I am half Filipino and growing up in Minnesota, did not see a whole lot of other people from the Philippines. Until a couple weeks ago, if I had to take a guess as to where I could travel and find a large population of Filipinos, Alaska probably wouldn't have been one of my first answers. In fact, it most likely would have been on of the last. However, after two weeks in the elementary school I have noticed that there is actually a rather large population of Filipinos in Barrow. As a matter of fact, Filipinos make up the largest Asian ethic group in Alaska.
At first I didn't think about it and just thought it was really cool to talk to people who don't get nauseous when I mention eating a duck egg with a nearly-developed egg embryo or who love rice as much as I do. But then I started to look around and see more and more children and adults who were part or full Filipino. Which was just about the time when I thought to myself - What on God's green earth made these people leave hot, sunny islands with beautiful beaches and fruit trees everywhere, and go to a place where if someone mentions 'trees' everyone laughs, where when a guy says "It's not too bad out" it's still -10 degrees, and where people ditch their winter coats and bust out their spring jackets once the temperature hits the plus side of the the thermometer?!
I decided to do some research. Turns out, the first Filipinos to set foot in Alaska did so in 1788 by being aboard a merchant ship involved in fur trading. Later on, whaling crews began hiring Filipinos and started to live in Alaska permanently starting in the early 1900's. Because of the job opportunities and oil dividend checks, the Filipino population in Alaska continues to grow.
And who knows, maybe by next year they'll have to add another Filipino tally for me. Well, I suppose it would be half a tally but you get the point.
Deuces!
Kristian
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