Food for Thought—Not Quite Filipino, Not Quite American

This comes from the Definitely Filipino blog. It comes from a guy who was born in California to parents who had immigrated from the Philippines.

I read through this and was very thankful that my parents had instilled in me the Filipino culture and values. Now that I'm on my own, I'm able to spend lots of time with members of the Filipino community and feel right at home with them. I don't speak the language well ("Parang telegrafia," sabi ng tatay ko) but at least I understand it when spoken to me. My uncle (RIP, Tito Paeng) had once told me that if I were to spend six months to a year living with them in Mandaluyong, I'd have no trouble picking up the language because it's all in my head; I'd just have to let it all out.

My excuse now? "Maliit ng kahon ng Tagalog ko." (My box of Tagalog is small.)

Click here to read the blogpost, "Not Quite Filipino, Not Quite American." It expresses very well what those of us "local borns" experience, having grown up Filipino outside of the Philippines.

For the record, I've been to the Philippines a few times and am in contact (thanks to Facebook) with cousins over there, as well as the cousins who have left the Philippines to work and live abroad.