Filipinos have claim to many wonderful characteristics, but there are three that stand out on my list. To have observed them all during a short lunch break at the Gingerroot Restaurant seemed like serendipity.  I have seen them displayed in so many other settings, say in the airport or during a 13-hour flight while traveling back to the Philippines, that I’m convinced they are what an outsider would notice and remember about Filipinos. They are: friendliness, a sense of cooperation and the ability to laugh and have fun.

I have lived in the US long enough to have taught in four public and private schools from the  East Coast to the West, much longer than the two years in Manila. While in this country, I immersed myself in the American culture; apart from the Filipino milieu. It doesn’t help that I didn’t go back to visit the Philippines until lately (when my parents’ health started to decline).