FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This one will be a pretty short entry.

1. It’s HOT and HUMID.
   
2. It is ALWAYS raining. Even when it’s not raining, there’s a very slight trickle of rain. I’ve been here 3 days now and it has not stopped raining.
   
3. The air just hangs. The wind hardly blows. If a car passes you and has an emissions problem, the smoke just hangs right in front of you, no matter how much you think it will pass.
4. People are super friendly, and timid. When they hand you a piece of paper, they turn it so that the text is facing you, and they hand it to you with two hands and bow. I’m not kidding. Everyone does this.
   
5. They are incredibly respectful.
   
6. Everyone speaks English in the Philippines (I knew that before coming, but was a pleasure to see how well they spoke it).
   
7. When I walk to work, everyone around me is almost dancing to work because they are all trying to avoid puddles.
   
8. There is a LOT of people in Asia. Whenever I am in a public place, it’s always cramped. No wonder I saw at least 4 GUCCI stores in the Seoul Airport (no joke).
   
9. Cars don’t stop for pedestrians, instead, they just avoid you. It’s like India – you have to walk and keep walking regardless if you think the car is going to stop or not. Even though he steps on the gas, he’ll avoid you. Just don’t look!
   
10. The country has a lot of British and US influences. Some Spanish. Basically anyone who has colonized this place has left their footprint here.
    
11. The banks don’t trust anyone (they won’t exchange your money if you are not an account holder).
    
12. Banks are surprisingly automated here. More so than the US, people rely on ATM machines for transactions beyond withdrawals and deposits (such as payments).
    
13. I thought I would be taller then everyone here, I’m not.
    
14. Filipinos LOVE fish.
    
15. I feel rich. Right now I have 4,000 pesos in my pocket. That’s only about $80. I love it when I get like a 10,000 note.
    

I’ll add more later as time goes by.