pilipino ako!!!!!!!!!

Anyway… It’s fun to be one of the very few (2/401) Filipinos who flew here from the Philippines… I gave up on the American accent and just told everyone my name is ANNA not EHNNA. So now everyone in class calls me AHNNA.

Girl: I like your accent! It puts me in a good mood.

Girl 2: I like your accent… It’s cute!

Boy: Where are you from?

Me: Philippines… Haha. Far from here.

Boy: Oh, I could tell by your accent.

Tour guide: What state are you from?

Me: ASIA!

Tour guide: Where in Asia?

Me: Philippines.

Tour guide: Oh wow! You speak really good English. I would’ve never known you were from the Philippines.

Groupmates: YEAH!

Group critiqueing–

Me: Compliment is different from complement. CompLIment is like I LIKE YOUR HAIR, compLEment is like… WE GO TOGETHER.

Groupmate: Really?! I thought they were just pronounced differently.

Another groupmate: We should trust her cause English is her second language.

Hahahaha… Thank the Lord I am fluent in English.

Girl: Oh you’re Filipino? Do you know a girl named Valerie?!

Me: Valerie what?

Girl: I don’t know.. She’s from New Jersey.

AHHH HELLOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Girl: I don’t mean to sound stupid but is your country like an island?

Me: Well, it’s made up of 7000+ islands. There are three main ones, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Visayas is mostly the one that’s made up of little islands. Luzon and Mindanao have big chunks of land surrounded by little islands.

Girl: So it’s not like I take a boat going to school or anything like that?

Me: Uhh no.

Girl: But people live in those little islands. Right?

Me: Yup. But most of the time they have their own language/dialect.

Girl: That’s cool! It’s like going into a different culture.

I never thought about that that way. Cool noh? How diverse the Filipino culture is. I stand proud to be Pinoy 😉

NYC

HAVE INTERNET ACCESS NA!!!!!!!!!! WHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Hi everyone!

I am in love with NYC. I really want to study here one day. Live here I don’t know… I don’t think I’m ready without everyone near me. I’ve super explored the city already. I arrived Sunday afternoon..

Sunday–watched Little Shop of Horrors with Joey Fatone! The Nsync guy. He was great! I loved the show.

Monday–Went to the school I’m studying in… LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It’s pretty small… Kinda like Zobel, maybe a little bigger. But it’s sooooo lush and green and it’s surrounded with artwork by students. Felt right at home. Met up with my friend Tara and walked around (fun!!!)… Watched Chicago. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best musical I’ve seen here. The movie’s great because it’s so flamboyant and all, but the play was amazing because it was so simple but so… used. I don’t know how to explain it. Everything was maximized.

Tuesday–Went to NYU, Columbia, Julliard, Fordham, WTC site, Lincoln Center… COLUMBIA! I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CAMPUS. I got goosebumps when I stepped on the grounds. I will definitely work my ass off to get in there for master’s. 🙂 Watched Boy From Oz. Hugh Jackman is my new crush. He dances well, sings well, acts well, connects with the audience well… Plus he’s so damn hot in person. My mom and I went to the back entrance thing to get pics. HAHA. My mom’s been obsessed with him since X-Men. Our feet stopped aching once we saw him.

Wednesday–Met up with Tara again.. She took me to Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo.. Where else? Oh! My favorite part was going to Central Park and taking pictures. I had a caricature made too. That was fun 🙂 OH!!! AND MY FACE WAS UP IN TIMES SQUARE! HAHAHA! WHOHOOO!!! You can download the video… I forgot how. But anyway it was up in Times Square… In one of the “movie billboards”. My mom and I watched the Producers. Liked it too, it was funny. But I was so damn sleepy. I fell asleep during intermission, and kept dozing off during prod numbers. Haha. Stalked Hugh Jackman again. HAHA! Ang loser namin ng nanay ko.

Thursday–My mom’s feet and mine were aching so bad from all the walking. We kept taking the train to places, even though it was only a few blocks away. HAHA! Loser. We watched 42nd Street. That’s MY musical. Loved every minute of it.

Friday–Went back to Pratt to drop off my suitcases. Spontaneously we went to Coney Island where they have a beach. It’s so weird so see a beach that no one’s swimming in cause it’s so damn cold. And if you look behind you there are buildings. Haha! But it was clean and everyone takes care of it. My mom and I watched this Broadway play called Movin’ Out. WTF. It was like a dance recital!!!!!!!! ONE PERSON WAS SINGING ALL TROUGHOUT the WHOLE FRIKKIN SHOW. My mom and I were like POTANG INA WE PAID 50 F*CKING DOLLARS FOR THIS? But we kept laughing about it after.

Today (Saturday) my relatives picked me up.. We’re staying with them til Tuesday, cause that’s when my classes start. I’m really excited about studying here. I’m so willing to learn and be open about it. I love it so much here, but being here also makes me fall in love with my own country even more. All the stuff they value here–the sunshine, the beaches, etc etc–we all have yet we take advantage of it and take it for granted. It really makes me sad. It makes me want to work hard for the future of our country. (NAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) And Broadway here? We got the talent mehn! We’re at par. Kaso lang poor ang ating theatre community, low badyet lang ang mga props at sets. I don’t want to sound mayabang or anything but I think i THINK lang hah if I work hard enough I can be as good as those people. Even better. But I’m pretty far from that level 🙂

POTA. Ang SUMMER nila dito DECEMBER sa Pilipinas. HAHAHA!!!!!!! Shet. And you know, I’m pretty fluent in English right? But when I talk here it’s like I’m learning how to speak English. I’m not Anna, I’m EHNNA. It’s not GAP it’s GEYP. POTANG INA YAN. OW-POE-SAHHHH. That’s my last name mehn. In NYU, the cashier girl was like DO YOU WANT ME TO PUT IT IN A BEYG (bag)? me: UH HINDI NA. My mom: HUY! ENGLISH. Me: AH EH I MEAN NO.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Ang haba na nito.

So there. Did a lital shopping today. I miss you guys. Email me soon k?

love always,

anns/raisie