After three years of halting due to the pandemic, Baguio City finally came back to its feet specifically in terms of celebrating the Panagbenga or Flower Festival. The festival is celebrated at the start of February until first week of March, until 05 March this year.
One of the highlights of the festival was the grand street dance parade which was held last 25 February 2023. While I may write about the parade, let me share an updated version of my FB post about a short encounter right along the barricade of the parade.
As expected, the start of the parade was with the VIPs and sister cities representatives. When delegates of two Korean sister cities passed by, they were waving and greeting us spectators.
1 "Anyeong haseyo, anyeong haseyo..."
A group behind me was answering back and laughing out loud.
"Ano ngayon sayo? Ano ngayon sayo?"
(So what's it to you? So what's it to you?") The question rhymes with the Korean greeting and they unfortunately make it a bad joke.
I let it pass with the first Korean group. When they did it again with the second group, I turned around and said,
"Uy, wag ganun. Binabati kayo eh."
(Don't be like that. They are greeting you.")
They were not expecting that and kept quiet for a while. They came up with a defense of "joke lang" when they came to their senses.
"Hindi po pwedeng joke lang. Eh kung naintindihan kayo?"
(It can not be "joke only." What if they understand you?)
I wanted to add, "eh bakit ba kailangang pabastos ang joke na sagot niyo sa pagbati nila?" but I kept my tongue. (Why does your joke reply have to be rude to their greeting?). So far, they shut up.
I was aligned with the barricade in front so the parade troop was close to us. It was very likely that they can hear us.
I tried to profile those behind me and they do not seem to be from Baguio or the highlands. They seem to be local tourists. Regardless of where you came from, why would would parade your ignorance and rudeness especially to foreigners?
1 안녕하세요 [a-nyeong-ha-se-yo] is the formal, polite way to say hello in Korean and is the most important for you to know when you are just beginning learning Korean or if you are in need of some simple travel Korean. A fun fact about this word: it has the literal meaning of ‘be in peace’.
Sadly there are people like that. There's a place and time for jokes but many people don't know that. You're so brave in talking to them. If that was me, I'll just keep the rant to myself.
Aside from the wrong joke that must be corrected, I did not want to be thought as one of them because I was right in front of them.
Sometimes we really need to speak up because others may not realize that what they are doing is wrong. They may need someone else to show the mistake.
That’s true! I hope they take it as not being offensive but something to ponder on with their attitude.
Minsan hindi na rin talaga nakakatuwa eh. Madalas mga kabataan pa ang malakas ang loob na ganyan ngayon. It's okay na mag-speak up din at pagsabihan sila para hindi na umulit.
Sana nga hindi na sila umulit kahit walang naninita 😁
Sana nga po.
Damn! Such rude fellows for Korean tourists. Are those rude fellows young adults? Hmm.
Anyway, what if those Koreans understand some Tagalog words and they understand what they said? That would be embarrassing.
Di ko nga maintindihan bakit may mga kababayan tayong sila pa nagpapabagsak sa atin eh. Sana ma-realize nila na minsan yong mga feeling nilang joke lang eh hindi maganda.
Nice one! I'm from Benguet..
Cheers to that! Where in Benguet?
kapangan
na miss ko din manood ng mga float. I think sa college days lng ako active.
Pwede ka rin naman lumuwas ng Baguio paminsan-minsan. Pwera traffic, mga 2 hrs lang yata ang biyahe.
Yep, kabisado mo ah looks from baguio-benguet area ka din?
Medyo... 😊
Mga pinoy talaga.
Anyway, sana mawitness ako ng Panagbenga Festival soon.
Well, kakatapos lang kahapon. Strawberry festival ang kasunod sa katabing munisipyo ng La Trinidad. Pwede naman yon muna habang hinihintay mo ang next year ng panagbenga. 😊
hehe... wala pang budget this year.
Pero nakapunta na rin ako sa La Trinidad. Namitas kami ng strawberries dun. :D
Mahigit sampung na yun. :D
Yeah, the most important traits that we Filipinos embody is being hospitable and kind to change such behaviors of other people who choose to do otherwise.