I’m an American. I’m here temporarily, living in the Philippines. I’ll be back soon in the land of my birth, while I’m here I want to experience this place.
That means eating the food that people here eat (and not going to McDonalds). It means acting like I’m a guest here and always putting my best manners on display (when I can). And it means seeing what God is doing in this place, because he’s definitely up to a lot.
I don’t believe that God is an American God, or that I am here to “teach people the superior ways of America.” That would be contrary to who God is, and while I love America, this place is neither superior nor inferior just for the sake of not being American.
That being said, I cannot escape the American lens through which I see the world. True maturity means that I can laugh at some of the silly things we do in America but at the same time, I can laugh at some of the silly things here too. There are plenty of them, both from the “that just isn’t the way we do things back home” sense, and a “Wait. You do what?!?” angle.
I fully intend this blog to be full of that stuff, but let me say it here once and for all time. I am a guest here. The people here are amazing. The culture here is wonderful. The food tastes great. I look at everything here (even the stuff I will joke about) with a sense of awe and wonder. So, when I say something that seems mean-spirited to you, I never mean it that way.
