Hi everyone.
I can't believe we've been here a week. It seems like a fortnight has passed at least!
Well today, I thought I'd share with you some of the Filipino culture that I've been experiencing...and what a culture it is.
1. Here, you don't find tanning salons or moisturisers... it is considered more beautiful to be paler. So you can book in for 'whitening treatments' and all moisturisers have a whitening solution included. It is kind of creepy...but then at the same time, it is exactly the same in our culture, just the opposite (if that makes sense).
2. While watching Filipino TV during my homestay, I saw the greatest dandruff ad in history (which is a huge industry here). There was a couple who are like the 'Bradjolina' of the Philippines and the man says "I fight my dandruff like a man" and the woman said "I hide my dandruff, like any woman should"! I guess you had to be there, but when all the girls came back from their homestays and I mentioned the ad, they all knew it and it is a running joke with us at the moment.
3. Another big industry here is formula milk. Most mothers don't breast feed their babies for a number of reasons (they have to work, they physically can't, they don't want to 'ruin their bodies', or they think formula is better) and there is a HUGE amount of ads on tv for formula. Saying it will make them smarter, whiter, better development etc. Many mothers feed their babies formula from the beginning, and a huge number of babies die because of this! All ads have at the end that 'all babies should be breast fed up to 2 years', but most don't listen to this advice and buy expensive milk because they think it will be better. I think the main reason for this is lack of education - they have seen SO MANY of these ads that it would become engrained that they have to feed their babies this milk!
4. The next thing I have noticed is that the culture is so Americanised! The only music I heard during my homestay was American Pop. I am so over Justin, Rihanna and Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girl"!
5. Another thing that is very American influenced is their dancing and their outfits. The reason why we can't wear singlets here is because they are considered 'sexy tops'. No matter what I wore though - all through homestay the kids would say 'ohhhh... sexy outfit' - when I was wearing a long skirt, tshirt and hadn't showered in days! So everything is very sexy and I was called sexy by the girls MANY times! All the kids love to dance too - but they all dance like strippers! If I can upload a video, I'll put one up of the kids dancing...its hilarious!
6. Filipinos are very accepting of homosexuality. Many of the boys in the families of homestays were apparently gay. And they are very open about it - they would seriously say loudly "he's a gay". One kid was clearly gay, he was 16 I think and as K-Ann (3) pointed out - "you're wearing your sisters clothes". Another kid though, was seriously 3 years old and his parents and siblings were telling everyone "he's a gay" - because he liked to dance and wear skirts I think. If he really wasn't gay, he'll be convinced he is!
7. Last one is about traditions. I found out during homestay that it is considered bad luck to sing or dance while you are eating (no, I wasn't dancing on the dinner table, Rowena started singing and Christopher got up her for it!). Another odd one is that you aren't aloud to take a photo of someone sleeping - because it looks like they are dead and its bad (I got that explanation through broken english after I tried to take a photo of sleeping R-Jay - he was so cute though!)
So thats the end of my observations of the Filipino culture. Hope you have a giggle like I have been!
xoxo
