Cebu and the surprising thing

I Love Cebu

One of corners in Cebu

A bridge links Mactan island and Cebu island.

On the way to 3D by the white taxi (I chose to take the yellow taxi instead of the white taxi because it is cheaper and more local haha), a lot of thoughts came through my mind. One moment I was wondering what kind of people will I meet in 3D? Who will become my teachers, friends, or dorm mates? Will they be nice to me? Then I became super intense and nervous (Sigh). Another moment I tried to calm myself down ad change my mindsets. I told myself to stop over thinking too much and take in as many new experiences as I can. I had resigned from a good job with high salary and safe circle back in my country to explore the whole new world in the international environment. There’s no way back and I want to go straight ahead and face the life head on.
Putting my head out of the window of the taxi (I know it is dangerous to do so and no imitation please), I took a deep breath to immerse myself into the Philippines atmosphere, enjoying the sun, the wind and the smell of the sea. I finally realize that Mactan (The place where the Cebu International Airport is located) is a small island because in a few minutes I was on the bridge linking Mactan island and Cebu island.
For a foreigner, everything looks so interesting and new to me. I started chatting with the taxi driver.

A map of Cebu

Cebu – White taxi

Me: Excuse me, Could you drive slowly please? I want to look around on the high up.
The taxi driver replied: no problem, sir
Me (Thinking): Wow, his English is quite good and he can understand me while my English is so bad.
Me: Could you tell me when did you study English please?
Taxi driver: I study English in primary school until now, sir. At that time, in school, I used English to communicate with my classmates, my teachers also but at home, I spoke Cebuano, this is the main language in my city, sir. Oh, are you coming to study English in Cebu, sir?
Me: Yes I am and I hope that I can speak English well like you
Taxi driver: You do not need to hope that, you can do it here, just study hard and practice more, sir
Me: Thank you for your advice, I am going to do it
Taxi driver: You are welcome sir.
He is so nice and friendly. I felt relieved that when I go around in Cebu I do not need to be worried because the taxi drivers here can understand me. Also, I will have a lot of opportunities to practice English here. It’s a great environment to learn English! Also, it is something new for me to realize that Visayas is the main language here in the central Philippines.
In fact, there are 3 main regions of the Philippines – Luzon area in the North, Visayas area in the central and Southern parts of the Philippines. Tagalog is the main language in the Luzon area in the North. People in the central speaks Visayas and in the south they have their own dialects. Even for people in the central visayas region, they have different dialects in their islands. For example, people in Cebu speaks Cebuano. The main communication language between people from different parts of the Philippines is English. That’s the reason why most Filipinos speak good English.
Aaron (Intern in 3D who pick me up in the airport): I do not know your English is quite good, Johnny (Johnny was my English name but in 3D academy there is another student named Johnny. In order to distinguish myself, I changed my name to Edward. I realize that Edward is the name of the main character in “Twilight” movie only after sometime. Thanks Edward for making me popular haha)
Me: No, I do not think so. You know what I have problem with pronunciation, this is a short normal conversation and it is easily understand to each other. I love English because I can connect with people in the world and open the door of knowledge of human (Too poetic? Haha I read this sentence in some book and I love it. I believe that imitation and repetition of something you learned from somewhere or somebody is a good way of studying English)
Aaron: Oh, come on, take it easy and enjoy your life here and here we are, welcome to our academy – 3D.

The journey between the airport and the school is just too short! We only managed to talk a little bit. Nonethless, that is good enough for my English practice. I know that I need more, and I will have more chances to learn English in Cebu. That’s the reason I am here – studying English in 3D Academy. Join me and let’s learn English together.
Thank for reading and see you next writing