In celebration of Filipino American History Month, TRL Collections Services Specialist Rachel S. was kind enough to answer a few questions and share her experiences of growing up with Filipino heritage.
Q: What got you interested in library work?
I was desperate to leave a job in the automotive industry! I always loved books and wanted to be an author growing up. I would check out and read all the Nancy Drew books at once. Working here at the library is the first job I've had that felt like a career for me. Being a Collections Services Specialist is a great fit - I get to do most of the things needed to get a book from the vendor to the shelves. I order and receive books and other materials, input data to make it findable, and work on maintaining our 1 million plus item collection as needed.
Fun fact, Holly (the person interviewing me right now), was on my hiring team and I vividly remember her testing my customer service skills during my interview by acting like a confused patron with a question. She must have taken some acting classes because it was a very convincing performance!
Q: What do you like best about your work here?
I love seeing all the new books come in. I see so many that I want to check out, I constantly max out my holds limit! I love reading books, fiction and non-fiction, that give me windows into other people's lives. I like that reading is something you can do in an armchair for eight hours and then still feel like you accomplished something when you've finished a book.
Q: How do you describe yourself in terms of your identity?
I describe myself as mixed race. My mom is Filipina and grew up in Dipolog, a fishing and shipping port on the island of Mindanao (second largest island in the Philippines). My dad is Norwegian-American - he was born in the U.S., moved back to Norway with my grandparents when he was a baby, then the family all immigrated back to the States later. My dad was in the Air Force, and he met my mom while he was stationed in the Philippines.
Q: Growing up, did you have any special traditions related to your Filipino heritage?
My mom is a great cook, and we loved it when she made Filipino dishes. I remember that I became vegetarian in my teens and my mom made lumpia with potatoes swapped in for chicken so I could eat them. Potatoes are a staple food in Norway, so my mom was doing fusion cooking before it was 'cool.' Making lumpia is labor-intensive, but we ate it regularly, not just for celebrations. Sometimes we would help fill and roll the lumpia wrappers. It's a fun activity to do as a team.
Other than my mom's cooking, I didn't really learn a lot about her heritage until I was in Girl Scouts when I was seven or eight years old. We had to do a world celebration badge with other troops, and our country to celebrate was the Philippines. My mom cooked traditional food, of course, and my sister remembers that a little girl liked our mom's roll cakes (pianono) so much she made her mom ask for another slice because she was too shy to ask herself. We performed traditional dances like the Tinikling and the Candle Dance (Pandanggo sa ilaw) except that instead of candles on our heads we had cups of water, since no one wanted little girls to accidentally set themselves on fire. This experience was the most general overview of my heritage that I remember experiencing - the activities were fun, but they weren't things we normally did at home.
Q: Are there other Filipino or special dishes that you or your family like to make, especially when you have get-togethers?
In addition to lumpia, my mom would make pancit and chicken adobo. I love them both though nowadays I do the vegetarian versions. I'm a huge foodie so I follow all sorts of food blogs and news, and that's how I found out about Cristeta Comerford.
She was the executive chef at the White House for the past thirty years and just retired. She is Filipino-American and was the first woman and first person of color to ever have that job.
I actually have a funny story about my mom and food. I was shopping for a Christmas present for her in World Market and I came across banana ketchup, which is one of the most popular condiments in the Philippines. I was so excited to give my mom a bottle for the holidays; I thought it was like giving her a taste of her childhood and she would be so pleased. Christmas arrived, my mom unwrapped the banana ketchup, stared at it for a few seconds, then looked at me and asked, "What's this?" I guess she grew up in a no-banana-ketchup household; she'd never heard of it! I think it's still sitting unopened in her cupboard.
Q: How has your Filipino heritage influenced your upbringing, values, or way of life?
In Filipino culture, family is very important. When my sister and I were little and our dad was stationed in Guam, we got to visit my mom's family in the Philippines because we were so close by. My grandma was very independent; she owned and operated a sari-sari store in the marketplace. My best memory of it is the candy that was hanging from the ceiling - my grandma let us eat as much as we wanted! My grandma immigrated to the United States when I was a kid and lived with us while we moved around the country for my dad's job in the military. When they settled in Washington state, my grandma was grateful to have a Filipino community to socialize with but was disappointed to learn that the state was so cold!
My grandma didn't speak much English, and neither my sister nor I were taught either of the languages she spoke (Tagalog and Cebuano). The only phrase I really understood was my grandma repeating in her language, "What are they saying, what are they saying?" to my mother, who was always the translator for us. My mom tried to teach us Tagalog at one point but had to give it up. Her brain was able to code switch between Tagalog and Cebuano when she was talking to a native speaker of either language, but in trying to teach us she kept getting mixed up. The language barrier made it difficult for me to develop my own unique relationship with my grandma, since every time we spoke it was through my mom. It was a lot like that game 'telephone;' by the time the first speaker's words are repeated two or three times the context of the conversation can be lost.
I think it's really important for parents to keep speaking their native language to their kids, especially when they're small. After they emigrated, my dad's parents only spoke Norwegian to each other, not to him, and by the time he was an adult he lost the ability to speak his mother tongue. I feel like I missed out not only growing up tri-lingual but also on having a closer relationship with my grandma.
Q: What does being Filipino-American mean to you?
My heritage gives me an intersectional background. Being mixed and having grown up as a military kid, I met people from many different cultures when I was young. I learned things from everyone I encountered and doing that is key to help build understanding of different people not just from different countries, but from different cultures in the U.S. Living in Hawaii was impactful, not only because that was the first time I met so many Filipino and mixed race people, but I learned that Hawaii had been colonized by the U.S. by overthrowing the legitimate native Hawaiian monarchy. I had a native Hawaiian teacher who spoke Hawaiian and talked to us about how the language was disappearing, and how the culture of native Hawaiians differed from Western culture. I am so grateful for that experience; I don't think I would have learned that perspective on the mainland.
Learning things about my own heritage continually makes me aware of how much I still don't know. I'm planning on going on a cruise with my mom soon and we will be stopping in the Philippines for part of the trip. Since this will be my first time visiting as an adult, I will be doing more research on the history of the Philippines to get ready for that trip and to give me context about my heritage. I'm already squirreling away translated works by famous Filipino novelists to pack for the journey. I'm looking forward to learning more about my mom's childhood, experiencing the country, and tasting all the delicious foods - maybe we'll both finally get to try banana ketchup.
To learn more about the Philippines, Filipino-Americans and their history, check out the following resources:
Dr. Dorothy L. Cordova - co-founder of Filipino American History Month
A to Z World Food: Philippines (log in with your Timberland Library card)
Learn Tagalog with Mango Languages (log in with your Timberland Library card)
Celebrating Filipino American History Month
Celebrate Filipino American History Month with these compelling books for adults, exploring Filipino culture, history, and diverse experiences.
Celebrate Filipino American History Month with these engaging books for teens, exploring Filipino culture, identity, and powerful stories.
Celebrate Filipino American History Month with these fun and inspiring children's books that highlight Filipino culture, stories, and heroes!
