Monday, March 26, 2012

Virtual Ethnography 101: Clark-Subic (The American Influence)

I would always ask my college and graduate students in Anthropology, aside from learning anthropological concepts and theories inside the classroom, to explore places, experience cultural or social happenings, and write ethnographic accounts using the participation-observation method.

I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.

Basically, virtual ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.



By Carl Benedict Cruz

The Philippines is a country of diverse culture that could be told by its history. Our country’s history, as far as it is concerned, has a lot to tell. It could start from the prehistoric people, then to Lapu-Lapu, then to the four centuries of Spansih occupation. Later on, the American occupation, a little of the Japanese occupation, then our freedom.

American influence is very evident in our society. A lot of Filipinos has a strong sense of colonial mentality. It is likely that you know someone who always says, “mas maganda ito noh! Imported ito galing states!” Or you might also know somebody who says, “wag ka na muna bumili dito, magpa hanap tayo nyan sa tita mo sa states, mas bago at mas maganda.” Though our colonial mentality is not only “active” in merchandise, products, etc., we also look up on the Americans with their attitude, culture, and looks.

With those things said, it is safe to say that many Filipinos would at least admire different places and sites that are influenced or built by Americans.

Since I was young, my family goes to vacation at least once a year. It could be during summer or Christmas. Most of the time we just travel locally, and sometimes abroad. When my siblings and I got older, we become more appreciative of our vacations, and of course, we remember clearly and keep track accurately where we went last Christmas, last summer, summer of2010, Christmas of 2008 etc.

I noticed that our family goes to either Subic or Clark almost every other month.

We usually go to Clark for two main reasons. First, we will have a reunion with my paternal side. My cousins and I would swim in Fontana. As for the adults, they would have a lot of food for salu-salo in the viillas. Second, our family goes to Clark when we want to buy imported food, chocolates etc. in its groceries. Almost similar to Clark, we go to Subic for reunions, beaches and groceries.

Since we go to Subic, more often than Clark, once in a while, I have always observed and became aware of the American influence it has.

In Subic freeport zone, it is obvious that the streets and road network is very American. Every street in an intersection would have solid lines and stop signs. It has a “first to stop, first to go” policy which ALL Filipinos obey. If they don’t obey, they would be caught by the SBMA police. If the intersection has no solid lines and stop signs, it has traffic lights. It is also very noticeable that ALL sidewalks are full-size, free of vendors or parked cars, and are complemented by pedestrian lines. In short, the sidewalks are clear and used by pedestrians only.

I was also able to observe that every building or establishment has its own parking lot. Their parking lots are huge enough and are designed and located correctly so that cars would not park in the streets. A lot of establishments as well have parking slots and elevated railways for the disabled.

When you get the chance to go outside the “center” of the city and go to the forests, beaches etc., it is still clean everywhere. There are no garbages in the streets or at the side of the streets. The water in the ports are clean.

I would say that the Americans are remarkable when it comes to. Though I think that we Filipinos don’t have to look up on them too much. We don’t have to imitate them in every aspect to the point that we lose our identity and we don’t have enough self-esteem to believe in ourselves to make our own laws, policies, and products with pride. If there are things we “should imitate” from the Americans or improve in our country, I would say they are quality control, law implementation and discipline, not their culture.

Virtual Ethnography: Roxas Boulevard

I would always ask my college and graduate students in Anthropology, aside from learning anthropological concepts and theories inside the classroom, to explore places, experience cultural or social happenings, and write ethnographic accounts using the participation-observation method.

I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.

Basically, virtual ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.



By Lorenzo Olaguer

In a conversation over lunch at Hap Chan in Katipunan on a Sunday afternoon, my Dad and my grandfather (Lolo) were giving me descriptions of how Roxas Boulevard was like over time.

According to my Dad, it was architect Burnham who had designed what at the time was Dewey Boulevard. The idea of the American colonialists in the Philippines at that time was to create radial roads that connected areas in the city to the source of wealth, which at that time was North Harbor. The American ideals of democracy and egalitarian society pushed American design to consider building radial roads around the urban center, as opposed to the Spanish template of having the Church and the municipality faced against each other in a matrix of horizontal and vertical roads. In that design, houses and establishments of a particular radius were supposed to be equidistant to the center.

Roxas Boulevard is actually Radial Road 1. Along Roxas Boulevard are the Manila Hotel, Rizal Park, the BangkoSentral, various nightclubs and the American Embassy. The main office of the Department of Foreign Affairs is also along this road. Many important and historical Philippine buildings are at Roxas Boulevard.

According to my grandfather, the Army-Navy club at Roxas Boulevard along Rizal Park was prominent around the time of the American occupation. According to my Dad, the ceilings of the Manila Hotel were relatively low compared to more modern hotels because of technological constraints at the time. Dad also claimed that within Rizal Park stood Manila Kilometer Zero, where all kilometric measurements from Baguio such as KM. 297 would be relative to that point. It seemed that the Americans meant Dewey Boulevard to be a great avenue of influence.
While my dad was driving along C-5, he mentioned how Jose Rizal was chosen as the national hero of the Filipinos by the Americans. I brought up a question on why Rizal was chosen instead of a revolutionary like Bonifacio, after I had read a comment on the internet on how Rizal was supposedly brainwashed (by the Jesuits).

My dad said that Jose Rizal was for reform, as compared to Bonifacio who was for revolution. Rizal seemed like a logical choice who appealed to the Americans because he was educated, involved with society and from the upper class, unlike Bonifacio who was involved with the Katipunan movement which incited rebellion against Spanish colonialists.

I was able to walk around the inside of the Manila Hotel for the first time after my Dad dropped me off on the road right in front of it.

I made my way towards the entrance. Stepping inside, the main lobby was rather small compared to contemporary hotel giants such as Shangri-La Makati and the Manila Peninsula. I made my way towards the center of the lobby, where I immediately observed the low ceilings that my Dad was talking about, along with elements of wood on the walls and on the ceiling. It just so happened that there was a dragon figure which swept across the ceiling because the Chinese New Year was one day away.

Along the shopping arcade of the Manila Hotel, I found that the spaces for stores were rather small. Most of the spaces were empty; and I found only two stores towards one end of the arcade. Perhaps in earlier times, business was stronger in this shopping arcade. Today, the shopping arcades of other hotel giants in Makati and Pasay dwarf this one. While I was walking, I noticed how the ceiling was very low.

My idea of Roxas Boulevard before our Sunday conversations was that it was a road of cultural and political influence. The Senate of the Philippines is located along Roxas Boulevard. The Cultural Center of the Philippines,a project which was influenced by Imelda Marcos, is also located along Roxas Boulevard.

I had the pleasure of visiting Roxas Boulevard for a week as an on-the-job trainee of Traders Hotel, which is in front of the CCP. From my conversations with reservation agents, majority of their foreign guests are Japanese and Korean men. Aside from the political and national identity of Roxas Boulevard, it is also a tourist destination which is near the nightclub district of Malate.

The American colonialists in the Philippines in the first part of the 1900s seemed wise in designating Dewey Boulevard as Radial Road 1 because it has remained a major road of influence in contemporary Philippine history. Perhaps the fact that Roxas Boulevard was built to be such an important road is one reason why the American Embassy is also located along Roxas Boulevard.
Roxas Boulevard is one piece of evidence of how the Americans attempted to build influence around them in earlier colonial times. Long after the departure of these American colonialists, their embassy today still sits beside such an influential road. Even with reconfigurations around the area such as the Manila Bay land reclamation project which has created area for Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard as well as the SM Mall of Asia, Roxas Boulevard still retains its influence.

Many Philippine institutions and landmarks seem to be at convenient distances from the US Embassy today.

Virtual Ethnography 101: Japanese Comics in the Philippines

I would always ask my college and graduate students in Anthropology, aside from learning anthropological concepts and theories inside the classroom, to explore places, experience cultural or social happenings, and write ethnographic accounts using the participation-observation method.

I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.

Basically, virtual ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.

By Sonoko Hayashi

About Japanese comics

Over 5 billion books and magazines were published in 1984 in Japan,making it one of the world’s most -print-saturated nations.27% of that―about 1.38 billion books were comic books in magazine and book form.As some enterprising reporters have discovered,Japan now uses more paper for its comics than it does for its toilet paper.

The most common form of Japanese comic today is the story-comic.It is first serialized in a comic magazine and then compiled into books,and in its entirety may be thousands of pages long.

The comic magazines-where most Japanese comics first appear-are targeted separately at boys,girls,men and women,but all are today characterized by an in-creasing crossover of readership.They bear little resemblance to American comics.

The most widely read comic magazine in Japan is what are loosely known as shonen manga and shojo manga.They have squared,glued lacks,and are as thick as a phone book.The average boy’s comic magazine,at less than dollar,is quite a bargain:it has 350 pages and contains as many as 15 serialized and concluding stories-only 10 to 20 pages are devoted to ads or text.

Japanese comics sold in Philippine book store

I tried to check on what Japanese comics are sold in Philippine book store.

In the case of BESTSELLERS in SM NORTH EDSA

There are 11 kinds of Japanese comic in BESTSELLERS:”Doraemon” Fujiko.F.Fujio Junior comics center,”Mixim 11” Nobuyuki Anzai ChuangYi,”Twinkle stars”Natsuki Takaya ChuangYi,”Bloody Monday” Masayuki Taguchi ChuangYi,”Tsubasa” Clamp delrey Kodansha,”Afterschool Charisma” Kumiko Suekane ChuangYi,”Metal fight beyblade explosive guidebook” ChuangYi,”Metal fight beyblade” Takafumi Adachi ChuangYi,”Pokemon adventures” Hidenori Kusaka ChuangYi,”Pokemon diamond and pearl adventure” Shigekatsu Ihara ChuangYi.These comics are sold in a children book area,which is in a corner of the store.They are displayed in disorder.There are not every volume of each comics,though they are series.

There are only 2 kinds of Japanese comics:”Bakugan battle brownies” Alligator books limited.,”Metal Fight Beyblade” Takafumi Adachi ChuangYi.These are also sold in a children book area.

About line-ups of Japanese comics in these two stores

There are two things which made me surprised through observation on two stores.
First,there were only a small Japanese comics in both stores.I guessed that there were much more Japanese comics in a Philippine book store because I often heard that Japanese comics were popular in the Philippines.Therefore I felt that really Japanese comics are not popular in the Philippines after observation on two stores.

Second,Japanese comics were displayed in a children book area.In Japan,comics are not displayed in a children book area.Almost all Japanese book stores set up an area for only comics,and then display comics there.It is because not only chldren but also adults often buy comics.I wonder if only children read comics in the Philippines.


Reference:
Frederik L.Schodt Manga!Manga!The World of Japanese Comics Kodansha International.

Virtual Ethnography 101: The McDonalization of the Filipino People

I would always ask my college and graduate students in Anthropology, aside from learning anthropological concepts and theories inside the classroom, to explore places, experience cultural or social happenings, and write ethnographic accounts using the participation-observation method.
I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.

Basically, virtual ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.


By Jerome B Leano

McDonald’s – dubbed by Time 100 as the Most Important People of the Century. Most definitely, it is one of the most successful and most influential fast food franchise not only in the Philippines, but also in the whole world. One could not separate McDonald's from America - and America from McDonald’s. To learn the American culture, one does not need to go to the United States, or go to museums – as one must simply need to go to Cathedral of Consumption; (Kowinski) McDonald’s to experience the American culture. The term McDonaldization came from Sociologist George Ritzer in his book “The McDonaldization of the Society”, where he defined it as: The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American Society as well as of the rest of the world.

With its 31st year on our country, it has definitely influenced the way we think, act, and even culture as a member of the society. Going to McDonald’s was an easy task for me, as these fast foods are located at convenient locations. (malls, highways, bus stops, markets, and etc.) The Golden Arches indicates that you are near the McDonald’s – where an “Open 24 hours” is found, indicating that the place is ready to serve anyone 24/7. Looking deeper, one can say that the “Open 24 hours” indicates importance of the value of time in the American society. Further, Ronald McDonald – the company’s mascot (clown) greets you with a smile, again, indicating that it is happy to serve you (like with any other capitalist companies). Interestingly (most would not notice this), the concept of falling in line, giving your order, taking your meal, looking for a place to eat (where the seats are not ergonomically designed for long term sitting), and leave afterwards is a conditioning process in relation to production. Everything is organized / systematic for the consumers to leave as fast as they can (after eating) and become productive again. (Again, we look at the importance of time).

The food is of course, has been “modified” for the Filipino market. According to my relatives from the United States, the patty, French fries, chicken, and even the softdrinks here is smaller, in terms of quantity, than what they have in the United States. The mashed potato has been changed into rice as the staple for the viand. Mutton burgers in India for cows are holy and are not eaten in India. With these, we can say that McDonald’s can adapt to any culture/place, and it will easily blend in. As the United States has a diverse multi-cultural community.

“Haste makes waste”, as urban legends and myths about McDonald’s food are constantly being shown in the online community and even in movie theaters. And that many criticize fast foods as unhealthy. Nonetheless, the foods were great – and are getting more and more affordable (25php).

Advertising, what better way to promote a product/company, than to create advertisements and commercials that will mark and impose values throughout the world. McDonald’s commercials are easily one of the most catchy and memorable ads (together with Coca-Cola, another American Company). From Karen, to “Gusto ko lang naman ng burger fries eh…” (with its Indian variant). I took the last bite of my Big Mac Value Meal, zipped the monster float and ate the last of my large French fries.

Reference:
Ritzer, George (2008). The McDonaldization of Society. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press. ISBN 0-7619-8812-2.