Filipinos Essay, Research Paper

I interviewed Jake who is 14 years old. Jake was born in the Philippines. He has lived in the city of San Diego for twelve years. His parents decided to come to United States for a better life for him and his future family. He traveled with his family when he came to the United States. When I asked him if he would ever return to his native country, he quickly responded ?no.? Then he quickly explained himself; ?I have a better future here [in the United States]. If I went back, it would be hard for me to cope with the change in lifestyle. It is very different there.? He seemed to be a very optimistic young man. His hopes for his future are to go to college and have a family. At home, he speaks ?Taglish?, which is combination of Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, and English. Jake believes that Filipino food and traditions are very different from American culture. He speaks of food like lumpia and rice, which he states, are staples in the Filipino food. He continues, ?Filipinos are very strong in religion. Majority of Filipino households are Catholic and have mini-alters in their houses. Filipinos like singing at parties. Many of the Filipino households have sing-a-long machines.? He contemplated the question about the similarities between American culture and Filipinos. He later responded, ?This is a hard question. We celebrate a lot of the same holidays.? He later added that Filipinos are very family oriented, which is very true. Many children address the mothers of their friends as Auntie and the fathers as Uncle. As we concluded, he could not think of anything to tell the class. He just wants to tell everyone that just because the Filipinos hang out with their own kind that they are not racist or anything of that sort. They just hang out together because they have something in common, their culture.