Friday nite, Daisy, Latina (another friend) and I went to go see My Big Fat Greek Wedding at Paramount Chinook. Loved it! Although it was based on Greek customs and culture, I saw similarities between Toula's situation as well as mine. It kinda scares me that my wedding may be something similar as well!
One thing that we had in common dead on was the whole family thing. Everywhere you go there's family family family. They're always there to help you out, even when you don't need it. (Note to self: When preparing for my own wedding day, lock the door and just have mom and Posie in the room with me. Preserve my sanity that morning.) And I can also see my side of the family and friends totally outnumbering the groom's side. This was very apparent at my aunt's wedding this summer. His family took up 2 tables and our family and friends occupied the other 25. Even just going to the movies, family is everywhere. When I went to Greek Wedding that nite I ran into my godbrother, Thingy, and J my brother. Can't go anywhere without finding family!
That's one thing I've noticed about different cultures vs. Canadians. My family, Italians, Greeks, almost any other culture has stronger family bonds, it seems, compared to "North American" families. That is a HUGE generalization, I know, but sometimes I feel like my friends have an easier time detaching from their family than I ever could. I would really miss not having my family in my life. I remember watching Soul Food, that was a terrific movie. Hopefully me and my siblings keep in touch as well as that family did. "Sunday dinner" would be a wonderful tradition.
Another thing I can relate to is her marrying an "outsider." Apart from several crushes I had in jr. high and high school, I've never been really attracted to Filipino guys, or even just Asian guys in general. Ideally, it would be so nice to hook up with a Latino or Hispanic. Black guys are nice, too, and I've always had a great rapport with white guys. It sounds kind of racist of me to rule out dating other Asians, and maybe fate will prove me wrong, but I just don't feel much vibe with them. Thankfully, I don't think my parents really have a preference to have me marry a Filipino guy. Actually, if anything they would rather I didn't. I remember when I was younger, my aunt and my mom were chatting with me during dinner and they commented on how they felt I would be better off with a white guy 'cuz then my children wouldn't be discriminated against. I appreciate their concern, but I'm fully Filipina (well, my grandma would point out we're 1/32 Chinese *rolls her eyes*) and I have yet to experience anyone treating me badly just because I'm not white. Me and my kids will be just fine *s*
Although I've always considered dating "other" guys, I've sometimes wondered if they've ever thought of dating "different" girls. There have been a couple of times when I'd have a crush on this guy, and we'd get along great to the point where I really have to wonder if he may actually like me, too. But nothing ever comes about from it. Do they really just see me as a friend, or maybe they've never considered multi-racial relationships, or perhaps they assume that I AM the one who's never considered going multi-racial. I know that there are guys out there who have no problems with that, I've been approached by all sorts of guys, not just a partidcular type. So yeah, I'm not saying that these guys I've liked in the past may have been narrow-minded...I think they just honestly never thought about it.
I have a friend who is the exact opposite. My complete opposite with respect to racial relationships. He's Mexican, looks white, but practically all his friends are Vietnamese, Chinese, just plain Asian. And then there's me who's Filipina but almost all my friends are white. He knows more about Asian lifestyle than me at times!
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