First Time Living With A Filipina Was Not Exactly…….

[Old55]

I’m curious if any of you guys have had interesting experiences or instances while first living with your girlfriend or wife that you would like to share?

I’m sure Sir Jake has had some interesting “experiences”.

A few days after my wife arrived here in the States I did a load of laundry. It included my wife's and my 8 year old son’s clothing. While folding the clean clothes I noticed my wife’s jeans and my sons jeans were nearly the same size hers having a slightly different cut in the waist.

Her learning to drive was an interesting experience that nearly broke up our marriage until I had her enrolled into an Asian driving school. Yes there is really such a thing here it was expensive and worth every penny of it.

Off topic.... That was the bravest man I ever met!

[Jake]

 

I’m curious if any of you guys have had interesting experiences or instances while first living with your girlfriend or wife that you would like to share?

I’m sure Sir Jake has had some interesting “experiences”.

A few days after my wife arrived here in the States I did a load of laundry. It included my wife's and my 8 year old son’s clothing. While folding the clean clothes I noticed my wife’s jeans and my sons jeans were nearly the same size hers having a slightly different cut in the waist.

Her learning to drive was an interesting experience that nearly broke up our marriage until I had her enrolled into an Asian driving school. Yes there is really such a thing here it was expensive and worth every penny of it.

Off topic.... That was the bravest man I ever met!

 

My wife Judy arrived in San Diego in 1985 on a fiance visa, which means we must consummate a marriage within

90 days of her arrival.  I introduced her to my family and I noticed that my father was putting on the extra charm.  

Judy was barely 19 years old (I was 34) and she looked like a million bucks.  

 

When she finally met my ex wife (also a Filipina), Judy was very upset that my ex was asking her which nursery she

came from.  Yeah, I definitely robbed the cradle and but it's all good.  Judy took it with grace and a lot of patience, 

proving to me that she was a much better person without the black heart that my ex possessed.  

 

The first few years were trial by fire with already two kids popping out of the oven.  Much later (20 years later) my

jealousy got the best of me when she comes home from the casino with all kinds of business cards given to her

by male patrons.  She was a very popular cocktail waitress and making bank but in the end, she has the heart of

gold.....it was never tarnished.  

 

Respectfully -- Jake

[jon1]

I had a similar experience with the vehicle driver training. I thought that I could do it but quickly realized in a minute that the english to tagalog conversion going on in her head was too much of a significant delay. I paid for her to go to a driver's school and it was worth every peso. Now she drives confidently and I no longer worry.

 

My early experiences were mostly adjusting to the local ways of doing things. The most enjoyable things have been getting her to try different things. She now enjoys a lot of western dishes (pasta(italian style not the sweet filipino recipe), chilli, US style BBQ, vegetables, etc.). She still has to have her rice but she now listens to me when I offer something new for her to taste. 

 

She and I enjoy long road trips. She no longer is happy with just being at home. She shares the same joy of the freedom of the road.

[Mike J]

My wife, who has a degree in teaching, volunteered as a teacher's assistant for a fourth grade math class on a twice a week basis.  She was 45 years old at the time.  One day the teacher was ill, and the school brought in a substitute teacher.  Lani is standing at the back of the class waiting for class to begin when the teacher says in a loud voice; "Why have you not taken your seat?".  All the kids thought that was hilarious and burst our laughing.   :hystery:

 

I also paid a professional to give my wife driving lessons.  At dinner I asked her how the first lesson went.  Her response; "I did not know that with an automatic, you still have to use the gas pedal and brake pedal."  I started to go with her when she received the actual learners permit.  The scariest moment came when she made a hard right turn at 35 mph.  I had to reach over and bring us down off the sidewalk following the turn.  The reason given was: "I was trying to maintain the speed limit of 35".  Funny now, but man was I scared then. :no:   

[robert k]

I'd been giving some thought to this driving lessons thing and am seriously considering renting a cane truck and finding a middle of nowhere area. I think that is about as close as I could come to where/how/what I learned to drive.

[Medic Mike]

 

I’m curious if any of you guys have had interesting experiences or instances while first living with your girlfriend or wife that you would like to share?

I’m sure Sir Jake has had some interesting “experiences”.

A few days after my wife arrived here in the States I did a load of laundry. It included my wife's and my 8 year old son’s clothing. While folding the clean clothes I noticed my wife’s jeans and my sons jeans were nearly the same size hers having a slightly different cut in the waist.

Her learning to drive was an interesting experience that nearly broke up our marriage until I had her enrolled into an Asian driving school. Yes there is really such a thing here it was expensive and worth every penny of it.

Off topic.... That was the bravest man I ever met!

 

I hear ya....I tried teaching my oldest daughter to drive...was one of the most terrifying experience I ever had....LOL....driving lessons were well spent.

[Dougbert]

Love the stories and can relate to most of them.  Brought my fiance' over on a K-1 (we arrived here in CA just before Christmas 2013).  There was a cold snap her first week here and she started to understand why I wanted her to buy some socks and long pants before we left--haha!  That first afternoon she took a nap on the sofa (wood stove is upstairs in the living room) with three layers of clothes and two blankets.  Went shopping for warm clothes the second day here and she adjusted pretty quickly to the temperature difference, though those first cold nights had their benefits.

 

We were married on Jan 31 and she now has her 2 year green card (no more bureaucratic crap for two years).  Driving lessons begin this week and I'm more than happy to pay for the first few hours.  The place we picked has cars outfitted with dual controls which I fear may be needed.  She took three tries to pass the written test and as we reviewed the ones she had missed or guessed and got lucky on a few deep misunderstandings became evident.  For example, there was a question related to maintaining a "space cushion" around your car when driving (not getting too close to other cars if possible--unlikely in CA traffic).  After a minute of discussing it I realized she thought the space cushion was the air bag!

 

After some bouts of home-sickness and a few misunderstandings we have settled into a comfortable and happy relationship.  She likes my family and they like her.  We sent her family a big balikbayan box last month and we both had fun filling it with special items for everyone there.  She still insists on hand-washing the dishes and some of her clothes, but has adjusted to the clothes washer for most things.  She was curious about the bills and our monthly budget.  I showed her the PG&E bill which has a monthly usage chart for the past 12 months and a daily usage chart for the current month.  On the daily chart I showed her the spikes in usage every week that correspond to using the dryer, so what does she do without my asking?  Hangs all the laundry out to dry.  Can you say crunchy Levi's?  She uses the vacuum cleaner, but also uses a dust rag (I think she misses her little brooms).  She loves to cook and only lets me cook a few items (pasta, lasagna).  She learned some new recipes from my mom at Christmas and has found others on the web.

 

We are still learning things about each other.  Only today--after watching a bunch of those Mikey Bustos videos--did she tell me how difficult she found it to eat with only a fork!  Anyway, it has been a mostly fun journey so far and I look forward to many more years of it.  I have no complaints to speak of and feel very lucky to be with my Filipina.  She is caring, responsible, frugal, kind, helpful, and easy to get along with.  She makes me want to be a better person.

 

Wish us luck on the driving lessons.

 

Dougbert

[Old55]

Guys, the Asian driving school (yes there are Asian driving schools) is the only way to go!

After 15 years of marriage my wife still loves me. Go figure.

[Paul_QLD]

Keen to follow this thread because before the end of this year, all going to plan, this is about to happen to me .... wish me luck!

[frosty (chris)]

Keen to follow this thread because before the end of this year, all going to plan, this is about to happen to me .... wish me luck!

Well good luck to you Paul, but you have had your girl there, so you must have some idea of of any potential problems you may encounter, but they certainly have a different mindset to what I was used too. I know no matter what I wouldn't entertain the thought of taking my young lady back to Aus, I think there are too many distraction there.