Light Hearted on cultural differences.

Funny you should say that..I was walking through the jungle today and there was a local that had been up in the coconut trees all morning harvesting.. He was sat under the tree at lunch time.. He was chomping through his fish head and rice in half a coconut shell.. He summoned me to join him and share his feast but I politely declined..Sabi Ko..
"Salamat DOI!! Tapos na ko..Busug na! He just smiled and sucked out the second fish eye..

In England..No chance!! "I dont care if you are hungry..Catch your own bloody fish mate"!!!

No need to worry about it. I was interested to read what people had to say. I agree that the community spirit seems a lot stronger than in the west. The culture appears to be one of interdependence rather than dependence, hence the difference in approach to supporting the older generation. As per Timmins, it would indeed be nice to imagine that the outgoings were going to reciprocated. However, I feel that being western, you are assumed to have a magic money tree growing in the back yard. As a westerner, I often feel treated differently - mostly politely, but nonetheless differently, when I visit. That aspect is a bit strange, but I sometimes wonder whether Pinoys in the UK feel that they are also treated 'differently'. Perhaps that's the penalty when you are living in a culture that is not your own.
On that topic, If anyone is interested, I wrote an article under a pseudonym in a magazine a while ago whilst I was living abroad. I mention some of the difficulties that we have encountered on our journey. It was intended to cause debate, rather than offend. The article is here:

http://thefilam.net/archives/13860

Well I've only visited 13 times so you're ahead of me there. I agree that OFW have a hard time of it. That being said, I'm not entirely sure that the OFW culture isn't one of the contributing factors that might be keeping the Philippines from progressing as it might. If up to ten per cent of your workforce are employed abroad thats quite a disadvantage for a country to overcome isn't it... ? So it looks like you don't really have an end in sight with regard to your long distance commute. Isn't it a possibility for you to petition for your family to join you in the UK ?

One very important thing to remember about the Philippines is that your career is all but over when you reach the ripe old age of 40. My wife had a very good job in Dubai for twelve years and on returning to the Philippines prior to applying for the UK settlement visa she struggled like hell to get a job and when she did it was lowly pay. Her daughter on the other hand (21 yrs old) who accompanied her back to the Philippines had companies queuing up to employ her.
I was surprised when she told me about the work situation there and the way older workers are discriminated against, it reminded me of the UK years back , thankfully age discrimination has all but disappeared here in the UK. The sad thing about it is, they accept the discrimination and do nothing about it. So in other words, if all the well educated and experienced OFWs went back to the Philippines I do not believe the majority would find good employment to keep their families.

I know there are a few people here on the forum who do not agree with OFWs and the impact it has on them and their families, a view I can perfectly understand and respect. From my own experience though I have only seen the positive side and the long term gains that can be made by working overseas. Being a OFW can be a platform to making a better life, on the other hand I expect many families back home in the Philippines have squandered the earnings of the OFW. My wife's mum worked in Saudi for thirty years and I will say no more than the husband had a very good time while his wife was away including casinos, fast cars and the other which leads me to another cultural difference, Filipinos are too forgiving, we have all heard the stories of the man playing away from home which in some cases seems the norm and the Filipina forgiving them, something I couldn't do personally. To me, being unfaithful to your spouse is not only wrong but as about as disrespectful as you can get.

One cultural difference I do like from the Filipino side is that Filipinos are much more positive on their outlook in life than we are in the UK, It might just be me who is not very positive, I'm not sure .

I think Filipinos are a people that can easily adapt to any country and are well liked wherever they go, they are happy smiley people who are a pleasure to be around.

Right, my take on the following points raised:

1. On the issue of family/barkada: Filipinos, as a people, are used to having big families and extended families. I think it is rooted from the concept of a 'barangay'. Before the Spaniards arrived, communities aka balangay, who are mostly composed of the oldest memeber of the family as the head of the balangay and its members would be the sons and daughters and their children, etc. As the family grows, so does the community. Family is seen to be the single unit of the society. Also, having a big family would give that connection to make things easier or have it work to your advantage. For instance, if you have a relative that works for LTO, then you can have the 'help' you need to process your drivers license faster than most. Fast-forward to present day - family is not only based on your blood line but also friends and relatives.

2. On the OFW issue - please refer to number 1... hehe.. it is in this concept (family) that people go abroad in search for a better life for their family and extended family. We somehow feel 'obliged' to share our blessing so that we can be blessed. Every Filipino would have someone in their family who lives and works abroad, even if they have comfortable lives in Pinas. One of the factors I think is because when something happens to someone in the family, like sickness or death, we can only rely on what we have saved. Case in point, when my Dad caught pneumonia, we only got very minimal help from government through Philhealth. His hospitalisation has caused us around Php 500,000 plus medicines that was worth another Php 500,000. We managed to raise the money through help from family and friends (another proof of Pinoy interdependence and the importance of having a big family).

3. On Pinoy's resilience - I would like to think that it is rooted from Filipinos' belief/faith. We always say, 'bahala na si Lord' whenever we have problems or challenges or confused. We believe that faith will help us through the trying times. It is not based in religion but on the belief that there is a higher being.

4. On forgiveness - again, I think it is because of the faith (if God can forgive so can we) and the concept of family and the desire to keep the family intact for the sake of the kids. But modern Pinoy families are changing.. suffering is optional and the advent of equality of the sexes is prevalent in the modern Pinoy society so there are more and more families whose parents are separated and/or annulled. We are, after all, living in the 21st century. Also, gone are the days of the martyrs

i was surprised when my lady told me she finished her midwife career after 20 years.

I never really understood why a midwife in the Philippines had a lot less training than a Registered Nurse. Whereas a midwife in the UK has to be a RN first then do additional training. Not sure if the rules have change more recently, as i remember it being only a six month course then having to assist in a certain amount of births.
By the way Bigmac im not trying to put your lady down, as they do a great job sometimes under difficult circumstances.

I wonder why @Jenibele disliked my comment about the "bed sheet" pronunciation?Look.... these guys here can attest how their BISAYA wives and or GF's and "We know how we Visayans " do it >Do you feel insulted?,Please don't be!remember this post is about being "light hearted on cultural differences" so don't be extra sensitive.There's more to British jokes and fun i tell you .
Get your heart and ears ready..... oh and by the way..yes maybe you are an exemption because you are excellent in writing and for sure you speak English perfectly too.
We can't please everyone and that's for sure.

Some Pinoy-English Nuances

1. 'Close the lights/faucet' instead of 'turn off the lights/faucet.'
2. 'Masterals' instead of 'Master's Degree.'
3. The 'he/she' mix-up.
4. Please form a straight circle. (You'll hear this sometimes with school teachers here in the Philippines.)
5. 'Fill up' this form instead of 'fill out' this form.
6. 'Trainor' instead of 'trainer'
7. Let me give you 'some pieces of advice.'
8. 'Three' and 'tree' sounds the same. There is no 'th' sound.
9. 'Ready the table' instead of 'set the table.'
10. 'Jabetes' (JA-BEH-TEHS) instead of 'Diabetes'
11. I have tonsils instead of tonsilitis, when referring to the inflammation.
12. I have appendix instead of appendicitis, again when referring to the inflammation.
13. The 'ef' and 'ep' mix-up.
14. The o and a mix-up [Pramis instead of promise (PRO- MISS).]
15. The e and i mix-up. [In-gineer instead of engineer]

And many more...

I used to be guilty with using some of those words and phrases.

A few more variants:

"I off the light now?" as another form of "Shall I turn the light off?"
"Accomplish this form" as another version of "Fill out this form"
"I have a credit to..." (= I owe money to...")

I actually like that 'I have a credit to...'

Cash flow in accounting/business can be divided into two, debit and credit. Hence why there are debit and credit cards.

It's funny and although I know it's grammatically-incorrect, I might just use it!

So would we categorize these then as cultural differences, or simply as common mistakes in English?

Obviously grammatical errors... language is pretty much different from culture as the latter essentially should be based on way of life...

Obviously. I was trying to be subtle.

Try telling the older Pinoy folks that regarding diabetes/JAHBEHTEHS.

I used to correct my neighbours regarding the pronounciation, but they won't budge.

Some of them won't even understand the illness unless you say it like how they say it.

JAHBEHTEHS!

So I reckon it's now a way of life. Hahhahahah....