Sorry

When I first arrived in France, I was 5. I remember feeling extremely cold the moment I arrived. It was in the middle of February and winter was something I never experienced before as I was born in the Philippines. It was difficult for me to get to know my parents. My father left before my first birthday and my mother joined him months later. I grew up and lived with my grandparents so, to suddenly live with two persons you have no memories of and saying that they are your parents was for me a complete change. They remember that the first moment we saw each other, I did not dare approach them as they were to me perfect strangers. But eventually, time goes by and I got to know them and understand why they left. They left because their job in the Philippines couldn’t provide the needs of all the family. They left because they love their family. That’s something I’ll always respect, admire and be thankful for. Their self-sacrificing love.

Something that was surprisingly easier for me to get to know, partly because I was still a kid, was the French language and culture. I was 5 and like any other child at that age, you learn fast and you don’t make differences in the physical appearance, personality and culture of people. So I grew up like a normal child with friends and some difficulties in subjects at school. But thanks to my parents, I didn’t forget my Filipino roots as we speak Filipino and English at home. It helped me cultivate two different cultures and I guess that made me who I am.

If I had to choose between France and the Philippines, I would choose the Philippines but say that France is ”home away from home”.