7 Questions for Philippines, Singapore, France, Germany, China & USA

One of the wonderful perks of being a blogger is getting to know people from all over the world without even needing to get off your chair (or the bed, if you’re lazy like me). I always enjoy learning about different cultures, so I actually prefer to read blogs from people who are not from the same country as me, like these two ladies:

Marielle is an American who ran away after college to teach abroad, travel around Asia, and study education. She gave up the expat lifestyle this past summer and is now readjusting to life back home. Her favorite posts are: On Pingjiang Lu, Where are you From? and Gate of Heaven. She also once wrote a post on my blog about Chinese dating culture.

The three of us combined have lived in more than 6 countries, so I thought it would be fun to ask some questions and compare how people do things in these 6 countries: Philippines, Singapore, France, Germany, China, and USA. To make it a little less confusing, I color-coded the answers. Mine are in purple, Kate’s are in blue, and Marielle’s are in red. I hope that helps! 😮

(1) What is the most celebrated holiday?

Philippines = Christmas. We love Christmas so much that you can start hearing Christmas songs on the radio the moment the ‘ber months start. People decorate their homes with parols (star-shaped lanterns), kids go carolling from door to door for change, and families attend misa de gallo (dawn mass) for 9 mornings leading up to Christmas.

Singapore = Chinese New Year. This spans 4 days, but only 2 are official no work holidays. We always get a couple of mandarin oranges and an ang bao (red packet) filled with cash from our employers at this time.

France = Most probably Christmas but they do have an awesome techno parade in Paris too which is very cool!

Germany = We just recently had a light festival event for Saint Martin which was a pretty big deal. Germany also have a festival season for general parting and OF COURSE Oktoberfest! All over Germany, the Germans are loving it!

China = The Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year. Families get together and make special food; my students were very excited about certain little red envelopes of money.

USA = Christmas. It starts a little earlier every year, with kind of obnoxious secular carols playing in stores.

(2) How many meals a day do locals eat? 

Philippines = 3 major meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner – plus merienda (snacks) in between.

Singapore = 3 major meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner. Some have tea break between lunch and dinner, and eating snacks after dinner  is called “supper.”

France & Germany = Typically 4. Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and Dinner.

China = 3 – breakfast, lunch, dinner. Though many of students told me their favorite food was “snack.”

USA = 3 – breakfast, lunch, a large dinner. Unless you’re me, and eat dinner twice.

(3) What’s a common local expression and what is its English translation?

Philippines = “Po.” This isn’t actually an expression, but a word that means respect. If you’re talking to an older person, you show respect by inserting this word in your sentences. For example: “Papunta na po.” The first two words mean “On my way” and adding the last word means you’re being respectful.

Singapore = “Lah.” It doesn’t have an English translation because it doesn’t really mean anything, they just like to insert it after most sentences. For example: “No lah!” which actually just means “No.”

France = “Ca va?” & “ca va” which means “How are you?” and “I’m fine”… totally confusing until I realised that!

Germany = “Alles klar” meaning “Everything is clear”, it’s used to say all is okay. I also really like (and use in my daily vocabulary now) “Lecker” which is to say something is tasty!

China = “kěyǐ” for “is it ok?” or “can I?” and “it’s ok.”

USA = Some Pittsburghese for you: “yinz” is the plural of “you” among the over forty crowd, and we say “pop” instead of “soda.”

(4) Who are some of the most popular local celebrities? 

Philippines = Piolo Pascual is one of the most popular heartthrobs in the Philippines. I’ve seen him in person twice and had my picture taken both times with him LOL. He’s also the only actor I’ve ever had my picture taken with though. You can check out those pics here.

Singapore = Adrian Pang. I used to jokingly refer to him as “that guy who is in all the TV shows” because he really seems to be everywhere!

Germany and France = I wouldn’t have a clue on either of these! Mostly the same as in England, the USA, etc. and I’m terrible with celebrities! As far as I know, we don’t have many locals other than sports players.

China = I don’t know about local, but my kids were into Korean stuff, the Thai ladyboy Poi, and Taylor Swift.

USA = Hm. My sister really seems to like Katy Perry. I’m pretty not into celebrities!

(5) What is one of the most popular local TV shows and what is it about?

Philippines = Got to Believe. It’s the latest most popular telenovela (soap opera), a love story. There are always 3-4 telenovelas being shown during weeknight “prime time” (around 7 – 10 pm) and they span several months. I’ve only watched one episode of this, actually, but my friends are always buzzing about this.

Singapore = The Noose. It’s a parody news show. Actually, I don’t really know if this is really popular or even if this is still showing. I used to watch it and liked it, but that was a long time ago. I’m not really into local TV.

France = As I work with kids, I only really watched awful kids TV shows!

Germany = The same as France but there is a great one for kids called “Logo” which is a news channel for children, I think that is an awesome idea!

China = The Voice of China. They really, really like singing and karaoke.

USA = This year maybe. . . Breaking Bad? High school teacher turned drug kingpin.

(6) How much does a can of coca cola cost?

Philippines: P25 ($0.57) in 7-11 stores.

Singapore: S$1.50 ($1.20) in hawker stalls.

I don’t drink coca cola so I thought maybe I’d do coffee instead? 😉

France = €2.60 ($3.50)

Germany = €1.80 ($2.42)

China – Approximately USD$0.75

USA – $1-2 depending on where you buy it.

(7) What is the most popular sport?

Philippines = Basketball. We even have PBA and PBL patterned after NBA and NBL. 

Singapore: Football (or soccer).

For both Germany and France = it’s definitely football (soccer for Americans), so not much different to England either.

China = Table tennis? My Chinese co-workers would hang out in their office on Sundays and play table tennis.

USA = American football. Game night was every Friday in high school, and it was huge, with marching bands and cheerleaders. And it just gets bigger at the national level.

How about you, how do you do these things in your country?