Different cultures are exciting – but what if the excitement fates? Thomas knows the Filipino culture well – but still there are moments when the difference in cultures and in the mindset of the Filipinos is shocking and surprising. But even Rosemarie – after staying outside her home country for more than 20 years – experiences some difficulties in adjusting to her own culture. Listen to our thoughts about culture and culture shock – especially for intercultural couples visiting the home country of the spouse. Please also let us know about your experience and your
We had a great holiday at the beach. After three weeks in the Philippines it was our first time to be at a beach. The last weeks we met lots of friends and attended three birthday parties and one wedding. We also had to arrange things for our guesthouse and do look for other practical matters – such as opening an local bank account. It was also our first time since at least 20 years to be at Paradise Island without our kids and family. So especially Thomas was very excited to swim and spend time at the beach. Watch our video and learn what we learned about holiday … and see some impressions from our favorite beach resort in Davao – the Paradise Island Beach resort at Samal Island.
25 years after our wedding we visited the hotel were we got married – the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao. It was very special after many years to be back at this place. Some things changed – but still it is very much the place of our wedding. One highlight of our wedding was, that all members of both families were there to celebrate with us.
Some impressions from the wedding of our friends Monik and Carlo. We were asked to be Ninang and Ninong (God parents). It was a wonderful party. Both Monik and Carlo grow up in Davao – Rosemarie knows both parents for many years – but the met in Sidney, Australia. Both families and many friends came to this special celebration – around 350 guests. We were asked to give a speech during the reception. Find out in the video what these items have to do with marriage: One thing which also blessed us, is that both families really stick together. Even after being married Monik and Carlo will still be very much part of their big families. They both expressed that during the celebration and it is so different from the way many western young couples deal with their families.
Some people asked how we spend our anniversary here in Davao. We planned to be out at the hotel we got married- but postponed that for a week. But of course Sunday evening we had a special dinner with our family and some friends.
25 years after getting married we decided to renew our marriage vows. Actually we were first thinking to do this at a local church – but than we decided to just do it as a video. So all of you you witness and we can go back to listen to our own vows anytime in the future. The recording was a very special – and also a very emotional – moment for the two of us. But the vows are not just a video or a show – it is a statement, that even after 25 years we stick together – for better or worse. We believe it is important to make commitments to each other – especially in a time where it seems that the traditional view of marriage is replaced by an often short-term arrangement between two people. In German, there is a term “Lebensabschnittsgefährte” which literally means “Companion for a period of life”. But marriage is much more than that.
25 years ago – exactly on January 21st 1993 at 7 am – we celebrated the start of our union with a garden wedding. Yes it was 7 am and not pm: we choose a nice location facing the beach at Insular Hotel Davao City. During the day it gets so hot and we had the choice of either morning or late afternoon. Since it was often raining at night during the rainy season we choose to have the ceremony in the morning. We started 7 am Filipino time (meaning to say it was around 8 am …) We were very thankful for around 200 friends and relatives to be there. But the very highlight was that the family of Thomas came from Germany to attend the wedding. Our pastor Ernie Abella really gave good insights on marriage. He knew both of us as we were attending his church – “The Jesus Fellowship” in Davao City. We were so blessed to have him at our wedding. But there was a number of
We went back to some places where we had our first dates. Both of our favorite places have now different owners – many things have changed in the last 25 years. But here are still sweet memories – not only to the Hallo-Hallo and to the places it was served. You do not know what Halo-Halo is? See at the movie and look for more details online. On our first dates we were seldom alone – normally we brought some chaperones to be with us. For us our chaperones were usually Rosemarie’s sister or her brother or other friends. Wikipedia explains the following about a chaperone: A chaperone in its original social usage was a person who for propriety’s sake accompanied an unmarried girl in public: usually she was an older married woman, and most commonly the girl’s own mother. In modern social usage, a chaperone is a responsible adult who accompanies and supervises young people. Maybe the younger ones feel strange about that – but even today in many countries chaperones are there
Within our first 24 hours in the Philippines, we went already to two birthday parties. We arrived around 2 pm in the afternoon in our house in Davao and learned that we were invited for the 60th birthday of our Ninang Bernadette Al-ag that evening. We enjoyed the party and it was also nice to meet the new vice mayor of Davao City, Bernie Al-Ag and his wife. The next day our nephew celebrated the first birthday of their son Chase Noah. Celebrating the first birthday is a big thing in the Philippines. The parents spent lots of time and money to prepare for a wonderful party. Rose also prepared materials in Germany for the birthday cake and we were so excited to meet our grand-nephew for the first time ever. Also this party was great. There were around 100 guests – most them we did not know and there were lots of activities for the children. It is great to meet friends and to have good food. But on
More than 26 hours of traveling from our home town to Rosemarie’s family in Davao. Watch some impressions from our trip and understand why it is not easy to be far from your loved ones.