, sir’ attitude. Not everyone is like that but there are times when brainstorming or critical thinking is needed and it just doesn’t happen.Food here is bland to western palates. A lot of cheap cuts are used with bones, the spices are tasteless and offal is frequently used in cooking. While I’ve personally adapted to it, I wouldn’t take a visiting friend to eat these foods (other than for my own entertainment). However a lot of food is very cheap and you can get ‘okish’ food if being careful. In particular pinakbet is friendly to western tastes. Chicken adobo, lumpia and kaldereta are also edible, however some foods are difficult for westerners, such as kare-kare due to the texture and many of the barbecued intestines. Don’t get me started with balut and fried baby chickens.Transportation and roads. This is specific to Manila (but I’ve heard similar stories from Cebu and Dumaguete). The roads are awful. Public transport infrastructure almost doesn’t exist. Especially on Fridays the roads are a car park. While the transport options aren’t bad, they’re very limited and restricted by traffic. Sometimes it’s quicker to walk. However people are patient, perhaps they’ve become too accustomed to poor quality to complain.Men pee on the street. Everywhere. It’s disgusting and people accept it. The more educated and those who’ve spent time abroad are able to distinguish more subtle ways of doing this.There’s a huge and very visible wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots. This is accepted here and there doesn’t seem to be much done to reduce it.Just a reminder, these are perceptions and slightly focussed on the negatives, however I find the positives largely outweigh the negatives. Notice I didn’t mention anything about corruption and paperwork, a decade ago I would have but things are improving fast enough for this to not be so much of a factor.
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There are a lot of stereotypes, which makes me sad: Food was often called as worse than the other southeast asian countries – which it is not. This was maybe propagated by some so called “food bloggers” or some journalists, who maybe only walked trough one street, then only saw deep fried Kwek-kwek, Chicharon and similar deep-fried stuff and maybe have seen a lot of Jollibee, but didnt know anything about the truth. Its a wonderful cuisine, which is, for sure, in some parts a bit more western than every other asian cuisine, but especially that creates dishes that every westerner will crave for 😉 and also, there is a lot of effort in the last years to put more traditional food on the table. There are also unique dishes not found somewhere else.Just let me tell you, the filipino cuisine is as diverse and tasty as at least all the other cuisines you hear about.And for me personally, its as good as thai, malaysian and indonesian cuisine.People.. many do not know much about filipinos, but if they know them, they for sure all say the same: They must be the nicest people on earth 🙂 Which they are, I think, and in an authentic way. Thai friendliness is often only as long as the Farang is around otherwise they dont like them very much. The filipino people have the best personality in the whole world :)Places. Maybe they have seen some pictures but I am always shocked that so many people know not one place in the Philippines, and that despite the fact that the Philippines have the most beautiful beaches in the whole world. Or dont know that the stock photo dream beaches are often beaches in the Philippines.. Which the country has also much more of, than other countries. On almost every island there is at least one beach that is a dream – and the islands are at least 7000 ;)I dont know how this happened, why the people know so less and also outdated stuff, but maybe because of the troubles a while ago, which made the Philippines feel unsafe. But I am sure that will change soon, because of the internet and all the videos around. Many will say its the new trend destination. Because hey, everybody was in Thailand and maybe Viet Nam, but if they then also find out about the Philippines, they will say, “Yes its really nice there, but I tell you a -secret-, in terms of landscapes and diversity, beaches and people, you have to go to the Philippines!” 😉 I just hope that the filipinos dont loose anything of their good qualities and dont get their nature destroyed, because of tourism profit reasons. And also dont forget their heritage in food again, just because the american tourist demands his burger and chicken wings, because everything he doesnt know he doesnt eat 😉 But well, for those, there is at least Jollibee and Mang Inasal so on, because even the fast food is better, its real chicken, not nuggets, and much juicer than even KFC 😉