The Introduction

My name is LJ. I am 35 years old and I have basically lived in the Midwest for my entire life. I did live in New Mexico briefly when I was in my toddler years and then there was that one year when I was 17 that I lived in Southern California but the rest of my life has been in the Midwest. I am a college graduate, never been married, and I do not have any children.

I am currently engaged to a beautiful woman that is from the Philippines. She is 27 years old, also a college graduate, never been married, and like me doesn’t have any children. At this time she is still there in the Philippines until we begin the K1 Fiancé Visa process. We met online at a forum about Filipina/American relationships just over a year ago. I just recently got back home from going to visit her for a few weeks and during that visit we got engaged.

My first experience with the Filipino culture was when my Uncle married a Filipina many years ago when I was 12 years old. While he was stationed overseas in the Navy she lived with my family and me for about 2 years. Her kindness and loving attitude really impressed me and she was readily accepted into the family. They are still married to this day and I am still very much in contact with her. It seems as if she and I are getting just a little closer now since I am engaged to a Filipina. I want to believe she is excited about that.

As I mentioned before, I just recently returned from a visit to the Philippines. I went to the island of Negros and spent most of my time in Bacolod, otherwise known as the city of smiles. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and also changed my views about life, family, culture, and my future. All the expectations I had of the Philippines and of my fiancée’s family were exceeded. I have heard some of the stories on the news and online about how dangerous the Philippines is since it is a third world country. Maybe some of that is true in some small portions of the country but it wasn’t something I experienced. Hopefully this blog can help squash some of the incorrect notions some people have about the Philippines.

I thank you for reading this blog. I hope to keep it updated often with information and also with my thoughts about moving there sometime in the future. In my next update I will share my thoughts and views about my trip there and why my views on life have changed so much. Hope to hear from some of you in the comments.