Home is a place where most find serenity, a sense of belongingness, feeling of comfort and relaxation, and our heaven here in earth. It is more than just the infrastructure rising from a village with interiors personally handpicked by the owner; like a fairy godmother enchanting a barren place into a majestic kingdom of hers. This is our own kingdom where we are its kings. For Filipinos like me, Philippines is my country, my home, a place where first lessons are learned; how to walk, talk, love and live. This is the abode of my rich history; a witness to my becoming a fine young lad, a land conquered by many aliens yet survived all the wrath and pain, a nation that considers me as a first class citizen. That is why, Filipinos overseas take time going home because there is no place like home.
Somehow despite all those flowery things I mentioned, reality hurts and saddens me badly with a knowledge that some of my fellow citizens disgrace and put up disgust on our country when their only bases are other countries of Western and some Eastern civilizations. It is a reason so lame yet accepted that makes me feel so down. With that, I pose a challenge to show the blinded eyes the real colors and life beneath the smoke, fog and busy streets of the Philippines; the life we as Filipinos share together. We must not indulge in a voyage looking for a better place to stay because we are already there, the problem is that we fail to realize and recognize it. What causes this? I am not sure but my answer is certain, this is our place and lets make it really ours.
From the sky above, Philippines looks like a pearl shining from the great vast sea, proclaiming its beauty and luxury but from the sky to the land, my land is more than the Pearl of the Orient Seas (Cruz, I., 1990) for it is a sea full of pearls. Philippines, because of intertwined conquests, is a land of unique mixed culture. People here share varied ways of living from the simplest to the most complicated.
Some of them were my family. ... Also many Filipino will work over seas for the family and then send the money back home. The homes in the Philippines are not too big unless you are very rich. ... Most homes have one or two bedrooms, kitchen, and a comfort room (bath room). ... Half of my family belongs in the Philippines and I am very interested in it. ...
While farming was the primary industry, early Filipinos engaged in other industries. ... For instance, he would say, "What would my chief wish?... From that, we may well assume that they kept their homes clean too. ... They had homes made of simple materials such as wood, bamboo, and nipa or cogon. ... The early Filipinos usually married within their rank. ...
I had traveled a long distance from the Philippines with my big brother to unite with my mother, who had been living here for 11 years, hoping America would help my future. ... In Philippines the teacher sits us in order, so I never needed to worry about that. ... Finally the school ended, I was on my way to the bus which we didn't have in the Philippines either. ... The teachers in my home country had more difficult ways of saying things. We also had much longer school days in the Philippines 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ...
FILIPINOS FILIPINOS CAME TO THE UNITES STATES DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN THREE GENERAL WAVES. ... THE 1965 IMMIGRATION ACT CHANGED COMPLETELY FILIPINO IMMIGARTION PATTERNS. ... BY 1920, 5,603 FILIPINOS LIVED IN ALASKA OR ON THE MAILAND AS YOUNG FILIPINOS. ... THE FILIPINOS OF THE 1920"S AND THOSE ENIGRANTS OF THE 1960"S AND 1970"S, DRIVEN BY VARYING POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REASONS INTO LEAVING THEIR HOMES, BROUTH THEIR DIVERSE CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS FROM THE VILLAGES TO THE UNTIED STATES. ... CHICAGO HAD LONG BEEN THE MAJOR ISLAND CENTER FOR FILLIPINOS, MY OF THEM ATTENDED THE AR4EA...
Much of my research will come from Ronald Takaki's book entitled A Different Mirror, from websites, and from various other pieces of literature. ... One Filipino laborer recalled his first workday by saying "I worked about six hours that first day, and when my back was hurting I said to myself: "Why did I come to this country? ... They would climb into wagons to go home at six in the evening covered in dirt and sweat from the hard days work. They would come home to overcrowded bunkhouses and would share one bathtub with one hundred other Filipinos. ... At home it's easy life For t...
In the olden days, when my grandfather would ring the bell, it was usually a signal for his sons and daughters to stop whatever they were doing and head home. ... If they would not come home on time, the doors would be closed and they would miss out on the meal. ... While some of them eat out for lunch, others go home to eat with their families and rest. When they arrive at home, the family members would also stop what they're doing and they start dining the minute everyone has settled in their seats. ... But all the while Filipinos find it a good thing and well suited to the modernizat...
They all can't also be afraid to take risks since they are risking going abroad to be able to make enough money to return home. The movie Anak is a good example to prove my point. ... Many Filipinos opt to work abroad because a variety of jobs are offered to them unlike here in the Philippines. ... One would think that once the goal of working abroad has been fulfilled, the migrant would return home. ... The different situations the United States and the Philippines are, makes it harder for Kiyosaki's work to reach Filipinos. ...
Ok, so i am insulting my own country. ... And you can pretend that it doesn't all you want, but you are never going to be able to lie to a million of people and tell them that 'the Philippines is pretty stable'. ... And hear this: most of the Filipino people are rooting for an unqualified actor who has absolutely no experience but is still running for Presidency anyway. ... As i am writing this i keep hearing this little voice in my head, and its saying 'hypocrite ! ... And though there is no doubt (and i shall never deny it) that i hate my country, i will still do all i ca...
This instance had been the first time since the Monroe Doctrine that Americans were outwardly saying, "Stay away from my country!" ... In the Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League of 1899, Americans tried to apologize for the bloodshed in the Philippines by saying, "Much as we abhor the war of 'criminal aggression' in the Philippines, greatly as we regret that the blood of the Filipinos is on American hands, we more deeply resent the betrayal of American institutions at home." In this, they said that they were sorry that Filipinos died, but that events in their home we...