Well, you may not have realised, but it is Stefan who has written every post on our blog so far. I (Lara) decided it was probably time to change this state of affairs, so - here I am!
Since we've been here, we have noticed that Filipinos do not have the same sense of time as us westerners do. For example, they might say that they'll meet you at 7, but in reality it will probably be 8, 8:30, and that is not a problem for them.
We went to see a movie the other day (Spiderman 3), and noticed another manifestation of this time relaxed-ness. We're sitting in the cinema, and 20 minutes into the movie, there are still people coming in. Not overly unusual, I thought to myself, but figured it would stop pretty soon. Half an hour in, people start to leave. Even though I wasn't overly keen on seeing this movie, I didn't think it was that bad!
Forty five minutes in, people are still trickling in. And, every so often, a group of people leave. This trend continues throughout the movie, even up until about 20 minutes before the movie ends, when a group of about 15 people walk into the cinema, loudly finding seats and squeezing past people. Unbelieveable, I think to myself.
Yet when the movie did end, and most people got up to leave, there were some people staying behind. And that's when I realised. These people that came in 20 minutes before the end of the movie, were going to stay to watch the next session of Spiderman. And I can almost guarantee that they would have left 20 minutes before the end of that session.
You see, time doesn't matter to Filipinos in the same way that it does to us westerners. They wouldn't want to rush whatever it was they were doing before the movie, just to be on time for the session. So, they arrive when they arrive, watch the full movie (even if it's not in chronological order) and leave when they have seen the whole thing. Simple as that!
Since we've been here, we have noticed that Filipinos do not have the same sense of time as us westerners do. For example, they might say that they'll meet you at 7, but in reality it will probably be 8, 8:30, and that is not a problem for them.
We went to see a movie the other day (Spiderman 3), and noticed another manifestation of this time relaxed-ness. We're sitting in the cinema, and 20 minutes into the movie, there are still people coming in. Not overly unusual, I thought to myself, but figured it would stop pretty soon. Half an hour in, people start to leave. Even though I wasn't overly keen on seeing this movie, I didn't think it was that bad!
Forty five minutes in, people are still trickling in. And, every so often, a group of people leave. This trend continues throughout the movie, even up until about 20 minutes before the movie ends, when a group of about 15 people walk into the cinema, loudly finding seats and squeezing past people. Unbelieveable, I think to myself.
Yet when the movie did end, and most people got up to leave, there were some people staying behind. And that's when I realised. These people that came in 20 minutes before the end of the movie, were going to stay to watch the next session of Spiderman. And I can almost guarantee that they would have left 20 minutes before the end of that session.
You see, time doesn't matter to Filipinos in the same way that it does to us westerners. They wouldn't want to rush whatever it was they were doing before the movie, just to be on time for the session. So, they arrive when they arrive, watch the full movie (even if it's not in chronological order) and leave when they have seen the whole thing. Simple as that!
4 comments:
Wouldn't it be interesting to try that out in Australia, everybody coming in whenever they want, can you imagine all the shhhhh's going on
It is really eye opening when you realise that a whole culture thinks and operates completely different to the one you've grown up in.
We think and act in a very western way!
Well that certainly brings back memories of when we lived in Sri Lanka in the early 80s - we were amazed - very different! Also people used to answer us according to what they THOUGHT we wanted to hear which may not in fact have been the factual answer! Most confusing to us.
yikes...i couldn't cope with that in the movies! although i do like the idea that one can never really be late for anything - seems to be a good plan, especially with all the traffic! - I usually complain about the carpark at work, but I don't think I will anymore after seeing that photo!
Can't wait to see you guys - 11 days!!!
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