When I was in Istanbul, I was asked many times...
"Where are you from?"
This seems to be a very obvious question to answer...
But I hesitate to come up with an answer every single time.
I think I get confused because I'm not sure how to answer this.
My first response would be: "Chicago"
or the slightly complex one:
"I'm from Chicago, but I live in London."
But I've slowly realised that when people (Europeans or in this case Turks) ask this, what they mean is:
"You're brown and have black hair.. you don't look Spanish, Italian, English, or Irish, so I'm going to ask..."
They don't care where you live or where you came from, they want to know what your ethnicity is!
This didn't seem to be a problem for my companion because she always answered her home country. Which, in my mind, didn't seem like the right answer for me because:
1. I wasn't born in the Philippines.
2. I don't live there.
Nothing against the motherland of course. But I'm bloody American. And the first thing I think of when someone asks me is that I'm from "Chi-town"
Before I came to this conclusion, the Turkish people would immediately yell out:
"Where are you from?? Japanese!!?!? Chinese!?!?"
When going through Immigration in Turkey when we arrived, the Immigration officer had this big smile and wanted to guess where I was from! Immediately he thought I was Japanese... and I answered him.. "no I'm from Chicago..." completely missing the point.
Fast forward to my visit to the Turkish baths, (which I shall blog about at a later time)
"You Japanese!!?!"
"No, I'm Filipino."
"What?!?!"
"Filipino"
"What?!?"
"PHILIPPINES"
"Oh..." (guy had a face that expressed no clue to what/where that was)
At one point, I decided to give up. We were walking along sightseeing, where a bunch of kids all asked at the same time:
"Where are you from!?!?!" (In pure joy and curiosity)
And I responded...
"Japan!"
Then they all yelled out in unison:
"Tokyo!!" (glee and laughter)
My companion on the trip was telling me that the Turks were just being curious since I clearly stick out as someone unique visiting their country. I respect that.
Fast forward to this evening.
A waitress walks up to me:
"Where are you from? Are you from the Philippines?"
How flattering.
"Yes."
"Really? I lost the bet then!"
Glad someone got it right.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Deep Breath...
and breathe out....
Things have been pretty manic. Its one of those rare occasions when I can just sit and relax.. I can finally can enter a rare blog entry.
Well, a much needed breath of fresh air is upon me with Easter break! I love Easter break in London because not only do you get Friday off, but as well as Monday!
I've taken advantage of this each year with trips to Rome and Athens. So why not three-peat? Istanbul, Turkey here I come!
Short visit
In other news, it was good to have visitors from the States, old and brand new friends, its always nice to show people around London. Its fun too when people stay over. So who's next? =)
Goodbye
Goodbye old friend. It was nice working with you. My mate and I started in the same team and now he's moved on to another company. He was probably one of the only colleagues that I actually consistently hung out with outside of work. Best of luck to him and I hope we continue to hang out despite the fact that we now have different employers!
Toilet paper
After more than 2.5 years, I finally used up all my toilet paper I brought from the States. Right before I moved over from the States I bought all this toilet paper from Sam's club. Hard to believe that I bought so much that it lasted more than 2.5 years!
Just joking homeless man
Now this is probably the worst things I've ever done... but it was really innocent I swear. My mate and I were having drinks outside a pub. We noticed this guy, who "appeared" to be homeless sing and play his guitar. He made his way to us and asks us..
"Hi, I'm collecting money so I could find a room to stay at tonight"
My response:
"Why what's wrong with the street?? ...... Oh just joking!!" (but it was too late, the damage was done. FWIW, he laughed!)
My mate's jaw dropped. "Chris!! There's a time and place to joke around.. this is not one of them!"
Yeah I was an ass. I should have at least gave him some of my change. There was no excuse to my remark, but to be fair, he was carrying a nice guitar and had decent clothes... and.. and... he smelled good??
Must repent. Oh, and Happy Easter!
Things have been pretty manic. Its one of those rare occasions when I can just sit and relax.. I can finally can enter a rare blog entry.
Well, a much needed breath of fresh air is upon me with Easter break! I love Easter break in London because not only do you get Friday off, but as well as Monday!
I've taken advantage of this each year with trips to Rome and Athens. So why not three-peat? Istanbul, Turkey here I come!
Short visit
In other news, it was good to have visitors from the States, old and brand new friends, its always nice to show people around London. Its fun too when people stay over. So who's next? =)
Goodbye
Goodbye old friend. It was nice working with you. My mate and I started in the same team and now he's moved on to another company. He was probably one of the only colleagues that I actually consistently hung out with outside of work. Best of luck to him and I hope we continue to hang out despite the fact that we now have different employers!
Toilet paper
After more than 2.5 years, I finally used up all my toilet paper I brought from the States. Right before I moved over from the States I bought all this toilet paper from Sam's club. Hard to believe that I bought so much that it lasted more than 2.5 years!
Just joking homeless man
Now this is probably the worst things I've ever done... but it was really innocent I swear. My mate and I were having drinks outside a pub. We noticed this guy, who "appeared" to be homeless sing and play his guitar. He made his way to us and asks us..
"Hi, I'm collecting money so I could find a room to stay at tonight"
My response:
"Why what's wrong with the street?? ...... Oh just joking!!" (but it was too late, the damage was done. FWIW, he laughed!)
My mate's jaw dropped. "Chris!! There's a time and place to joke around.. this is not one of them!"
Yeah I was an ass. I should have at least gave him some of my change. There was no excuse to my remark, but to be fair, he was carrying a nice guitar and had decent clothes... and.. and... he smelled good??
Must repent. Oh, and Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
March madness
Hard to believe its already March..
It's been a pretty good start to the year so far, especially with the UK hitting the record books with February being the "sunniest" since the records began.
In other news, what's new?
For the sake of record keeping, I have finished the first novel of the year, The God of Small Things. Its probably the most descriptive, most poetic, and vivid novels I've ever read. I wouldn't put it on my top 10, but its definitely an interesting read due to its poetic nature. I'm half way through another novel, Wild at Heart, a gift from a close friend. So, I'd say I'm at a good pace that I set earlier this year.
Have I golfed? No. Have I rode my bike. No. Have I picked up a new skill? Not yet. I plan on registering to some "Acting Classes" soon. We'll see how that goes.
Just like last year, with the change in living space, I think its time to "mix things up" again. Taking a page out of Obama's playbook, its "time for change". I'll keep you updated on that soon if things come to fruition.
Before I forget, if you still haven't seen Marion Cotillard's Oscar winning peformance in La Vie en Rose (La Môme) check it out!
Other than that, things are pretty amazing. Lots of laughs and good times.
Although, hopefully some of you will have a chance to visit sometime this year. Usually around this time, there's "buzz" about people visiting or planning a trip somewhere to Europe where I can meet up. Just let me know!
It's been a pretty good start to the year so far, especially with the UK hitting the record books with February being the "sunniest" since the records began.
In other news, what's new?
For the sake of record keeping, I have finished the first novel of the year, The God of Small Things. Its probably the most descriptive, most poetic, and vivid novels I've ever read. I wouldn't put it on my top 10, but its definitely an interesting read due to its poetic nature. I'm half way through another novel, Wild at Heart, a gift from a close friend. So, I'd say I'm at a good pace that I set earlier this year.
Have I golfed? No. Have I rode my bike. No. Have I picked up a new skill? Not yet. I plan on registering to some "Acting Classes" soon. We'll see how that goes.
Just like last year, with the change in living space, I think its time to "mix things up" again. Taking a page out of Obama's playbook, its "time for change". I'll keep you updated on that soon if things come to fruition.
Before I forget, if you still haven't seen Marion Cotillard's Oscar winning peformance in La Vie en Rose (La Môme) check it out!
Other than that, things are pretty amazing. Lots of laughs and good times.
Although, hopefully some of you will have a chance to visit sometime this year. Usually around this time, there's "buzz" about people visiting or planning a trip somewhere to Europe where I can meet up. Just let me know!
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