A DECLARATION OF LOVE TO A COUNTRY

I was 23 when I traveled to Asia for the first time. To Japan. My stopover on the long journey was Manila. That was 1976.

The stay in Manila was just 12 hours, but...? No, that wasn't enough for a declaration of love. The years passed. I traveled all over the world. One day I found myself in the Philippines again. After several stopovers, I landed in Davao City. This is where the blow hit me. Love at first sight. Is there really such a thing? Yes, there is that. One year Rossana and I got married. And yes, I married her entire family. Something that not everyone believes or understands. But that's how it is now. Why am I so firmly convinced that I should make a declaration of love for the country in which I have lived permanently with my wife and family for more than 25 years?

I was already here as a backpacker in 1982. Filipino families invited me to their homes and shared a bottle of Coke with me. They invited me over for dinner and to spend the night while I waited at the bus stop for the next bus. That wasn't always easy or safe in Mindanao in 1982. But I had God...

One day I met Rossana's uncle in Davao City. And I learned again about never-ending help and family ties that I had never experienced before. I came from a broken family...

I lay in my bed that night and couldn't believe such a thing existed...

Long story short. In 1983 Rossana and I got married. The story of my love for the country Philippines began. With “flying hearts” and against all objections from many people around me and my friends.

Many things prevented me from sleeping. The family bond in particular always surprised me. And no one asked whether I was rich or not or how much my salary was in Germany... .

Chapter XVIII of my previous biography explained very well, how everything started ...

(To be continued!)