Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The Odd One
Have you ever felt out of place? How about feeling different from others around you? Well today I felt like the "odd one." I'm sure no one here means to make me feel "odd", but sometimes I do. The majority of the people that I work with and hang out with are Tagalog speaking Filipinos. I'm always getting the phrase "so you don't speak Tagalog?" or "you're not truly Filipino." Of course they say it in a joking manner but sometimes it really annoys me. Don't get me wrong, I totally love it here but I'm kind of getting tired of having to defend myself. Okay, maybe I'm just alittle sensitive. Truth is, I love hanging out with the Filipinos here because I'm trying to learn Tagalog and I'm trying to learn more about the Filipino Culture. I know they truly love having me here. I just think its funny how sometimes i joke with my American friends about the "fobs". And well, now they're joking about me=( Anywho, I'm hanging in there and I am going to learn to speak Tagalog and amaze them all :P
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3 comments:
You can do it, girl...try to think, however positive about those comments they make about you not being able to speak tagalog...besides, you're not tagalog, you're ilocano ... so therefore, it's really hard for you to learn either one, plus mom didn't really enforce it ... it's okay ... and yeah, show them you can learn ...
Oh Bev, I totally know what you're talking about. I think every filipino who has grown up in the US or Canada does.
Every place that I've worked at has a lot of filipino's. They always ask me, "Are you Filipino?" When I say, "Yes!" they reply..."You don't look Filipino!" That really annoys me! Why would their first guess be Filipino if I didn't look like one!
And of course they also say..."Awww...you don't speak Tagalog because you were born here". It really wears down a person.
Keep you chin up and know you're not alone.
Love,
Miche
Bev,
Don't stress. One of the hardest things in assimilating into a new place is learning to deal with people's comments (even if they are in jest). In the end, the fact that you're putting yourself out there, without truly having all of the info (in this case the language) will make you a stronger, better person because you did it with less "tools".
Hang in there and give me hell (uh, I mean, knock 'em out!)
Love,
Angie
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