I could see the disappointment in their eyes. I was not as exotic as they thought I should have been. They were put off because I was as modern as they were, and my English was even better than theirs. They prodded me for more information as if wanting to prove to themselves that I was probably born abroad to explain why I am so “normal”. When I told them that I look like your typical Filipina, they seemed even more disconcerted.

I wonder what they (foreign counterpart in S) expected when they were told that they were going to meet someone from the Philippines. Would I have been more interesting if I spoke gibberish and wore a leaf instead?

I have gone past that stage when incidents like this offends me. They may have dismissed me as, say, an embarassment to my racial stereotype but, at least, I am not like them– Ignorant. With all the resources available to people in the first world, it is a sin to not know more.

Sus naman!