Korean Wannabe

Disgustingly, a number of Filipinos right now are Korean wannabes. Trying so hard to copy their fashion, learning the language, forcing themselves to eat kimchi, you name it. Fired up by the boom of Korean TV shows/series and movies, a lot of the young people would kill to be in my position: deals with Koreans, eats Korean, speaks Korean and practically lives in Korea.

Well, it's disgusting. Yes, I am absolutely disgusted with their rudeness. Especially of their men. "Gentlemen" is the most inappropriate way to address the he community of Korea.


Last night, we were at Starbucks at Camp John Hay and my kuya and I were trying to find ourselves a table. We found three unoccupied coffee tables at the veranda and since we were seven in total, we tried rearranging the tables and chairs using two tables and seven chairs. As we were counting on and rearranging the chairs, three Koreans came and saw the other unoccupied coffeetable. As I grabbed one last chair to complete the seven, somebody tugged it back. My sister needed to go somewhere so she nudged one of their chairs a little to the right so she could pass, and the Korean seriously moved it back kahit hindi pa nakakadaan.

Kung matino kang tao, kung may nakita kang nag aayos ng mga mauupuan na nauna sayo, tama bang makipaghilahan ka ng upuan? Hintayin mong matapos sila dahil nauna sila dun. Problema mo maghanap ng kulang mo. Nakita mong may dadaan, hindi ka ba uusod ng kaunti para makadaan yung tao?

I angrily glared at one of them, and I almost spoke to them in Korean; I wanted to tell them last night, "Hey, are you Korean? You're in the Philippines and you're being what Koreans are--rude. I tolerate your culture/rudeness when I'm in your country and respect the way things are in Korea; but when you're in my country learn to respect the people here."

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Here are just some of the reasons why I hate them:
:: Like what the image (from this source) text says, they push and shove and won't even say sorry.
:: They are discriminate racially.
:: Fakes. They pretend, a lot. From being nice down to pretending their LVs are authentic.
:: Makeup. All the time. Even janitresses wear makeup. Beat that.
:: Too much seniority that you can't reason out to higher up. True even outside Asiana though it's worse in Asiana.
:: Korean men. Enough said.

On Arranged Marriages

I met up last night with my best friend Jhen who happens to be here in Baguio on the same days that we're here. She came with three of her cousins and I asked them to join us for dinner. All are younger than us, teeners, to be exact.

Joanna, whom I'm familiar with, told me bluntly, "Ate Katia, kasal na ko." (I'm married already.) I said she's bluffing: she doesn't have a boyfriend, she's bisexual, she's nineteen, blahblahblah. She showed me her wedding ring which she used as a pendant.

As they gulp down margaritas and snack on sisig, so goes the story of her fixed marriage. Came this American citizen Filipino national boy who was a family friend, now with the US Marine, trying to find someone he could marry for--in what I understood--a salary increase. He met Joanna and is actually fascinated by her, proposed the idea to his and her family. Personally, she doesn't want this, she told me. She was given the time to think, and finally she agreed, last month. I asked what made her decide to go for it, knowing she's not happy (as of the moment at least) about it. She told me she'll be going against everybody's will if she doesn't.

Yea, she'll be a step closer to becoming an American citizen, she'll take her family with her... So maybe that's why everybody pushes her to marry that guy. The [Filipino] American Dream. Almost every Filipino has it, and it's what makes people narrowminded about such decisions. They didn't even think about her happiness; marriage is a lifelong decision, and even if the marriage can get divorced/annuled, the thought of using your daughter to get what you want is still not excusable. What about the years she'll be wasting if the marriage turns out so bad?

Sacrifices are something you do because you want to do them, I'm going to live in another country because I want to be with my boyfriend; but I can't imagine her leaving her home, her friends, her family and everything she can call home for someone she barely knows. And all because the people push her to do so. This is nothing short of selling your kid.

She's nineteen, for crying out loud. She may not be able to realize right now what that decision entails, and the people who are supposed to be thinking for her is too blinded by 'future' it's gonna bring to them.

Helped and Pissed

Brushing my teeth inside one of those small lavatories in the plane when I heard someone paging for a doctor or a nurse over the PA. Being the one who'd always make the announcements, I know it isn't that serious because they skipped the "we have a patient onboard who needs immediate medical attention" part. Yes, it matters to them. So okay I still brushed my teeth at my own pace; how many times on the flight could I actually do things my pace, right?

When I got out, I asked some crew if there was anyone sick. They just shrugged and said that someone just wanted his blood pressure checked. I said, "I can do it if he has the sphyg and stethoscope." Her face went blank and she looked up from her meal tray, "Really?" Then she interphoned one of the seniors and told them I could.

I was told to get to the middle of the plane as the passenger was on the 21st row. When I got there, the passenger doesn't actually have the equipment; we do have it inside our medical kit but the thing is, because of some medicines inside it, only doctors and nurses are allowed to use the kit (we, on the other hand, are allowed to use only the first aid kit). I can't do anything about that, I'm not a nurse nor a doctor and the Koreans are really bookish about these things. (They can't imagine me using the stuff and I'm not a nurse--like I'm gonna be able to kill the patient with a stethoscope?) I shrugged and started to walk away.

But the patient--an American, by the way--really wanted to have his blood pressure checked. I could imagine, my mom always felt that way. I tell you, if this passenger was Korean, they would have given me the equipment without hesitation. Yes, they are way more racially discriminating than you could ever imagine. It's not who's black, who's white, who's Asian, who's Latino, no. It's Korean or non-Korean.

The manager, who seemed like a newbie and didn't want complaints on her records, looked helpless and asked me if I had medical training. No. She looked at me as if I was wasting her time. "But I can do it if you have the equipment." I do it for my parents, grandparents and to anybody possible. Hesitant, she called for one junior to get the stuff. She handed em over and said, "Could you check if you can use this?" And upon opening up the velcro and saw the stethoscope with it, I said yes. She looked at me with an are-you-sure look. WTF.

What, like it's hard? Like it's complicated?

After checking for the first time, I usually recheck and do the process all over again. So I said to the passenger, "One more time, okay?" to let him know what I was doing. SHE, on the other hand, is ready to tear me off the medical equipments and told me, "If you can't do it, then don't." Say that in front of the passenger? What the fuck? The passenger obviously knows that I KNOW what I'm doing. Even the wife knows how to do it because she helps me keep the velcro in place coz the man's arm was huge. Heck, the manager doesn't even know if it's okay to put the meter just about anywhere. I glanced up at her and proceeded for my recheck.

Confirming his blood pressure I told him, "It's a hundred and forty over eighty, what's your normal?" And this inconfident manager pipes in, "She's not sure, but maybe it is." I wanted to smash her face right then and there. Really. I gathered up the materials and handed it back to her while the passenger was telling me his normal was 120/80, and she was still saying, "she's not sure" to the passenger. That's it, I started to walk away before I say anything to her. As I was walking away, the wife assured the manager that I'm right coz she was watching the gauge too while I was checking his blood pressure.

I was fucking pissed. I was there trying to help a passenger and get her out of the dangers of getting complaints and possibly someone having a stroke on board and she was saying those things IN FRONT of the passenger? Fucking bitch.

I so wanted to tell her, "Not because you don't know how to do it means I don't too." Get a life.

Living THE life?

"This is the life others can only dream about."

I saw this slogan handwritten on an Asiana planner that must have been forgotten here at the computer area of the office. Wow. She must be living the life. Well, why wouldn't she? She's in her own country, with her family, and possibly her boyfriend/husband too. Then you work, get the money and travel. That's really got to be the "life others can only dream about."

This isn't true for me though. I'm a very domesticated person and though I love to travel and see places too, I realized it isn't as fun when you do it alone. You get to London and see all the architecture but no one to share your awe to. You see the Statue of Liberty and no one's there to take your picture. Who's gonna go with you to climb the Angkor Wat?

The sadder part, is being away from my family. Not only do you feel greatly left out during flights--with everyone speaking their language and you're on your own on how to amuse yourself, like counting how many seconds/minutes it takes before the next passenger call button is pressed.

For the past few days, I've been itching to go home. I know, my scheduled flight home is not for another 10days or so, but I have been trying to find a way to cut that short. My lolo, who was in the hospital when I left Manila, had not been eating. Dad told me they hadn't been avoiding the subject of death so as to prepare Lola of what may come. I felt so helpless. I'm here, nobody to share my loneliness, sadness and grief to; not at home even to be with the person I fear won't make it long.

I don't know what else to say.

4 Days 4 People

Aren't we the luckiest people on earth? Last flight, we went to SF where I was with Mica, Cielo and MM; and now I just arrived back in Seoul from Seattle, spent the layover with Mica, Nicki and Monica!

Day 1: Hella tired--the mind was willing but the body won't cooperate. Slept after arrival and woke up and had Thai food delivered at the hotel.

Day 2: Took Mica downtown with the 30-minute bus ride and blocks of walking. Good thing that the weather cooperated with us and though chilly, it's sunny. Public Market and the first Starbucks (which was soo crowded with Chinese tourists) then a little bit of shopping here and there. I so wanted to buy a pair of swimsuit at Old Navy but I dunno maybe not this month, LOL! Ate at Westlake Center's foodcourt, then bought some food to go from Jack in the Box and retired at the hotel.

Day 3: Woke up just before Mica left my room and prepared as Monica arrived. Went to the mall with ate Nix, shopped a little bit more, then went with Monix to Circuit City to get a laptop for ate Sophie. Don't we just love gadgets! Haha. I was drooling over DSLR lenses and the laptop I've been eyeing for the longest time... I'll get that sometime, somehow, I should! Hmpf. Went back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and met Nicki's friend Kris, who drove us to Ikea. Why Ikea? I don't know, but it was fun. Can't wait to decorate a room or something :) Then drove downtown and had Monica's first photos at the Starbucks store and Space Needle; had dinner at a pizza place and then back.

Day 4: Thirty minutes before showup, I was starving; I asked Monica if she wanted to have breakfast at Denny's across the street but we ended up having coffee and croissants at the cafe at the lobby.