Sense of Direction

To reform my geographical skill is probably one of the major adjustments I'm going through as an immigrant. It's not easy to thrive in a big continent especially that I came from a small island in the Philippines so just how am I holding up?

Let me start by sharing a short conversation with my husband while on the freeway heading to a friends house...

photo source: http://momstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/DSC04997.jpg

Husband: Shmookiness, Can you look at the map on your phone and tell me which exit to take?

Me: (pulled up my smartphone and turned on the GPS voice navigator)

Husband: Ugh.. I hate that thing, can you turn that off and just read the map?

Me: Why do you want me to read the map when the voice navigator can tell us exactly where to go?

Husband: I keep telling you not to depend on the the apps, you have to know where you are and where you're going.

Me: (reading the map but not exactly sure which direction to go) I can read the map but Im telling you it's going to take me awhile
Husband: I have high expectations of you especially on navigation. You would have learned by now if you had just listened to me and studied the map.
Me: (rolling my eyes. I dislike arguments like this)

After a few minutes of eternity..

Husband: (frustrated because we missed the exit ramp) You're taking so much time, i think we just missed our exit.

   This is usually the scenario when I'm on the road with my husband (although getting less recently). He wants me to know how to read the map and I know how to get around it by relying on GPS apps which I learned to use when I arrived in the US. Here's another example. 

A phone conversation with a filipina friend on the way to a picnic party.

Friend: We're lost, we're going back and forth from (mention's the street name) but we can't find the exact address. Which street do we make a left or right turn?
Me: Did you already pass (mentions the street intersection name)?
Friend: Yes we did.
Me: Make a right turn. drive slow and look for the colorful bouncing house. We are just right across it.

A few minutes later..

Friend: We are still lost. We can't find it and my husband is getting irritated.
Me: Uh-oh, Give the phone to your husband. I will let him talk to my husband so he can tell him our exact location.
Friend: Ok, hold on.. (gives the phone to her husband)
My Husband: Hey dude, we're right next to the intersection of (mentions the street name) head north, about 5miles away make a right turn. You will see a parking lot, pull over and you will see us here waiting for you.

a few seconds later they arrived..

You have just read a more detailed direction from my husband  whereas I made it sound comical (I actually felt stupid mentioning the colorful bouncing house after I heard him). Since then he would always tease my ability in map reading and giving directions because he thinks that I have a poor sense of direction (sobs). While I shamefully agree to this, I believe that my inept geographical skills has something to do with my upbringing.

I remember on my 4th grade, I learned easily the four cardinal directions ( East, West, North, South) from my science class but "In the eyes of a child It's not what you teach, It's what he learned"(from Alfie kohn's words) and outside school I learned that the people were using landmarks accompanied by my native language terms "desilya" (turn left) or "demano" (Turn right) and "derecho" (forward) instead of using the cardinal points. Hence, I learned to follow what others around me were accustomed to.

Growing up, I recall my mom bought me my first desktop. The delivery guy asked her for a residential sketch to schedule the delivery and to set up my computer. As an adult, I remember the time I bought an air conditioner. The store personnel gave me a piece of paper and told me to sketch a direction with landmarks from the store to my house so they can transport the AC. Perhaps the people from my home town does not bluntly use the cardinal directions but has a mental picture of where places were and  giving landmarks was perhaps the easiest to do and understand.

Another familiar example is when riding a public utility vehicle or jeepney. All you need to do is read the big sign on the PUV's or PUJ's to know its destination, hop in, tell the driver where to drop you off and you're good to go. The same thing to do if you want to get a pleasant ride, you can hail a taxi, tell the driver your destination and you're all set. Although my family owned a car, I was always a passenger because I did not feel it was necessary to learn to drive when I can easily commute to school, home and work using PUV's. In addition, owning a private car used to be a luxury only few can afford. Nevertheless, It is seldom to see a person getting frustrated in finding a specific location mainly because the place where I'm from is a small town. If you do get lost, you don't need a map because there are tons of people around to ask. It seems like a frivolous joke reminiscing my experiences but thinking about it, It may have been the most logical thing to do. 

Currently in the US it is futile to use residential sketch because everyone is using  maps and GPS navigator either in their car or on their smartphone. With the GPS device, you have an option to select a route, have a realistic estimate of travel time, get real time traffic reports as well as voice navigation. Which lead me to wonder, has things changed from the last time I was in the Philippines?

Had I known that I will be living in southern California, I would have expressed interest in reading maps and compass in my younger years, use cardinal points every time I give out directions instead of  just landmarks, "desilya" or "demano" and "derecho". I still get bemuse when I don't use the GPS voice navigator but I am sure I will be able to reform my geographical skills and eventually become an expert because "Time and experience are the best teacher".