December 28, 2009
10 most common stereotypes about Filipino culture
My friend recently shared with me some of the “Filipino” stereotypes her family and she had growing up and living among the Americans. Even though my friend was born here and grew up immersed into the American culture, her family kept traditional Filipino customs and taught her a thing or two.
However, over a long span of life in USA, I’ve met a few “foreign born” citizens who share their cultural backgrounds with the locals – and there are many of such Americans, and that makes this country one of the most diverse countries in the world – because of all the people of various cultures gathered in one place.
Here are some of the stereotypes of the Filipino culture that a friend shared with me:
1) We [Filipinos] drive only Japanese cars, because they are reliable and practical. (Even though it’s not true to all Filipinos, many of us, and them, would agree with this one statement!)
2) Filipinos are always late...to everything. (Even though it’s regarded as a stereotype, my friend did admit the fact that she is usually late, as well.)
3) Someone asked her if she has ever eaten a "dog". In some provinces in the Philippines, they do eat "dogs", but they are the "wild" dogs. Neither her, nor her family, have ever eaten one.
4) Upon entering a Filipino's home, one must remove one’s shoes, and should put on slippers. Filipinos don't like "outside dirt" inside the home. (This is actually a very common thing in Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France – based on my direct experience.)
5) Filipinos loves "rose gardens and orchids", one can tell if you are walking by a house, and you see a plentiful amount of them, it is a "Filipino" home.
6) Most Filipinos like "oriental" furniture, with the "plastic" covers, and "plastic rug runners".
7) Some Filipinos eat with their "hands".
8) Filipino parents would get their attention, by saying, "Psst!" and "Hoy!" You are a true "Filipino", if you turn around.
9) Most Filipinos tend to work in accounting, as physicians or nurses, or electrical engineering. My American Filipino friend knows a lot of Filipino nurses, physicians and accountants, in her immediate and extended family. Filipino parents tend to push “math and science" majors in college.
10) My friend’s Filipino grandfather told her mom: "The Chinese treat the Filipinos, like second-class citizens." On their recent trip to Hong Kong and Macau, they experienced it, since most of the domestics (housekeepers) are Filipino. There are a lot of Chinese-Filipinos in the Philippines, and they are very wealthy.
If you are of a Filipino descent, please tell me if any of these stereotypes have ever been applied to you.
If you have any other stereotypes to share, please drop me a line. Let’s all discuss and break the stereotypes, which would – on one hand – make us more politically correct and culturally aware, but – on the other hand – it would make us boring. Some stereotypes are both healthy and fun, and completely harmless.
December 27, 2009
Follow travel experts online: social networks for travel writers
Travel industry players start more and more utilize online social networks to get the word out about their work (and drive traffic to the original publication of an article, which sometimes is the only means to pump up the writer's salary - through online traffic's clicks), as well as generate an alternative pool of customers to buy their products.
In the times of the economic turmoil, many travel industry businesses and writers choose to go online to reach out to their customers via popular social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and other sites.
Grow and sell your travel passion and trade online
This trend has been becoming a rather happening approach to use and many travel industry players, who used to “sell” their services via traditional means, say that the quantity of brand awareness and sales from their blogs, websites and social network profiles far surpass what they 'make on the street". And this is happening around the world – many members of the travel industry utilize global and local social networks for promoting and selling their works.
Retailing (books, articles, gadgets, gear, etc.) through blogs also grows and reaches the client base as it has not done before: subscribers (or followers and fans of a travel blog, for example) are kept updated about the latest tangible and intangible products through on site previews, inside looks and tips and even samples, as well as through the basic one-on-one correspondence with the site’s owner. This is a true new word-of-mouth “promotion” that strengthens the brand awareness.
Being exposed and open on social networks allows the travel industry professionals to put their new creations online to a selected group of “fans” who can provide their comments and suggestions immediately and in real-time, as well as can place orders and share the links with their friends and other networks.
Take for example one of the largest trade travel magazine Travel and Leisure Magazine – it has its own Twitter profile, one of the last update of which is: ”These trips aren't just self-indulgent retreats. They'll change your life. Which do you want to take? http://bit.ly/5K1PTb” And The Los Angeles Times offers its travel updates on its own Twitter profile as well: “New Year’s Eve at California theme parks: Shortly after Christmas, the same question arises every year: http://bit.ly/7Gwlcv”.
Many young travel industry members especially increasingly start to exploit novel marketing models, made possible by growing Internet communities and social networks, to ‘market’ their creations directly and avoid the overheads of traditional distribution chains.
Internet with all its mobility and constant advancement, offers entrepreneurs around the world to connect with their local and international customers. From promoting of products almost exclusively through social networking websites to offering almost exclusively exhibitions and sample sales – online shops and showrooms on social networks is the next marketing novelty for people around the globe, and travelers take advantage of it as well, subscribing to various social network profiles and fan pages that offer “exclusive” articles, stories, deals and discussion forums of all about travel.
National Geographic Traveler has its own Facebook fan page, Economist offers links to its Business Traveler's articles on Facebook as well, and Bonjour Paris not only offers inside information about everything French, but also encourages its writers to use their own social networks to promote their work (thus - the website) – just to name a few. And these travel “profiles” offer networking, fun and educational events as well and let you in the previews of anything that would be coming up to the general public later in the time (you would know about it first!), which one can learn about by “subscribing” to the online social network profiles.
Downfalls of marketing on social networking sites
However, marketing exclusively on social networking sites has its downsides. It is time-consuming, and online communities expect constant interaction and immediate responses. Twitters, if not updated every so often during a day, become obsolete immediately, and fell of the radar.
There are a lot of travel writers I follow on Twitter, but without constant browsing and digging and following, I loose track of all of their links and updates. The same goes with other social networks, like Facebook and MySpace – most of which are used for personal communication rather than following some stories and trends, and those updates can become obsolete as well unless there are very few friends in your network who update their “statuses” and “profiles” – otherwise, an update from The Economist’s travel reporter, let’s say, is moved down below the threshold by an update from your friend.
Either way, the readership of online news has been growing faster than a traditional media would like it to, but to keep up with the social networks and any other online resources – now almost any self-respected newspaper and magazine offer blogs, Facebook fan pages, Twitter updates and such. It’s all a matter of choosing the ones that matter the most, and make time and place for their online messages and updates.
By the way, most of the travel writers, including myself, have their own travel blogs as well profiles Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks that are so good that they are bad. Addicting - that is.
December 25, 2009
New Year's celebration means as much for Russians as Christmas does for Americans
Every year, after year, you worry about spending the New Year’s the right way – with the right group of people, in the right place, in the right outfit and with the right food and drinks. And most of us the New Year turns out to be nothing like we planned or hoped for – sometimes to the best, sometimes to the worst, but never disappointing if it involves least one of those pleasant holiday “ingredients” such as friends or family.
Having grown up in various places of the world, I had a chance to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Russia, France, Germany, and USA – and each of these locations had its own unique way of holiday preparation and celebration, and - holiday meal is one of them.
Just a few days before Christmas and New Year you might wonder what other cultures have for holiday meals (or not, depending on what’s your interest level in other cultures). Either way, I know how some people from other (non-American) cultures incorporate their authentic traditions into American way of holiday celebrations, and I got to appreciate my mom’s cooking of a traditional Christmas and/or New Year’s meal that consists of Russian, American and European cuisines.
This to say, I’d love to share with you a very traditional New Year’s holiday meal that Russian people make, regardless of where they are. Before I start talking about the holiday meal, I'd like to mention that fact that Russians regard New Year’s celebration as the rest of the world regards to Christmas celebration - as one of the most important holidays of a year.
That is – for Russians New Year’s Eve, 31st of December, is the time spent with families and friends who gather around a big table with the dishes prepared out of the best traditional delicatessen that Russians sometimes can’t afford to have on a regular basis, like red and black caviar, champagne, smoked sturgeon, etc. The Christmas tree in Russia is called the New Year’s tree (or 'novogodnaya elka') and is usually set up and decorated no earlier than a week before the New Year's eve, and, usually, it’s kept in the house for about two weeks until the Russian Orthodox Christmas day – January 7th.
The first part of the New Year’s evening celebration is dedicated solely to the family and closed ones – games, holiday televised concerts, toasts, lighting Bengal lights, wishing wishes, boomerangs and sharing a glass of champagne with a next door neighbor over one's apartment balcony - it’s all part of the New Year’s evening.
The second (and the longest part) of the celebration is for the adults to leave kids (if any) with grandparents at home and head to join the friends for some wild adult time of more champagne, games, city walks and rides, toasts, and dancing – some of which are costumed, or masqueraded loud parties, while others prefer to host parties for friends at home the homey-kind of a new year celebration .
The Russian adult New Year’s celebrations last way into the late morning hours, and conclude with a trip to private (if the new year party is at someone's country house with its own sauna) or to any of many city’s saunas and steaming baths, believed by Russians to be exactly what one needs after a long night of drinking, dancing and eating – to sober up, cleanse and relax. And these traditional trips to spas are not limited to Russians in Russia only – I’ve known Eastern Europeans around the USA who keep the traditional Russian celebration as they had it back home in Russia – with family and adult parties, Russian cuisine, and trips to sauna in the morning.
It’s ain't any different in Washington, DC as well. Just ask the service staff at the popular “Russian” hang out Korean spa place, Spa World, in Centreville, Virginia. Open 24/7 spa center has hosted many Russians based in Virginia, Maryland and DC over many morning-after New Year's celebrations.
Here are the most traditional Russian dishes one should expect to see at the Russian New Year’s celebration:
Salad Olivier (or as some Russians call it – “winter salad”), as this is the salad that has all the winter seasonal produce that is not specifically grown in winter, but that lasts through winter, such as potato, carrots, etc. and canned pickled vegetables and meat). This salad is by far the most traditional dish for New Year’s celebrations in Russian homes.
Mushroom "Julienne" – is one of the most standard appetizers of any Russian holiday dinners, and it can be found in any Russian restaurants in USA. Baked mushrooms with onions, cheese and some sour cream in a small metal pot that’s used to served it in as well.
Herring “Under a Fur Coat” – I can see why this name of a dish might sound strange to someone who has had no exposure to Russian, Finish, Ukrainian and/or some other Eastern European culture. This dish looks as a cake from far, and up close – it’s a layered salad, pickled herring on the bottom, a layer of onion on top of it, a layer of boiled beets on top of the onion, a layer of boiled potatoes on top of the onion, a layer of beets again,and to top it all off with some mayonnaise, spices, greens and shredded cheese. The secret to this dish is to let it "soaked" in for a few hours before it’s served.
Piroshki – or the Russian bite-size empanadas, traditionally filled with either: potatoes and onion, mushrooms, cabbage, grounded beef, or eggs with onion. These are homemade from start to end as well, including the dough.
And not a single New Year’s celebration goes without any pickled vegetables – to pickle vegetables is a very Russian traditional thing to do. Many Russians who own summer houses manage gardens of various produce, some of which they pickle at the end of summer for consumption on various holiday occasions. Vodka, to be said, goes better if it’s accompanied with pickled vegetables, but not only the ones who consumer alcoholic drinks favor pickled food – even children at younger age acquire a preferred taste for a piece of some pickled vegetable. That's just Russians...
As the Russians say to wish you a happy new year: S Novim Godom! S Novim Schastiem! Which means "With the New Year! With the New Happiness!"
December 8, 2009
Don't tell me you have a snowy winter here...
....snow-balling and snow-skating on Red Square...
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