Life's Little Annoyances!

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. That's a sorry for each of the three days I have been unable to put a blog out for you all. The reason is that our internet has only been on for around 6 hours in the whole week. Any idea how frustrating that can be? Coming from the UK, there are some little frustrations that make you cry at the time but you laugh about later.

Such as:

* Filipino Time - an hour late is an hour early. But who cares anyway? If we're all late then we're all on time! Right? When a service starts at 8am, that is when we Filipinos start to get ready for the 8am meeting. Same problem in Africa. How do we Brits handle it? Well, in the first year Mary & I tried to change the whole Filipino culture .. starting at Sefton. But most people just did not get it, and we ended up going to things hours before they started and getting a bit frustrated. So guess what we do now???? Yup, Filipino-Scottish time! We're always officially late but unofficially early. It's great!

* Filipino 'Yes' - Here in the Philippines 'yes' is an amazing word. In the boring old UK, yes means yes. But here it can mean ALL of the following - maybe, what do you mean?, I have no idea what you are talking about but I will pretend that I do, no, I will ask someone later ... or yes. So you can see that we got into big problems when people responded 'yes' to us!

* Filipino Aircon Buses - I love living in the Philippines -don't get me wrong. But there are things - whichever way you look at it - that are just plain wrong. Buses. The normal way of travel here. During daytime, it is scorching hot. During nighttime it is cooler. So when does EVERY Filipino bus company send out their lovely aircon buses? Nope, you are wrong. The answer is ... Nightime. Result? During the day a bunch of roasting hot Filipinos with every window open and the bus full of fumes. During the night, you will find a bunch of freezing cold Filipinos who are almost at deaths door because of the cold - all wrapped up in blankets and wearing thick socks. Absolutely true. Ask Craig Burrows or Catherine Young, our missionary friends!

* Filipino Mathematics - Filipinos cannot function without calculators! Arithmetic is not their strong point. For example, one time I went for lunch at a fast food restaurant. My meal was meant to have 2 cups of rice, but the lady only gave one. I was a nice Christian at that point and so I decided to say nothing. However, after I sat down the lady came running over and said,"Sir, you should have 2 cups of rice!" Guess what she did? She scooped off the one rice on my plate that was still untouched, and added 2 new ones! Why could she not just add her one to my one? That actually makes two!

* Filipino Signboards - Because English is the written language in the Philippines, we can understand everything! Sometimes we have seen funny things written down on jeepneys or houses. For example, this week I saw 16 young people on a tiny tri-cycle with the words 'Jesus, make me wise as I travel' written at the back! I saw a sign on a gate once that said, 'Please, no men urinate here ... only dogs' The classic is the roadworks sign that says, 'Slow men at work'... and it is true! I have included a few Japanese Signs at the top of this blog just to show that even developed countries can make mistakes in their Engris!

These are only a few things that makes life more exciting here in the Philippines. Like I said, you can have a good laugh later, but at the time they drive you cRRAAZZYYYY! Maybe I will share some more next time I am frustrated with my internet!

We are going down to Manila today to pick up Mary's cousin Vivien and to get all the Christmas Gifts for the Children's Home. Have a great weekend and I will write soon.

By the way, can you spread the word around about our Sefton blog. Get your Pastor to announce it on Sunday. It's the best way to find out what's going on over here.

Hey, and why don't you write some of your funny stories or Cultural annoyances on 'comments' and let everyone have a laugh. A free nightime Filipino bus trip will be given as a prize (duvet not included!) Go on ... surprise yourself.