Coming to America (Not the Movie)

When I was a little girl, my mother used to bring me to church and at some point in the mass I would sneak away and sit next to the lightest skinned people in Church. I also remember running after planes & helicopters when they flew over our house. My mother knew at a very young age that I have a fetish for white/light skinned people & I would enjoy plane rides. She knew I'd go places.

[image source]


The Big Move
In 2003 with the blessing of my parents, I packed one suitcase and one balikbayan box (with dried fish and all) and came to America. First stop was Seattle/Tacoma. Coming from a place where it's usually hot & humid, I froze to the 60 deg weather that greeted me upon my arrival. So my original plan was to visit, see how I like it & maybe (just maybe) find an american citizen to marry and we will live happily ever after. HA! I didn't mean to end this blog this soon. OK. So my plan was to visit and see how I like it. Eventually I moved to Los Angeles, found a job, got a work visa & posted my profile on Yahoo Personals -- Beautiful Filipina (Better than Russian) Looking for American Husband. Just kidding. I'll get to that later.


First Impression

There are just too many freeways in America! Way too many to remember. You have to take the freeway to get to almost every place. I'm usually good with numbers but freeway/exit numbers are not my favorite and if you include the North, South, East, West directions then I'm really fucked! In LA alone, I know at least 22 freeways. There's the 5, 10, 134, 22, 110, 105, 60, 405, 118, 170 etc. The list just goes on and on. Then there was my first meal in a diner by the Seatac airport. I ordered a burger & fries (very American!). I'm used to eating burgers that are as big as my palm so when my order came I almost collapsed. The burger was as big as my face! And the fries? It looked like they harvested all the potatoes from Idaho, fried it and served them to me. That movie Super Size Me? I can totally relate to that.


Making friends

Once settled in LA, I did what most first timers did. I went to Universal Studios, Disneyland, took a picture of the Hollywood sign & took at least one picture with a "star" at the Walk of Fame. LA is great city with so many things to do -- the beach, shopping, dining & celebrity sighting. My roommate Lucy was my first friend (God Bless her soul). She introduced me to binge drinking Latino style. Every Friday after work Lucy & I somehow end up in her friend's friend's house or any random place to get drunk. I remember waking up in the living room of some navy guy's apartment in San Diego. I remember getting kicked out of some college dorm (WTF? Being a 30yo woman and the oldest in the group, this is soo embarrassing!). I also remember spending the night at a Norms parking lot (the breakfast place) because everyone was too drunk to drive. I also remember Lucy & I taking the train (after a night of partying) from Manhattan Beach to our home in Pasadena in our PJs! Keeping it classy was not in our vocabulary. Then I met new friends -- a bunch of binge drinking, sloppy white people. On the weekends, my filipino friends & I would be seen hanging out with them in dive bars while pretending to dig their shallowness. Unfortunately, my first three years in America were spent drinking and I still feel hungover to this day. The saddest part? If one of my relatives need a liver, they cannot count on me for help.

To Be Continued...

What? You think I can put all the crap I've been through in one blog?