Sometimes nomadic, often dramatic, mostly human.
Like in all things, being a Filipino is both hard and easy at the same time.
For one, we are constantly trying to prove ourselves to the world as a whole. I own at least 3 nursing licenses just because the license from my country is not up to par with those of the countries I wished to work for. I had to pass three different English exams just to prove that I can communicate in that language well enough despite having learnt it since I was 2. In the workplace, Filipino workers are constantly having to prove themselves over and over to their bosses just to keep their jobs. To make matters worse, even their own countrymen try to bring them down.
Another reason that it’s difficult is the weather. The Philippines is both in the Pacific ring of fire and in close proximity to the Pacific oceans, which means that a buttload of typhoons and earthquakes hit it each year. In 2013, a supertyphoon hit the southern region just a few weeks after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake did.
Lastly, we live in a society that has a lot going against development. Corrupt officials, lack of punctuality and other bad habits are rampant. This is unfortunate for a country trying to pick itself up.
Amidst this series of unfortunate events (heh), we’ve got one thing going for us. The adversity advantage.
We are resilient. No matter how hard life beats us, we fight back and cope the best way we can. This is why you see smiling faces in the background of newscasters reporting from flooded areas.
We are everywhere and we are close with our family. When you go to any mall in the United Arab Emirates, it is very likely to see many Filipino workers. We also have close family ties which help keep us sane in the face of trials.
Lastly, we are a generally tolerant, laid back people (so laid back sometimes that we are always late). While some could argue that this is just setting too low a standard, I think it is important to be kind to others and above all to be kind to ourselves.
That is the Filipino way.
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