I’ve always thought that I knew Philippine culture. I’m no scholar on it, but I’ve experienced and understood Philippine culture in my own little way. It’s easy for us to go back to our Sibika and Kultura classes in grade school that tell us that Filipinos are hospitable, good hearted, and serve good food by the bucketful—that’s very true. There are also tribe and religion-specific cultures. But knowledge and awareness is very different from actual experience, which is why I did not really appreciate our culture.

I get to see the flaws of our culture and be quite critical about it. Sometimes I feel we are a little too hospitable or respectful. Perhaps it’s just me but since there’s no benchmark or point of comparison, there is no point for improvement.

Then the Dutch came.

I’m not talking about their invasion back during the Spanish period. I’m talking about six student journalists from the Netherlands who came to Ateneo to write about the Philippines. I was one of those who applied to help them go around and see the country and our culture. Stories varied greatly from cock fighting, basketball, the Aetas and transgenders just to name a few of them. With so much stories to write in a span of two weeks, you can just imagine how much travelling we had to do.

But while we were going around, they asked a lot of challenging questions about Filipino culture; sometimes they asked things even I did not know the answer to. And while this little experience was meant so that they could immerse themselves and fully understand our culture, it seems as though that I was the one being immersed in my own culture.

A point of comparison finally existed. When we explained to them several things about Philippine culture, they would tell us exactly how it was like in Holland, and more often than not it was very different from ours. The Netherlands for example has a very powerful middle class, and according to them, to overachieve is a bad thing. They like being average and they don’t look kindly on those who excel. As a result, they don’t have a sense of social hierarchy; everyone is equal in their eyes.

I’m not saying everything should be appreciated though, this little experience helped me be more critical of my own culture. It’s not just a matter of accepting everything as it is because culture can change if there is a proper catalyst for change. I’ve taken a more critical view with all the questions posed to me and being given a point of comparison. And while I may critique our culture and question it, it only means that I care enough about it to try to do something about it.

The Dutch gave us a fresh, European perspective to our culture. I started to appreciate Philippine culture just because of cross-cultural dialogue and a different perspective.

At the end of the day, sometimes it takes an outsider to make you realize the beauty of what you have, and the Dutch did this to me. And I’d be glad to return the favor to them.