The difficult and the impossible

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *


          WE have to learn how to deal with the difficult and the
impossible things in our life. Let’s remember that as long as we are
here on earth, we have to contend with all sorts of difficulties,
trials and temptations.


          And as if these are not enough, we also have to contend with
the truth of our faith that tells us that we are meant to pursue a
supernatural goal that definitely cannot be achieved simply with our
own human powers, no matter how excellent they are.


          The secret is always to go and to be with God who can make
the impossible possible. In all our affairs and situations in life, we
should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust
his ways and his providence, even if the outcome of our prayers and
petitions appears unanswered, if not, contradicted.


          This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that
can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is
always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in
peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities.


          Remember the Book of Ecclesiastes where it says that for
everything there is a season, “a time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill,
and a time to heal…” But everything is under God’s control, and even
if we are capable of eternity, we just the same “cannot find out what
God has done from the beginning to the end.” (3,1ff) We just have to
trust him.


          We have to follow the example of the many characters in the
gospel who, feeling helpless in the many predicaments they were in,
earnestly rushed to Christ for some succor. They went to him unafraid
and unashamed and they got what they wanted.


          There is no denying that life always has more to offer to us
than what we can understand, let alone, cope. And they can come in all
shapes and sizes, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant, likeable and
hateful. There are surprises and moments when we seem to rot in
expectation and still things we long for don’t come.


          In the face of all this, I believe the attitude to have and
the reaction to make is to be calm, pray hard, and while we do all we
can, we have to learn to live a certain sense of abandonment in the
hands of God.


          In those situations, I believe we just have to allow
ourselves to play in God’s game plan, in his abiding providence whose
designs are beyond reckoning, or are way beyond our comprehension and
appreciation.


          In this life, we need to develop a sportsman’s attitude,
since life is like a game. Yes, life is like a game, because we set
out to pursue a goal, we have to follow certain rules, we are given
some means, tools and instruments, we train and are primed to win and
do our best, but defeats can always come, and yet, we just have to
move on.


          We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can
come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our
vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined
only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of
the spiritual and supernatural world.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good?

 

By Dayang C Marikit

I’m a Philippine history professor and my Quora account is mainly focused on promoting and educating people about the pre-colonial period. Below are some of my articles and as well as some informative videos.

I would like to inform people that “nothing is set in stone” because we are constantly gathering information and learning about our history, somethings may change in the future, but for now the things that I publish are the things that we currently perceive to “know about.”

Honestly as a Filipino, I love Filipino food, because I’m obviously used to it… yes, I know that a lot of people from other cultures may think of Filipino cuisine as an “acquired taste”… but I could also say the same thing about their cuisines. I’m not really fond of most foreign dishes aside from the most basic and most prevalent ones… Ex: Italian, Japanese, American, Middle Eastern, Indian, Spanish, Korean, Thai etc… Most of these foreign cuisines taste bizarre to me, unless they’ve been “Filipinized” to adapt to the Filipino palate.

• A lot of Filipinos would consider “authentic” American, Korean and Japanese food to be bland… those “authentic” American burgers gave me nightmares… while Italian, Indian, Spanish, Thai and Middle Eastern cuisines would be considered to have bizarre flavors, mostly due to their herbs... I also find most of those Italian cheeses to be unappetizing.
• Some Filipinos may argue in the comments that they like foreign cuisines because they love the food in __________________ restaurant. The thing is, most restaurants in the Philippines that offer “foreign cuisines” don’t actually serve authentic flavors. Most of them have altered the flavors of their dishes to adapt to the Filipino palate, so what you’re actually getting is the “Filipinized version” of foreign dishes.
• Lastly, to answer your question… the only reason why Filipino cuisine isn’t (“IN”) is because the country is not wealthy and influential. We could observe this phenomena with Korean cuisine. What did people actually know about Korean cuisine before the country became wealthy and popular?… (Nothing), most people would probably even find their dishes to taste quite bizarre. That’s the thing, when a country becomes more wealthy and influential, the more “acceptable” its culture becomes. For example, if Japan became poor, it’s culture including its cuisine would quickly go out of fashion, and in a few generations it would no longer be relevant outside of its own borders.

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By the way, let me address, Mr. Christopher Stanton’s answer.

• He claims that Filipino food is “horribly sweet”… but what he doesn’t realize that the dishes that he mentioned are either Spanish influences or Childhood comfort foods.
• Sweetened cured meats such as glazed Ham and Sausages came from the Spanish colonizers… I mean, who owned the sugar plantations in the Philippines when it was still a Spanish colony? and who could also afford to eat ham and sausages during those times?… definitely not the native peasants… so yes, it was the Spaniards who made these cured sweetened meats, it's just that these dishes eventually got carried on and incorporated into the general “Filipino culture.”

• On the other hand, “Filipino Spaghetti’ is not a formal dish… it’s childhood comfort food. I mean imagine what a child would cook of you left them to their own devices. Filipino spaghetti is sweet and has hotdogs for crying out loud… as a child I remember liking this flavor, but I don’t like it now... I personally find sweet flavors to be repulsive nowadays.
• For context Filipinos have a tradition of eating pancit/noodles during our birthday parties, this is to symbolize longevity, but due to American influence, a lot of Filipino kids wanted to replace their birthday noodles with birthday spaghetti, however they didn’t like the taste of the original tomato sauce, so parents made it sweeter… basically, the reason why Filipino spaghetti looks and tastes “childish” is because it’s actually geared towards young children. As the years have passed, these children have now grown up and some of them still crave this flavor, like I said Filipino spaghetti is treated like a “nostalgic childhood comfort food”… it’s not a “formal dish.”

Christopher Stanton

 · Answered April 19

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good?

Why are Filipino foods not that popular, even though most of them are good? Have you ever tried Philippine-style spaghetti? How about longanisa sausage? Compared to American spaghetti or sausages their Pinoy cousins are horribly sweet. This is a deal-breaker for most Western diners who prefer savory m…

(more)

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To wrap these all up… authentic Filipino cuisine has a lot of salty and sour flavors, from ingredients like shrimp paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, tamarind and vinegar… our main cooking methods are also boiling and grilling because we love broth soups, stews, and grilled dishes, these methods are how we traditionally cook… so if a dish is fried, it’s either a Spanish/American influence or a recent development, I'm saying this because some people seem to think that Filipino food is very oily, when in reality those dishes are most likely foreign influences. I can't help but notice that some of the most "hated" Filipino dishes are actually the ones that are of Spanish and American origin… below are images of authentic Filipino cuisine.

Prayer keeps our love burning

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          IF we understand that prayer is what keeps us always in

contact with God who is the very essence of love, then we should

realize that we indeed need to pray all the time. Prayer should not be

understood merely as some spiritual exercise that we do only at

certain moments of the day.

          It has to be our very life itself. Everything in our life

should be an act of prayer, including our sleeping. Our very

consciousness, our breathing and heartbeat should be converted into

prayer.

          Obviously, we need some training for this. But it should be

a training that would enable us precisely to convert everything into

prayer. Even when we work, whether of the white-collar or blue-collar

type of work, whether intellectual or manual, etc., we should be

praying. That is to say, we should maintain our contact with God and

channel what he has, his will and his ways, in all our daily affairs.

          In that way we can reflect God’s love in all the situations,

circumstances, predicaments, challenges in our life, etc. This love,

of course, is concretely shown to us by Christ whose life and teaching

we should truly learn and assimilate. Not only is Christ showing or

teaching it to us. He is giving it to us by giving his own self,

especially in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, if we also

understand well the significance of the sacrament.

          When we pray, we are actually assuming the very mind and

heart of Christ who is the personification of prayer himself. His life

was fully offered to the Father, spending it entirely in obeying the

will of the Father who wants us to return to him, since we are his

image and likeness that was damaged by our sin.

          In other words, we can say that we are truly praying when we

would have the same sentiments of Christ. His desires, his mission,

his ways of doing things, especially in loving everyone, including the

enemies, his willingness to bear all our sins through his suffering

and death, should also be ours.

          So, if we want to be truly in love and to keep that love

burning, we need to be authentic persons of prayer. We need to be like

Christ, to be “alter Christus” (another Christ) if not “ipse Christus”

(Christ himself). And that is not a fantastic, baseless assertion,

because that is what is truly meant for us. There is no other formula

for love.

          We need to understand very well the intimate relation

between praying and loving, and between our loving and becoming

Christ-like. That is where true love can be found, and no other. We

may have to do a bit of explaining for this, but I think it is all

worthwhile to do so, especially these days when many people,

especially the young ones, have a very deficient understanding of

love.

          We have to reassure everyone that when we actually learn to

truly pray, we will enjoy the ideal condition of our life, and such

condition will remain so whatever the situation and circumstances of

our life would be or wherever our life would lead us.

          Prayer keeps us in contact with God who will empower us to

love truly. It would help us keep a right focus and sense of direction

and purpose of our life.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

What are things you should never say to a Filipino?

 

Bisaya

, https://barokandtakya.com

There are no things you should say to a Filipino. If you're using them as insults, just be warned that we'll get offended, and from there, it will be like water under the bridge in terms of reconciliation.

If there's one thing I've learned about Filipinos is that they tend to come back fighting with more life left among their bones than what they started with. Insults may hurt on the inside, but when Filipinos encounter such feedback, their face becomes surprisingly motionless, and we often consider our words before acting (or not). The sentiment comes from old wisdom passed down through generations, saying that all people deserve respect no matter how much disdain is thrown at them. It's said this action speaks louder than words, and this is one of the many traits we Filipinos are proud to show.

So if you're going to say something nasty about a Filipino, may I suggest reconsidering (but only once)? Remember: even if you're only joking around in good faith (because honestly, commenting on a person's race IS offensive), your choice of words will still reflect what you think about us. I know it's a difficult thing to reverse, but all the same, try and drop that habit.

Filipinos are friendly people if you give them a chance to be if you can't appreciate our culture, at least respect our right to have one. We're known for being loudmouthed and wacky, but when it comes down to it, we're not the worst race you'll ever encounter in your lifetime.

Think before you speak. Think again. And think some more before opening your mouth- something that's become a necessity because we tend to be loudmouthed and witty with words. Our heritage of wisdom is there to defend us, just like how our culture has supported us through the years.

As I conclude this message, I close in with a powerful Filipino proverb: "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt."

Updating the story of Martha and Mary

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THERE’S a great need to update the story of Martha and Mary

(cfr. Lk 10,38-42) if only to relish once again the important lesson

it imparts to us, especially nowadays when we can do a lot of good

things and pursue high worldly ideals, and yet miss what is truly and

ultimately important and necessary for us.

          Yes, like Martha, we can be doing a lot of good things and

pursuing high temporal ideals, like efficiency, effectiveness,

profitability, etc., and yet miss the one thing necessary that Christ

told Martha.

          The precious lesson the story of the two sisters offers us

is that of seeing to it that everything that we do is always for the

glory of God. That motive should the first, last and constant

intention of all our thoughts, words and deeds. It should be not

dislodged by any other motive, no matter how legitimate in human terms

it is, and how urgent it is.

          Our thoughts, words and deeds would lose their real value

when they are not inspired by our love for God which should drive us

to do everything for God’s glory. Let’s remember what St. Paul said in

this regard: “Whether you eat or drink, or if you do anything, you

shall do everything for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31)

          The story of the two sisters reminds us that we have to give

priority to prayer in the sense that everything that we do, no matter

how mundane it is as long as it is honest, should be converted into

some form of prayer, that is, into a way of engaging with God, giving

him all the glory that is due him.

          The immediate basis for this truth is what Christ himself

said: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and

forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16,26) That’s because prayer is like the

breathing and the heartbeat of our spiritual organism, of our soul.

Just as we continue to breathe and just as our heart continues to beat

even while we are unconscious in our sleep, so should our prayer be.

          To be sure, this is possible and doable, because praying

does not even need a bodily organ for it to be done. It is a spiritual

operation that can transcend the use of our bodily faculties. It’s a

matter of attitude, of belief, which we can always have even if it is

not expressly articulated.

          As such, it can be done in any situation—while we are

working, playing, resting, etc. But it would be good that we spend

some time doing nothing other than praying, directly engaging God in a

loving conversation, because that would help us to be prayerful in all

our other activities and situations in life.

          We cannot deny that the world nowadays is getting deeply

immersed in worldly and temporal affairs, but often at the expense of

forgetting God. This is a terrible deal that we are having. All our

affairs and concerns should lead us to God or at least engage us with

him, not separate us from him.

          Let us always remember that it is God who will give us

everything, but we have to have the proper priorities. Let’s never

forget what he said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his

righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33)

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Revisiting Christian poverty

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THE Memorial of St. Francis Assisi (October 4) reminds us of

the strategic role of poverty and detachment from earthly good in

pursuing true Christian charity. And the gospel of that day reinforces

this crucial theme in Christian life. It’s about the rich young man

who wanted to know from Christ how to inherit eternal life. (cfr. Lk

10,25-37)

          We cannot overemphasize the strategic relevance of this

virtue. With all the glut of material and temporal things and

amenities now on us, we need to be more conscious and adept in living

and developing this virtue of detachment.

          I don’t think we can afford to be casual about this concern

anymore. The worldly things are now so attractive, so tempting and so

riveting that if we are not careful, there’s no way but be swept away

by its rampaging worldly laws and impulses.

          In fact, at one time, Christ compares the great difficulty

involved in resisting the allure of worldly things in a very graphic

way: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mk 10,25)

          This virtue has the primary purpose of emptying our mind and

heart of anything that can compete or, worse, replace the love for God

and for others which is proper to all of us.

          It’s not about running away from worldly things, much less,

of hating the goods of the earth and our temporal affairs, but of

knowing how to handle them, so as not to compromise the fundamental

law of love that should rule us.

          To repeat, it is not just a matter of emptying ourselves but

rather of filling ourselves with what is proper to us. In short, we

practice detachment to acquire and enhance the attachment proper for

us as God’s image and likeness and as God’s children.

          Christ many times praised this particular virtue, referring

to it in one of the beatitudes as being “poor in spirit.” Also, in

that episode where a rich young man asked Christ how he could enter

heaven, the answer was, after following the commandments which the

young man said he was doing, to sell all he had, and to give to the

poor and to come, follow Christ. (cfr Mk 10,21)

          It’s quite clear that a requirement for entering heaven is

detachment from earthly things. This should be clear to all of us, and

should guide us in the way we use the things of the world. These

things should lead us to God and to others, not isolate us, building

up our own world and destiny.

          So the detachment our Lord is asking of us actually does not

mean that we hate our life, our parents and others, and the things of

this world. Rather it is a detachment that asks of us to have

rectitude of intention, that everything that we do be for the glory of

God.

          St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians said as

much: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do,

do all to the glory of God.” (10,31)

          We should not be afraid to go through the required

sacrifices and self-denial, since these can only lead us to the joy

and peace meant for us. We need to do better than have a shallow and

narrow view of our earthly life, a knee-jerk reaction to things.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

The Beauty of Nature

My column in Mindanao Daily News and BusinessWeek Mindanao

OPINION

By KLAUS DÖRING

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Even as a little boy, I enjoyed staying and playing outside. That was easy because I was born and raised in the deepest province in Germany. To this day, I am a great advocate for preserving nature. Some of previous columns at this corner may confirm that.

 

Honestly, have you ever thought about how beautiful nature is around us? Doesn’t it look just like a painting on canvas?

I have many times stood awestruck at the beauty of nature unfolding like magic. Just look at the colors scattered on the sky in the sunset. How versatile the sky is every day.

But, nature is quite tricky at times. Nature only reveals its beauty to people who really want to feel nature.You really have to start exploring nature to see its hidden gems.Many times you would have to hike the toughest route or walk the muddiest trail, to see nature at its best. But, the efforts would always be worth it.

Nature and its beauty are infinite. You really can see the beauty of nature in all things around you.

But, as Plato once said, ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,’ it really matters how you see things around you. Some people find beauty and happiness in little things. But, some of us fail to see the beauty of nature around us.

Nature is splendid, beginning from the tiny butterflies and flowers to mountains and beaches. It never fails to amuse us. Just open your eyes and look around for a while. You will start seeing the beauty of nature in the very simple things around you.

 

Psalm 104 shows appreciation for every aspect of nature, even creatures like wild goats, lions and whales - just to mention a few. The author of Psalm 104 saw how the world fits together. Everything is in its proper sphere. At night, wild animals hunt; at daybreak humans go out to work. The rain falls, nourishing crops for people and grass for cattle, but also watering the forest to provide a place for birds to nest.

 

No, don't worry. I don't live in an illusory world. Let's put all natural disasters and climate change aside for a moment. Modern people are often preoccupied with the fear of overcrowding and poisoning nature. But you can still find beautiful parts in this country - alone and abandoned.

 

I think, in addition to the mental clarity of being called to our senses, I also believe nature makes people genuinely smarter. Everyone loves having fun and one thing I’ve learned is that nature really does have something fun for everyone.

 

And one more thing: it doesn’t matter if you’re an omnivore, carnivore, vegetarian or vegan… if it weren’t for nature, you wouldn’t have food. Worth to think about it... .

 

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Comments, suggestions or questions? Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or

follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com .

Refining our spirit of penance

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WE have to be wary of the conditions nowadays that would

tend to desensitize us from our constant need for penance and

conversion. This, I believe, is the message Christ wanted to impart to

us when he said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if

the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”

(Lk 10,13)

          We cannot deny that there now are many elements that would

lead us to be self-absorbed and self-centered, to be just concerned

about the here and now and forget about the hereafter, to be stuck

with the material and temporal and ignore the spiritual and eternal.

Even worse, there are now moves toward outright irreligiosity,

directly contradicting God’s laws by legalizing immoral actions like

abortion, etc.

          We need to have a drastic revival of our spirit of penance

and conversion. Our spirit of penance and conversion is in crisis

nowadays because our idea of what is good and evil is now reduced to

our personal preferences, or at best to what can be termed as our

social, political, cultural or even ideological consensus.

          In short, we are not anymore referring things to God but to

ourselves. This is what is called the post-modern thinking which views

“realities as plural and subjective and dependent on the individual’s

worldview.”

          It proclaims that there can be diverse interpretations of

truth. It rejects sharp distinctions and global, absolute and

universal truths. It sees truth as highly individualistic and

subjective, as absolutely bound by culture, time, place and all sorts

of conditionings.

          We need to go back to God by first acknowledging our

sinfulness. That we are all sinners and in need of conversion should

come as no surprise to us. We just have to be realistic in handling

this lifetime predicament of ours, making use of all the means that,

thanks to God, have also been made available in abundance.

          There’s confession, for one, and the Holy Eucharist,

spiritual direction, regular examinations of conscience, indulgences,

etc.

          There’s just one interesting thing that, I believe, is worth

bringing up at this point in time. And that is that conversion should

not just be a matter of a moment, but should rather be a stable state

of mind and heart.

          St. John Paul II’s encyclical, “Dives in misericordia” (Rich

in mercy), has some relevant words about this point. “Authentic

knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love,” the saintly

Pope said, “is a constant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not

only as a momentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as

a state of mind.”

          He continues: “Those who come to know God in this way, who

‘see’ Him in this way, can live only in a state of being continually

converted to Him. They live, therefore in ‘status conversionis;’ and

it is this state of conversion which marks out the most profound

element of the pilgrimage of every man and woman on earth in ‘status

viatoris.’” (13)

          It would be good to go slowly on these words if only to feel

at home with this wonderful truth of divine mercy as well as our

lifetime need for it. Let’s hope and pray that we can manage to

conform our attitudes and core beliefs along these lines expressed by

St. John Paul.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

10 reasons why Filipinos and Germans are alike

 

By: Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi - Philippine Star

Two worlds so far apart … a land rich in history, royalty, castles, emperors, deep and dark evergreen forests, winter wonderlands and snowy mountains, peaceful harmony in austerity and discretion in a recently reunited land; the other a young republic, tropical and lush jungles, bright sun and torrential rains, happiness in chaos, a flamboyant population in raging Asian capitalist development.

Their children have flaxen blond hair and eyes as blue as the sky. Our children have shiny raven hair and friendly, almond-shaped onyx eyes.

Germany and the Philippines, two worlds so far apart and yet we have so many things in common that many here on our warm, palm tree-lined shores have yet to discover.

1. Friendliness. I have to say that Filipinos pride themselves on being hospitable and open-hearted. We welcome guests from far-off lands and are happy to help people in need. Far from the post-World War II Golden Age of Hollywood films that portray Germans on the big screen as cold, calculating and evil Nazi soldiers, Germans are extremely friendly, kind and warm people. I’ll never forget when I left my allergy medicines back home and was trying to purchase some in a pharmacy: the lady was truly concerned, tried to find different non-prescription, homeopathic options, and when she heard me whispering in French she immediately tried to practice hers. It’s a common trait that I’ve found, whether in the countryside in a tiny organic vegetable shop or in a Berlin café, people are kind, gentile and considerate. They love to learn about where you’re from and what it’s like and are very willing to muster up English, French, Spanish or even some Tagalog words to make you feel at ease.

2. Beer. We Pinoys love our beer, ice-cold, below-zero — it’s the perfect tropical refreshment. We order by the bucket, barkada nights with friends, a nice brewski after work, buy one take one during happy hour. The Germans, however, boy, do they take their love affair with beer to another level. And I mean, it’s serious. Go to any beverage shop and it’s like you died and went to beer heaven. A whole Miss Universe pageant of glorious beer: blonds, amber, honey tones and ebony … from the palest pilsen to the richest stout, there are over 1,300 breweries in Germany that produce around 5,000 different kinds of beer. The German Beer Purity Law was introduced in 1516 and is the oldest and strictest food law in the world! The Oktoberfest (which actually occurs at the end of September) is a grandiose testament to their love of the malty bubbly. Beer is considered a beverage and not really alcohol; they even have non-alcoholic beer. The variety is so mind-boggling that the new trend is to create a getränkemarkt or beverage supermarket alongside the actual supermarket just to house the beverage section. Yes, a whole building 70-percent-filled with beer of all sorts. Some other soft drinks? Vitamalz, a malty soda that tastes not unpleasantly like liquid pumpernickel and beer. So the beer buds (taste buds) get trained and nurtured.

3. Boy, do we love our parties and barrio fiestas! Every year there’s some sort of celebration and parade where people come together to feast, dance and sing. Little German towns in far-flung areas of the countryside nestled in gorgeous wheat fields and fawn-laden forests have their own dorffest, a local band place where they come together on the town square singing and rejoicing. Translated it literally means town festival or barrio fiesta! And guess what? They have their own lechon.

4. Germany has fattiest, happiest, tastiest pigs I’ve ever seen or eaten. Oh, yes. For big celebrations they roast one whole, just like our very own lechon. Crispy-skinned and juicy spannferkel is enjoyed by everyone. It’s no wonder that German expats feel rather at home in the Philippines. They probably nix the Mang Tomas sauce and would willingly trade garlic rice for potatoes, but their love for pork is almost as strong as their love for beer.

5. Speaking of pork, the sausage connection. It’s always been a mystery to me why Filipinos love sausages so much. Back in high school, before the grand era of readily available, locally made gourmet sausages, friends would sneak into the country hand-carried kielbasa sausages. I was like any other Filipino child nourished in kiddy parties with bright neon-red hotdogs on a stick with multicolored mini-marshmallows. Thank heavens for globalization and the discovery of what a real sausage is all about. Grilled on charcoal, a variety of wursten, or sausages, start pale and turn golden and start to crack open, letting flavorful juices out. Served with some bread or potatoes or pommes (French fries) they’re absolutely delicious, the right texture and saltiness with an intoxicating smoky flavor. If our hotdog aisle looks long and ample, one trip to a German supermarket and you’ll realize the absolute pure glorification of the pig in all examples.

6. We both love live bands and cheesy local music. There’s a real local pop culture for drinking songs and festive music. The German music scene, hardly ever exported except in my language class, where I had to survive two weeks of dissecting and memorizing the melancholic and unfortunately catchy Die Griescher Wein, is thriving. Our local OPM bands are no different. I kid you not. I was in Cagayan de Oro not too long ago on an exciting Friday evening in what they call “Divisoria” and I had a flashback of a biergarten in some plaza in Hamburg. Live band music? Check. Barbecues and grilled sausages? Check. Overflowing beer? Check. For the general public in Germany, having a good time is all about hanging out with friends over a beer, some pulutan and great music.

7. Family. Germans and Filipinos are very family-oriented. There are lots of parks and activities created for the family to enjoy. Kids have a big role in society and in all the numerous restaurants and cafes, you’ll see families eating together. Unlike some other European countries and famous capitals where children are hardly ever seen in restaurants, cute little golden-haired kiddos eat like the big guys, sit happily at the table and join in conversations.

8. They can’t live without potatoes like we can’t live without rice. I didn’t realize how drastic it was until a German friend of my brother’s was in town. He came over to my house for raclette and potatoes and exclaimed: “Finally! Potatoes! All I’ve been eating is rice!”

9. Christmas. Just set foot in a mall on Sept. 1 in Manila, you’ll hear a Jingle Bells or two. Filipino Christmas is Christmas on steroids. It’s an insane moment of happiness and frenzied togetherness. Christmas in Germany is like the fairytale we try to recreate with our store-bought snow and mistletoe. The traditions, Christmas carols, the weinachsmarkt or Christmas markets are just splendid. I spent Christmas there last year going around saying, “Ooh, those are real icicles! Ah, that holly is real! And there’s honest-to-goodness real frost on it! Snowflakes really do look like snowflakes!” While they don’t play Christmas carols in September, like we do, their love for the holiday is just as deep.

10. Germans have a sweet tooth. Sound familiar? The number of eiscafes or ice cream parlors in astonishing. I can’t even fathom finishing one-eighth of the towering, mountainous gelato confections they serve. The only places I’ve seen lines just as long for ice cream is the Philippines. Donuts, apfelstrudel, tarts and pastries of all kinds… Your Dunkin Donuts/Mr. Donut Bavarian cream? Well, honey, Bavaria is southern Germany. Every merienda moment is sweet kiss from Deutschland.

Although my German is minimal, I did notice that after a few “Prosts, Mabuhays,” and several glass-clicking moments, more and more words and phrases get unlocked. It doesn’t take much to feel at home in Germany: I’ve got my beer, my sausages, my cheesy music and warm, friendly faces: I raise my glass and churn out the most sophisticated phrase I know in German: Auf das was wir lieben! To the things we love! Then we chug the beer, hope for the best and the hung-over morning after, the pharmacy guy will be extra nice.