As I was walking towards town to meet up with K for lunch today after school (hmmm…come to think of it, it was more like limping actually due to my newly sprained ankle which I acquired while playing football the other day) I saw two naturally brown-skinned girls walking in front of me. On instinct, I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Normally, I pride myself on having good “gay-dar” but apparently, it only works for sniffing out gay people. In distinguishing a Filipino from a Malaysian, Indonesian, or Thai, I find myself to be quite incapacitated. As I was eavesdropping, I heard the word “tayo” which means “us” in Tagalog, our national language. I eagerly listened some more. *wink*
The other day, during drinks after Ultimate training I asked my teammates what the national language in Belgium is. They said it was Dutch, French, and German. In a country with over 170 languages but only one national language, which is Filipino, it is a bit hard for me to comprehend that this country has 3 national languages. Although we have 2 official languages which are Filipino and English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines).
So anyway, the two were walking and apparently, I ended up limping faster than they were walking coz I was able to catch up with them. We ended up walking side by side, which I found rather weird. The girl to the far right looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. The other girl was busy talking about this girl she didn’t like and I immediately detected the distinct Visayan accent speaking in Tagalog.
Without hesitating, I asked the two of them, “Magkaklase kayo?” (Are you two classmates?)—as they were speaking in Tagalog. The girl to the right replied, “Hindi, ako level one pa lang siya level 2 na. Ikaw?” (No, I’m still in level one and she’s already in level 2, and you?)
I told her I was in level 2.
Her next reaction startled me a bit: “Eh bago ka pa lang dito diba? Level 2 kana pala!” (But you’re still new here and you’re already in level two!)
I just stretched my lips apart in an attempt to show my teeth and fake a smile all the while thinking, “Umm…Have we met before? Do I know you?? How do you know that I’m still new here???”. Then I had all these weird thoughts racing through my head…Do they have a Filipino internal database here that I don’t know of? A has never mentioned that to me. How could this girl have known??
It was a bit creepy. Yeah, Filipinos are naturally friendly but how in the world…?? To distract myself I just asked the other girl in my dialect this time, “Taga asa ka?” (Where are you from?)
“Cebu”, she replied, “Ikaw?”. I smiled and said, “Dumaguete”.
“Ah, kabalo diay ka mu-Cebuano!” (Oh! So you know how to speak Cebuano!)
Me (mentally): Duh?? (see above dialogue)
But like I always tell K, Filipinos are everywhere in the world. I wouldn’t even be surprised if I go to Antarctica and meet one. We are just EVERYWHERE.
So well, when we reached the crossing we said our casual goodbyes and parted ways. I bet they will immediately update their database when they get to their headquarters:
Name: Jacki 00678121
Classification: Level 2--Het Perspectief
Location: Gent, Belgium
Origin: Negros Oriental, Philippines
Wrong move, Jacki. Wrong move.
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