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Message: 6 Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 15:41:19 EDT From: dino Subject: Re: On being born overseas. Mandy, I have a grandson who was born in Australia nearly 6 years ago. He is now attending first grade. When asked about his nationality, he would proudly say "Australian." Just to tease him, I would retort: "But your mother is Filipino, your Dad is from New Zealand, my own grandfather is Italian, and the grandfather of your grandma is Spanish. What does that make you?" His pert reply: "I was born here, so I am Australian!" Then he would ignore the rest of what I have to say and continue watching TV. Dino In a message dated 25/05/2004 5:08:36 AM AUS Eastern Standard Time, mchavez writes: Many 1st generation Americans take to calling themselves unprefixed Americans. I remember an experience I had with a very Japanese-looking bartender. When I asked where he was originally from, he replied he was American and that he was originally from Hawaii. He never referred to anything Japanese when speaking of his origins. My own daughter, when asked where she is originally from would habitually reply California and when pressed further would say Foster City where she and her siblings all grew up. Only when asked directly where she was born would she understand the question and say Manila or the Philippines. It was not out of shame for the Philippines because she was still too young to feel shame for her country then (although I would understand if she did) but just acclimatization or getting used to the notion, I guess. I think that only those who would classify us into predetermined political headings for their own agendas or because they need such classifications to make sense of their world need to keep harking back to our genealogical origins. We so desperately need Gen. Taguba to be Filipino because we need every little thing that we can be proud of because there are so few such things. Mandy -------------- Message: 9 Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 00:08:21 +0000 GMT From: "rafaelgarciaiii" Subject: Re: Re: On being born overseas. Dino: I have a 7 year old granddaughter born in the US and therefore a US citizen to a mother who was also born in the US and also a US citizen but who is recognized as a Filipino having been born to Filipino parents. And because our daughter is a recognized Filipino, her children are all recognized Filipinos. Because of the recent elections I got into a discussion with my 7 year old granddaughter about politics. I asked her who her President was and she responded "Bush". But then she added: "But Gloria is also my President!" And so I asked her why? She responded: "Because I am a Filipino by blood!" Who can question her simple logic? She's right! She's an American citizen but she's a Filipino, "by blood"! When I am asked what I am, my response is simple: I am a Filipino. I don't need to tell them that I am a naturalized American or that my grandmother is of Spanish descent. Or that I may have some Chinese descendants as well. The person that stares back at me when I brush my teeth in the morning is a Filipino. Of course, when I am asked what I am when I enter another country, my answer would either be American or Filipino depending on the passport I am using and the country I am entering. But no matter what I say I am, as my granddaughter said, "I'm a Filipino by blood!" No piece of paper can change that! *********************************************************************************** This interesting topic for a friendly discussion among expatriates like us was forwarded by Mrs. Angela Collas Dean (Angie, why don't you join the forum?). Hopefully, it will spark interest here and many would share some first-hand experiences. The anecdotes above are pretty good examples. For many of us, we can't ever deny the fact that we are Filipinos because we look Filipino. There are quite a few tell-tale signs. For instance, we have flat noses because according to legend our forebears were slow when Bathala was distributing noses around the world. They got to pick the remaining noses in a bin, which somehow had got flattened by the weight of the noses on top of them :) Of course, there are exceptions such as in the case of those sporting mestizo features and who can get easily mistaken for Caucasians. Such as my friends, the two Charlies here in Portland, if you know them. But they are truly Filipino both in ways and in heart. Some Caucasians think it impolite to ask if you are Filipino. But you can see it in their body movement in that they are curious and eager to know what your ethnicity is. This is especially evident when you hear them talking about their ancestry, such as when one would say, "I am Irish-American" or simply "Irish", "I am of Italian descent", "My father is from France and my mother is Polish", etc. There is pride in their heart. They are proud of what they are. And this is a good character trait -- knowing, and being proud of, one's roots. It is not embarrassing for one to say that he is Filipino. I, for one, am not. During conversations with Americans, I usually tell them early on that I am Filipino, without first having to be asked eventually. That way, I am able to save both him and myself from any kind of embarrassment that could come up. Fortunately, most people we meet and engage in conversation have tact and they say something which gives them a way to indirectly ask if we are Filipino. They would, for instance tell you about their war experiences in Bataan and then ask you if you also served there during the war. If you say "No, I was only 5 years old then", he would say, "Oh, there's a beautiful place there called Bagak, haven't you been there?" Then when you say "Yes, I've been there a few times since actually I used to live in a province next to it", he would innocently say as if to even give a compliment "Oh, I didn't know you're Filipino!" Other foreigners don't look at the color of the skin and the facial features of a person when referring to Americans. Probably, that is so because the country has a cosmopolitan population, being a melting pot of many nations. Thus when we were in Athens a few years ago, a taxi driver, in venting his anger on the U.S. for its political policy then in Macedonia, said to us, knowing we are from the U.S., "You Americans are...." He never really asked us where we were really originally from. Maybe that part was not at all important to him. And it was okay with me too. |
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