Kano

Filipinos generally refer to everyone with white skin as a “Kano” or “Americano.” It would not be unusual to hear something like this, “I met an Americano. He’s from Germany.” It isn’t meant to be derogatory. Even so, I don’t particularly like being lumped into such a large group that I often have nothing to do with and certainly no control over. The fact is, many tourists and expats treat the local people with a lack of respect or an arrogance that I find embarrassing. As if their pocket full of pesos is proof that they are superior. My take on this is that the only reason they have those pesos is pretty much an accident of birth. While accumulating money is no easy task no matter where you’re from, it is hugely more difficult here then any 1^st world country.

 

Foreigners sometimes misinterpret the uniquely Filipino English grammar as a sign of a lack of intelligence or emotional immaturity. What they fail to realize is that the “simple” person they’re talking to can communicate in at least two and usually 3 or even more languages. Everyone can speak Tagalog, the national language, English (the 2^nd national language) is common as well as whatever dialect is spoken in the province they are from. A pedicab driver I met was fluent in five languages.

 

There are no gender specific pronouns in any of the Filipino languages. Consequently, he/she and him/her are often a challenge. “Siya” is both he and she and you can only differentiate by context. When it comes to English, it seems that they’re guessing, banking on the 50/50 odds of being right. Sometimes they will hedge their bets by referring to the same person first as one and then the other, e.g., “He went to the store and then she came home.” After my first couple of months here I came to terms with this and stopped assuming the gender based on which pronoun someone chose.

 

Anyway, because foreigners are often hambogiro (boastful) and bastos (rude), most people I meet are a little guarded at first. I’m pretty outgoing and friendly and I am always practicing my Visayan. People immediately drop their guard and become warm and friendly as soon as they see that I’m not going to be a jerk. Considering it would be far faster for me to just speak English, people are very tolerant. Everyone seems to really appreciate that I’m trying to learn the language and even strangers are forever taking the time to teach me new words.

 

I guess my point is to not judge people based on your cultural bias. Jobs are at such a premium here that employers can set fairly high job qualifications. The waiter or store clerk that is helping you (and earning $4 to $5 a day for a 12 hour shift) is almost certainly a college graduate, conceivably in engineering or computer technologies. So, if you happen to come here, treat people with respect or at least with common courtesy. It will take you much farther and you will probably make some friends who will have a depth that you might not have imagined. And if you move here, I highly recommend learning the language. It will convey a certain measure of respect for the culture. Besides it’s the only way to be in on all the good jokes.