Filipinos Everywhere

When my mom and I were in Milan, we saw a Filipino flag across the street from the hotel we were staying at. It appeared to be some type of business or an office. I realized then that everywhere we went, we saw at least one Filipino, even in the less crowded, less touristy areas. 

Milan, Italy

We took the train from Paris to Mulhouse. It’s not a popular destination. It’s a small town in eastern France, away from the Paris crowd. So we were a little surprised to see a Filipina there, walking a dog in the town square. 

Mulhouse, France

While we were in Mulhouse we also visited another town called Colmar. This one had more crowd, mostly Europeans, Americans and Chinese. Nevertheless, we managed to see at least a couple of Filipinos, probably a husband and a wife, having their pictures taken by the fountain. 

Colmar, France

When we were done with France, we headed for Switzerland. We took the train to Basel and one of the train conductors was a Filipino. In Basel, we met a nice Filipino man from Maryland who was there for a work conference. We had coffee with him and his coworker. It was nice of him to offer to take a picture of me and my mom. 

        Basel, Switzerland          

Our final destination was Milan. I wanted to go to this water park not too far from Milan. It’s called Acquaworld, in Monza, Italy. I was fascinated by it because I have never seen a year-round, indoor water park in the US before. And not to mention it has a spa for adults. We thought for sure we were not going to see any Filipinos there, but we did! There was a couple in the spa who looked like they were on a honeymoon.

The spa at Acquaworld, Monza, Italy

 

I have a friend from the Philippines who is now living abroad. She told me over Facebook Messenger, “I admire you with all your adventures. I haven’t traveled alone, I’m too afraid.” And I told her, “You are braver than you think, didn’t you move overseas all by yourself?” Then, she replied, “Oh yeah, I did. You were right. I was by myself. I took the risk. I didn’t realize it.”

When my mother came to the US in 1983, she landed in Los Angeles. First time in a foreign land, more than 7,000 miles away from home, and only knowing one person in Northern California, she took a 6-hour bus from LA to San Francisco all by herself. If it wasn’t for her bravery, I wouldn’t be here right now writing this story.

Every Filipino who grew up in the Philippines knows that Filipinos are hard workers in nature, as portrayed by the Philippine map, a humble farmer, working in the field. The truth is, Filipinos are not only hard workers, they are also dreamers, adventurers, and most importantly ― they are brave.