"Everyone around me is a total stranger, everyone avoids me like a psyche lone ranger, everyone"
Living in a another place far from were you used to live creates a strange feeling wherein you feel like you're alone. Especially when people around you speak another tongue (language/dialect), you may feel like you have no one to talk to and your ability to communicate is somewhat impaired.
About a year ago me and my wife decided to go back to her hometown in Polomolok, South Cotabato in Mindanao (far south from Manila), for what we call an extended vacation . Although I've already been there a couple of times since we got married, I still have some apprehension since we are planning to stay there for quite some time.
Ordinarily, when you mention the place Mindanao, the perception is that its not a nice place to go to, that there is war going on there, the people out there are killing each other but those are just stereo type hype that our mass media sometimes project. Of course there's some trouble spots there, but it only comprises a small portion of the area, Mindanao occupies a very large land area since its the Philippines second largest island (among its 7,100 plus more) and trouble as we know it, is not exclusive to Mindanao, its everywhere.
Mindanaoans generally are gentle, hardworking, peace loving and friendly people (did I mention beautiful, I should know this, since I'm married to one), communication is not a problem, although they speak in cebuano, ilonggo and other native dialects, most of them can speak and understand tagalog and english. During my stay there I've learned to understand their dialect, although not that fluent, still, its enough for me not to get lost and be sold to slave traders , I'm just kidding, they don't exist there and I told you they're a bunch of nice people.
After staying there for more than a year, I can now say that all my apprehensions are gone, the perception has changed and my stay there will be life long experience I will not forget.
Why the song Turning Japanese? Well, I like the song.
Living in a another place far from were you used to live creates a strange feeling wherein you feel like you're alone. Especially when people around you speak another tongue (language/dialect), you may feel like you have no one to talk to and your ability to communicate is somewhat impaired.
About a year ago me and my wife decided to go back to her hometown in Polomolok, South Cotabato in Mindanao (far south from Manila), for what we call an extended vacation . Although I've already been there a couple of times since we got married, I still have some apprehension since we are planning to stay there for quite some time.
Ordinarily, when you mention the place Mindanao, the perception is that its not a nice place to go to, that there is war going on there, the people out there are killing each other but those are just stereo type hype that our mass media sometimes project. Of course there's some trouble spots there, but it only comprises a small portion of the area, Mindanao occupies a very large land area since its the Philippines second largest island (among its 7,100 plus more) and trouble as we know it, is not exclusive to Mindanao, its everywhere.
Mindanaoans generally are gentle, hardworking, peace loving and friendly people (did I mention beautiful, I should know this, since I'm married to one), communication is not a problem, although they speak in cebuano, ilonggo and other native dialects, most of them can speak and understand tagalog and english. During my stay there I've learned to understand their dialect, although not that fluent, still, its enough for me not to get lost and be sold to slave traders , I'm just kidding, they don't exist there and I told you they're a bunch of nice people.
After staying there for more than a year, I can now say that all my apprehensions are gone, the perception has changed and my stay there will be life long experience I will not forget.
"I'm turning japanese, I'm turning japanese, well I think so"
Why the song Turning Japanese? Well, I like the song.
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