Irish. this is my first encounter of the white people. he said he is
neighbor wiht my fave band The Corrs... i thought he was kinda snub. later i realized, he wasn't. i thought they were elitists. with more encounters, i found out he is just as mortal as i am. he hates perrenial rain in ireland, that's why he loves dubai. after-work, hanging out for a bottle of beer is as normal as blinking an eye. so there goes the sure market of the pubs and watering-holes here! for a half hour convesation, i am so sure i only got 10% of it, because he talks so fast with that unfamiliar gaelic accent and with all the slang i've never encountered before! add the fact that we had different planes of humor which made a lot of laughter-gaps! haha. one thing i will never forget was when he was so shocked to know that we Pinoys (and even someone as single as i am!) give almost 70% of our earnings to our loved ones back home! he asked "who says it has to be 70%?" hmmm.... POEA?! haha.
South African. at a young age of 27, she already heads our shopping mall's marketing department, while her hubby works under her. she is tall, slim and green-eyed. besides those outstanding features (well for a pinoy that is!), she strikes me as a model of level-headedness in dealing with corporate stress. she knows how to handle irritating emails and mid-blowing mall tenant confrontations with such calmness and reverse phsyche. she also taught me that even if you are the boss at the office, your hubby remains the master at home... they are back now in South Africa, and each time I see Charlize Theron, i remember them...Britishized (?) Pinays. i dunno if that is the right word, but i guess you know what i mean. these are the pinays who married britons, and try really hard to have that brit-slang, and the loud brit-laughter. it should have been pretty much ok, if only they lose that accent, avoid being snub and respond warmly when someone tells them, "hi kabayan!"
Asian Brit. oh, the exact opposite of the above. he is an asian trapped in a briton's body. it's not that he hates UK, nor the brits. it's simply that he is so fond of everything asian... food, work place and friends. he considers east asia his second home, and really looks forward to going back there. with him, it's a very interesting 'west meets east'.
Hardcore Brits. one girl i met from an ad agency is a member of the Bridget Jones Club here (singletons!) in dubai, 28 years old. but, she is going to be tied up soon, but, they would have to live separately again as he works in UK... hmm, what an arrangement! she said, that's quite normal. no baby plans yet, so they will get a dog first. just like the other female brits, she does not wear heavy make up nor wear OA fashion statements, unlike the mid eastern counterpart... clubbing and hanging out every weekend is a must! and on nice afternoons, she and her friends love sun, beach and tanning! and oh, she loves my 'exotic' complexion (yahoo!).
these are some of my encounters with the white race (well except of course for the britishized pinays) ... encounters that finally tore down the awkward wall of biases that are i have built... i learned that after all, they are as diversed as we Pinoys are, and more importantly, they are just as human as i am...
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