Sometimes I wish I live in California - or Cali, if you wanna call it the hip way. Why ? well, it is a haven for Filipinos. And here's a proof that verify that: Asian Explosion . The figure is just astounding but I'm not surprised since Cali is the closest US state to the Philippines, globally speaking. I have lived in NC for about 5 years now and meeting or even seeing Filipinos in this area is a miracle! Ewan ko ba, mukhang di yata kaya ng powers ng aking kapwa pilipino ang tumira dito. Dahil kaya sa malamig dito ? My mom lives in Cali (thrives in the warm (or hot) weather in the west ) and visited me this year during Spring. As you guessed, her body did not totally appreciate the cooler weather here down east. Nagkasakit si Lola. Wawa! but she recovered and is now back to her home sweet home enjoying the warm weather of the west coast again ( hindi ko sya makumbinsi tumira dito ever! )
Charlotte only have .7% Filipinos in the entire population. Which is why most of the time, I feel like a filipino from a lonely planet (hikbi). But somehow luck was in my favor since the past 2 weeks. Lo and behold! Filipino presence has flocked into my domain- not this domain- I mean at work ! (",) But hey, I would be so flattered if I do get Filipinos to drop by my site and actually say Hi !
So anyway, I was pretty ecstatic including people who know me at work. Like I said, Filipino encounters are very rare and you just learn to appreciate it when they do come along. I met Mimi, a filipina doctor married to an american, who lives in Fort Mill SC and currently enrolled in TaiChi . Then there's the Filipino teenager, Kenneth who was born in Mindanao and was adopted by her american parents when he was 9 months old. His mom is just so hungry to connect to his heritage that she was so happy to meet me (so do I ). He now takes Shaolin. Good for him! Then just today, I got a phone call from someone whose adoptive father is a filipino who lives just outside of Charlotte's City limits. Talk about encounters! I do hope to meet more. The only filipino friend I have unfortunately is not even as fluent with her native language anymore and has sort of lost touch with her "Filipino-ness". In her defense, she's almost old enough to be my mom and have lived here like forever! My daughter adores her, she's a filipino and that's all that matters!
Kumusta na mga kababayan ko ?
Originally posted in Zenventures of a working mom
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
OMG! I am so excited, I have moved here 6 years ago and until now wala akong kilalang pinoy dito..I met a couple of filipinas but they moved to different states. I have lots of friends in Cali and like you my parents don't want to move here either...malamig daw! So pareho pala tayo..i live in the Mint Hill area and work for Mecklenburg County. How old are you? I just turned 30 and my husband is a native Charlottean who grew up in Mint Hill. I have a 2 year daughter...call me 980-939-4335. I am dying to meet a filipino...
You need to come to Maui then..I'm surrounded by filipinos! And a lot of other cultures..it's awesome! In fact my sis inlaw is half filipino and half haoli (caucasion) ..we call her a halapino! I didn't know that Cali had so many Filipinos there. I remember when I lived in Northern Cal..there were many Laocians (sp).
Thanks for all your comments on my blog. Are you going to start a jewelry blog? You should..it will help your etsy shop. And yes..you may relink with me on Twitter...I had already relinked to you :) But twitter fixed it now I believe so no need ;)
Post a Comment