yung cultural assimilation ang pinakamalaking dahilan siguro kung bakit iba ang mga OFW sa america kaysa doon sa ibang bansa. in most cases, receptive kasi ang amerika sa pag tanggap ng mga immigrants and in return, tinatanggap naman ng mga immigrants ang lahat ng ibinibigay ng amerika sa kanya. sa mga bansang tulad ng singapore, kahit siguro pumuti na ang buhok mo sa singit sa tagal ng stay mo roon, hindi mo mararamdaman that you truly belong.
hindi ko masabi kung ano ang mas maganda. sa amerika, immigrants get absorbed after a while and if you don’t watch out, makakalimutan mo kung saan ka galing. sa mga bansang tulad ng singapore, you are reminded everyday na pinoy ka kahit matagal ka na roon nakatira.
Batang Kaning Lamig 
My generation was brought up to the idea that America is the land of oppurtunity. When my family first set foot in American soil in 1972 we experienced a brief culture shock and eventually assimilated with our new environment. I think because there is no language barrier we were able to weave ourselves not only into the American culture but others too. Most of all Filipinos are industrious and Americans reciprocated very well with that. Except for the corrupt and crook people that run the Philippines, I still love this country of my birth.
Pareng Jay, di kaya sa SAUDI sa tingin mo ba magpapakaTANGA at gugustohin ng isang Pinoy maging isang SAUDI Citizen? NO WAY! NEVER! EVER! FOREVER BATMAN!
Tama ka pare sa MERiKA makakalimutan ng isang Pinoy na syay Pinoy dahil siguro masaya na sya at kontento na sya sa biyayang Bigay ng MERiKA at di nya makukuha sa Pinas. Dito naman kasi sa DESYERTO ang mga TAO dito nakakapag BAKASYON sa Pinas every 2 Years. pero marami naman nakakapag bakasyon ng Yearly tsaka minsan pa merong nagbabakasyon every 3months and 6 months at ang ticket ay sagot ng mga employeer. ewan ko lang ha pero jan sa MERiKA pagkaka-alam ko mga pinoy jan pag magbakasyon sa pinas minimum after sa isang DEKADA ata.
Pero yon lang siguro pinagka iba natin pare tsaka isa pa dito sa bandang MIDDLE EAST di mo kakayaning ipagpalit ang pagkapinoy mo kundi kasama ka sa mga ibang lahing TANGA.
my mom still calls the US the land of milk and honey. she was born when the philippines was still a colony and for her, uncle sam can do no wrong. i love being here but in the opposite way than i loved being in singapore.
i love the fact that in both cases, if you work hard, you will be rewarded.
i love singapore too, para ka lang nasa pilipinas, malinis at hightech nga lang. pag nakapunta na ko sa amerika, maicocompare ko na. hehehe.
sabi nang iba, amerika is a state of mind.
Hindi ko naranasang tumira sa Singapore pero part kaya ng barrier to assimilation doon eh iyong language nila and predominance ng Chinese culture?
Sa tingin ko lang, malakas kasi ang immigrant tradition dito sa States. Kahit na maraming mga puti, iba-iba rin sila ng pinanggalingan. Hindi tulad sa ibang bansa na ethnically homogenous tulad ng Japan and China and siguro to a lesser extent, Singapore. Mas madali rin siguro sa atin ang pag-assimilate dahil we were Americanized when the US colonized us. Ingat kayo. Maganda ang araw pala ngayon sa inyo. 😀
hindi language dahil halos lahat naman ng tao sa singapore speak english. mayroon lang talagang racial divide even between the people of singapore.
may immigrant tradition nga talaga dito sa US dahil lahat naman ng tao rito, immigrant at one point.
mas madali nga tayong makakapag assimilate sa amerika. E sa music pa lang, halos lahat na ng kantang kinagisnan natin e galing dyan. TAs, ang medium of instruction pa english. O ano pa?
tapos isang big mac lang, laglag na brief ko.
omg!!! unkyel, that’s all it takes? we’ll be sending big macs then. jk jk jk
you can ride your bike to work for a day or two you can work those big macs out anyways… =P
figure of speech lang yon. hehehe. i hate big macs. bihirang bihira na kami mag fast food ngayon pero pag may craving kami ng burger, in-n-out parati.
gusto ko din ma-experience yan. 😀
punta na rito!
na-try mo na white castle? yung paborito ni harold and kumar.
walang white castle dito sa california.
wala namang in-n-out sa east coast.
interestingly, wala ring dunkin donuts sa california.
bakit kaya?
oo nga bob. ang alam kong white castle yung iniinom ng mga tambay sa talipapa pag walang pera.
parang pollo loco – dito lang ata sa west coast at sa SM Megamall makikita ang chain.
Sabi nga ng doktor namin, “If you want to eat fast food, at least make it healthy, like In-and-Out burgers and fries!” Hindi frozen ang burgers and the fries are freshly cut before frying…
i know, unkyel, im just having fun with you. we’re in & out fan also. as a matter of fact im really lazy to do anything for dinner tonight so you just gave me an idea. thankies!
kami rin – malamang pollo loco for dinner tonight. para kay jet who called in sick tonight.
oo nga richy. kung di mapiligan kumain ng fast food, in-n-out is the best dahil fresh ang ingredients. animal style parati. hehehe.
Sir Batjay,
Galing din ako ng SG tulad mo pero we just migrated to Australia late last year. Madali ring mag-assimilate dito compared to SG. Based on experience, in SG, where we are constantly reminded of being pinoys is not exactly a bad thing kase medyo maganda naman ang reputation ng mga pinoys dun, right? Marami nga lang mga domestic helpers dun kaya sometimes, may mga careless & uneducated locals who looked down to pinoys there.
Ang hindi ko lang gusto sa pinoy community dito sa Au ay yung may mga territorial bias sa isa’t-isa. Hindi closely knit ang mga pinoy dito unlike in SG.
Jay, I am a newbie here, won’t you believe, I am glued in your blog for the last 3 days. may be I am bored here at work and not too busy. I found your site articulate, intelligent and funny. I was in awe , you have a big follower ( I am gearing to be one). I live here in Bay area, It took me awhile to assimilate (as you called it) the life here in america. After my fourth year I am beginning to like and to embrace what america is offering. My past life where in Tondo. I am proud to be one. Proud in the sense that I can not be where I am without my honing experiences in my infamous place, TONDO. I just came back from my trip (manila and singapore). I missed Singapore so much! sorry but not much in the case of manila, though I missed my relatives. I am an bioanalytical and analytical scientist (in the low side) here.
I am always proud to be a tondo boy
sorry I wasn’t able to edit my comment. There are errors. Kayo na lang mag edit. Susunod i e edit ko na bago ko i send. Kung sa company ko to baka sinipa na agad ako sa errors I just made.
proud din ako na matawag na batang talipapa in the same way na proud kang matawag na tondo boy. and that’s how it should be – we should never be ashamed of where we come from. dami kong nakikita na mga pinoy na sa sobrang pagka assimilate dito, ayaw aminin na pinoy sila
dito rin sa tokyo, japanese are still wary of foreigners in general. with the increased immigration security measures, we often have policemen on the street who want to check out aline (yes, alien) cards. it can get kind of insulting sometimes, but it has become a regular way of life. but i don’t think they’ll become lax areound foreigners anytime soon.