Where Friends are like Family… I am going to share with you a little story about the first time I ever set foot on Filipino soil... I was met at 230am in the morning at the airport in Cebu by a man named Nino Capangpangan. Now up to that point I had only really known Nino for a few months, and even then I had only hung out with him TWICE very briefly while working in Hong Kong. He was a friend, but lets be honest I still barely even knew him at the time. What I also didnt know… Was how much Filipinos value friendship and how far they will go to for friends, how much they will unwaveringly help their friends, how they will treat their friends like family. Imagine this…. Nino works most of the year away in Hong Kong, and take it from a guy who worked with him... he works incredibly hard. He barely even has enough time to Skype his family sometimes! Why does he work so incredibly hard!? Well because he has this beautiful Son named Anton who he supports and Loves. Now imagine this: You work so incredibly hard for a large majority of the year away from your Son. Then finally you have your Christmas break and get to go back home to spend time with him. What do you think your Number 1 priority would be… Well of course it was his son… but I couldnt believe it... I never imagined that part of his priority would be to look after me and my 4 Canadian friends. Four people he had never met... who were friends with a guy….who really he had just recently met and become buddies with (thats me). He stayed up late at night ensuring we were always safe, he was constantly floating his life around our time in Cebu…. ensuring we were happy, taken care of, fed. He would take Anton with him to wherever we were going… just to make sure we were safe, secure and happy. Sometimes I think he barely slept he was so caring. Simply put: He treated one new friend (me) LIKE FAMILY, and he treated 4 complete strangers to him… LIKE FAMILY. Of course he must have had close friends he would have loved to use that time to see. I am sure he must have had other plans for his time with his son… But Nope. I was a Friend and he was a Filipino. If there is one thing I will always treasure about Filipino culture…. How to Value Friendships. This photo (below) is from Sinulog, January 2013. Imagine being surrounded by millions of people on only your 4th day in the country… Overwhelming!? Heck Yes!…. But look who was right next to us the whole time… Nino and his Son. #BlessedToHaveFilipinoFriends #BecomingFilipino
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:44:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015