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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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 Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:26 pm Post subject: Philippines travel tips and questions. |
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One of my students is being forced to spend his winter vacation in the Philippines studying English. I see him a few times a week in a special English class---he's one of two or three students that ever shows up---and we're going to talk about his upcoming trip. He's asked me what he should do while there to help him be successful and to have a good trip. I've never been there, so I wanted to get answers to a few of his questions. Yes, I know the Philippines are discussed on this forum all the time, and I briefly read a few of the threads, but humor me. By the way, he'll be entering his 3rd year of middle school, and he doesn't know what city he'll be in.
* Are there PC rooms there? He was curious about this. Are there many? As plentiful as Korea? How are the prices? Clealiness?
* How's the crime situation? He asked if there were a lot of thiefs and other such scammers. I read a little about it on wikitravel. Will he be more of a target as a foreigner? Any common scams or any places he should avoid?
* I told him a bit about the Korean communities flourishing there, and I did mention that some Filipinos (sp?) harbor negative feelings toward Koreans for a variety of reasons. How widespread is this attitude? I told him one of the best ways to improve his English in his very short time there is to avoid the typical pitfalls of hanging out exclusively in the Korean communities. Not only will he not speak English that way, but he'll be exposed to pretty negative attitudes toward the locals. He won't be able to escape completely---he's 14, and will probably be in a hostel or homestay---but he can try.
* Good local foods? He'll be on a budget, so are there some good street foods or budget foods he can try? I don't know a thing about the food there.
I'll also have him run a search on Naver, as Im sure there are tons of resources for 유학생 in the Philippines, but I don't want him to necessarily have that biased a view. Anything else worth mentioning from you all would be appreciated. Thanks. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:47 am Post subject: Re: Philippines travel tips and questions. |
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| Smee wrote: |
One of my students is being forced to spend his winter vacation in the Philippines studying English. I see him a few times a week in a special English class---he's one of two or three students that ever shows up---and we're going to talk about his upcoming trip. He's asked me what he should do while there to help him be successful and to have a good trip. I've never been there, so I wanted to get answers to a few of his questions. Yes, I know the Philippines are discussed on this forum all the time, and I briefly read a few of the threads, but humor me. By the way, he'll be entering his 3rd year of middle school, and he doesn't know what city he'll be in.
* Are there PC rooms there? He was curious about this. Are there many? As plentiful as Korea? How are the prices? Clealiness?
* How's the crime situation? He asked if there were a lot of thiefs and other such scammers. I read a little about it on wikitravel. Will he be more of a target as a foreigner? Any common scams or any places he should avoid?
* I told him a bit about the Korean communities flourishing there, and I did mention that some Filipinos (sp?) harbor negative feelings toward Koreans for a variety of reasons. How widespread is this attitude? I told him one of the best ways to improve his English in his very short time there is to avoid the typical pitfalls of hanging out exclusively in the Korean communities. Not only will he not speak English that way, but he'll be exposed to pretty negative attitudes toward the locals. He won't be able to escape completely---he's 14, and will probably be in a hostel or homestay---but he can try.
* Good local foods? He'll be on a budget, so are there some good street foods or budget foods he can try? I don't know a thing about the food there.
I'll also have him run a search on Naver, as Im sure there are tons of resources for 유학생 in the Philippines, but I don't want him to necessarily have that biased a view. Anything else worth mentioning from you all would be appreciated. Thanks. |
Internet cafes are absolutely everywhere in the Philippines. Nowhere can be quite as much as Korea, but the Philippines comes pretty damn close! I've seen the internet there as low as the equivalent to 500won/hour. I've heard some places charge even less if the cafe isn't in a high profile area.
Scammers and con artists. Manila is THE spot for that. Outside of Manila, it changes drastically and feels quite safe, although most all of the cities in the Philippines feel kind of dirty. However, shopping malls are absolutely everywhere in the Philippines and are like little worlds to themselves, so if you don't want to walk around outside, you definetley don't havfe to do so. (Malls are incredibly safe - they even have security guards with guns protecting the entrances/exits - so you'd be fine!).
He's 14, Filipinos won't hold resentments towards a 14-year-old. Usually, from what I can gather, its the old ajoshi guys who treat Filipinos like their own personal slaves and treat them like garbage. If you treat them well, they'll treat you well. Filipinos are amazingly tolerant, although Koreans are well-known to test the most open-minded tolerant people the world over.
The Philippines has a ton of international food choice. Local food would be more along the lines of chicken and rice, so he should be fine among other things - pansit noodles, etc. He'll be fine. It's cheap and plentiful. There are a lot more international food everywhere in the Philippines as well, so he should be able to get his Korean fixes quite easily. |
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Gamecock
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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People in the Phils are very friendly and easy to talk to. Encourage him to get outside his Korean group and practice his English! It is a great opportunity for him...tell him to relax and have fun.
I wish i was being "forced" to spend my winter vacation in the Philippines. |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the tip, Tiger Beer. He told me yesterday that he won't be going until summer vacation, so his mother is really planning ahead. He's not too excited about it. I asked him what he's looking forward to about the trip, and he said "nothing," because he'd rather stay home. Can't say I blame him. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Smee wrote: |
| Thanks for the tip, Tiger Beer. He told me yesterday that he won't be going until summer vacation, so his mother is really planning ahead. He's not too excited about it. I asked him what he's looking forward to about the trip, and he said "nothing," because he'd rather stay home. Can't say I blame him. |
Just curious, where is he going to study in the Philippines, and what kind of situation? For example, how much is it? Does the program include housing? Is it like an intensive camp - contained in a school studying all the time, etc.? |
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