Wednesday, November 5, 2008

baby animal and collective names


Did you know a Baby Lion is called a Cub? And a group of chicken is called a flock? Here are more names to add to your collection.

Animal Male Female Young As a group
Antelope Bull Cow Calf Herd

Bear Boar Sow Cub Sloth

Cat Tom Queen Kitten Clowder

Cattle Bull Cow Calf Herd/Drove.

Chicken Cock/Rooster Hen Chick Flock

Deer Buck/Hart/Stag. Doe/Hind Fawn Herd.

Dog Dog Bitch pup Kennel.

Donkey Jackass Jeneet/Jenny foal/colt Pace.

Elephant Bull Cow Calf Herd.

Fox Dog Vixen Cub Skulk.

Giraffe Bull Cow Calf Herd.

Goat Billy/Buck Nanny/Doe Kid Herd.

Goose Gander Goose Gosling Flock/Gaggle.

Horse Stallion Mare foalt/colt(male)/filly(female) Herd.

Kangaroo Buck/Boomer Doe/flier joey Herd/troop/mob.

Lion Lion Lioness Cub Pride.

Ostrich Cock Hen Chick flock/troop.

Pig Boar Sow shoat/farrow/piglet. herd/drove/sounder.

Rabbit Buck Doe Kindle/kitten. Warren.

Rat Buck Doe ******* Colony.

Seal Bull Cow pup/whelp rookery/trip.

Sheep Ram Ewe Lamb flock

Swan Cob pen cygnet flock

Turkey Cock/gobbler/tom hen poult dule

Whale Bull cow calf school/pod

Zebra Stallion mare foal herd.


Collective names of animals

A herd of antelope
A colony or an army of ants
A shrewdness of apes
A herd or pace of asses
A culture of bacteria
A cete of badgers
A shoal of bass
A sleuth or sloth of bears
A colony of beavers
A swarm, grist or hive of bees
A flock, flight, congregation or volery of birds
A sedge or siege of bitterns
A sounder of boars
A herd of buffalo
A brace or clash of bucks
An army of caterpillars
A clowder or clutter of cats
A herd or drove of cattle
A brood or peep of chickens
A clutch or chattering of chicks
A bed of clams
A quiver of cobras
A rag of colts
A cover of coots
A kine of cows (twelve cows are a flink)
A band of coyote
A sedge or siege of cranes
A float of crocodiles
A murder of crows
A litter of cubs
A herd of curlews
A cowardice of curs
A herd of deer
A pack of dogs
A dule of doves
A brace, paddling or team of ducks
A clutch of eggs
A herd of elephants
A pod of elephant seals
A weaner pod is yearling elephant seals
A gang of elks
A mob of emus
A business or fesnyng of ferrets
A charm of finches
A school, shoal, run, haul, catch or draught of fish
A swarm of flies
A skulk or leash of foxes
An army or colony of frogs
A flock, gaggle or skein (in flight) of geese
A cloud or horde of gnats
A herd, tribe or trip goats
A charm of goldfinches
A band of gorillas
A leash of greyhounds
A down or husk of hares
A cast or kettle of hawks
A brood of hens
A hedge of herons
A drift, or parcel of hogs
A team, pair or harras of horses


A pack, mute or cry of hounds
A smack of jellyfish
A troop or mob of kangaroos
A kindle or litter of kittens
An ascension or exaultation of larks
A leap (leep) of leopards
A pride of lions
A plague of locusts
A tiding of magpies
A sord of mallards
A stud of mares
A richness of martens
A labour of moles
A troop of monkeys
A barren or span of mules
A parliament of owls
A yoke, drove, team or herd of oxen
A bed of oysters
A company of parrots
A covey of partridges
A muster or ostentation of peacocks
A litter of peeps
A nest, nide (nye) or bouquet of pheasants
A flock or flight of pigeons
A litter of pigs
A wing or congregation of plovers
A string of ponies
A pod of porpoises
A covey or bevy of quail
A nest of rabbits
A pack or swarm of rats
A rhumba of rattlesnakes
An unkindness of ravens
A crash or herd of rhinos
A bevy of roebucks
A building or clamour of rooks
A herd or pod of seals
A drove or flock of sheep
A nest of snakes
A walk or wisp of snipe
A host of sparrows
A dray of squirrels
A murmuration of starlings
A mustering of storks
A flight of swallows
A bevy, herd, lamentation or wedge of swans
A flock of swifts
A sounder or drift of swine
A spring of teal
A knot of toads
A hover of trout
A rafter of turkeys
A pitying or dule of turtledoves
A bale of turtles
A pod of walrus
A school, gam or pod of whales
A nest of vipers
A pack or route of wolves
A fall of woodcocks
A descent of woodpeckers

animal sounds, wild animal sounds, farm animal sounds What animal sounds are called

Apes gibber
Asses bray
Bears growl
Bees hum, buzz, murmur
Beetles drone
Birds sing
Bitterns boom
Blackbirds whistle
Bulls bellow
Calves bleat
Cats meow, mew, purr, caterwal
Chickens peep, cackle
Cocks crow
Cows moo, low
Crows caw
Cuckoos cuckoo
Deer bell
Dogs bark, woof, arf
Dolphins click
Doves coo, moan
Ducks quack
Eagles scream
Elephants trumpet
Falcons chant
Flies buzz
Foxes bark, yelp
Frogs croak
Geese cackle, hiss, honk
Giraffes bleats, grunts
Grasshoppers chirp, pitter
Grouse drum
Guinea fowl cry
Guinea pigs squeak, whistle
Gulls squawk


Hares squeak
Hawks scram
Hippos bray
Horses neigh, whinny
Hyenas laugh
Kittens mew
Lions roar
Loons howl
Magpies chatter
Mice squeak, squeal
Monkeys chatter, gibber
Nightingales pipe, warble, jug-jug
Owls hoot, screech, wail
Oxen low, bellow
Parrots talk
Peacocks scream
Penguin babies bleat
Pigeons coo
Pigs grunt, squeal, squeak
Ravens croak
Rhinos snort
Rooks caw
Sandpipers pipe, whistle
Shearwaters shrill
Sheep bleat, baa
Snake hiss
Sparrow chirp
Stags bellow, call
Swallows titter
Swans crey, hiss, grunt
Tigers roar, growl
Tortoises grunt
Turkeys gobble
Wolves howl

amazing facts for kids



Did you know there are two kinds of pandas? There is the Long-tailed Himalayan carnivore that looks like a raccoon and there is the Giant panda bear that lives in Western China.




The Blue Whale's whistle is the loudest noise made by an animal.
Did you know there are two kinds of camels? One is the Arabian that lives in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It has one hump. And the second kind is called Bactrian which has two humps and lives in Mongolia and Chinese Turkistan.


There are two kinds of elephants: the African that is taller and has larger ears and the Indian that is small and has smaller ears.


The fastest human swimmer can swim at 6 miles per hour. The fastest mammal - the dolphin - can swim up to 35 miles per hour.





The smallest bird in the world is the Hummingbird. It weighs 1oz.




Did you know fishes talk to each other? Some of them communicate by making noises in their throats by rasping their teeth, others use their swim bladders to make sounds

The bird that can fly the fastest is called a White It can fly up to 95 miles per hour.


Napoleon Bonaparte (15 Aug 1769 - 5 May 1821

Napoleon's christening name was Italian: Napoleone Buonaparte(OR Bonaparte). He was born on the island of Corsica one year after it became French property. As a boy, Napoleon hated the French.


The brain of an average adult male weighs 1,375 gm (55 oz). The brain of Russian novelist Turgenev weighed 2021 gm (81 oz), Bismark's weighed 1807 gm (72 oz), while that of French statesman Gambetta was only 1294 gm (51 oz). Einstein's brain was of average size.



--The the oldest living thing on earth is 12,000 years old. It is the flowering shrubs called creosote bushes in the Mojave Desert.


-- A crocodile can't move its tongue and cannot chew.
Its digestive juices are so strong that it can digest a steel nail.

-- Money notes are not made from paper, they are made mostly from a special blend of cotton and linen. In 1932, when a shortage of cash occurred in Tenino, Washington, USA, notes were made out of wood for a brief period.


-- The Grammy Awards were introduced to counter the threat of rock music. In the late 1950s, a group of record executives were alarmed by the explosive success of rock ‘n roll, considering it a threat to "quality" music.


-- Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water. The tea bag was introduced in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan of New York.


-- Over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialised nations has increased 10 cm (about 4 inches). In the 19th century, American men were the tallest in the world, averaging 1,71m (5'6"). Today, the average height for American men is 1,75m (5'7"), compared to 1,77 (5'8") for Swedes, and 1,78 (5'8.5") for the Dutch. The tallest nation in the world is the Watusis of Burundi.


-- In 1955 the richest woman in the world was Mrs Hetty Green Wilks, who left an estate of $95 million in a will that was found in a tin box with four pieces of soap.
Queen Elizabeth of Britain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands count under the 10 wealthiest women in the world.


-- Joseph Niepce developed the world's first photographic image in 1827. Thomas Edison and W K L Dickson introduced the film camera in 1894. But the first projection of an image on a screen was made by a German priest. In 1646, Athanasius Kircher used a candle or oil lamp to project hand-painted images onto a white screen.


- In 1935 a writer named Dudley Nichols refused to accept the Oscar for his movie The Informer because the Writers Guild was on strike against the movie studios. In 1970 George C. Scott refused the Best Actor Oscar for Patton. In 1972 Marlon Brando refused the Oscar for his role in The Godfather.


-- The system of democracy was introduced 2 500 years ago in Athens, Greece. The oldest existing governing body operates in Althing in Iceland. It was established in 930 AD.


-- A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.
If the amount of water in your body is reduced by just 1%, you'll feel thirsty.
If it's reduced by 10%, you'll die.


-- According to a study by the Economic Research Service, 27% of all food production in Western nations ends up in garbage cans. Yet, 1,2 billion people are underfed - the same number of people who are overweight.


-- Camels are called "ships of the desert" because of the way they move, not because of their transport capabilities. A Dromedary camel has one hump and a Bactrian camel two humps. The humps are used as fat storage. Thus, an undernourished camel will not have a hump.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE





A mouse is so small compared to an elephant, that an elephant does not even know that there is a mouse close to it !!


The typical laboratory mouse runs 2.5 miles per night on its treadmill.

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

The mouse is the most common mammal in the US.



The elephant is the largest animal on land. But it is much smaller than the blue whale.


The SIBERIAN TIGER is the largest cat in the world. It weighs up to 300kg (660 lbs) and can eat 27,2 kg (60 lb) of meat at one mealtime.



Did you know moths are not really attracted to light? Moths fly towards the blackest point which is behind the light.






Did you know Sailor, Dead Leaf, Paper Kite, Blue Striped Crow, Julia and Great Egg Fly are all names of BUTTERFLIES




The rhino is a primitive-looking animal. They have looked the same for thousands of years. There are two species of rhino: the white (or square-lipped rhino) and the black (or hooked-lipped rhino). The black rhino has three toes on each foot. Both the black and white rhino have two horns.




The rhinoceros's horn is made of the same stuff found in our hair and fingernails which is called keratin. It also contains something called gelatin.



Ancients Greeks believed earthquakes were caused by giants fighting underneath the ground. The Ancient Japanese thought there was a giant spider living under the earth, and each time it moved, it caused the earth to quake

amazing facts facts and trivia


It was the Romans who made the first popsicle. They took some ice and added flavour to it and then licked it. What a great idea! Yummy !


The Sumerians, who lived in the Middle East, invented the wheel in about 3450 BC.

The Sumerians also invented writing.





Did you know it was the Chinese who made the first wheelbarrow?

amazing facts facts and trivia

A parrotfish makes its own sleeping bag to sleep in. It uses mucous (like spit) to make a see-through bag all around it's body to protect it from attack by other creatures in the ocean.


The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. The heart of a blue whale is as big as a car, and it's tongue is as long as an elephant.



The pelican uses the funny looking pouch under its lower beak for catching fish. It does this by swooshing into the water and scooping up as many fish as possible.


The heaviest fish ever caught was the OCEAN SUNFISH. It weighed 4,928 lbs.

Did you know pearls are found in oysters? The largest pearl ever found was 620 carats.


The swordtail is the fastest swimmer of all the fish

fact and trivia


Did you know fishes cannot live in the Dead Sea because the water has too much salt in it?

amazing facts....


Did you know - Unbelievable Amazing facts

Did you know the largest fish ever caught was the Whale Shark? It was 59ft long. These fish can weigh up to 15 tons.

HATE LETTERS AGAINST FILIPINOS....

hate letters against filipinos

Hate Letter Against Filipinos

Please take time to read this, most especially the bottom part, PATRICIA EVANGELISTA’s (19 year old Filipina) speech that won in a WORLD competition in London.

This is a hate letter coming from a radio talk show host Mr. Art Bell from Nevada. I dont consider myself as patriotic but please read my reply below in BOLD LETTERS and send this to as many of your friends as possible

until it reaches him.

Subject: HATE LETTER

This is a very disturbing open E-mail letter to all Filipinos around the world; specially here in North America!, from a man who has the power to reach millions of people. (he’s a radio talk host)

Please read on…………..

This is an open letter email by Art Bell, a radio talk show host in Nevada(more info in the email itself). Here is yet another person who has taken; advantage of his power and privilege to use hateful words and racial stereotypes that breed further ignorance and intolerance in our society.

Art Bell is a talk radio host who has two shows that he broadcasts from his home in Nevada, that is rebroadcast by 400 stations across the country.

He’s written 2 books. He lived in Okinawa, Japan for some years and had a radio program on the English station here. And, though it’s hard to believe after reading the following letter from him, he actually has been to the Philippines (he’s traveled fairly extensively around the world).

Check out his website listed at the end to get a glimpse at this fool who’s spreading this hateful ignorance. And check his wife as well. This letter is so degrading, I think it’s really important that everybody read this and not attack him, but respond to him in a civilized manner because otherwise his thoughts will be reaffirmed. Understand that not everyone has a viewpoint like we do, and that this is an opinion of someone who hopefully can be changed only by civil actions.

………………………………………..

Filipinos…..*make me puke* (Art Bell)

As we’ve all come to notice, in the past few decades, Filipinos have begun to infest the United States like some sort of disease. Their extensive involvement in the U.S. Armed Forces is proof of the trashy kind of qualities all filipinos tend to exhibit on a regular basis. You can see this clearly by studying the attitudes and cultural Icons of most Filipino Americans.

Origins of Pinoys/Pinays:

Are they really asian? Well we’ve come to accept the fact the filipinos come from a part of the world known as South East Asia. But the term "Asia" is used in the wrong way. You may notice that contemporary Filipino Americans try very hard to associate themselves with groups that we know as Asian. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a ‘Third World’ Filipino try to connect themselves to the chinese or Japanese people. There is no connection and here’s why. The Philippines is a Third World country. Nothing respectable has EVER been created by Filipino people during our entire human history. Young filipino men in America have become obsessed with "import racing". They have an enormously perverted affection for Japanese cars. It’s a common phenomenon. In their minds, these Filipinos somehow believe that they are asian and that it somehow connects them to Japanese people and japanese cars. They often take credit for the ingenuity of Japanese people and say how it’s an "Asian thing". This term…"Asian thing" derived directly from African American slang "black thang". "It’s a black thang." "It’s an asian thang."

You can see the connection. It’s even funnier that, in Japan, Filipinos are heavily discriminated against. The only filipinos that can live successfully in Japan are the filipino prostitutes. But that’s the case for most Filipino people no matter where they live in th e world. Now we’ve come down to this fact…and it is a fact.

Nothing in Filipino Culture can be seen as Asian.

They have no architectural, artistic, or cultural influence which is in ANY way, asian. Thinking of the great countries in Asia such as Japan, Korea, and China there is no way you can possibly connect the Philippine Islands. This assault by filipino americans to connect themselves with the great peoples of North East Asia is foul and disgusting. Try visiting a young filipino’s web site too.

You’ll see something called the "Asian IRC Ring". It has to do with the chatrooms. The most horrible thing about this is that these TRASHY people are trying to associate themselves with Asia again!! People in Asia don’t act like this at all. What we are seeing here is the natural Filipino in its element with full access to technology and this is how they act! You will consistently see this behavior over and over again.

Another interest ing thing is that these "thirdworld" people also frequent RC chatrooms such as #chinese #japan and #asian. They must believe that they are somehow related racially or culturally to North Asians. But it’s completely WRONG! There might have been some distant contact With China and even less with Japan during World War II, but these people are actually more closely related to african americans and Mexican americans.

Do the parents of these young filipinos know what’s going on? Would they accept this? I believe that they would and do. This is the natural "Trash" element in filipinos manifesting itself. Nothing good has ever come from Philippines and I don’t believe anything good ever will.

Recognizing your Roots (A Message to Filipinos). To all filipino people:

Please recognize your ROOTS! You come from the Third World! You country is a disgusting and filthy place. Most people there live in poverty! Your culture has MUCH MORE SPANISH influence than chinese, and absolutely no JAPANESE influence whatsoever. People in Japan and China, d o not act like you. They do not constantly talk about sex and they have a MUCH HIGHER level of RESPECT for each other. There is NO WAY that you can connect yourself to Asia other than location.

Your culture and technological advancement does no! t even come CLOSE to What Chinese, people have done in the past and what Japanese and Korean people are doing now! Everything you do is distinctly filipino. You cannot take credit for Japanese cars, video games, or Hentai! It’s not an "asian thing" it’s an "American thing". You have no concept of culture…no concept of asian ideas or asian philosophy! Can you demonstrate how you use Confucianism or Taoism in you everyday life?? You can’t. And you will NEVER be able to.

I understand that you are trying to create an identity for yourselves as young people… but it is NOT related to Asia. Your Identity is Filipino.

That’s all you are. Just Filipino. Think about what that means….

——————————————

I find this funny, he is right in some ways where we, as Filipinos don’t actually have an "Identity". I think this is due to the confusion of our mixed races from Hispanic, Chinese, American and Malay origins. I see it in malls, imagine young generations wearing ski caps and ski goggles in a tropical country, baggy low rise pants like that of African Americans living in the Bronx of New York, not to mention endless whitening products being sold at department stores and drug stores.

But his ignorance also blinds him from the other truth. That while we may glorify Anime shows and Japanese Internet gaming, he is not aware that a nameless Filipino may be responsible for some technical aspects of some Japanese software. He is not aware of our contribution to the the society in general .Technological advancements that may have aided post war navigations and landing on the moon. That the antibiot ic Erythromycin was discovered by Dr. Abelardo Aguilar from Iloilo creating the brand "Ilosone".

Thomas Edison may have discovered the electric light bulb and the fluorescent lighting was thought up by Nikola Tesla. But the fluorescent lamp we use today was invented by Agapito Flores (a Cebuano named Benigno Flores of Bantayan Island, according to the Philippine Daily inquirer), a Filipino scientist. Americans helped then-Philippine leader Ramon Magsaysay to develop it for worldwide commerce. That the personal physician of former U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton is Eleanor "Connie" Concepcion Mariano, a Filipina doctor who was the youngest captain in the US Navy. A Filipino writer Jose Rizal could read a nd write at age 2, and grew up to speak more than 20 languages, includind Latin, Greek, German, French and Chinese.

Or that a Filipino genius was responsible for the near hiatus in the PENTAGON and White House nearly infiltrationg their closely guarded secrets with the "ILOVEYOU" bug. Nuisance maybe, but still one heck of a ‘beautiful mind’…not to be underestimated.

The list goes on and on, but who cares right? Certainly not Mr. Art Bell…Boy, I’m not surprised.

Perhaps Art Bell does not know that although we consider ourselves ASIAN because we are strategically located in the Southeast asian region of which our nearest neighbors are Malays, ASIA does not mean only Chinese and Japanese race of people. Th en maybe it is his connotation that "Asia" meant only our economically successful, paler brothers and he considers Malays such as Thais, Malaysians, Indonesians, and ourselves as a "Third World" race. Then it is "his" ignonimity that would make a civilized person of whatever race puke. Imagine literally connecting Chinese, Koreans and Japanese to the Philippine Islands which is archipelagos away from the countries he has mentioned. I also wonder where he got the impression th at we aspire to be Japanese( ???) Hispanics maybe but not the Japanese. But even Hispanics today do not mind sharing their "surnames" to their Asian brothers who they have colonized for 3 centuries.

Another sad reality that although most Filipinos working overseas are domestic helpers and prostitutes, who does he think educates the toddlers of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Tokyo? Parents of these countries rarely have time spent with their children, leaving them to their Filipino nannies. And with regard to prostitution. Filipinos are not the only ones working as one. I HARDLY SEE FILIPINOS STARRING IN PORN MOVIES. THERE MIGHT BE A FEW FILIPINOS WE HAVEN’T SEEN , BUT MOST ARE FROM MR. ART BELL’S RACE.

He also mentioned that we have no concept of culture..no concept of asian ideas or asian philosophy. How can we demonst rate Confucianism or Taoism in a Christian nation? IS HE INFORMED THAT THE PHILIPPINES IS THE ONLY PREDOMINANTLY CHRISTIAN/CATHOLIC NATION IN ASIA?! YOU HAVE TO USE COMMON SENSE IN A LOT OF THINGS SOMETIMES…

We do not need to create an identity for ourselves. We are who we are. Our identity stems from the anonymity we live in this world. How we contribute silently towards the progress of the world and not just one country. Although the Filipino blood may be tainted with malice, corruption, poverty and prostitution, it is not a perfect race… But so are the others. Maybe Mr. Art Bell needs to think about this.

WE MAY NOT BE PERFECT MR. BELL BUT AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE VALUES. FOR ONE THING WE DON’T PUT OUR AGING PARENTS IN NURSING HOMES BECAUSE "THEY’RE SIMPLY OLD AND WORTHLESS". WE DONT HAVE AS MUCH NUMBERS OF SINGLE MOTHERS WHO GET PREGNANT IN THEIR VERY EARLY TEENS AND EVENTUALLY BECOME PARASITES OF THE GOVERNMENT FOR YEARS AND YEARS. < SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">

YES…WE CAME TO YOUR COUNTRY TO WORK, TO EARN DECENT MONEY (HALF OF WHICH BY THE WAY GOES TO TAXES BECAUSE THERE’S SO MANY SOCIAL PARASITES FROM YOUR RACE).AND BY THE WAY, MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE THAT I WORK WITH DON’T COME FROM YOUR RACE… THEY’RE ACTUALLY IMMIGRANTS TOO. AND THOSE EDUCATED ONES DO NOT ACT LIKE YOU DO, PERHAPS BECAUSE THEY’VE REALLY BEEN WELL EDUCATED..AFTER ALL THAT’S SAID… WHO IS THE IGNORANT ONCE AGAIN?!

==================================================

Pinay wins it big in London

By Alfred Yuson

The Philippine Star 05/16/2004

Patricia Evangelista, a 19-year- old, Mass Communications sophomore of University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, did the country proud Friday night by besting 59 other student contestants from 37 countries in the 2004 International Public Speaking competition conducted by the English Speaking Union (ESU) in London.

She triumphed over a field of exactly 60 speakers from all over the English-speaking world, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, reported Maranan.

The board of judges’ decision was unanimous, according to contest chairman Brian Hanharan of the British broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

PATRICIA’S SHORT SPEECH WORTH READING….

———————————————————

BLONDE AND BLUE EYES

When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.

I thought — if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I’d wake upon Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of "greener pastures." It’s not just an anomaly; it’s a trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are t hose who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don’t think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of peopl e of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.

Seen this way! , the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity . Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK’s National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world’s commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London’s West End.

Nationalism isn’t bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn’t a matter of choice. It’s coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the ‘returnees’ — those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn’t preclude the idea of a home. I’m a Filipino, and I’ll always be one. It isn’t about just geography; it isn’t about boundaries. It’s about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And that’s going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.

Mabuhay and Thank you.

So, be proud, you are a Filipino,…and not like Mr. Art Bell. Please do send this to as many person as you can until it reaches him.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 9:30 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.