By ECP Mariano – “OH, NOT A FILIPINO anymore,” our Dutch trainer exclaimed when she learned that my Dad had been an expatriate for more than two decades.
Last summer, my Dad moved to another country for work. And in preparation for this, he had to attend a cultural awareness seminar in Amsterdam. Since my Mom and I would join him for a month, we were also required to attend it.
The two-day seminar began with introductions. Our Dutch trainer had thought it was the first time my Dad was working overseas and was stunned when my Dad said he had been working abroad for more than 20 years. That prompted her to remark, “Oh, not a Filipino anymore.”
We all laughed at that. However, I couldn’t help but ponder over what she said. I thought of all the Filipinos working or living abroad. Does long absence from his homeland make one less of a citizen of that country? I was not born in the Philippines but that does not make me consider myself less of a Filipino.
I lived with my parents abroad for seven years until my Mom decided to go home. But while we have been living here, we still travel at least twice a year to visit my Dad. Living abroad and frequent travel did not make me or my family think that we are not Filipinos anymore. I know how to use chopsticks but I still use my hand when eating talbos ng kamote with bagoong. I may understand some Bahasa Melayu words but I can communicate in Filipino very well.
Some of my relatives who have been living in California for almost three decades still speak Tagalog. No matter how long they’ve been away, they have not forgotten their native language and they have not forgotten that they are Filipinos.
Being exposed to different cultures has opened my mind. For example, I see Muslims as peace loving people. I know now that the Dutch are not really hard to get along with. They just do not sugarcoat what they say.
Sadly though some Filipinos who go abroad very quickly embrace other cultures and deliberately forget their own county. They would never be caught speaking Filipino even if they are talking to their own countrymen. They would even have their hair dyed blonde to hide their Filipino identity. But the most depressing part is when they proudly announce that they don’t go to the Philippines anymore and would rather go somewhere else.
But living in another country for whatever reason doesn’t make one a foreigner in his own land. No matter how many times I go out of the country, no matter how many foreigners I mingle with, no matter how knowledgeable I may be about others cultures, the Filipino values instilled in me by my parents will remain and stay strong.
ECP Mariano, 22, is a copywriter at RAKA Advertising.
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