THE BIG DIFFERENCE
People actually talk to each other! It goes beyond just being freindly and saying hello too. They talk as though they already know you. You feel like you are part of their group or circle. While there I met a few different people and learned of varying experiences. One such person was a woman named Joan who had worked in Japan previously. She was actually there the same year I was last in Japan. She had pictures of herself all dressed up in a traditional kimono with a traditional Japanese hairstyle. She apparently lives out in the province, but was visiting her cousin in the city proper. If I had thought about it, I should have asked to hear her Japanese, since she claimed to be fluent. Maybe she could do voice work on my projects!
I also met a really nice and beautiful Korean girl, who seemed to be really into me. We tried to talk, but her English ability was next to zero. There were two others, a guy and another girl with her, and even though communication was difficult, we were able to laugh and have a good time. It's amazing how many people will just smile, say hello or ask you where you're from.
Communication happens on many levels. I was in Bo's Coffee Shop to use the internet. I, otherwise, pay for use on my 3G modem, which I wrote about back in July. I went to Bo's a couple of days earlier and couldn't connect to the network. I assumed it was just me. This time, though, I noticed a couple of old guys, likely businessmen, with a Macbook Pro sitting near me and they couldn't connect either. Maybe it was an Apple thing since others with laptops were doing fine throughout the place. One of the old guys went up to the counter to ask for help and so I went to. I asked him if he was having trouble connecting and explained I had the same problem. He then noticed my iPhone and starting talking about that. The counter guy said someone would be around to help us.
Jojo was the guy sent to help us. He seemed to know his network stuff, but didn't know Macs. He helped me manually configure my WIFI connection for Bo's Coffee Shop with a static IP. After that I was on and it was working full speed. Since he didn't know Apple computers, we both helped the old businessman get connected through Airport, the Apple WIFI system. It was somewhat new to me too, but I have a Macbook and so at least knew what panels to go to. After that, the old guy was up and running and browsing stocks and trading pages.
There was another girl, who seemed like she might be a mix of Korean and Filipina, very tall and quite cute. She also had a macbook and was using it to do some kind of presentation. I forgot the name of that popular Apple presentation creation tool, but I knew it when I saw it. Looked nice and easy too, like all things Mac. Anyway, Jojo asked for my help to get her up and running, so we went to her table to set her up. Now that I had been through the process on the other guy's Mac it was easy to do it again. After she was up and running she was very thankful and I was able to chat with someone new.
That was all just a couple of hours in a coffee shop. I remember a similar experience at the small coffee shop next to the hotel I was in. There I met a beautiful nursing student and talked about anime for over an hour and also met a woman who was a MLM pro. Imagine if I really get out in the world. It has been recommended to me to just get out and walk around, or ride the jeepney, the local transportation, and go to the place one normally wouldn't go to. That's where you really meet the interesting people and see the real Philippines. I will make it a point, from now, to really get out there more and just experiences people and places, both around my new location and throughout the city. It will just add to the adventure!
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