Hi everyone, I've been wanting to share this post for awhile now, and although most of you know that I've been living in the Philippines for a little over a year now, I have really never talked about the topic of me being a Filipino American Expat (filipino born in the USA) and how I got here, so this is what this post is all about =) I'll be making a video about this soon!
NOT ANYTHING NEW
Being an expat in the Philippines is nothing new. Just google or youtube "expat living in the Philippines" and you will see countless people from the USA and Europe living and finding love in the Philippines. Just like most of these expats, they came here because the cost of living is super cheap, and for some of them, they came here to find a partner because a lot of them could not find true love at home, or unfortunately lost a loved one and just wanted to find a place to start all over, and the Philippines is among one of the best places to retire, get lost, and get more bang for your buck. Yes, the Philippines is more expat-friendly then Thailand!
WHAT'S SO DIFFERENT ABOUT ME?
Nothing really, I think the main difference between me and the other expats that you read or follow is the fact that I am actually a filipino. Both of my parents are from the Philippines, but I was born and raised in the USA, so I really never learned about my true culture, and didn't even learn the tagalog language. I can probably understand about 80% of the tagalog language on a good day.
If you look at me, I look just like a typical filipino, but once I open my mouth, the locals know that I am a foreigner, and they sometimes ask me why I'm speaking english, and so I have to tell them that I was born in the USA blah blah blah. You see, there is not much difference between me and the other expats.
I DID NOT COME TO THE PHILIPPINES TO FIND SOMEONE
Not all expats including myself come here to find someone, in fact, that was the last thing on my mind. When I arrived in the Philippines as an adult for the first time in 2015, I came here to explore my roots, as well as backpack other parts of Southeast Asia. I came back a few years later to work on some video projects, and as I was traveling around Asia and going back and forth to the Philippines, that's when I ran into my now fiancé.
We have now been together for over 2 1/2 years and are raising a little girl here in the Philippines. Did I intend to live here? Nope, not at all, but that is how my life has been the past few years, nothing planned and just going with the flow, and by doing that, I now have an amazing and simple life here in the Philippines.
THE STRUGGLES OF BEING A FILIPINO AMERICAN EXPAT
Living in the Philippines has many benefits, but that doesn't mean sh%t does not happen. Being an American, I am accustomed to certain things, and so there are things that I have had to get used to while living here. For example, the driving etiquette can get a little crazy, and if you're an expat living here, you know what Im talking about =). I mean, shouldn't the slow drivers be on the right and the fast drivers lon the left? At least that is how it is where I'm from =). Food temperatures, restrooms, customer service, and how long I have to stay in line to use the ATM are among many challenges and differences. I'll get more on this on a video soon, but as an expat, we all have to understand that we are all guests here. This is not our country, so we have to respect the people, the culture, the differences (no matter how difficult if can be) and understand that this is not the USA or the home that we came from. It is a privilege to be here, so I try my very best to remember that =)
HOW I EARN INCOME
Like most expats, some are living off of their retirement. Some are actually working with a company from back home, some work online and have their own projects going on. I myself work online, providing digital services to clients, and also do internet/affiliate marketing. I also make videos too, and still working on monetizing this venture. People don't come to the Philippines to look for work, most expats come here and spend their income made from where they came from.
The average income for a Filipino is about 500 php, that's only $10 USD per day, and with this pandemic going on, the amount of days they can work are cut in half or less. Most expats that come here are living off of their retirement (repeat ha ha), work for a company that is based from where they are from, or like I mentioned before, work online and get paid in US/Euros. I am not technically retired here, but you can actually retire here with a retirement visa as early as 35 years of age. With this visa, you can be a permanent resident, own a condo, and even start a business.
BEING FILIPINO AMERICAN
I wanted to bring this back up again because like I mentioned before, I do have a little bit of an advantage in the fact that I look just like a local. I can understand about 80% of the language because I grew up hearing my parents talk. It is those two things that give me the advantage to not get ripped off as an expat or tourist here in the Philippines =) Yes, there is a local price and a tourist price =).
But the reality is that, I am still an expat and not a local. I cannot speak the language which can be a struggle sometimes when I need to get something done, or go somewhere and my fiancé is not with me. The good thing is that most of the country is English speaking, but this is only in most metropolitan cities. If you go to many places away from the city and into the province, things can get challenging, but still doable. The one thing that you can come to expect is that the filipino people are the nicest people on earth. If they know that you are a foreigner, more than likely they will be very kind and help you. This brings me to my side of the coin, because I do not look like a foreigner, sometimes I get treated like dirt because they think that I am just like one of them, which is sad sometimes to see how the locals treat each other, I feel it as a filipino. I do see how some of the filipinos treat the foreigners as opposed to a local (it is rare, but I do see it). So in many circumstances, I sometimes expose my voice so that they can see that I am not from here. This is one small challenge as a Filipino American Expat.
The one thing that I would like to see more is people like me (Filipino American Expats) coming here and learning their own culture, and giving back to the people. It's great to see the everyday expat doing these things, and it's great for the country, but I'd like to see more filipinos helping filipinos.
There is a huge income gap in the Philippines, for the most part, you are either rich or poor. There really isn't a middle ground. I mean there is, but not much. So when expats come to the Philippines and help the economy, it is a good thing. (Most filipinos think that if you are a foreigner that you have money, because in their eyes, if you have more than them, you must be rich).
You rarely hear or see Filipino Americans coming here to live and help the community like the other expats, or it's just not as known, or glamorized on youtube. My goal isn't really to change this, but I would like to hopefully encourage more filipinos and filipino americans/filipino europeans to join the goodness that these other expats are doing in the Philippines. I am definitely proud to be a Filipino, and also very proud to be an American, but the bottom line is that I am rooted as a Filipino, and I feel that this is where I belong, and I would love to see more Filipino American Expats here.
The funny thing is that the western expats want to come to the east, but the people in the east prefer to go to the west. We as humans always want something different. This isn't always the case, but this is what I have seen and heard from the locals here. Everyone just wants to have a better life, and the expats coming here are seen as an opportunity for a better future. We as expats come here for a different life than our own western culture, and so this is the amazing thing about the Philippines, the country as a whole are very welcoming to foreigners.
I will say that I am lucky to find a partner who loves her own country, and doesn't see me as a way out, and that was my main thing. I knew that this was going on in the Philippines where women are on the constant prowl to find a foreigner, and I didn't want to be seen as an OPPORTUNITY. Luckily, my partner and I prefer living in the Philippines.
LAST WORDS
The Philippines is currently my new home, and although I cannot foretell the future, I only see this place as where I need and want to be. Although I am a world traveler (and love to see places) and American born, the Philippines will always be my fortress. Stay tuned for more
Filipino American Expat Life videos to come =)
