10th day?..in the land of milk and honey
Sunday, February 3, 2008We saw Atonement yesterday. Hindi ko masyado nagustuhan yung movie, I got a little bored. I nearly fell asleep again hehe:) Before kami nanood movie, we ate lunch first at Hongkong Wok. Kuya ordered a beef stew for me (ang laki ng serving- almost for 3 yung inorder niya para sa akin), chicken curry for him, pork chops for Nenet (it’s too salty for my taste) and noodle ala pancit canton for Thea. We’re almost done when Franklin arrived. He ate all our left over food since matakaw naman siya hehe:) Actually, Franklin’s very funny. Since the movie will start at 250pm, we had lots of time so we walked around Macy’s. May nakita ko 3 bracelets and 1 white gold earrings for only 20$. I told Franklin and he bought it as pasalubong pag-uwi niya ng Pinas next week. I was tempted too to buy the bracelet/earring package pero I need to save my money for our LA trip baka marami ring clearance sale dun. hehe.
After that, naglakad-lakad lang ulit then we had coffee which Franklin paid. By past 7pm, nagyaya naman si Nenet for dinner. We had it at Outback. The place was full and we waited for 45 minutes to be seated. All in all masaya yung dinner, kasi kwentuhan and clown ulit si Franklin..saya! Today naman, my brother and I watched Sweeney Todd. Maganda yung movie, bloody and musical. Magaling si Johnny Depp and he looks like his character in Edward Scissor’s hands (both movies are directed by Tim Burton). And, Sweeney Todd’s cinematography is a bit like that of Batman’s (that’s the first thing I noticed, actually) kaya pala, it’s another Tim Burton’s film. Going home, kuya took a different route na. Pumunta kami sa downtown ng Madison instead. It’s beautiful at night, the lights and the snow. I think, ideal ang WI for families pero siguro pag single ka it’s a little boring and depressing at times esp pag winter time. But if mas preferred ang peaceful, quiet environment then okay na rin siya for singles.
I noticed that Americans here in WI are polite and well-mannered. They hold the door for you, they smile kapag nagkatinginan kayo and most of them are accomodating. I think, it’s not as diverse kumpara sa other states in the US. Tapos one thing pa that I notice is they’re disciplined (though siyempre meron pa ring iba na hindi sumusunod) sa highway/road, sa pedestrians crossing, when you eat sa food court sa mall or mcdo etc kailangan mong itapon sarili mong trash. Siguro normal lang talaga for anyone to notice these things kasi nga esp kung iba sa pinanggalingan at nakasanayan mo. Kaya masarap sometimes ma-expose sa ibang culture e. Marami ka ring matututunan. At first, you get intimidated (esp for first time traveller like me) by them kasi they’re really confident eh but sooner you’ll learn na rin. Ako, I didn’t actually have good impression of them honestly. I’m a little biased and the tendency is, you assert yourself without the need to. Parang it’s a little unfair talaga when you’ve created an impression already without really knowing them. Nakaka-cloud ng judgment. And we don’t wanna be judged, too. Ang hirap talaga ng may impressions agad, sometimes no matter what you/they do, ang nakikita mo lang yung pangit. It’s unfair talaga. hehe. (Hindi ko ma-explain mabuti no? hehe. I don’t wanna write it eh. But I’m not a racist or something. Meron lang ako before na pre-conceived notions about people from other countries esp those that played a role sa history ng Pinas hehe).
Well, it’s an eye opener for me. I’m an outsider and an observer. A visitor.
It’s good to learn somebody else’s culture and way of life. Different from ours. Both colorful.
One only needs to have an open heart and mind to see the beauty of both worlds.
