Patrick Limcaco
Foreword by Patrick Limcaco:
Filipinos are rarely in short supply of nationalistic pride. It doesn’t matter what ignites this often rapturous kind of pride – feats of excellence in the field of sports, the arts, or in the academe. We pin our hopes of being recognized as a country of great scholars, artists, sportsmen, or beauty queens, on one or two geniuses whose Filipino DNA we don’t necessarily share. Recent successes in international beauty pageants in the last few years fan the flame of this seemingly undying ‘Pinoy Pride’, and the almost-wins of Venus Raj and company don’t lie – fact that you may have read in Norman’s numerous ruminations on the topic of pageantry.
Sometimes we want – or have – to be proud of the little things, too. For instance, the effortless skill at being adaptable, such as Norman’s Blog’s guest writer, Joanne Derecho who lists in this article her struggles as a Filipino in an interracial relationship.
Here is an excerpt from the said article written by Joanne Derecho and edited by Patrick Limcaco:
The Filipino-foreigner pairing is really nothing new. The Philippine shores have always played host to a wide array of foreigners throughout history – Chinese, Malays, Indonesians, Spanish, Japanese, and Americans. These people were so enthralled by the beauty of the Philippines and its peoples that they found themselves wanting to stay and conquer more than just farmlands, spices and pearls.
If you don’t believe me, all you have to do is drop by one of the foreigner-frequented Starbucks in the upscale Greenbelt mall and watch interracial couples pass by the dozen. Some of them look like typical couples while some have crossed that line into the unconventional. But, truth be told, these Filipino-foreigner couples always get a second glance from the gossips who delight in speculating about strangers’ romantic lives.
Despite the occasional jeers, perhaps some of these gossip girls and folks just want a Caucasian man (or woman) to call their own. We all know someone who knows somebody who knows a foreigner. Talk to any relative of yours who has a co-worker whose cousin’s brother-in-law’s friend knows some Irish man who’s looking for a Filipina date. It’s a long shot, but let them set you up on a blind date and see where it goes. If that doesn’t work, there’s always online dating.
Foreign Affairs
At first glance, a Filipino dating a foreigner seems strange. Some Filipinos would either consider you lucky or odd if you’re dating a white, black or Latin man. Others would even see striking similarities between going out with a Caucasian and winning the lottery, but that perception couldn’t be any farther from the truth. As someone who went a step further and actually married an Italian man, I can tell you that it’s just like a walk in the park – the Jurassic Park.
So that you don’t go around cultivating strange (and false) ideas, let me enlighten you to some struggles and misconceptions that only a Filipina dating or marrying a foreigner will understand…(continue reading HERE)
