Why moving abroad strengthened my connection to the Philippines
Since I moved out of the country, I’ve been consuming more Filipino culture than when I was back home.
I’m more invested now in Filipino news, internet memes or jokes, celebrity culture, and more. I’ve been cooking and craving more Filipino food. Spotting Filipinos walking around here brings me so much excitement; I have to stop myself from approaching them because it might seem creepy.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder, so they say, but why is that the case? I chatted with some of my amazing friends to get their perspectives on why we want to reconnect with our national identity more when we’re away from the homeland.
Music, media, and pop culture
My timing seems off when it comes to Pinoy pop culture. Bakit kasi lalong sumikat ang BINI kung kailan ako umalis at hindi ko sila na mapapanood mag-concert? The best season of Drag Race Philippines aired when I couldn’t go to viewing parties either. But are there really more iconic things happening now, or am I just seeking them out on purpose?
My friends gravitate more to Filipino movies and shows now than when they were readily available back home. My friend Issa Soliongco, a designer who pursued her Master’s abroad, found herself going through funny Pinoy content accounts on Instagram. I’m the same way, too; it’s a slight feeling of taking things for granted that’s pushing me to consume more.
There’s this fear that I’ll suddenly become ignorant of the things going on back home and that a lack of knowledge will mean I’m turning my back on the Philippines.
Music also can transport you back home. “I’ve especially found myself listening to more Filipino songs and looking for new artists I haven’t heard of before. It just feels comforting,” Andie Fernandez, a biomedical engineering PhD student, says. “Since I always listen to music during mundane tasks, it sort of roots me back to home despite being in a completely different environment.”
After days of speaking in another language (usually English) to everyone you encounter, it’s refreshing to hear Filipino again. If you don’t have anyone to immediately talk in Filipino with, OPM is the next best thing. Ang sarap kaya sa tenga pakinggan ang sariling wika.
Food
“I don’t know if I’m craving the flavor, the ingredients, or just the interactions,” admits Doris Wu, a recent business graduate. Making your own food is rewarding in itself—you can trust me on this as someone who has recently found extreme happiness in cooking—but she says it hits differently when you’re going to a place you’re familiar with. Sometimes, it’s the “hello po, ate!” or the “kuya, ‘yung parati ko pong binibili” that you miss.
Even if you do get to cook your own Filipino food, most of the time the ingredients aren’t the same and you’re scrambling to find a gabi substitute for your sinigang. There’s no orange cap peanut butter for your kare-kare either. There’s only one restaurant that serves Filipino food in our city, and the Tita there mentioned she’s also had to switch out some ingredients since they’re inaccessible or not as palatable to her Western customers. I miss when every other place you go to has lechon kawali on the menu.
News and current affairs
Strangely, keeping updated on the news in the Philippines is easier now that I’m away. Mia Fadriquela, a public health practitioner who recently went back to the Philippines, agrees with this. “I read way more news articles when I was abroad so that I wouldn’t feel like I’d been missing out.” She cites the Alice Guo case. “I literally read every single article.” There were instances, too, where I was so updated on current events that I was the one updating my mother through video call even if she’s the one still living in the Philippines.
There’s this fear that I’ll suddenly become ignorant of the things going on back home and that a lack of knowledge will mean I’m turning my back on the Philippines. Keeping up to date is a way to connect. Plus my socials are still in tune with the current news: my algorithm hasn’t changed much, so I still get glimpses into all the mess happening in our government. It’s just up to me now to dive deeper and learn more.
Identity
Ria Phi, an advocate for children’s mental health who has the most experience living abroad among all of us, talks about a deeper feeling. “It’s just easy to take things for granted while growing up in the same place around the same people,” she says. “I paid more attention to what being Filipino meant to me when I moved away and encountered people of different backgrounds daily.”
Living in a place with a small Filipino community can strengthen your own sense of identity. With my newfound friends here from different parts of the world, I’ve gotten the privilege of exchanging cultures with others and realize how great our own is. The things I deemed just regular ol’ Pinoy things were cool and interesting to those who don’t know much about the Philippines.
“I realized how much I love being Filipino,” Ria adds. This realization is echoed in the undertones of all of my friends’ responses. Being away makes us notice our Filipino identities more, and we become much more eager to celebrate it.
