Potluck

Friday evening I went out for Chinese food with a couple friends from my old congregation (or ward) and my coworker Micah. After dinner we rushed to the 9th Annual DC Asian Pacific American (APA) Film Festival where they were showing a series of shorts produced by Asian Americans. I really wanted to see "Potluck" which is a comedy about a guy meeting his Filipino in-laws -- something I could relate to :D Since that movie was actually only 13 minutes long I got to see 5 other shorts which varied in quality and substance. Most were pretty artsy and talked a lot about prejudices American Asians have felt, esp in rural America.

The Filipino movie was really funny...playing on all the Filipino stereotypes, but also reminded me how difficult it was for me when we went to Florida to stay with Albert's family before we were engaged. It's difficult enough to try to impress the in-laws when you understand the culture and what is expected of you. I have a lot to learn still.

I liked the part in the movie where the white guy was talking to his new Filipino father-in-law and the father said that Filipinos have big families because when you don't have anything else you have eachother and big families are a sign of wealth. In the end they accepted him into the family because he tried to hard to fit in and because he gave everyone free cable (he installed cable for a living). I wish I could find it on-line cuz I know Albert would like it :D