An Open Mind is Required
The first thing you need to realize is your coming to a different world. From the US, you’re one-half way around the earth. When we were kids, we talked about digging a hole to the other side of the earth to end up in China. Kids here talk about digging a hole to get to the US. Your world is literally upside down!
My girlfriend would tell me of situations here and I’d have this picture in my mind. It was based on what I knew from the states. My mental picture was so far off, that there are no words I can use to explain the difference.
You need to come here with an open mind and plan for lots of changes. Use the opportunity to redefine yourself, if you don’t, I doubt you’ll be staying here long.
I have been here for ten months. I keep learning so many new things. Such as the school system. There is no middle school here. I hope you’re not planning on bringing your adolescent children and putting them in the public schools. I believe you’ll have to home school them unless they or you have a special visa.
The rate at which I continue to learn, only points out how much I don’t know yet. I’m absorbing it as fast as I can but I’m that old dog you know.
I’ve seen guys come here and get stood up. I also saw him stay calm and keep looking. He ended up with a real Philippine beauty. From what he tells me she is an awesome girl, treats him like a king. Another guy came here, found out the girl was a fraud and left soon afterwards. He sent me a text saying he couldn’t wait to leave.
Some reasons not to move to the Philippines can also be a positive. It is a positive that can quickly turn into a negative if you’re not very careful. Filipina can be both. It all matters how you handle the situation.
In my next post, I will explore romance in the Philippines and the hazards of the Filipina.
Popularity: 1%
Hi Joe
I am also an expat living with my Filipina wife and 4 kids (3 of which were born in the Philippines). I agree with the statement of Expats having to be open minded. I find so many Expats come to the Philippines to live and then complain about so much that you just do not want to be in their presence. A little tip to all the Expats coming to live in the Philippines – Yes it is less expensive than the west , but only if you live like a local. You can spend as much or as little as you want. No women will not fall at you feet asking for marriage , as marriage is a sacred thing in the Philippines. Yes – Police will try and ask you for money when they pull you over in the car, don’t moan just pay it. If you had not done some thing wrong then generally they wont pull you over. If your coming to drink and [bar fine] then just come for a holiday and then leave as most happily married Expats living in the Philippines do not want to be associated with you (in this instance the women will fall at your feet). Finally I love my wife , family and living in the Philippines. I am of the same nature as the Pinoys where if you do me wrong i will do you wrong (This means if you have the wrong attitude when coming to the Philippines then you will not last long).
Hello William,
I had to make a slight edit to your post. My advertiser my object to one of the words you used. I don’t. I’m sorry and hope you understand. I must keep it G rated.
I agree with you on most of what you say.
Street justice is not uncommon, if you don’t treat people right, the Filipino will deal with you. Sometimes this kind of street justice gets abused though. I’m for rule of law but I understand why it happens and I wont judge the Filipino for their way of life. It is their way and I’m a visitor in their land.
Welcome to Rusty’s site William (or would you prefer Bill?). I like this website because it is user-friendly, and Rusty does not forget to remind everyone that PI is not yours or his country (I’ve only got 1/4 of a foot in it – I’m PI born, Aussie raised and educated). I have only just started reading about expats’ blogs recently because I visited Phil. last year after 22 years of absence and took my kids for the very first time. I accidentally stumbled on Rusty’s website while looking for places to visit north of Cebu, as my ancestors were from that area but not Bogo. I have come across a few expats websites, and yes a lot are quite derogatory towards Filipinos and Phil culture. I have asked a few why they continue to stay, but then they denied they were critical?! Anyway, sounds like you have sussed up the whole Phil. thing, so enjoy PI, I envy you that you can live there. I’ve still got some years before retirement, to which I plan to stay 1/2 year in Oz, 1/2 year in PI. Do you think I’ll get sick of swimming, diving, bushwalking, shopping, daily back massage for A$2 a day and the occasional movies in 6 months time?
Hi Rusty and Christine.
Just call me Will or William.
I am still pretty young only turning 40 this year. I work away in the oil industry and most of my colleagues are Pinoys. I do protect them to a certain extent , but also know when im being taken for a ride. I do not usually mix with Expats , because in my experience they are over paid , under worked and expect every thing on a plate (Present company excepted – i hope!). I love the Philippines and its honest way of stating if you dont like it then GO – JOE haha.
I treat everyone the way i would expect to be treated and this actually has stood good for the past 6 years . Any way i like this blog / web page and to be perfectly honest i have not come up with the answer why? .. If i do i will tell you. Be safe and enjoy life cioa.
I hope you continue to like it.
I’m certainly not over paid but if anyone wants to change that for me, I’m all ears. LOL I guess I’m under worked, since I’m retired. I’m lucky I do have a better than average pension making it possible for me to have a good life here.
People just like to complain, its true wherever you go but I know what you’re talking about. I do get tired of people putting the country down and it can get contagious too, soon you’ll find yourself doing it. I don’t avoid expats but hanging around a bunch of alcoholics isn’t my idea of fun. I don’t care where they are from. heck they can’t remember anything you say to them anyway. LOL
I’d rather hang around Filipino but I still have the language barrier. I’ve been here for only a year. I need to work harder on learning the language. Hard to find a tutor here in Bogo City but I did finally find a CD on Cebuano.
Sitting around a bunch of people that complain all day long drive me a little whacky. Or people that want to show you how much more they know than you do. You’re a rough neck? Dude, that’s a hard way to make a living but if it pays like it does in the west, its a dang rewarding way. If you’re working with Pinoy everyday like that, that’s got to be an in depth knowledge few of us have.
I’ve met nothing but very good people here. My land lady drives me a bit crazy but she has her good points too.
See we are familiar in little ways. I am not a rough neck , I am engineer in the position of Health ,safety and environmental Manager – this is great offshore , however it drives my wife crazy because everything we do is risk assessed. Our new house was the longest project that the ever completed because i was stopping the job for safety reasons. I tried to explain why, but it fell on deaf ears most of the time.
I will keep posting and replying , since i am currently offshore and have time at night.
to yourself – please keep up the good work and try downloading the free language courses from the internet , but daily use helps. From simple hello to asking a persons name – my kids are bilingual so this is how i get corrected.
bye-o
My gf is waray-waray so her accent is off and she speaks some Cebuano but doesn’t always understand when someone is speaking to her. So she can’t really help me with Cebuano. She can help some.
Awww okay. Risk assessed building in the Philippines? Yeah I’m sure they loved you. It must have been safe, they’ve done it before and their not dead yet.
Maayong Hapon
Hi Will, Filipinos like to lengthen names you know, so I bet you get called Willie, or Willy? In Oz you will just be called Bill, they’re the opposites they like to shorten names. My daughter is trying to learn visayan, but I can’t speak it anymore so I’m not much help. I bought her a big English-Cebuano dictionary last year, and we’re trying to learn together. But it really is hard because you have to learn to string sentences properly. You’re probably in a better position to learn it Rus, because you have Visayan all around you. Get the kids to teach you, they are more patient, done several times a day in a year, you’ll probably make more progress than relying on dictionaries or CDs’. BTW, I’m interested in that Cebuano CD, did you buy it in Cebu?
I work as a Clinical Nurse here in Oz,. Psychiatry is my area of specialty. Been working in Psychiatry for 8 years now. I find human behaviour fascinating, so I guess that’s why I stayed in this field. But it’s no picnic. I always say, we are overworked, overstressed, underpaid and under-appreciated by the service. Of course no one listens-ever.
You trying to implement some kind of safety standard in PI Will? I agree with Russ, Filipinos have built houses without safety regulations before. I remember my grandpa built a timber home in Mactan sometime in the 1960s’. The house is still standing, and don’t forget Cebu (even Mactan) gets its fair share of typhoons!
Hi
I try not to impose safety on other people , its in my breeding to see things that could be potentially harmful. If the guys are working on my property then I dont want them to get hurt whilst doing it.
My wife is speaks Ilongo and has difficulty with Tagalog – hence Taglish . So since Ilongo is more Spanish than Malay , its quite easy to catch.
Oh just a little history Malaysians are the original inhabitants of most the islands.
have a good day only 4 weeks before I am home.
ciao
I don’t know Spanish either.
So this is the root of the Moro wars that have been ongoing for centuries?
Yeah, someone wanted me to pay her to teach me Cebuano but she speaks IIongo and Tagalist. Now how is she going to teach me Cebuano.
Awww so you are offshore now. Do you work out of the middle east? Sorry if you already told me, my mind is failing I think.
I have brain failure? I have memory failure, if someone did a CRC check on it it wouldn’t go very well I fear.
Hey I speak Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Tagalog and Spanish (I actually teach English to Mexicans and Guatemalans here in syracuse, ny. My niece in Bohol is tutoring an air force guy working in SA Cebuano and she is only charging 1,000 pesos a month- it is really cheap- I told her.
Will. where in Negros or Iloilo is your wife from? My husband is also an engineer but in nuclear. There are also a lot of Cebuano words that are common in spanish
Christine, when u go back to the Phils, let your daughter hang out with her cousins and tell them not to speak any English. She will learn faster this way.
And I don’t even know English..
I speak Southern!