Pinoy racism?

[Englishman2010]

Us whitey's don't normally experience a great deal of racism in our homeland, or if it goes on it is behind our backs and we are blissfully unaware of it. I never really experienced much on my first 2 visits to the Phil's, other than the usual White Man Tax on shopping and doubled/trebled taxi fares. However, on my last visit, I seemed to experience a lot more resentment towards me and overheard comments about The Foreigner with a Filipina. Since I've got back and have been chatting to a lot more Filipino's, more has crawled out of the woodwork.
I'm not particularly bothered by it, and I guess it is to be expected as they probably think we are all rich and are taking their future wives from them .
My question is really aimed at our Filipina members, but all are free to answer give their own experiences or thoughts.

What is the general attitude of Filipino's to 'Foreigners'? Do they really dislike us, but tolerate us on the basis that we might come in useful to prop up the family finances? What do they really think about Whitey's dating or marrying Filipina's?

[RickyR]

Very dependant on the situation, but unfortunately some of the Filipina that have married white men and are living in the UK are finding it's not the dream they thought and are pretty rude. It seems to have stopped, but a while back on the chatbox, some of the discussions in tagalog and visayan were pretty scathing towards the husbands by a few ladies who seem to have disappeared again.
The Filipino workers in the UK tend to be in the cities and often don't integrate and prefer to live in areas and with kabian. Then in the major cities in the Philippines, the expats tend to not integrate a great deal and some have a low view of the locals. In the province, they don't have much option but to integrate.

My missus has family in the UK, and when we over last time she went with them to a local Filipino gathering, and came back a little disheartened at some of the attitude towards the British that was displayed there. When one of the people told her, it's ok stick with your man, he's wealthy, she tried to explain about love and was pretty much laughed at.

When you have two cultures, there is always going to be some difficulty, especially if you can easily stay with your own.

I think also that of the brit-filipina relationships, that only a proportion of them work out, and those seem to be the people that have gone in with their eyes open and have put a lot of effort into the relationship. Also a little bit of luck has a bit to play.

[stevewool]

i understand what is being said here, its 2 differant cultures coming together, security and trust is wanted by both partys,i had the feeling that most women wanted a nice life but also has it drilled into them that there family must be supported too by there new life , this may be true in many many cases , eyes wide open there and state what you think should be right before agreeing to marriage or just living together i say,its hard trying to ballance love and feeling and doing what you want also with out hurting others, lots of comments about keep him happy in bed and you can get what you want are funny but also are a worry ,the most important thing in my life now is to be happy and hopefuly emma will be happy too, and if that happens athen everyone is happy , i will not tollarate anyone or anything upsetting our new life together weather its friends or family, life is to short

[tomboo]

i believe it has always existed, being at the wrong place at the wrong time just makes it sound like its a new thing. most of the time its people expressing frustration or just conversation more than racism. we see it at home with all cultures, in the bars people will make jokes about blacks, asians, irish etc, but its a joke and not meant to offend in most cases.

however,, to look at it this way,, when we foreigners travel to asia and fall in love and bring our girl back home we invariably bring a "good girl" back with us, someone who may be sought after in her home town, if it was happening in the uk and several of the beautiful british girls were travelling to asia and bringing back a hubby from there im sure many people would feel the need to chat about that, and most of this will be with resentment

[bornatbirth]

surely all this depends on the so called richness of the filipinos, my wifes family can be considered middle class or rich and i never have a problem with any of them and dont need to help with money , but my wife does feel that some filipinas in the uk do show resentment towards her, maybe there poor in the philipines

maybe they just have no class or they would appear on the filipino version of jeremy kyle show

[subseastu]

My missus has family in the UK, and when we over last time she went with them to a local Filipino gathering, and came back a little disheartened at some of the attitude towards the British that was displayed there. When one of the people told her, it's ok stick with your man, he's wealthy, she tried to explain about love and was pretty much laughed at.


This I think is becoming a common problem, my wife went to a gathering last year and the first question she gets asked is where we live so they can guage what type of house we have ,then asked how much money I'm earning!

It doesn't help with the attutude displayed by some blokes who bring their wives / gf's across either. We know of one girl who is kept as a near prisoner in their house because of the husband. So its understandable that a resentment can form. After all they have come over to a strange country where they have a lot more restrictions on them in many areas of their life. From traveling about (my wife still won't go on a bus on her own), to food, TV, lack of family, to trying to find new friends that won't cause trouble in the future.

As for us going over there its only natural that we would encounter varying forms of racism. Lets face it, white or black or whatever as a forgienor in what is basically a under developed country we are going to be viewed as a threat / with suspicion. No real difference than going on holiday, you're always going to get done over to some degree by the locals.

As for the problems of being in a mixed relationship and being over there I've never let it bother me. I try to mix with family, friends etc as best I can. Anyone outside of that just isn't that important to me. Why would they be. I've got no impact on them and they have none on me. If however what they say does impact on our lives then obviously it then does become an issuse and can hopefully be dealt with, if not sod em. THeir not willing to put the effort in to get to know me so they can carry on in their own narrow minded, mis guided ways.

[tomboo]

well said, i remember years ago telling my family i had an indian gf, my mum went crazy,, i couldnt believe it after all those years of her telling me i should tolerate any culture, as soon as she thought maybe they would have a new addition who was not white to our family she didnt like it,,, My response was disbelief and i explained they either accept i am happier with someone non white or they can forget I am part of their family.. Times have changed now with my pinay fiance and she could not possibly be treated better than she is by my family. call it racism, small mindedness or whatever you like, but it takes time for people to adapt, and as its said above, who cares what people think, as long as we are happy what alse should matter

[raynaputi]

surely all this depends on the so called richness of the filipinos, my wifes family can be considered middle class or rich and i never have a problem with any of them and dont need to help with money , but my wife does feel that some filipinas in the uk do show resentment towards her, maybe there poor in the philipines

maybe they just have no class or they would appear on the filipino version of jeremy kyle show

this is quite true...there are Filipinos who criticize depending on the richness or way of living of one person..add up it's skin color...me and my siblings have white skin because my dad has a Chinese blood..everytime we go to our province to visit my mom's family, we can hear the neighbors there saying "Look, the rich family from Manila is here" (we're not even rich, though belong to the middle class)... we can all hear this since I can remember, and we just laugh most of the time everytime we hear that...and some would even stop in our house to just snoop around... this also happens to families who have sons/daughters/parents working overseas...so just imagine if they find out I have a foreigner boyfriend... lots of Filipinos think that Filipinas marrying a White man would mean having already...it's either they would criticize the girl and immediately think she's from the lower class or either praise her & the foreigner hubby because of money...though you'll usually experience this from people who are ignorant or think of money most of the time.

[Englishman2010]

Great replies from all.

[JimOttley]

When you have two cultures, there is always going to be some difficulty, especially if you can easily stay wih your own.

I think also that of the brit-filipina relationships, that only a proportion of them work out, and those seem to be the people that have gone in with their eyes open and have put a lot of effort into the relationship. Also a little bit of luck has a bit to play.

Some good points and an interesting thread.

You are right but sometimes no matter how much effort both parties put in it can still go wrong.

I have seen racism in the Phils, oddly colour racism re dark African or middle east people which I found very strange but in reality the Phils does not have a huge proportion of foreigners and as such most foreigners are tolerated pretty well but there are exceptions as people here are pointing out.

The myth that we are all rich is widespread and you can feel that everyday everywhere, many many people expect unreasonable tips just because you are a rich westerner. I always tip for good service, in a taxi that might be a direct route and a nice conversation or even just because the poor guys cab is falling apart but he is still nice to us. In a restaurant lots of attention, politeness accuracy and so on, same as you would do anywhere really. Not all Filipinos are motivated by just money and a very great many are just really nice people but to some extent and because of the poverty there are a large number who are materialistic and have horribly naive views of the world.

In relation to this while we are tolerated just now and as folk are pointing out westerners (really all developed countries, Japan and Korea are included here) are sometimes seen as rich prospects for marriage personally I think this will change over time. The mismatch in wealth between countries will level off, our currency and the dollar are both headed for significant deflation over the next 4 or 5 years and there will eventually be a realisation that the rich foreigners are not really rich after all.

For those lassies who have made the leap of faith and come to the UK they can often find that life is the UK is not a lot of fun unless you are obscenely wealthy. It's cold, dark, we have a bad diet, entertainment is limited, everybody works too many hours, you absolutely have to have a car or you are trapped wherever you are, the people are not always that easy to approach, making friends can be very hard for a foreign lad or lassie in the UK and it's fricking expensive living here!

At least one girl on here recently was terribly treated by her UK family and is now out of that relationship the family she was involved with were brutes, I felt very very sad for her but I hope she finds a good future in the UK.

So racism, yes it exists, perhaps to a lesser degree than the UK but the Philippines is at a much earlier stage of adapting to a modern foreign population and the size of that foreign population is much less than that experienced by the UK over the last 40 or 50 years. (clearly the phils has adapted to many foreign populations over the century's Spanish, Americans, Japs etc.) but right now the foreigners are in a distinct minority.

As a result we should always be very aware that we are just guests, if we want to reduce the feelings of racism against us then we need to be the best people we can be, we need to lead by example and show our hosts our basic humanity, decency and our individual integrity.

That does not mean we have to roll over and accept mistreatment but we need to make a statement of our personal values and live up to them.

Things will change in the Philippines over the next 20 years, population pressure is going to change an awful lot of things but I hope it does not destroy what we love about these people!


Jim

[fred]

Ive yet to experience this racism trait in Filipinos towards white westerners..
Some Filipinos cannot control their jealousy and this can lead to problems if not handled correctly. It may also be mistaken on occassion as racism to some white foreigners..Not me though.
Ive heard them relate to black men as niggers but I think they use that word out of ignorance and I doubt most understand the significance of th N word,just that it relates in some way to black Africans.
Ive also noticed that white skinned Filipino`s are often given favour by the general populace and looked up upon and is the reason why the whitening skin products are a booming industry here..
There is much discrimination re: Filipino against fellow Filipino often based on skin colour,height,education,finances or lack of etc etc.
This behaviour does seem to have become ingrained in the culture but I still do not think of it as racism..More judgmental snobbery than anything else. IMO

[Englishman2010]

Jim, what a fantastic and well thought out reply, I'd even give you a rep point if I knew how
Great replies from all contributors

[KeithD]

I think these days people are too wuick to use the word 'racism', if you look at the real meaning of it then it would be seldom used.

I hate the French, does that make me a racist? No.... of course not ... it makes me a normal Brit (Can I say Brit? As it's short for British and may be racist like when shortening Pakistan ) ....... the French would say it is because I don't understand them ....... damn right I don't understand them they speak French

[triple5]

And there I was thinking they always make me sit at the back of the jeepney because me legs are so long

[Pete/London]

The only time I suffered any personal insults in the Philippines was 1990/91 when the US was leaving. We use to swim at the open air swimming pools around Angeles City and was told a few times to
Joe by drunk pinoys who were spoiling for a fight. Apart from that its just been the normal higher prices for foreigner situation.

On the dark skin topic, my wife is quite dark and they call my father in law the native.She won`t sit in the sun and was always using whitening soap.yet I love her skin colour.
When my wife was giving birth to our first son we was surrounded in the maternity room with a black midwife, a middle eastern doctor and 2 nurses, 1 black and 1 white.When our baby was borne before my wife saw it she said to me `Its not black is it`loud enough for everyone to hear. Well you could have heard a pin drop, and I tried to explain what she meant but I`m not sure they believed me

[fred]

Well you could have heard a pin drop, and I tried to explain what she meant but I`m not sure they believed me

..Im not sure they did either!

[Gavanddal]

I've always wondered what they think of us whiteys taking their women and I've asked the wife about it. However, no-one in her community back home seems bothered about it.
I can't believe that none of her many male friends made a play for her before I met her. I mean, what's the matter with them? Are they gay or something? She's gorgeous!! Can't blame me for snapping her up

[joebloggs]

I can't believe that none of her many male friends made a play for her before I met her. I mean, what's the matter with them? Are they gay or something? She's gorgeous!! Can't blame me for snapping her up

or duling

[JimOttley]

Ive yet to experience this racism trait in Filipinos towards white westerners..
Some Filipinos cannot control their jealousy and this can lead to problems if not handled correctly. It may also be mistaken on occassion as racism to some white foreigners..Not me though.
Ive heard them relate to black men as niggers but I think they use that word out of ignorance and I doubt most understand the significance of th N word,just that it relates in some way to black Africans.
Ive also noticed that white skinned Filipino`s are often given favour by the general populace and looked up upon and is the reason why the whitening skin products are a booming industry here..
There is much discrimination re: Filipino against fellow Filipino often based on skin colour,height,education,finances or lack of etc etc.
This behaviour does seem to have become ingrained in the culture but I still do not think of it as racism..More judgmental snobbery than anything else. IMO

That's a very good point Fred, yes it's probably judgmental snobbery rather than racism and the boss is right as well the word is used too often at the wrong time.

The personal instance of actual racism that I was talking about is real though, it is a personal failing of my partner she has what amount to xenophobic feelings about some people. Actually on reflection even this may not really be racism and prejudice as it is something deep seated in her

I think the boss is right the word racism is overused, real racism is driven by feelings of superiority over others, a belief in inherent superior properties of one race over an other.

Xenophobia is another thing.

So yes I think I tend to agree with you.

[Dedworth]

I think the boss is right the word racism is overused,

As in the last Labour Govt when for a long while any criticism or deviance from the decreed party line on the vote rigging immigration policy, asylum seekers or our "multicultural society" was deemed racist and politically incorrect. Of course this mantra was dropped in the last 18 months or so before the election when they knew the game was up

If IainBusby is out of mourning and listening maybe he'd like to comment ?

[somebody]

Wouldn't be suprised if most Phills dont like foreigners they have had a rough 500 odd years with the spanish, the arabs, japanese, yanks and the British etc shove their oar in.

Was shocked at some of the intolerance to people who were not of the Christian faith and even non Cathaolic faith. I was given a book on being a good husband by some realtives which could have had me arrested in this country for the bigtory inside it especially the sentiments towards Indians and other non christains

I can remeber once we were in Earls Court in one of the stores and a group of threee guys wanted to con the white guy and tried to enlist my Wife, long story but in a nutshell thought even though she my Wife she would go along

I have to say on the few Phill events with have been to some of the British Husbands dont do themselves any favours in he way they behave and act to those around them. Seeming aloof and after many years not even speaking rudimentary tagalog or another dialect

But saying that many Phills mainly blokes (but blokes are normally more likely to take this stance world wide) seem to make a big thing of the Phill national anthem which is often played at Brit Phill events which is fair enough but then either ignore (if they bother playing) the British national Anthem which has many are British residents or citizens and strangely happy to use this passport to gain access to other countries and often although not mentioned on here prefer to stay in the Uk for the majority of the time even once no longer working seems odd to me but I guess up to them.

Many Brits dont help themsleves and due to their lack of Language skills are not aware how many races will casually have a pop at those different to them.

I have many Indian mates and have learn enough to get by in Hindi and punjabi trust me I have freaked out enough people casually insulting me or others thinking we dont understand and this is all ages and both sexes.

One thing is for sure that Phills do like many others who come to the Uk will stick to their own and of course who can blame them Brits are famous for it as well abroad.

I am amazed how many Phill friends of my Wife had few non Phill friends (a friend by this definition someone they can ring at anytime, could go round there house unanounced etc) many had none. They had workmates or people they said hi to in passing.
Thankfully the Wife has plenty of friends which has helped her both feel at home in the UK and understand how different people are yet very similar.

I found when I was growing up untill I had been to a Indian, south east Asian or African households among others its very hard to understand people are pretty much all the same. I also came up when visting these friends casual racism and misunderstanding of white people. Much due to seeing a few examples and thinking all the same.

My Wife used to think all British Kids rowdy untill she saw examples that most kids in our local area dont hang around outside and are busy at after school clubs, cubs/brownies/scouts/guides/ sports, with their family, doing chores, charity work, part time jobs or studying in fact she now thinks many are to good and need to muck around a little more

If you dont actually know people from a group you will just go along with stereotypes or take what you see for granted..

I do agree with what others said i can remeber one poster saying he would not allow his wife to work!! What business is it of his I belive slavery was banned a couple of hundred years ago

I do know on some visits some of the younger guys on the outskirts of parties would give me stares which said to me "what the " but I found walking up and speaking my best taglish ok more english than tagalog but i would try my best and chatting with them having a laugh and a joke helps them see hey Joe is not so bad after all they just like us.
I have seen some guys cling to their Wife and the females in the groups they are in as they generally speak better English no wonder the guys resent you when you ignore them and hang round with their women as well as your Wife..

You do get throwaway remarks and walking in to a Hotel or restaurant often the staff will think is she his genuine partner or ...
For some couples with large age differences or at least it looks that way unfortunately you will have to be prepared for. The wife and I are pretty similar in age and both look younger so seem to have avoided most of this. I can remember one Phill food shop owner in our local area in the Uk saying to us a comment we didnt quite get at the time. She said " you both look like a matched couple" meaning to her we looked like in her view a couple.

Sadly stereotypes and peoples ideals and views are hard to change so some will have to be prepared to put up with funny looks however unfair it is

[somebody]

That's a very good point Fred, yes it's probably judgmental snobbery rather than racism and the boss is right as well the word is used too often at the wrong time.

The personal instance of actual racism that I was talking about is real though, it is a personal failing of my partner she has what amount to xenophobic feelings about some people. Actually on reflection even this may not really be racism and prejudice as it is something deep seated in her

I think the boss is right the word racism is overused, real racism is driven by feelings of superiority over others, a belief in inherent superior properties of one race over an other.

Xenophobia is another thing.

So yes I think I tend to agree with you.

Spot on some Phills can be xenophobic and ignorant of people of other backgrounds but rarely racist.

Most is simply coming from backgrounds which are much like my grandparents where they knew little of people from abroad compared to what we know now.

[JimOttley]

The only time I suffered any personal insults in the Philippines was 1990/91 when the US was leaving. We use to swim at the open air swimming pools around Angeles City and was told a few times to
Joe by drunk pinoys who were spoiling for a fight. Apart from that its just been the normal higher prices for foreigner situation.

On the dark skin topic, my wife is quite dark and they call my father in law the native.She won`t sit in the sun and was always using whitening soap.yet I love her skin colour.
When my wife was giving birth to our first son we was surrounded in the maternity room with a black midwife, a middle eastern doctor and 2 nurses, 1 black and 1 white.When our baby was borne before my wife saw it she said to me `Its not black is it`loud enough for everyone to hear. Well you could have heard a pin drop, and I tried to explain what she meant but I`m not sure they believed me

I have a good friend in Manila, a programmer like myself, who was very clear about his feelings toward Americans, I could feel a lot of resentment in his feelings towards American people in the Phils.

He was clear that he preferred the British but then he was working for a British/French company in Manila he is now working in Dubai and seems quite happy there.

I have also known one American that used to live in the same building as us in Manila and he at first seemed like a nice guy but after a while I saw him being extremely rude and abusive towards the locals, quite literally standing in the street giving a local person the finger and swearing at them. I also had to suffer a tirade of his abusive opinions about the Philippines while sharing an elevator in our building on more than one occasion. A real shame as he seemed quite nice the first time we met him.

The problem is that all of us will form opinions from limited experience and we tend to fall into the mistake of using stereotypes as a substitute for proper thought, I am guilty of this as well although I try not to be.

For my own part, one thing that really does get to me, I really hate it when I am walking down the street and I get the "Hey Joe" from the locals, I always want to make it very clear I am not American, indeed I want to make it very clear I am Scottish

It's a bit of the old Scots - English chip on shoulder thing and an extreme desire not to be associated with crass Americans and I am sorry to say I suffer from it a little bit, I should be better than that

Sometimes the "Hey Joe" can feel a bit sinister but usually it's just surprise on their part that I am walking around what is maybe a poor neighbourhood. I usually exchange a smile and a bit of friendly banter but sometimes I have been scared.

In general I don't remember any direct personal abuse apart from the odd occasion when I have felt threatened by a taxi driver demanding over payment but that is only a worry when the taxi is dropping you at home elsewhere there is less need to be worried.

The lack of abuse is actually one of the things I really love about the Philippines, so while I think there is a bit of a problem sometimes it is really small.

[fred]

Jim.. I have given up being surprised here..
All over the P.I,I have had to bare the brunt of the hey Joe thing..Even had TEE shirts made proclaiming that Im not a damned YANK!!
And then 3 years ago we arrive in Bohol. I can honestly say that I have not been called "Joe" ONCE in any of those three years.. Very weird and spooky stuff but not complaining.
Another very strange thing..
Since here,Ive made some really good American friends and cant believe Im saying this.... an Australian!

[ghee101]

Ive yet to experience this racism trait in Filipinos towards white westerners..
Some Filipinos cannot control their jealousy and this can lead to problems if not handled correctly. It may also be mistaken on occasion as racism to some white foreigners..Not me though.
Ive heard them relate to black men as niggers but I think they use that word out of ignorance and I doubt most understand the significance of th N word,just that it relates in some way to black Africans.
Ive also noticed that white skinned Filipino`s are often given favour by the general populace and looked up upon and is the reason why the whitening skin products are a booming industry here..
There is much discrimination re: Filipino against fellow Filipino often based on skin colour,height,education,finances or lack of etc etc.
This behaviour does seem to have become ingrained in the culture but I still do not think of it as racism..More judgmental snobbery than anything else. IMO

this is very true. i live in the city and here alone, fellow filipinos discriminate against each other. i observe in the provinces, when a foreigner is a veteran visitor and has already learned how to rub pinoys in the right way, he'll have slaves left and right who will when their relatives got a foreigner for a bf or husband, it is considered a jackpot. and yes, jealousy sometimes crawl its way in.

i come from a lower middle class family but like rayna said, having a fairly white skin is sometimes an advantage here. neighbors would always think we are rich that they will always ask for help. and if you dont help them, then they would "feel the need to chat about that, and most of this will be with resentment." my sister is married to a dutchman and once a neighbor told me, "hey, your mom must be rich coz you she got a foreigner for a son-in-law." i immediately answered her that we all got separate lives and my mom got the pride up her neck to even ask her kids to support her. to send some to help out voluntarily, yes. BUT it's not a requirement. my sister is studying dutch right now and cant practice her medical profession in netherlands just yet so it means she's not earning. although my mom is not saying it, i can feel she needs help too coz our youngest is also on his medicine proper now.

some families here tend to ask money and support from their daughters who are married to foreigners thinking when you're abroad, you are R-I-C-H

[ghee101]

I hate the French, does that make me a racist? No.... of course not ... it makes me a normal Brit (Can I say Brit? As it's short for British and may be racist like when shortening Pakistan ) ....... the French would say it is because I don't understand them ....... damn right I don't understand them they speak French

hey boss, dont hate french so much. i think i may just have the opportunity to go and work in paris. who knows, i might end up married to one (i hope he loves to shower)

***missing mark a lot

[ghee101]

The only time I suffered any personal insults in the Philippines was 1990/91 when the US was leaving. We use to swim at the open air swimming pools around Angeles City and was told a few times to
Joe by drunk pinoys who were spoiling for a fight. Apart from that its just been the normal higher prices for foreigner situation.

On the dark skin topic, my wife is quite dark and they call my father in law the native.She won`t sit in the sun and was always using whitening soap.yet I love her skin colour.
When my wife was giving birth to our first son we was surrounded in the maternity room with a black midwife, a middle eastern doctor and 2 nurses, 1 black and 1 white.When our baby was borne before my wife saw it she said to me `Its not black is it`loud enough for everyone to hear. Well you could have heard a pin drop, and I tried to explain what she meant but I`m not sure they believed me

well, for those who dont get it...fair skin here is called WHITE even if it's not really white. and morena or dark skin is called BLACK even if it's really brown.

[ghee101]

You do get throwaway remarks and walking in to a Hotel or restaurant often the staff will think is she his genuine partner or...

exactly!

large age gaps would always bring in the comments about "DOMs" and "the guy bought a wife from asia"

a fellow member here once told me, the embassy would look very closely when she's in her 20s and he's in his 60s. "are they genuine partners?"

then she joked, "ghee, dont worry. you're older than mark and you both do not have money. you're so genuine!" yeah right! and no way to be together

[joebloggs]

Jim.. I have given up being surprised here..
All over the P.I,I have had to bare the brunt of the hey Joe thing..Even had TEE shirts made proclaiming that Im not a damned YANK!!
And then 3 years ago we arrive in Bohol. I can honestly say that I have not been called "Joe" ONCE in any of those three years.. Very weird and spooky stuff but not complaining.
Another very strange thing..
Since here,Ive made some really good American friends and cant believe Im saying this.... an Australian!

no scouser friends thou
i was at my misses degree ceremony and sat next to Filipina in her 30's who had been living in the USA for the last few years, she asked me what part of AMERICA i was from , i'd never been so insulted in my life

[Terpe]

joebloggs lol
That happened to me first time to RP. Still laugh about it now.
I was asked where am I from and I said England. The follow up was which part of America is that.
Then my wife told them I was from London. Ya they seemed understood that. I never heard anyone talk about England, only London.