On Sunday I went to the Commonwealth church and afterwards the youth had a fellowship/bible study that was led by my friend Jon. The first question he asks is "Who bothers you and why?" A few of the kids answered. For a few minutes no one said anything and that's when he turned his attention to me and asked "How about you Kev? who bothers you?" Without a hesitation I replied with " My mom. She's so annoying sometimes and always is asking me to do things I hate doing." He politely gave me a nod and continued to ask the others the same question.
After the study was finished, Jon and I jumped in a cab and headed back to his house. During the ride Jon looks over at me with his shocked face and says "oh you kinda said something taboo today." I didn't say too much at the study so I almost instantly knew what he was talking about.... It was the comment I had made about my mom. You see in the Philippine culture, you will rarely hear kids speak bad about their parents because it's disrespectful and in ways makes them look bad.
Jon said not to feel bad because there are going to be cultural barriers and lines that have to be broken or crossed in order for people like "us" to know, learn and understand the culture. I was described as a giant rhino inside a shop of fine china. No matter which way I move i'm bound to break something. Here's how I see it.... If I happen to break everything in the china shop that's fine with me because at least i'll have a clearer path and be able to move around a little easier.
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