The Naked Truth About Weird Filipino Culture & Living In The Philippines!

[00:00:00]Hi folks. The Filipina here, and it's way past time for another episode of Candlelight Culture.

[00:00:07]A lot of you who've never been to the Philippines love this segment because it's talk about all the strange little things you'll encounter when you visit.

[00:00:16]Like the way we Filipinos don't panic when our house is filled with smoke, the reason we enjoy getting yelled at, and why you should never give a Filipina a power tool. Confused? Good. Then let me explain.

[00:00:38]So I've been doing a lot of out and about videos lately where I show you what it's actually like in various spots around the Philippines, and I'm glad you're enjoying them. But today, I want to talk about the wacky things you'll discover in Filipino culture.

[00:00:52]We're different from the West in a lot of ways, and some of it is funny, some of it is confusing, and some of it just doesn't seem to make any sense. Unless you have a cultural liaison, which is my job. So let's get started.

[00:01:06]Let me begin with something really nice about having a Filipina partner. We will never forget your birthday. It doesn't matter if we've been together for a year or been together for a decade.

[00:01:18]Forgetting a birthday just isn't something a Filipina is ever going to do. The flip side is that you better never forget ours.

[00:01:26]The only thing worse than forgetting a birthday is forgetting how many days it's been since you met, or forgetting what color dress you wore the first time you went on a date.

[00:01:37]Filipinas are really sentimental about stuff like that. So I hope you have a near photographic memory.

[00:01:43]The other reason she'll never forget your birthday is because in our culture, it's customary for the birthday boy to pay for everything.

[00:01:52]>> [snorts] >> So whenever she takes you on your special day, you're the one who has to foot the bill.

[00:01:57]I told you you were weird, right?

[00:01:59]And by the way, if you're trying to think of a good place to take us on a date, you might be tempted to suggest a movie, but I got to warn you.

[00:02:08]Unless the thought of being thrown in a box and screamed at for 2 hours sounds like fun, I'd avoid going to a movie theater in the Philippines.

[00:02:16]I have no idea why, but they turn up the volume to a level where it could actually be classified as physical assault. I kid you not.

[00:02:25]>> [gasps] >> I know you probably think that's true in any theater, even in your home country, but trust me, when you go to a movie in the Philippines, get ready for a shockwave. Now, this might sound silly, but I strongly advise you to bring a pair of ear plugs so you can enjoy the new hit movie Deaf by 40.

[00:02:45]You're welcome.

[00:02:47]>> [gasps] >> Now, you Western folk have very colorful languages, but you use these sayings that make absolutely no sense to us, like bite the bullet, piece of cake, beating around the bush, choking the chicken, stuff like that. And since we take everything you say literally, we can get really confused unless you use very precise wording. And then we still pretty much get confused.

[00:03:11]Like if you say, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." We assume you're actually in the mood for horse meat.

[00:03:19]But then you say, "Come on, let's chew the fat." And that sounds great, but then you just keep talking and never give us any fat to chew.

[00:03:28]Now, if you say, "I had an awful lot of cake for dessert." We wonder why you kept eating it if it was so awful.

[00:03:35]Cool as a cucumber. Cucumbers aren't cool. We sell them on tables out in the sun.

[00:03:41]Break a leg. Excuse me? That's supposed to be a nice thing to say?

[00:03:46]If you really want to freak a woman out, just use the phrase, "There's more than one way to skin a cat, and you'll have her running for the nearest exit before you can give him a demonstration of your cat-carving, skin-peeling skills.

[00:04:00]You might as well just look deep in her eyes and say, "It puts the lotion on its skin."

[00:04:06]So, anyway, to avoid total confusion, just try to be as precise as possible in your choice of words, which is kind of ironic since Filipinos are notoriously vague.

[00:04:18]Even if you ask us a few clearly worded questions, you're probably going to get a very short and incomplete answer. You want to know why? Because when you ask a Filipino more than one question at a time, we only answer the last one. I don't exactly know why that is, but anybody who's gone on a dating site and asked a Filipina several questions in one paragraph knows what I'm talking about. Now, instead of getting frustrated, there's an easy fix. Just ask one question at a time and don't move on to the next question until you get a satisfactory answer to the last one.

[00:04:54]>> [snorts] >> If you need to, just keep asking the same thing over and over. And if she keeps dodging you, maybe it's time to check out another profile.

[00:05:02]But what happens when you're out in public and you have to ask someone for directions?

[00:05:07]If you ask us where a certain business is, there's a good chance we'll just motion in a general direction and say, "There."

[00:05:15]Which really doesn't help very much.

[00:05:18]You were expecting directions like "Go east a quarter mile down Baker Avenue, then take your first right onto Mason Street, and it'll be right there on the left." But Filipinos just don't talk like that because we don't think like that. Stuff like north and south and west have no meaning to us. We only use landmarks, and if the place you're looking for isn't near a landmark that we know, then we'll just say, "It's over there."

[00:05:45]>> [gasps and laughter] >> But to make things even worse, we might not actually have a clue where the place is, and we're just giving you fake directions because we don't want to admit that we don't know the answer.

[00:05:56]Now, this might sound really mean, but it's true. A Filipino would rather send you on a wild-goose chase than face the shame of not knowing something. We could say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know where that is." But it's much easier to just say, "There."

[00:06:12]Just to get rid of you.

[00:06:14]And sometimes it's what we don't say that causes a problem.

[00:06:18]A lot of foreigners will tell you that a Filipino will never let you know what's going on.

[00:06:23]You could be visiting her parents' house, and after a few hours, she'll tell you it's time to go home. Now, in your culture, that means that you and she are going to get back to your car and drive to your house. Simple, right?

[00:06:36]So, you say your goodbyes and head outside, and when you look in the backseat, half her family's back there.

[00:06:44]No one says a word as you start the car, and everyone acts like this is all completely normal. And when you finally ask what's going on, you get a puzzled look that makes you feel like you were supposed to know the answer.

[00:06:57]"Well, we need to drop Auntie Vina off at the laundromat. Can't you see the big bag of clothes on her lap? And we're taking my brother to work because he's got to be there at 5:00, and it's already, you know, 4:52. And Mom's coming back to our house to pick up the leftovers from the fridge. So, we either have to drive her back home or let her spend the night."

[00:07:18]>> [laughter] >> Now, when you ask your girlfriend why she didn't tell you any of this beforehand, she'll probably give you the very obvious answer, "You didn't ask."

[00:07:28]So, as irritating as it might be, if you don't want to be treated like the family bus driver, always ask who you're going to be expected to ferry around. It won't change your fate, but at least you'll know what's going on.

[00:07:42]Now, speaking of being confused, here's a couple unusual things you might notice around the house.

[00:07:48]If you smell smoke indoors, you jump up to investigate because you assume your home is on fire. So, you might be kind of puzzled when your Filipino partner doesn't seem concerned at all, even if she's not cooking anything.

[00:08:02]Why not? Because almost every single day, one of your neighbors is going to burn his trash, and no matter what you do, the smell's going to seep into your house.

[00:08:12]Close all the windows, close all the doors, it won't make a difference. If you live in the province, you're going to get acquainted with the smell of burning rubber and leaves. And if you complain about it, they might add a dirty diaper on the pile.

[00:08:26]My advice? If possible, choose your neighbors wisely before signing a lease.

[00:08:33]Now, since we're talking about life in the province, here's a funny one that makes a lot of you guys laugh.

[00:08:38]It's brutally hot in the Philippines.

[00:08:41]So, almost all foreigners want to live in a place with AC. Now, you often set it to full blast, even though electricity is really expensive in the Philippines. Next thing you know, the back door is wide open, letting all the cold air out. So, you say, "Honey, why's the door open?" And she says, "It's to let the rest of the hot air out."

[00:09:02]We're not used to having AC, so we really don't understand anything about the way air flows. It seems like common sense to you, but it's still a bit of a mystery to us.

[00:09:13]Something else that a mystery is why we can't seem to put things back where they belong, especially your tools.

[00:09:21]If your girlfriend borrows a screwdriver out of your toolbox, don't expect it to end up back where she found it, cuz it probably ain't going to happen. Now, obviously, this isn't true of all of us, but for some reason, Filipinos have a reputation for borrowing, but not returning. Whether it's a lighter, a power tool, or especially cash. So, if you lend us something, don't count on getting it back without searching for it yourself.

[00:09:50]And finally, let me tell you one of the best things about my culture. Now, I've been sharing a lot of the annoying and confusing things you'll find here, but there are other things that can make it all worthwhile.

[00:10:02]For instance, Filipinos don't focus on the little things that might upset a Westerner. You'll often hear us say, "It's nothing. You don't need to worry about it. I'll be fine. Just relax."

[00:10:15]It's actually a cultural thing for us not to make a big deal out of the stuff we have to handle every day.

[00:10:21]Why complain about a hangnail when you've got nine other perfectly good fingers?

[00:10:26]To us, foreigners have a reputation for getting worked up by seemingly trivial things. And you folks even have one of those colorful sayings about it called making a mountain out of a molehill.

[00:10:39]The good news is that your Filipino will probably have the uncanny ability to calm you down. And one look into her eyes will remind you how lucky you are and melt your stress away.

[00:10:52]At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[00:10:56]Well, that's it for this episode and I'll be back next Friday with something you're going to love. If you want to hang out with me before then, just check out my Patreon page where you can chat with me in real time and get my exclusive videos and features you won't see anywhere else. Till then, folks.

[00:11:20]>> [music] >> You know how cute I always thought you were.

[00:11:27]>> [music] [music] >> If you think about it, I'm kind of like your lifeguard, keeping you from drowning in a sea of doubt about life in the Philippines. I won't let you dive right into the deep end without learning about our culture and customs. You can always count on me to take care of all the little details along the way. Wait, what is that in the pool?

[00:11:55]All right, everyone out of the pool, out of the pool.

[00:12:03]We're going to have to shut it down for weeks and get a hazmat crew in here.

[00:12:15]That sounds disgusting. Which one of you subscribers did that?

[00:12:22]>> [music]