So, what makes a Filipino a Filipino? What makes one qualify for being a Filipino? Here's what I think (note: this is not one of those "You'll know you're Filipino when you have karaoke in your living room and a huge wooden spoon and fork hanging on your dining room wall..anyone can have those. Ugh):
- one must have Filipino ancestry/blood
- one must identify being a Filipino
- has to have been to the Philippines and actually lived there for at least a month
- must know the culture and traditions
- and who's a Filipino who doesn't speak Tagalog/Filipino?
If a self-proclaimed "Filipino" lacks one or more of the above, I'm not happy to say this but it makes him/her less of a Filipino. Let me explain each bullet:
One must have Filipino ancestry/blood. Well, duh. Being Filipino is all about having Filipino blood-relatives who talk in cute Filipino accents and have grandmothers who are hella religious and cooks good adobo! Aiite, case closed. Next,
One must identify being a Filipino. This one's pretty obvious too. If you don't consider yourself Filipino, yet you look like one, you act like one, and your parents are freaking Filipino, then what are you, even though you were born outside of the Republic of the Philippines? You must at least acknowledge the fact that you belong to the cute brown People race called Filipinos.
Has to have been to the Philippines and actually lived there for at least a month. Here's one word: immersion. One has to experience living in the Philippines and know how their people has lived while they were living so luxuriously in a totally different country.
Must know the culture. Of course, you can't be Filipino if you don't know at least a small part of your culture. Dances, the simple "mano po" stuff, food, etc..You can't miss that if you're living with or around Filipinos.
and who's a Filipino who doesn't speak Tagalog/Filipino? Frankly speaking, yes, I actually think Filipinos who were born in countries outside of the Philippines who don't speak their mother tongue is less of a Filipino. It's sad because I see a lot of non-Filipinos out there who are struggling to learn my mother tongue, yet I also see actual Filipinos (who were born outside the Philippines) who don't even BOTHER to learn the language (and I'm talking about the general Filipino language. Not Ilocano or Bisaya or whatnot).
With all of that said, does this give you a clear idea of what a Filipino is? Maybe, maybe not. You may argue against me or you may agree with me, it DOES matter.
I figured that since this is my first blog post, I'd introduce myself.
My name's Michelle. I'm 19, born and raised in Saudi Arabia. Being raised in a totally different country having a very different background was hard. My parents are originally from the Philippines. They spent more than half of their lives in Saudi Arabia. They know everything about it: from food to culture to traditions to lifestyles and the language, Arabic. Both my parents are fluent Arabic-speakers, aside from being fluent in Filipino and English (my dad speaks Bisaya too).
Growing up being exposed to two different cultures made me confused. Confused, because I didn't know which norm I should follow. Outside of home, I was exposed to the Saudi culture and way of living. Sure -- I accept that. No biggie. But at home -- my parents expect me to behave like a Filipina. They taught me the language. I now speak it fluently, in addition to being able to speak English fluently. Arabic never came easy for me to learn because in school and when in the mall or somewhere else, I conversed in English. At home, I conversed in Filipino.
16 years after I was born, me, my mom, and my sister moved to America permanently. I was used to travelling since my family loved to travel annually to different countries. America came as a huge culture shock to me. Although I've been to America twice before the permanent move, I was still not adjusted to the norms people do here. I used to think dressing in whatever you feel like was a total joke. Wearing shorts and a t-shirt made me feel naked. Back home, I was used to wearing an abaya (this thin, black cloth that covers the woman's entire body). Go figure.
So this blog is supposed to be about the issues I faced and am facing right now. The conflict of 3 cultures (Saudi, Filipino, and American) get to me a lot and I'm here to discuss them openly and rationally.
