Ming's Musings
Monday, May 01, 2006
coming homeI am really excited for my upcoming trip to Cebu. I have not been home in 2 years.
I am so excited to meet my friends and family. On the other hand, I dread what friends and family always say. Instead of hugging me and asking me how I am, they normally ask, "Did you gain weight?" Or...."Hey...you gained weight, you are not pregnant, are you?" "Ouch!" I can only say. :(
I don't understand why friends greet me this way. I met a schoolmate named Joji a couple of years ago who migrated to Australia. I did not see her in more than twenty years and I thought she looked good. However, she said she was on a diet pill. "Why?" I asked. "Personally think you look very good!" She replied, "I thought I was okay until I came home. Everybody said I gained weight. In Australia, I live in an Italian community. They all think I am thin."
Another friend of mine, Hanni, who was half Filipina and half German claims she avoids her Filipina relatives. "Why?" I curiously asked. "Well, they say my face look like a mooncake, and they think muscles is fat." My friend was an aerobic trainer and pretty buffed and tone. She actually was very pretty and gorgeous. "Oh, don't mind them" I advised. "Some people can be jealous and will give you a rough time about your looks. But you really look good, believe me." "I know," She responded. "But you can't help getting inferiority complex when you come home and visit."
Actually, I get the same comments when I meet my Filipino friends abroad as well. When I meet them, they would first comment on my physical weight, wether I lost or gained weight before they really ask me how I am. I wonder if this is a national trait, or how this all began....
