How to Bridge the Gap

Age Gap- I'm not only talking about the distance, he's 8 years my senior (the same age as my oldest brother). Frankly, I prefer it this way. Older men are more patient and tolerant. They love deeply and they're not afraid to talk about the relationship. They chose the words they say wisely. Like, every time I ask him if it's a "promise" he tells me "No, it's not a promise, it's a commitment that I intend to keep". Aaaw..sweet. I'm learning a lot from him, but it doesn't mean he's not learning anything from me. Madami rin ha. It's a give and take. The one thing I learned lang, no matter how old they are, they're all pa-baby! I'm not complaining, it's cute :).

On culture- This also has to do something with the age gap. I know he's Filipino, but he left the Philippines in 25 years ago (1983). Wala pang People Power. So many things have happened in the country since then; but the way they were brought up, kahit na sa America pa yan.. they're very conservative. I'm not saying dad brought us up to be pariwara.. I think the concept of "platonic male-female relationship" is unfamiliar to a conservatively raised naturalized Filipino/American. I have more guy friends than girl friends. I often use the phrase "hindi talo"- which is also hard to explain kasi translated in english, not a loser(?), so parang winner? Ang labo..anyway, long story short, I've managed to successfully explain the structure of boy friends (not a compound word) by telling him I'm not attractive to them and I'm a tomboy. Ayan, pangit na ko, lalaki pa ko. Hay.

The Distance- the distance, I now have lots of tips for people who are in the same situation (LDR). It requires a different blog entry since I've learned a lot in the past year and a half. The best thing I learned? Act as if he's just here but we're both busy so we just talk on the phone all the time. Yup, I learned to be buang-buang. Haha. But really, we don't talk about the obvious- which is the distance. We talk as if we just saw each other kanina. We talk as if he's beside me, and he's asking me to move so he can sit right next to me while we watch a simultaneous movie. He even offers me food while he's eating and I decline as if I'm not hungry :P.


Bolsa Chica Beach, Sept 2008