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Posted at 07:36 PM on July 2, 2005.
BL0NDE AND BLUE EYES When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white. I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose! More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines; the rest have gone abroad in search of " greener pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world. There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice. Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino- a hybrid of sorts resulting form a combination of cultures. Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home. Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all. A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment, but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End. Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British Society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world! Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balik-bayans or the 'returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share thier mature talents and good fortune. In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me. And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning. MABUHAY. And Thank you. Patricia Evangelista
! Yes! Kumanta. Kumanta. All day. Comfort song ko rin ung "When You Say Nothing At All" ni Krauss. Ewan ko. Naaalala ko na lang...papunta kami sa isang bowling gym 'nun with my father...tapos narinig ko ung song...tapos sabi ko sa sarili ko...magiging singer ako...(inside of me lang...ah) naalala ko... pagkatapos namin mag-bowling uminom kami ng gatorade... iba ung feeling nung araw na 'un. Hanggang ngayon nasa loob ko pa rin. 4. a crybaby. Mukha akong tanga nung napanood ko ung final episode ng Stairway to Heaven sa CD. Iba eh. Umiyak ako ng may tunog. Alam mo 'yun. Hagulgol daw tawag nun sa tagalog. 'Un nga naiyak talaga ako kahit tapos na sia. Umiiyak pa rin ako sa bed ko. Iba talaga. Grabe... (speechless...) Well...maganda ung words ni Chan Song-ju.... lalo na nung sinabi nia (in Korean...) "I loved you to death and I will always will. Don't forget me. Please wait for me." Hindi iyon ang exact words. Pero more or less... Napaiyak ako. Remarkable. Promise. 5. an artist. Masaya mag-drowing at magkulay. Oil pastel ang medium ko. Siempre...mas masaya ang manalo at magkaroon ng awards for something u loved doing. Nanalo nga ako sa Pre-Com Draw the Lines... Proud sa 'kin ang lola ko...sabi niya...marunong din pala akong mag-drowing. 6. a dancer. I'd rather add this than not. Folk dance kasi ung kinuha kong course sa PE. Nung finals namin kahapon..marami ang natuwa...nagpalakpakan...kami rin natuwa...pati si Ma'am natuwa rin. We got a decent grade...pero marami ding pinagdaanang hirap before that...Kaya naman rewarding talaga... 7. a perfectionist leader. Kahit anong gawin ko...lumalabas at lumalabas ang pagiging epal ko sa mga group activities. Hehe... Sometimes I think... I am so ma-epal talaga.. pero sabi naman ng iba...OK lang naman daw un. 8. an achiever. I hate being called one. Pero dahil sabi ng nanay ko achiever daw ako...eh di sige. I offer all of those sa kanya. Tsaka sabi niya isa daw sa sources ng happiness ng parents ang makitang nagtatagumpay ang anak. Kaya 'yun. Ok. I get the bacons for her. To make her happy. Luv yah, mum! 9. an introvert. Madaming secrets.... 10. a die hard dreamer. Marami akong pangarap...Bahay na malapit sa beach sa isang hill...cozy place for reading... library sa bahay. jacuzzi. malaking bathroom. cute na kuwarto na may stars sa ceiling. halaman. zen fountain. home theater. mini museum sa bahay. at isang secret room na pwede kong gawing lungga. 11. a believer. I believe in fairies, destiny, incaranation, Golden Rule, love, friendship, acceptance, tact, respect at marami pang iba. 12. a blogger I think this sums up everything. 
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