Jia Tong Xie

April 14, 2014

ASAMST175
Professor Joi

Culture Philippines
The Filipino Cultural Night was a wonderful experience, full of dances, cultural food and
music.
In particular, I enjoyed the play with the mango tree. The tree acted as a metaphor for the
Filipinos' connection with nature since before the Spanish colonization. The play reminded me of the
first two chapters of the poems that we learned in class, expressing the close connection between the
Filipino. The tree in the play acted as the center of the community and I really appreciated the
thoughtfulness of the play. The play really resonated with my country's culture and my childhood
(which I miss very much).
It was really amazing seeing Filipino dance for the first time. It's really hard to describe,
however, the specific hand movements in the dance was something that I was not familiar with. By
watching the dancers perform, I could really tell that the dancers enjoy what they do and I couldn't help
but feel happy by watching them perform.
Another huge theme of the night was identity. Overseas Filipinos just like people from all
nationalities sometimes wonder about their identity. This is a big part of the Asian-American culture,
where the two cultures merge. People see themselves as half American and half Filipino.
I hope to attend many culture events such as these to learn more about the different cultures
across the globe.