Edward Moss - 50 Things You Should Know Before Marrying Your Filipina Girlfriend

50 Things You Should Know

Before Marrying Your Filipina

Girlfriend

Topics

A Guide for Non-Filipinos

The topics in this book apply to Filipinos in general terms. It is not meant to stereotype Filipinos, and should not be construed in any way as truth for all Filipinos. Everyone is unique, and certainly your Filipina (Pinay) girlfriends response to a situation would vary depending on where she was raised (city or province/country side) and how she was raised.

Hopefully, this book will ease the culture shock you might have in visiting a country that is different from your own, and help you understand your girlfriends background, and why she acts, talks, and responds the way she does.

Some topics include short anecdotes from the authors personal experiences.

His Story

T here I was in a room by myself, never thinking I would be one of them, sitting there reflecting back on all the dates I have been on that ended in disaster.

Just when I thought a date might workout, she goes and pinches me throughout an entire movie leaving multiple bruises on my arms. I had to hold her hand, not out of romantic passion but out of sheer fear that it is possible I may not make it out of the theater alive. Maybe it was her way of saying that a movie on the first date is a bad idea. With her disappointment and my agonizing pain, needless to say that first date was the last.

Then there was that time I went on a blind date where I drove 50 miles not knowing what the girl looked like. Great personality, but short on looks... very short... I believe you should at least have some attraction for the person you date, and it just wasnt there! Note to self, no more blind dates!

The list goes on and on from being cheated to plain and simple not clicking. So, there I was... my twenties almost over and my thirties closing in, and a love life nowhere to be found. After years of disappointments, discouragement starts to set in, and I think to myself in that room, could it be true? Am I about to resort to such tactics!? Am I about to punch the keys of desperation!? Am I about to leap into unknown territory where I never thought I would go!? YES! I went ahead with my covert operation and earned the certificate of an online dater!

As I accepted the fact and kept it top secret, I proceeded in my tedious task of looking for Mrs. Right! I filled out my profile as well as what I was looking for in a potential dream girl, clicked the button and presto!! The search was on... Nope, no way! Whoa, she uses a lot of foul language! No way, what? What is she wearing?? God, no!

Day 1 is over. Day 2, 3, and 4 go pretty much the same, until the 5th day. Im scrolling the profiles and pics thinking to myself... maybe I am meant to be single like... I dont know... forever? Then a picture appeared like something out of a fairytale, and I verbalize out loud to myself in that lonely, small, dark, depressing room, WOW! My eyes widened; my heart began to race. I continued to stare at her brown skin, brown eyes, jet black hair, and gorgeous Asian features. I scrolled down to read her profile... yes... yup, thats good, that is great! Its a match! Could it be? Could it truly be? Is it possible that she could be... the ONE?!

As wedding bells were ringing in my ears, I scrolled down to see where she is located. I know here in Georgia there is no one for me! I began to read, not the state from where she might reside, but the country!! Philippines... 6000 miles away!

After I picked myself up off the floor, I had a decision to make. Am I going to continue on my discouraging search or am I going to pursue? Obviously, I pursued and it turned out to be worthwhile! After nervously emailing, which led to phone calls, then to skyping for a whole year, never even seeing her physically, the day finally came and I was able to fly to the Philippines to meet her in person. After connecting already for a year, it was truly my... our dream come true!

At the time of this writing, we have been married for 5 awesome years, and have a three year old son, with a daughter that were working on.

Ive come to realize in the pursuit of my dream girl, I was not going to let distance or anything get in my way of what I knew in my heart was right. Little did I know that not only was it distance that I tried to cross, but there were other hurdles that needed to be jumped in order to make it successfully to the finish line. I realized in order to have a successful relationship with a Filipina (Pinay), you have to understand her culture.

Maybe youre in the same situation I was in, and youre thinking about dating a Pinay or building a relationship, or you just want to understand the culture better. Not only do you want to admire the beauty outwards, but you want to go in depth to be more prepared as to what to expect. This book will help you in your journey of building a meaningful relationship. Trust me, I wish I had known these pointers before I went to the Philippines. This isnt all there is, but this will help you understand your potential partner better, and show that you really care to learn them in every way.

Her Story

I was in my early thirties (yep, you read that right! My husband is four years younger than me!), and most of my friends around my age were already married with kids. My friends, my parents friends, people who knew me who were concerned, and those who just wanted to meddle were teasing me and pairing me off to every available bachelor, or so it seemed. I was introduced to mostly good and God-fearing men. In the end, none of the probable relationships came to be, the Pinoys simply backed off. I was starting to think that there might be something wrong with me, until close friends told me that the Pinoys were simply intimidated. Filipino guys saw me as high maintenance simply because I had a successful career, I drove my own car, and I had a personal yaya (helper/maid).

I worked for an international research and development company that had expats working in the Philippines for months or years at a time. I was the companys unofficial tour guide. I toured the visiting expats, including the managing president and his wife to see the beautiful sights in my hometown. Most of my coworkers shied away from talking to our expats, simply because they were our bosses. Even if the expat was from a different department than mine, some engineers asked me to help with the tour, and some expat friends referred other visiting expats to me for their city tour.

I never entertained the idea of dating a non-Filipino up until I dated one. It was very different from a relationship with a co-Pinoy. Less drama, more romance, and no giving me the cold shoulder and leaving me clueless as to why things werent going right. Non-Filipinos would let you know straight up if something bothered them, or if theres something they want or do not want. It gets rid of the guessing part of the relationship.