After talking about greetings around the world with our friends in PocketCultures, I would like to give a more detailed answer to this question:

The first thing one needs to know about language in the Philippines is that we have lots of them. We’re an archipelago of different cultural communities with various languages and dialects (not to mention foreign influences that enriched our languages). English is widely spoken here and we also have the vernacular Filipino with Tagalog as its base. Up to this day, this has become an issue to some who belong in other ethno-linguistic groups. It deserves a separate post.

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This is the first in a new series where we explore different social situations from the point of view of our contributors around the world.

Today’s topic: how to greet people in different countries.

Credit

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The easiest way to know a country better is by looking at the meaning of its flag.

On June 12, my country will celebrate its 112th year of independence.

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A dog is recognized as everybody’s best friend. They’re loved almost all over the world. In my country, dogs are met with the same affection but they also face stiff competition against our beloved carabao.

Filipinos see carabaos as faithful partners in life. The carabao or kalabaw is a water buffalo that is endemic in Southeast Asia. Aside from helping our farmers plow the fields, this animal is our source of transportation, milk for sweets and cooking, meat, raw materials to design furniture, coin and mascot designs, body armor, children’s songs, jokes, and expressions in the vernacular.
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The capital city of the Philippines is Manila. It is part of a large entity called Metro Manila. The easiest way of putting it is this: Manila is the beginning, Metro Manila is the result.

Metro Manila has 16 cities and 1 municipality. It has more than 10 million people living in it and I’m one of them. I live in a city called Mandaluyong where it’s highly accessible to shopping malls and Makati City, the country’s central business district.

With such a large land area, the question comes up:

What do I ride to get around Metro Manila?

There are private and public vehicles. There are metered taxis but it really depends on one’s budget to ride them. I have no car so I’m taking public transport. There’s something to remember about public vehicles. Words such as “ordinary” and “special” will come in handy as I mention a common transportation found within the islands—The Tricycle.

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If I were to introduce myself and tell you that I’m a Filipino from a country called the Philippines, a question from an American comedian named George Carlin would likely come up:

It’s a good observation and a very valid question. To keep it short, the word “Filipino” is a product of three centuries under the Spanish and “Philippines” is now our name after almost 50 years of US rule, which ended in 1946.

This is just a gist but my country’s story goes deeper than that. I shall tell it to you in bits and pieces as we go along.

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