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Supporting your country in world sporting events… or not.

This past weekend created a big stir all over the world for the World Cup final game of Spain vs. Holland, or it is the Netherlands?

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Putting 7, 107 Islands On The Map

Idyllic Beaches and Crystal Clear Waters

I used to think that with all the news about the Philippines being shown on international television, my country was already popular for being infamous – a coup d’état here, a typhoon there, corruption in the government, terrorism in the south; ousting of the once action star turned president, replaced by a hobbit-size woman with enough balls to stay despite all the allegations being put on her.

I am a proud Filipino and an optimist, and so despite of all of the above, I used to think that people from other countries also knew the other side of the coin – the beautiful country that is the Philippines, and the goodness of its people. When I moved to Spain though, I learned that a lot of people are not familiar with the Philippines and I learned a lot about the sort of ideas and knowledge that some people have regarding to my country. Some of the questions that i’ve been asked I found funny, some I found very ignorant and some made me a little mad. I’ve outlined some of these questions below, followed by my own thoughts and ideas.

Geography

“Hay playa en Filipinas?” which can be translated to “Is there a beach in the Philippines?” This question is something that never in my life I thought I would be asked, but I thought wrong, believe me. To this I answered, “No hay playa en Filipinas. Hay miles de playas.” – “There isn´t a beach in the Philippines, there are thousands of them.” ” The Philippines were a colony of Spain, right? And so you are in South America.” Hmmm… This question made me pause for a very long 3 seconds with a look on my face that said “What in god´s name are you talking about?” The first part I admit is a very intelligent remark. Philippines was a colony of Spain for 333 years, explaining a 92% Christian population in the country, a thousand Spanish words similar to the vernacular and a heavily Spanish influenced the culture. This may confuse some people about the location of the Philippines who think that because “it was a colony of Spain, it is in South America”. To answer the question though, Philippines is located in South East Asia below Taiwan, above Malaysia and Brunei.

The Language

There are about 76 major language groups with more than 500 dialects. It sounds crazy but not to worry, Tagalog is considered the official language and is widely used. English is the second official language. You can travel all the islands just speaking English and have no problems. “… and you, why do you speak English?…you are Asian, why do you have that American accent?” These questions put a smile on my face. I have been asked these questions so many times I don’t care to remember. The long version of my answer is this: After being colonised by Spain Philippines was sold to the United States. The Americans colonised the country for 44 years. They demanded the Filipinos speak English instead of Spanish and so now we conduct busines in English, schools teach English from kindergarten to Masters. You can hear people having conversations switching from Tagalog to English, and vice versa. As for the accent, I can honestly say that it is learned. I am a product of the numerous call centers and BPO firms that have infused momentum into the Philippines market, which includes Fortune 500 companies. These call centers provide accent training depending on the client whether it’s American or British and do not allow their employees to speak any other language inside the office aside from English. We are considered the third-largest English speaking country in the world.

The Culture and The People

I can describe the culture of the Philippines like this: Malay + indones + chinese + arab + india + spanish + american + british + japanese = Filipino The ancestors + the merchants + the settlers + the colonisers Like our vernacular, the Philippine culture is heavily influenced by the people who stayed in the country – close family ties and food of the Chinese, words and religion of the Spanish, democracy and English as an official language from the Americans are just a few examples. Personally, I describe a Filipino as a person who smiles easily, welcomes you to their home with open arms and serves you the best food that they can offer, gives respect to their elders, values freedom, believes in God and fights for what they believes in.

The Country

How can I describe it? Heavy traffic in the metropolis, 24hours of work in the business districts, lots of partying and beautiful people on weekends. Then, there are people who live in shanties who would be happy to earn $2 a day and thousands of unemployed. Physically, it is very beautiful – beaches like Boracay, Palawan and Bohol; countrysides like Tagaytay; volcanoes like Taal – the smallest in the world and of course mountains too. It has so much to offer! I always tell myself that when I get the chance I will go island-hopping and discover my own country – the Philippines — visit Philippines Tourism

A Sense Of Place

Camper shoes are native to the island of Majorca, Spain (Mallorca, to Spaniards), about 150 miles off the coast of Barcelona.

They owe their design sensibilty to geographical, cultural and historical heritage. They were born out of the dream of a Majorcan family who have been manufacturing shoes since 1877. Camper are one of the increasingly few shoe manufacturers not based in China where the exploitation of factory workers is commonplace.

“Camper” means “peasant” in the regional language of Catalan. All of their shoes are inspired by farmer footwear and are steeped in island tradition. Lorenzo Fluxá, who started the company in 1975, has always said that it’s better to build a brand around old-fashioned ideas than to try to be fashion-forward. Their design director and all-purpose muse, Guillermo Ferrer says “Some people try to tell us what kind of product to make, we appreciate their opinions, but we usually say, ‘No thank you.’ We make Majorcan shoes. If they don’t want our product, we accept their decision, close the factory, and go home.”

Camper stands for the preservation of rural culture, a culture that is quickly diminishing in these modern times of urbanisation, both the setting and the values that it represents.