racism

[p!noY]

hey y'all..

this is my first post so first things first.... i better introduce myself.. i'm a filipino guy (mid 20's) who happens
to be a big backpacker fanatic (though i'm not one.....yet) i've been checking this site everyday since I first
visited it...and damn i'm loving it more each day!!..this is what you call a TIGHT e-community minus those
pretentious assholes... it's like a virtual hostel where you meet travellers from around the globe...whatafuckn analogy!!

anyway, coming from a third world country, it is almost impossible to do travelling mainly because of
financial difficulties.(well, that's just me)... add to that problems with visas and all.. tough luck eh? but i love my
country!! 7,107 islands of it... life's a beach baby!! ... to continue..i was lucky enough to get a job with a
good pay and the worst boss!!! (ok, not that lucky!) and now i am based here in Singapore..so i was able to do
a few travelling, mostly here in southeast asia (malaysia, thailand, indonesia etc) but i've also been to the US
before because of work.. i haven't done any backpacking as yet though.. what a looooser!!.

so where d hell does racial discrimation comes in? well i figured, since most packers are from the west (i think),
i am just curious, is there any discrimination out there?? but pls don't get me wrong.. i'm not sayin westerners are
racist.. hmm.. ok, maybe not exactly discrimination... maybe i just don't want to be outcast... damn it..dnt exactly know how to put it into words.. but i am really into meeting people from around the world in as much as i wanted to see new places.. i had my share of being discriminated.. and it sucks!!!

btw, i'm seriously looking into backpacking next year!!! hope everything works out fine for me..
you'll know it since i will definitely be posting some silly Qs here!

peace out!

p.s.
great work you guys!! you probably don't know it, but this site for sure has inspired many people to get out
there and see the world!! i know, i have... cheers to that!!

[travelpunk]

WELCOME TO THE BOARDS- p!noy!

Thanks for the compliments on the boards! I know that all the members that have contributed here, feel greatly appreciated like I do, when we receive praises like yours B) !

As for racism, I too, am Filipino and I can tell you first hand that I encountered not ONE incident of racism in all the countries that I visited in Europe so far :eat:
And this goes for the little towns and villages that I visited outside of the main metropolitan areas where you won't see too many tourists. On the contrary actually! I was in a night club 4 hrs south of Madrid and had a couple of chicks walk up to me and started chatting, in front of my gf! My gf's brother, who was also there, told me that it was because I was "exotic" looking and they never see asians there(I was the only asian in the club).

I had a couple of incidents where I was charged way too much (at a post office in Paris, and a train station in Amsterdam), but I'm sure it was a result of two greedy ladies taking advantage of tourists rather than a question of racism. Well, I like to think so anyway.

Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised to see as many asians (and many other ethnicies) that I did throughout the countries that I visited.

Just being nice, respectful, alert, and smile a lot and hopefully you should have no problem while backpcking abroad . Well, that's my train of thought anyway.

Thanks again for joining us on the boards !

[biyahero]

i'm pinoy too!!

[p!noY]

you guys deserve the compliments!!!

hey TP, thanks for the warm welcome!!! damn, it's gr8 to have someone with the same ancestry on the boards..!!! and no less than the board mod himself... 21 gun salute!!! :greenguy: i figured you grew up in the states... glad to know you have not forgotten your roots!!!

and thanks for the advice bro.!! eXXXotic huh?? so that's how they take us eh?? more and more things to look forward to!!! hehe.. better get my act together and go out there!!!

btw, TP i was going thru the boards and found that picture of yours with your running man pose.. now, this is weird... i have this friend back in Manila (he lived in the US for a while as well), who happens to use the same pose everytime!! he even encouraged us to do the same!! so i have some pics with the same pose too.. but they're back in the phil! just curious, do you know the origin of that??


i hope to be active on the boards and be friends with the awesome t-punkers!! too bad, i will not be able to give much travel tips as i am no expert on this! hopefully, i'll be... in time!!

hey.. biyahero.. wazzup?! that makes us 3!


later guys! it's fckin friday!! got to get out and get drunk!!!

[Canadian Dude]

To the Family P!noY !!! Great to have you aboard!!!

Racism huh??? Well I think that you bring up a very good topic, one that some trav'las might think about before they go away.

I can tell you that when you are dealing with other trav'las you should nevr experience any kind of discrimination. The whole goal of travel is to experience other cultures and see othe lands, which mean where ever you go, you will be surrounded by people who are different. If you come acroos a trav'la who is racist, not only would i be surprised, but i would seriously say that that person should not be anywhere in the world but the place they came from. For crying out loud, I have stayed in hostel dorm room with people from 13 different countries and i was the only whitey there!!!
The thing with trav'las is that one of the first questions someone will ask you is "Where Are You From", not to judge you, but out of curiousity, where you are from might be their next adventure....
As for coming from a third world country, those are the places budget trav'las like to hear about, those are places "normal" trav'las don't even think of going unless its to a cheese ass resort...but us in the "budget adventure" community thrive of stuff like that!!! Just ask World Wide Mike, he is a travel god, and has seen first had many places that i could only dream of going to...

As for the places you will go, some old habbits never die, and discrimination is in almost every culture, from the Greeks and the Macadonians because of land rights that go back 100's of years, to the Jews and Muslims for religious reasons...you may see it, you may even be a victim of it...but DO NOT let that stop you from seeing the world..for every person that hates, there are 10 that will appreciate where you are from.

I will tell you this now, YOU CAN NOT BE RACIST AND TRAVEL, it is impossible...there would be no point in doing it in the first place unless you were attending a neo-nazi convention somewhere !!!

My friend you can be purple, pink or blue and from the planet Zoltar and you will be welcome here, this is a place of much love my friend, and its great to have ya!!!



PS...sorry about your jack-ass boss

[Mocassin]

Wooooaaahhhh! Is this the Filipino's invasion?!?!?!? Hahahaaha!

Welcome P!noY !!!!

When I was in Bulgaria, eveyone (Taxi drivers, waiters, shop owners....) kept asking me where I was from, and when I said 'Canada', they were always amazed and asked me why I was so far from my home...Everybody wanted to know if I liked Bulgaria and were happy when I said it was amazing...

I went out to a small coffee with 2 slovakian friends, and we drank beer all night...When it was time to pay, the waitress told us it was free! Wow! In a bar in Greece, the barmen kept giving us all kinds of shooters for us to taste, and then I told him to stop because I didn't have enough money, but he sais it was Ok, we didn't need to pay... Everyone was charming with me and did their best to help me, just because I was a stranger...I've never encountered racism of any kind. B)

[TUI]

nope! never seen any racism overseas, Ive experienced a little bit of an anti-american vibe here and there but nothing to write home about. For travelers I find we are much more open minded and are out there for the love of life :D no time for BS ya know?

[Sijuki]

Well, I have this belief that there is only one race worthy of our attention.... it's the human race. So it's hard to be discriminitory then. I have dealt with people of all different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, etc. And they all are just individuals. I will admit that I will joke about things that are stereotypical, but I tend to only do it around friends so as to not accidentally offend anyone. But I think if you can joke about things it helps you get closer to people. Anyways, I just wanted to put my 2 cents on my thoughts of racism. Have a nice day, and hope your trips becomes a reality. :D

[kyle j]

Look i Dont know how it is where you are from asia and i am only !/4 japanese but in The US I have a pretty big problem with the racism i have never got it bad but i have seen it to others, I Dont have a problem with people doing it to my face its just that they think racism as in calling someone a jap or chinck or anything asian is acceptable and is ok as opposed to calling someone a black racial slur or jewish because they were slightly more oppressed which im from the south so i understand but dont ever expect it to be fair here i hope europe is more understanding for the asian community, but maybe its b/c im drunk i dont usually care this much
Kj

[p!noY]

whoaa..!! i am overwhelmed by your replies!! this is exactly what makes the travelpunk rocks!!! and stand out from the rest !!!... everyone just have an amazing way of making you feel like you belong and at home.... BIG tango guys!!!! with these kind of people, ill know ill never get discriminated...

this is really good news for me.. don't have much experience on dealing with foreigners... the reason i asked abt this bec just recently i got this small talk with this caucasian.. you see, in this place where i stay.. most of the tenants are caucasians.. and one time, i was sitting by the pool and this guy began with a small talk and eventually asked where i came from.. i told him i'm filipino and he said in a not very nice tone.." so you work in a factory??" and i dnt knw what he really meant by it but i was just insulted... so i told him "oh yeah.. and they pay me big time and that is why i can afford the same place as yours!... " and he left.. what a jerk!!! but then maybe i overreacted... i dnt know

well..sorry for ranting.. but now i am sure he just happens to be an asshole...

you were all right on target!!! people with race issues should not travel!!

thanks again evryone!!!

[Diorama]

p!noy-welcome bro. A good percentage of my highschool was filipino. they all called themselves Flipside! So i think theres a Flipside group forming on this site! :P

Don't worry about that jerk. He's an uneducated asshold. he obviously wasn't raised in a mulitcultural place and has very strong thoughts on how each race should act. He means nothing to you, so don't give him the time of day. just feel sorry for him. People like that shouldn't even be talked about. dont give them the time of day.

I was raised differently from most white peeps. I was raised in little india. It obviously has a whole lot of hindi/punjabi people but it also a lot of chinese/filipino/japanese people. In elementary school I was actually the only white girl in my entire grade (we had about five white guys), so I think i see things from an opposite view. Instead of being the majority, i've always been the minority.

[travelpunk]

No worries, bro. The fact that he upped and left, says it all- he was an asshole. Life goes on...

Well said, Dio