Only when I laugh....
One of the things I appreciate about living in the Philippines as opposed to elsewhere in Asia is the sense of humour...it is constantly present...and constantly quick...given how well English is understood in the workplace here it is possible have ongoing banter all day....it makes the work day far more enjoyable...the sense of humour here is very quick and can be fairly brutal...
The other day I came into work wearing a very crushed skirt...I hadn't realised how badly creased it was when I got dressed....now, given events at work over the last few months I haven't really been getting out too much....so when I walked into the office that morning, my colleague looked at my skirt, looked at me...and then said..."Bloody Hell, your skirt looks like it getting more action at the moment than you are"!.....I think that will be my favourite line from the Philippines!
Whilst browsing the Asia Sentinel this morning, I found this article..with this closing paragraph...
It’s not true that all Filipinos can sing wonderfully, although it’s easy to believe it at The Library. Is is true, however, that Filipinos are far and away the funniest people in Asia. They have a strange convention, easily spotted on television shows, of telling jokes entirely in English—until they reach the punch lines, when they switch to Tagalog. It’s a tribute to The Library—its energy, irreverence, the exceptional amount of talent squeezed into such a modest space—that foreigners who don’t know a word of Tagalog can be seen nearly falling out of their chairs at every joke.
and it wasn't until I read the part about the punch line being in Tagalog that I realised that it's true - and how used to it I am already!...the whole (and sometimes quite lenghty) joke is, more often than not, told in English and the closed in Tagalog....the end result being that I sit there surrounded by people screaming with laughter with a rather bemused look on my face....fortunately one of my colleagues will notice that I am at a slight disadvantage and will do me the honour of translating!
I am now resigned to laughing at jokes well after everyone else....
The other day I came into work wearing a very crushed skirt...I hadn't realised how badly creased it was when I got dressed....now, given events at work over the last few months I haven't really been getting out too much....so when I walked into the office that morning, my colleague looked at my skirt, looked at me...and then said..."Bloody Hell, your skirt looks like it getting more action at the moment than you are"!.....I think that will be my favourite line from the Philippines!
Whilst browsing the Asia Sentinel this morning, I found this article..with this closing paragraph...
It’s not true that all Filipinos can sing wonderfully, although it’s easy to believe it at The Library. Is is true, however, that Filipinos are far and away the funniest people in Asia. They have a strange convention, easily spotted on television shows, of telling jokes entirely in English—until they reach the punch lines, when they switch to Tagalog. It’s a tribute to The Library—its energy, irreverence, the exceptional amount of talent squeezed into such a modest space—that foreigners who don’t know a word of Tagalog can be seen nearly falling out of their chairs at every joke.
and it wasn't until I read the part about the punch line being in Tagalog that I realised that it's true - and how used to it I am already!...the whole (and sometimes quite lenghty) joke is, more often than not, told in English and the closed in Tagalog....the end result being that I sit there surrounded by people screaming with laughter with a rather bemused look on my face....fortunately one of my colleagues will notice that I am at a slight disadvantage and will do me the honour of translating!
I am now resigned to laughing at jokes well after everyone else....
posted by Madame Chiang at 7:36 am
2 Comments:
yesss!
i remember being frustrated because i would smile during the whole joke and, indeed, falling of my chair cause i couldn't get the punchline!
It actually made me stop going to THE LIBRARY, too bad. I still remember the tiny place and the small stage with pleasure.
Is the THE HOBBIT HOUSE still open?
The Hobbit House is definitely still open...I have been a few times...it is a rather unusual place...it seems that Monday is the night to go as Freddy Aguilar plays there on Mondays....
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