What is in a name?
No one has ever called me by my married name except when it had anything to do with my daughter in school. Nope, nothing about trouble because she's had a boring (ho-hum) life and never had to put me through visits to the principal's or counselor's office. I have however, had travelled proudly many times to the graduation stage for her medals (Scientific fact: children inherit 80% of their genetic make-up from the mother).
Coming to America, however, I had to use the name on my passport for work, which happens to be my legal married name. So what followed was an email address in a surname familiar to me and yet one I never owned. I had called it my daughter's last name. My email address, my rent contract, my utilities are all using this name now. Many of my friends, unfamiliar with the name were all taken by surprise at first.
"Did you marry?"
"Doesn't sound like a Filipino last name. Sounds Mediterranean."
"Congratulations! Finally tied the knot huh?"
Yikes! Explain, explain, explain...
Neither has anyone close to me back home ever called me MARIVIC. Hellllooo.... you talking to me? Oh, yeah! That's what I call myself now. People who know me from long time ago however still call me Mavic, Mavs or the more common, Victoria. Best friend Remy always, always calls me Victoria. When I was working with marketing communications, my business cards were all Mavic. I have never really been Marivic except perhaps a week in college when I ventured into using it. I couldn't stand it. I still can't stand it.
Here now at work, people never automatically make the connection of me as a Filipina. Asian, yes but they get lost guessing where in the Far East I came from. Probably because I am taller than most Asians? Or I speak with a weird twang? Or my eyes aren't chinky enough? (Side note: If Fernando Poe gets elected as Philippine President in May, I might actually start admitting to being Thai or Vietnamese). Sometimes people pronounce my name ma-ri-vich and it drives me up the wall. One colleague I reminded twice the corret way to pronounce my name and when he came up to me calling me again 'ma-ri-vich' I really had to raise my voice a few octaves higher and told him not to change my name!
I will never get used to being called by the name I have on my passport, in the same way I will never get used to liking my passport picture. So I am going into a new endeavor to find the right man to save me from all this predicament I have brought myself into. I will now search for the man to marry with the nice last name. I refuse to get stuck with another name I will not love to use attached next to my name. So I met this nice guy a while back and I asked for his last name.
GASP!
Coming to America, however, I had to use the name on my passport for work, which happens to be my legal married name. So what followed was an email address in a surname familiar to me and yet one I never owned. I had called it my daughter's last name. My email address, my rent contract, my utilities are all using this name now. Many of my friends, unfamiliar with the name were all taken by surprise at first.
"Did you marry?"
"Doesn't sound like a Filipino last name. Sounds Mediterranean."
"Congratulations! Finally tied the knot huh?"
Yikes! Explain, explain, explain...
Neither has anyone close to me back home ever called me MARIVIC. Hellllooo.... you talking to me? Oh, yeah! That's what I call myself now. People who know me from long time ago however still call me Mavic, Mavs or the more common, Victoria. Best friend Remy always, always calls me Victoria. When I was working with marketing communications, my business cards were all Mavic. I have never really been Marivic except perhaps a week in college when I ventured into using it. I couldn't stand it. I still can't stand it.
Here now at work, people never automatically make the connection of me as a Filipina. Asian, yes but they get lost guessing where in the Far East I came from. Probably because I am taller than most Asians? Or I speak with a weird twang? Or my eyes aren't chinky enough? (Side note: If Fernando Poe gets elected as Philippine President in May, I might actually start admitting to being Thai or Vietnamese). Sometimes people pronounce my name ma-ri-vich and it drives me up the wall. One colleague I reminded twice the corret way to pronounce my name and when he came up to me calling me again 'ma-ri-vich' I really had to raise my voice a few octaves higher and told him not to change my name!
I will never get used to being called by the name I have on my passport, in the same way I will never get used to liking my passport picture. So I am going into a new endeavor to find the right man to save me from all this predicament I have brought myself into. I will now search for the man to marry with the nice last name. I refuse to get stuck with another name I will not love to use attached next to my name. So I met this nice guy a while back and I asked for his last name.
GASP!