The Stranger Who Smiles
Its been 4 years since I left home to study in Europe. Yes, lucky. But the life? Its not easy. One of the hardest is really being away from the family. You have to deal with coming home and having to cook for yourself. No Pinoy dramas to entertain you and the burdens of life where having to find the right people to talk to about anything always traces back to the people back in the homeland. Im sure I’m not the only Filipino abroad who thinks of this. Nevertheless, we all realize how much we miss home, the place that molded the person we’ve become and how much we miss the people we left behind.
Now the most amazing thing about Filipinos abroad is that they know each other! We can all agree that its easy to detect someone who’s Asian. But how to know if someone’s Filipino? THE SMILE! YES, that stranger who has fair/dark skin, Asian eyes but not too chinky and smiles like he/she just won the lottery…that’s a true Pinoy hospitality.
If you trust me, you should know that everytime this happens to me—when I know am certain they are Filipinos and we look at each other, they smile, I smile and if lucky, you get to speak in Tagalog/Cebuano together then yes- this encounter makes me feel AT HOME. It’s that feeling where you realize you’re not alone. That being away from your loved ones happens to everyone and to prove that you see all these Filipino’s struggling the kind of life in the Western/European side of culture. Not everyone can pass that up but in all fairness sake, we don’t make it to foreign land for year without knowing anybody who shares the same pride we do—Pinoy’s for Life! ?
It really is a heartwarming experience. One of the many best encounters I’ve had with Filipinos was in the train where this old Filipino looking lady smiled at me as she sat beside me. We didn’t talk but when she got off the train, she waved bye and said “Maligayang Pasko”. I knew it! Haha. It made my night! <3
Overall, I think its safe to say Filipinos have a way at finding each other and go around places without completely getting lost at trying to find a means to still feel at home, anytime, anywhere.
May the year 2012 bring more smiles to all the Filipinos who are away from home! Happy New Year! : )
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proud to be filipino !!! hehehe astig talaga mga pinoy!!! super like ng kwento mo kapatid .. ;D
SMILE SUPER MEGA DUPER SMILES TO ALL OF YOU!!!!
Super like
Im british married to filipino and i already notice this where ever we go if there is a filipino around there is always a smile
I certainly share this sentiment…….
Frank, that’s also true. I’ve seen that! I feel sorry for them though.
I totally agree. What’s also surprising is that how hospitable Filipinos become when abroad. We pass up getting to know someone here and we almost totally ignore our fellow Filipinos. But when abroad, every chance we get to meet Filipinos we almost never pass up.
Once I had the opportunity to be assigned in Melbourne for several weeks. I went into this casino nearby my apartment and stayed there late. When I was waiting for a tram for my ride home (malapit lang apartment ko pero I still wanted to ride the tram — wala sa pinas eh
). Anyway, while I was waiting for the tram to arrive, there was these 2 short Asian-looking women walking on their way to the tram station and chatting. I can’t understand a word they said at first but I got this feeling na Pilipino sila. So, I was intently listening (I wasn’t eavesdropping btw 
), trying to catch a word they said if it made sense to me. After a few minutes of listening, I finally heard what I wanted to hear “Kumusta na diay imo anak?”…. Waaaaah! Cebuano! My native tounge! I met a lot of Filipinos in Melbourne but I haven’t met a Cebuano yet. Without hesitation, I approached these two old ladies and spoke to them in Cebuano! They were surprised that out of nowhere somebody was speaking to them in their native tounge. I could see how happy they were speaking to another Cebuano other than themselves. I could just feel how much attention they were paying to me at that time. Talking to each other intently until we boarded the tram and until I got off it. Anyway, that’s just one of the many instances I’ve experienced of how much it meant to another Filipino meeting another Filipino abroad….
To everyone out there, happy new year!
I guess you have not met Filipinos that do not admit they are Filipinos or would try to tell you that they are half or tell you they grew up here even when you can recognized that Filipino English as you talk to them in English…They are few but when you meet them you just wanna slap them in their face and tell them to wake up..
OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKER