living in the Philippines
living in the Philippines
I was thinking about moving to the Philippines to live with my wife. She's Filipina and I want her to be happy. Will it be hard for me(as an American) to adjust to life there?
Re: living in the Philippines
bobby7227 wrote:I was thinking about moving to the Philippines to live with my wife. She's Filipina and I want her to be happy. Will it be hard for me(as an American) to adjust to life there?
As long as you know how to speak Tagalog everything will be OK for you
Re: living in the Philippines
Do you know how to speak the language? I think Tagalog or Filipino is the national language, but they have other languages too.
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Re: living in the Philippines
The culture in the Philippines is quite different in terms of family values. A married child living with the parents is common and sometimes there's also the grandparents. Foreigners married to Filipinos are surprised with that setup. Another idiosyncrasy is giving money to parents and relatives especially to poor relatives. In return, the foreigner is treated as family and given priority in almost everything.
Re: living in the Philippines
The Phillippines has a high percentage of English speakers so I don't think language would be a problem. Nonetheless, it's always helpful to know the native languages. In addition, it would give you a better feel for the culture. Note, the two major languages are Tagalog and Cebuano.
Re: living in the Philippines
I have a Facebook friend who is American and did the same to be with his now wife and they have a daughter together who was born here. The girl is now three years old, I think. He's learning the local dialect little by little but speaks mainly in English. He posts about his life here and what it's like being a foreigner living in a modest home situated in a farm. He's also friends with a few expats who moved here to be with their Filipina spouses and has made a life here. If they can, I'm sure you can adjust as well. You just need to be patient with our culture because I know that lots of things will come off as strange to you. Also, a good support group of people like yourself will help.
- Novelangel
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Re: living in the Philippines
Just saying that you need to learn the language is simplifying it a bit. You also have to be prepared for the weather as it is extremely hot and dry for part of the year and extremely hot and rainy the rest of the time. You will need to find work, assuming that you're not retired, or running your own business here in the U.S., (which could be difficult to do from the Phils) Pay is different over there as you probably already know, with the peso being somewhat lighter than the American dollar. If you are already financially sound to begin with, you will enjoy the prices of goods over there. But since you are married to her, you are somewhat familiar with the culture and everything I've mentioned already, and just need to make a decision. It is certainly a beautiful country, with wonderfully friendly people as you must already know. I think what I would do is make a plan to travel over there for a three week visit, (last I knew you don't even need a visa for that) and see what you think. Congratulations on your marriage, by the way.
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Re: living in the Philippines
I am a Filipina and I am married to a Korean. Every year we had our vacation in the Philippines during the Holiday Season and we spent Christmas and New Year with my whole family. It is always 2 to 3 months vacation that we always had that is why my husband is already quite familiar with the Philippine culture and the people. There is no problem with regards to the dialect since my husband is good in English because he studied in other country. And since Filipinos second language is English it is just easy to communicate with the people there. But my husband also learned Tagalog and he is a fast learner that is why he is always eager to go for a vacation in my home country. And for the many times he had been in the Philippines he is already entitled to stay there even for one year every time we go home. That is why we are planning that we try our luck to do business and he wants to experience what is life in the Philippines. Well, I can say that it is a good idea to what you are thinking as long as you are physically, financially and emotionally prepared to live your life in another country.
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Re: living in the Philippines
Living in the Philippines especially for expats is not really a difficult choice. As an expat receiving your pension or savings in dollars, the cost of living in the Philippines is relatively lower than if you live in the US. Also, the people are more friendly to foreigners.Just watch out for the changes in weather because it may be too hot or wet, since there are only two seasons. I can also say that Filipinas are a good catch because most of them are loving wives and loyal too even if their spouses are abit older than them. We are not familiar with divorces or break ups because of our Christian culture.
Re: living in the Philippines
Hi im filipino and you should go here in the Philippines with you wife. Filipino is has a good hospitality and if you concern the cost of living here is you dont need to worry because the cost of living here is cheap with quality. The only one adjustment you will face is the culture of Filipino such as food, language (if you dont know how to speak tagalog) but overall you should go here and live happily with your wife. Good luck! and God bless.
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