by R Zamora Linmark

 Poet, novelist, and playwright

 Born in Manila, Philippines and has lived in
Honolulu, Madrid, and Tokyo.
 His books include the poetry
collections Prime-Time
Apparitions (2005), The Evolution of a
Sigh (2008), and Drive-By Vigils (2011) and
the novels Rolling the R’s (1995), which
Linmark adapted for the stage in 2008,
and Leche (2011).
 He is the recipient of a Japan-United States
Friendship Commission, a winner of
a National Endowment for the Arts creative
writing fellowship in poetry (2001), and was
a Fulbright Foundation Senior
Lecturer/Researcher in the Philippines
(2005-2006).
 Distinguished Visiting Professor in Creative
Writing at the University
of Hawaii and University of Miami.
 This is a story about Vince who is a
Filipino and is currently living in Honolulu,
Hawaii. He is observing the people around
him at the Honolulu International Airport.
He seemed to have eyed at his “kababayan”
or fellow Filipinos. Vince mentions the fact
that when Filipinos are going back to their
families in the Philippines, they bring so
many balikbayan boxes. These boxes are
filled with canned goods like
SPAM and Libby’s Vienna sausage,
designer jeans, travel sized bottles of
shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion.
But Vince also points out that these
items inside the balikbayan boxes can
be easily purchased at Duty Free which
is outside the airport. Vince also
mentioned a story that was told by his
older sister Jing, wherein an engineer
talked his roommate into checking him in as
an excess baggage which was cheaper that a
round-trip fare. But the man died of
hypothermia. Vince didn’t buy the story and
said that there were too many loopholes. It
was a “turban legend.” Jing said that, “You’re
missing the point, brother.” “It’s not the
mechanics that matter.” “It’s about drama.
The extremes a Filipino will go to just to go
back home for Christmas with his family.”
 Why do Filipinos Love balikbayan
boxes?

- Filipinos love balikbayan boxes because

for them it means that it is the love
of the sender through the
“pasalubong” or gift, where it contains
many things like appliances, clothes,
perfume, shampoos and many other
things that are branded and came from
America or any other country.
 What do you think is the real message
behind the anecdote or the “turban
legend”?

- I think the real message of the

anecdote is that Filipinos will always
love their families by remembering
them. Through that balikbayan boxes,
it can say that love will always prevails
even though you are far away from each
other.
 These are stories from Middle east especially OFWs.