Planning to go home to the Philippines after long years of working and living abroad? We are betting all in that you will pretty much experience most, if not all of the things in this list.
Here’s a list of things that balikbayans will surely know and understand if they decide to go home to the Philippines.
1 Excited na excited ka nang makakain ng “authentic” na Adobo
While abroad, you might have been looking left and right for any sign of a FIlipino food. The mixture of the soy sauce and vinegar in adobo, the “crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside” experience when eating lechon, and the exploding flavors of pinakbet are all you crave.
That is why once you arrive in the Philippines, all you want is to indulge in any nostalgic home-cooked meal.
It wouldn’t matter if you have taho every morning and balut every night, because you have been longing for Filipino food for years!
For lunch, you will even ask for the sour soup of Sinigang or the salty yet tasty soup of Nilaga. In essence, you just missed Filipino food, for all the good reasons. Filipino food is definitely one of the best cuisines there is.
2 Nakaka-stress ang mag-unpack
If you thought that folding your clothes or putting your pasalubong and other items inside your balikbayan box is hard, you cannot be more wrong. Although keeping your things organized is a hard task, wait until you unpack and realize that you left something abroad!
3 May pa-homecoming si Mayor!
If you live in a small rural barangay, surely this would happen to you. People in small communities interact with each other on a daily basis that is why they are used to seeing the same faces everyday. Thus, if a balikbayan comes back to town, pretty much all eyes would be on him/her.
There would be an entire battalion present to welcome you which would include that longtime childhood friend that has been waiting for you for years, or your neighbor who you used to watch teleseryes with in the afternoon.
There are those who recognize you but there are those who would be asking who you are to whoever is next to them. After years of being away from home, some people have left while some people have entered your small town.
4 “Naku! Wala akong pasalubong para don sa kapitbahay ng pinsan ng tita ng biyenan ng kakilala ko!”
Once you get home and start unpacking, it also signals the time to start giving your pasalubongs. There waiting are your relatives as you open your luggage full of pasalubong.
In your mind you are silently calculating the chocolates and canned goods with the number of people inside your little home.
Everyone has to get something. The biggest fear is for one person to not receive anything and from then on, all hell breaks loose.
5 “Uy, tumaba ka!” o kaya ay “Uy, ang payat mo na!”
Because they have not seen you for a while, your family would need some time to get used to your new physique. Expect a number of people to comment on how your look has changed, how you got bigger or smaller, how you look younger or older.
In moments like this, even if you’re starting to feel irritated, always keep your cool and just think that these people are saying these things because they missed you.
6 Iba pa rin ang feeling kapag kayakap na ang pamilya
One thing is for sure, family is always family and the hug that they will give you once they see you at the airport will always be the tightest and warmest one you will receive.
The hardships of being away from the family is all worth it once you receive that hug from your parents or from your children. You will realize that indeed, you missed being with your family and being in the country. It just goes to show that nothing compares to the love of a family.
Working in a distant land is not as easy as it seems. It would mean leaving all of the things you have known and loved behind, that is why balikbayans and OFWs will always be the modern heroes of this country.
