OF COURSE, you are called Pinoy if you are born in the Philippines. But what if you are living already in another country? Or, if your father or mother is not a Filipino and you reside in the United States or Australia or Europe? The question is: How will you know if you are truly a Filipino -- or still having some traits of a Filipino?

Carolyn Castro of Tambuli, the newsletter of 'Tanghalang Pilipino' in Washington, D.C. compiled a list of dead giveaways. You might be a Filipino if you:

* Have a "barrel man" in your house and when you lift up the barrel the wooden man goes showing (of course you know what I mean)!

* Have a "Last Supper" quilt tacked on your dining room wall.

* Have a "walking doll" that's still new even though it was bought 15 years ago, because your mother kept it in the china cabinet and never let you play with it.

* Have an altar or a shrine in your living room.

* Have a "dirty kitchen" in the backyard or garage in addition to your regular one.

* Have an out-of-tune piano, which no one in the family ever learned to play.

* Have a "Weapons of Moroland" shield for a wall decoration.

* Have carabao or big fork and spoon woodcarvings in your house.

* Cover your carpeted floors with plastic liners; ditto your mattress and sofa.

* Have a "tabo" (dipper) and a pail in your bathroom; also a pumice stone
("panghilod") for scrubbing.

* Say "open" or "close the lights."

* Refer to your refrigerator as "pridyider."

* Call all chewing gum "Chiclets."

* Have a hard time using prepositions (in, or, at) correctly; say "he" when you mean "she," or vice versa.

* Say "comfort room" instead of "restroom."

* Know what "chocolate meant."

* Use your fingers (instead of a measuring cup) to measure rice water.

* Own a "turbo" oven, a karaoke system and a pressure cooker.

* Bought a karaoke system before the stereo.

* Dip fruit in salt before eating it.

* Eat avocado with milk and sugar.

* Eat rice with spaghetti.

* Enjoy "pansit" and "pan de sal" sandwiches; also ice cream and bread sandwiches.

* Prefer "instant" to brewed coffee and powdered dairy creamer to fresh milk or cream.

* Peel a "siopao" before eating it.

* Use a fork and spoon in a Chinese restaurant and wipe your plate and utensils with napkins before using them.

* Can cut your meat with your spoon.

* Everything you eat is sautéed in garlic, onions and tomatoes.

* Can eat supper for breakfast.

* Have "toyo" (soy sauce) circles on your tablecloths.

* You try to eject food particles from between your teeth by pressing your tongue against them and making a peculiar noise like "tshick," "tshick," or "pphht."

* Wash and reuse disposable styrofoam cups, plastic forks and spoons, Christmas wrappers, gift boxes and, of course, aluminum foil.

* Have bottles of "toyo," "patis," vinegar, chilies-in-vinegar, and banana ketchup on your cabinet. * Nibble a toothpick like dessert.

* Wave that pom-pom on a stick around the food at a picnic table to keep the flies away.

* Turn around when you hear somebody say "pssst."

* Point with your lips when asked where something or someone is; the farther the person or object, the longer you stretch your lips.

* Bow low, put your hands together and point them in a direction you are walking, to pass between other people who are conversing.

* Can say hello by simply raising your eyebrow.

* Are standing next to eight big boxes at the airport.

* Lug a life-size Santo Niño statue aboard the airplane.

* Make the Sign of the Cross before take-offs and landings.

* Bring "baon" to eat between in-flight meals.

* Are afraid to go to bed with your hair wet.

* Wash your feet before going to bed.

* Always carry a handkerchief for blowing your nose.

* Arrive one to two hours late to a party - and think it's normal.

* Have a car horn that can make three or more different sounds.

* Have a crucifix or rosary dangling from your car's rear-view mirror.

* Have crocheted car-seat covers.

* Decorate your car's rear window with stuffed animals.

* Make the Sign of the Cross when you pass by a Catholic church, and only a Catholic church.

Now, are you a Pinoy?

ooOoo