Living in the Philippines you can expect to be approached by strangers asking "Where is my Christmas?" For many Westerners this is offensive.
I think though we need to remember we are in a different land and what would be rude in our homeland is not rude for the people of the land were we visit.
In the Philippines, Christmas begins in earnest during September.
You see, this is the first "ber" month.
There are four "ber"months.
They are September, October, November and December.
Some Filipino begin in late August.
The malls begin to play Christmas music in September.
The people begin spontaneously breaking out into Christmas carols in the street.
Now how cool is that? I love it! In the Philippines, where poverty is the rule, people are more into the joy of the season rather than the gift giving.
Filipino will ask other natives "Where is my Christmas?" if they know them.
For us foreigners, you can expect complete strangers to ask you this.
Remember, you represent immense wealth to most Filipino.
They see our lifestyles and our cars and our homes and they believe we have more money than we could ever spend.
While you and I know that most of us are just getting by.
That we too are usually cash strapped.
Many Filipino don't understand that.
With that in mind, respond with kindness.
That doesn't mean I'm suggesting you give them their Christmas.
In fact, you cannot give anyone their Christmas.
If you give them something of earthly value that is between your own heart and what you can do.
However, I suggest you can respond by trying to match the joy the Filipino has for the season.
It might even do your body and mind some good.
I wish I could flush out all the negative emotion in my system and replace it with kindness and love.
With that in mind, I suggest you respond with a smile as you say "Naay Pasko sa imong kasing-kasing.
" What does it mean? It is from the Visayan language which is one of the most common language in the Philippines.
Translated into English it means: Christmas is in your heart.
I think though we need to remember we are in a different land and what would be rude in our homeland is not rude for the people of the land were we visit.
In the Philippines, Christmas begins in earnest during September.
You see, this is the first "ber" month.
There are four "ber"months.
They are September, October, November and December.
Some Filipino begin in late August.
The malls begin to play Christmas music in September.
The people begin spontaneously breaking out into Christmas carols in the street.
Now how cool is that? I love it! In the Philippines, where poverty is the rule, people are more into the joy of the season rather than the gift giving.
Filipino will ask other natives "Where is my Christmas?" if they know them.
For us foreigners, you can expect complete strangers to ask you this.
Remember, you represent immense wealth to most Filipino.
They see our lifestyles and our cars and our homes and they believe we have more money than we could ever spend.
While you and I know that most of us are just getting by.
That we too are usually cash strapped.
Many Filipino don't understand that.
With that in mind, respond with kindness.
That doesn't mean I'm suggesting you give them their Christmas.
In fact, you cannot give anyone their Christmas.
If you give them something of earthly value that is between your own heart and what you can do.
However, I suggest you can respond by trying to match the joy the Filipino has for the season.
It might even do your body and mind some good.
I wish I could flush out all the negative emotion in my system and replace it with kindness and love.
With that in mind, I suggest you respond with a smile as you say "Naay Pasko sa imong kasing-kasing.
" What does it mean? It is from the Visayan language which is one of the most common language in the Philippines.
Translated into English it means: Christmas is in your heart.