Filipinos And White Men Fascination

L-R: Pinoy, Amerikano, then me

 I was a Mormon missionary for two years. Most Filipinos would imagine two white out-of-teenage boys on white shirts and ties walking and going around people's houses teaching the good news about Christ. We are fascinated with how these white boys manage to learn our languages pretty fast and fluently. While Filipinos would love to test their English with these guys (I did, it's okay), these pooties would reply to you in Filipino, thus making you swallow a little bit harder and think why did I have to make such an effort to speak to him in English?

Working as a companion to 4 of them and working with dozens of them on short-term bases had me observe how people (especially children) get awed by the sight of these fair-skinned beings. When in their native lands, their redheads and heavy freckles seemed  just too ordinary, they suddenly become rockstars on rainforests, eliciting giggles and whispers amongst the locals.

Their accents have always been a matter of discussion, whether the boy's Midwestern or Southerner or Californian or Canadian or Australian or Kiwi or a Brit, it doesn't matter. A native english speaker's accent will always be music to the ears. Young ladies would always shyly giggle while staring at these young white boys with nametags, hoping that somehow, the young white guy would like her in return.

At that point, it was easier to be white. They would get all the attention they would want. However, it comes with a price. No matter how fun it seemed at first, the time will always come when they'd get tired of all the attention. The constant "Hey Joes" seem like cuss, they'd always wanna retaliate with something not good. 

For some reason, Filipinos (especially the masses) would always be fascinated with the presence of a white guy (or a gal). The experience to them (masses) might even seem out-of-this-worldly. Go to the barrios, bring a white guy with you and without knowing it, hordes of children will come right after the white guy, running towards him either asking for money or exchange high-fives with the tall pootie. To the barrio folk, it is an honest and innocent reaction to seeing someone different from them. As far as the Filipino is concerned (at least how I saw it from the barrios), the white guy will always be a rockstar, the brown Pinoy will always be the screaming fan.