Research Paper

Research Paper
The Bay Area is full of many different ethnic groups: Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, African-Americans, Latino-Americans, etc. … But this project is about the Filipino-American community in the Bay Area. In California, there is the biggest population of Filipinos in the country (1,474,707). For our project, in addition to online research, we interviewed local Filipinos. We interviewed people in the Serramonte Mall as well as making a Google document so people we couldn’t reach in person would be able to help us out online. Our interviews included these questions: (1) When, how, and why did you immigrate to the Bay Area? (2) What was your immediate reaction when you first arrived to the Bay Area? (3) Do you regret leaving the Philippines? (4) How do you interact with other Filipinos? (5) Do you still have family in the Philippines? (6) How often do you visit the Philippines? (7) Do you still keep in touch with your Filipino culture? We had much success in asking these questions, almost all people agreed to answer our questions. It is very easy for Filipinos to keep in touch with their culture, because there are so many things around them that are Filipino friendly.


Members of the Filipino community came to the Bay Area for a variety of different reasons. After asking 14 Filipinos, we found that most elderly Filipino immigrants came with petitions, meaning that a relative could fill out a form that is an application for a visa, and submit it to the bureau of immigration. The petition is filed by the bureau of immigration, and the beneficiary is then put on a wait list. When they finally receive their Visas, very often they move to the United States, and become citizens.

Younger immigrants came in search of job opportunities: many found jobs like nursing  or they established food stands.  We interviewed one woman who ran a small food stand in the Serramonte Mall.  We asked her why and when she came to the United States.  She came in 1985, looking for adventure. She was exposed to American culture through television and music, so she was not scared when arriving. We asked if she regretted leaving the Philippines and she answered  "sometimes" and that she felt homesick occasionally.

We then found three older friends, laughing over a meal of adobo chickens: A spicy traditional filipino food.  We asked them where they found other Filipinos (ex: church, mall), and they told us that they met at that spot every day, and spent the day together.  When we asked them why they had come to the states, they answered that they arrived in 1967 looking for employment.  Their immediate reaction when they first arrived was that they were scared, and they thought the climate was cold. When we asked if they had any family in the Philippines, one jokingly answered, "Yes, and I have a girlfriend there too".  The men also stated that they do not return very frequently to the Philippines after their closest relatives had passed away- for example their mother no longer was there.
Every person we asked answered this question the same: Do you still keep in touch with your Filipino culture? Every single answer was “yes”. Now, there are many ways Filipinos can keep in touch with their culture. There is church, their traditions, etc. … But probably the most important is food. Filipino food is amazing. It is also probably the most common way to keep in touch with any culture (ex: Chinese food, Japanese food, Mexican food, etc. …). Thankfully for all the Filipinos, there are many restaurants and fast food places. To really experience the Filipino culture, we went to a few of these restaurants: Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Manila Bay, Goldilocks (pictures are available on our blog). Everyone in the Filipino community eats foods like pancit, lumpia, and chicken adobo. There are also ways they can keep in touch with their culture. There is Filipino news channel on cable, and some online newspapers. Language is also another popular way of keeping in touch with culture. One of the persons we interviewed, Alfredo Alarv said that he keeps in touch with his culture by speaking Tagalog, one of the many native languages of the Philippines. Another person, Ailishia, said that she still tries to teach her son how to be a Filipino. There are many ways for Filipinos to keep in touch with their culture; every single person we interviewed said that they are still, Filipino at heart.

The Filipino culture is a very connected, and social culture. Although many Filipinos have left the Philippines,  they still stay connected to their culture with food, and events that reunite the entire community. By interviewing many members of this community, we learned about their ways of life, and their connections to each other that allowed us to understand the Filipino culture. All in all, we discovered a culture that is filled with spirit, happiness, and love.







Bibliography:
Works Cited
- " SFFCC: The San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center."  SFFCC: The San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2013. <http://thesffcc.com/>.
- "Demographics of Filipino Americans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Filipino_Americans>.
- "Filipino Cuisine Poised to Break Gastro Ceiling - New America Media." New America Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2013. <http://newamericamedia.org/2012/01/filipino-cuisine-poised-to-break-gastro-ceiling.php>.
- Type. "San Francisco Filipino Cultural Events Bay Area, Shows & Things To Do Events - SF Gate." San Francisco Events & Entertainment - SF Gate. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2013. <http://events.sfgate.com/san-francisco-ca/events/filipino+cultural+events+bay+area>.


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