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Ted Lerner, author, columnist and sports commentator, first came to the Philippines in 1991, traveling back and forth until he finally decided to settle in the country in 1994.
For a foreigner, the Philippines would simply seem chaotic. As for a word from an Australian who once visited the country, “The Philippines is orderly disorganized.”
And this is what Ted is looking for. But beyond the pandemonium lies the people who have captivated his heart.
“My first impression of the Philippines was that it’s sheer chaos,” Ted said. “Outwardly, and on first impressions, it just feels like that, as if there is no order.”
“But then there are the people, and I couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was.”
In this (email) interview, Ted talks about his career and his love for journalism. He shares his insights on travels and the wonders of exploration. Importantly, he talks about the Philippines and filipinos, and why he had finally decided to live in a country where “traffic rules are merely suggestions”.
Funny yet insightful—this interview will surely make you smile and stand proud of being Filipino.
All these and more only here on Greater Good Philippines.
Jay-R Patron: What do you do currently?
Ted Lerner: I’m currently living in Angeles City with my wife Aurora and our 12 year old daughter. I’m still a working journalist but for the moment I am working on a third book which will be about this place, Angeles and Pampanga. I hope to have it out by Christmas. It’ll be a crazy read because this is a crazy place. I also do television commentary and emcee/announcing for professional boxing and pool. I also do professional voiceovers for commercials. I’m currently the Philippines correspondent for the Ring Magazine in the US.
Jay-R Patron: Please provide a brief background about your career, and the different milestones that brought you to where you are professionally.
Ted Lerner: I was a communications graduate from the University of Michigan in 1985 so I’ve always been interested in media and communicating in one form or another. I was living in Hawaii in the late 1980’s when I got into announcing. I used to do ring announcing for professional boxing shows. For three years I had my own sports talk show on radio. I also got into professional wrestling as a TV commentator for a Hawaii-based promotion. Also in Hawaii, I did some freelance writing. When I came to the Philippines in 1991, I got involved in ring announcing for fights with the famous Elorde family. That eventually lead to other jobs in boxing and eventually pool. I even got into doing television commentary for both sports. At the same time I got more into doing freelance writing. When I first coming to the Philippines back in the early 1990’s, I wrote some articles about the Philippines for various publications back in the States. But it was not easy to sell articles about the Philippines. I was fascinated by the Philippines and I became quite motivated to write about the goings on here because it all was so interesting to me. So when I found it difficult to sell articles back to the US, I decided to start writing for publications in the Philippines. That’s when I learned that writing in the Philippines is not a job which will make you rich.
Jay-R Patron: “Hey Joe” first came out as a column on a national newspaper. How did you become a columnist? What inspires you to write the voluminous articles on “Hey, Joe”?
Ted Lerner: “Hey, Joe” made its debut in Manila’s Businessworld newspaper in 1995. Before that I was writing a sports column in the Expat newspaper. The lifestyle editor of Businessworld, Vladimir Bunoan, liked my stuff in Expat and asked me if I’d like to write a regular column for him at Businessworld. The theme of the column was a foreigner’s view of life in the Philippines. That’s where we came up with the name, “Hey,Joe.” Every foreign guy in the Philippines hears that phrase on a daily basis so it fit perfectly. I wrote that column every week for six straight years. As I mentioned before, you don’t make a lot of money writing in the Philippines. But that said, the leeway given writers here is amazing. You can get away with writing all kinds of stuff that simply wouldn’t be allowed to go into a daily paper in the US. I found my Hey,Joe column to be a great laboratory as a writer. I learned a lot about the craft as the editors allowed me to write about any topic. After Businessworld, I went on to write for the Asia Times Online. “Hey, Joe” appeared in some other local magazines as well but they are now defunct. I am currently the Philippines’ correspondent for the Ring Magazine in the US.
Jay-R Patron: Your book was originally published in Germany, how did you finally get a local publisher?
Ted Lerner: The German publisher has closed his publishing business and has gotten into distribution and is in fact my distributor now with a company called Asiatype. “Hey, Joe” was off the market for two years. The Corregidor Peace Institute Press, which is based in Angeles is my new publisher and I have a very nice arrangement with them. We expect to re-release my second book, “The Traveler and the Gate Checkers,” very soon. Then later this year, I hope to have my new book out. It’s all about getting the books positioned and distributed properly.
Jay-R Patron: About The Traveler and The Gate Checkers, will you talk a little bit about the book? How did you come up with the title? What was the most interesting out of all those places highlighted in this book?
The title, “The Traveler and the Gate Checkers,” was the title of a column I once wrote. I love to travel, and I look at a lot of my writing as travel writing. I’ve always noticed that when you travel, you are constantly being asked to identify yourself and give out information about yourself and your whole life to people with badges on their chest. You know, immigration people and security guards and people like that. Usually these are not the world’s brightest people and yet they hold an enormous amount of power over you, wielding the ever elusive rubber stamp which will allow you passage. So as a lover of true freedom, I tend to notice these people and they are everywhere. And their kind is growing exponentially. The title of the book doesn’t have much to do with the contents—the book is a collection of stories about traveling in Asia—but what I’m trying to say is that if you’re clever enough to skirt your way around the endless army of Gate Checkers that populate our world today, then you can have big fun. And that’s the idea of “The Traveler and the Gate Checkers.” I take you past the rubber stampers and bureaucrats and give you one helluva ride. Or something like that. I can’t pick a place in the book that was the most interesting because I liked them all in one way or another. India is a complete mind blower for the traveler. Anybody who has traveled around India will tell you that they cannot get it out of their mind too easily. Japan was fascinating and the food fantastic. By exploring the world of Japanese professional wrestling I was able to get a unique insight into the culture. I loved Hong Kong from the very first time I was there. Writing about the capitalist heaven being handed back over to the communists provided the perfect backdrop to an incredible place. With the story on Laos and Thailand I tried to write the consummate travel piece. When you get it right, there’s something about travel that cannot be copied or experienced in daily life. Laos was that kind of place, where I was able to grab, on several occasions, that moment in time where you just sit back, sip your beer, look around and say, “we did it. This is as good as it gets.” The last piece about the Philippines and seeing Frank Sinatra is a rather bizarre travel piece. But I tend to gravitate towards the bizarre. I really like that story.
Jay-R Patron: You have been in the Philippines since 1994, what was your first impression of the country? The Filipinos?
Ted Lerner: I actually first came to the Philippines in 1991 and traveled back here for several years before deciding to live here in 1994. My first impression of the Philippines was that it’s sheer chaos. Outwardly, and on first impressions, it just feels like that, as if there is no order. But then there are the people, and I couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was. It was also much easier to meet women, and I discovered that Filipinas are some of the most beautiful and sexy women on the planet. I was also amazed at how much Filipinos know and love the United States. I’m sad to say that most Americans have no idea what the Philippines is really all about. And to think we have a long history together, that the Philippines was America’s one and only foray into colonialism. Filipinos know everything about America, and that knowledge is not reciprocated. I feel bad about that because I know very few people in the States who know or want to know the first thing about this amazing country. I had one totally unique experience here before I actually started living in the country. In 1993, when I was still living in Hawaii, I was on the plane that brought the dead body of former president Ferdinand Marcos back to Laoag, Ilocos Norte from Hawaii. I was the only foreign journalist on board the plane. It was an amazing adventure and total eye opener. That trip sealed the deal for me as far as the Philippines is concerned. I knew then that I would soon be living here.
Jay-R Patron: If there was any shocking cultural differences that you have experienced, how were you able to adjust to these?
I was able to adjust to the cultural differences because they were exactly what I was looking for. Like a lot of Americans, I’m tired of the endless rules and laws that have made life too predictable. There’s a looseness to daily life in the Philippines that is in a way liberating. Sure, I understand that Filipinos would probably crave a little more order in their daily lives. But I come from the land of order and laws and they are strict. I don’t like strict. I like to be treated as an adult and I feel that that’s the way you are treated in this country. So I adjusted just nicely.
Jay-R Patron: You lived in Arquiza street in Manila for quite some time. How was it living in this area of the capital?
Ted Lerner: I love that area of Manila. I like the mix of people, the many restaurants, the proximity to Manila Bay.
Jay-R Patron: I believe you lived in Paranaque for quite some time (I reside in Sun Valley near Bicutan). There seems to be an existing but subtle cultural division between those living in the north and south of Metro Manila, did you ever notice this?
Ted Lerner: No I haven’t noticed this at all.
Jay-R Patron: You now live in Angeles City in Pampanga, what can you say about Manila being imperial, that the events taking place in the capital dictates the course of the whole country?
Well, it doesn’t really bother me. I just do my thing.
Jay-R Patron: What attitude of Filipinos have you noticed that is most quirky/strange?
Filipinos like to sing along under their breath to the song being played in the store or on the bus or jeepney. It makes me think that Filipinos are dreamers, and I can appreciate being a dreamer. That’s how I ended up here.
Jay-R Patron: What attitudes about Filipinos do you admire the most? And despise the most?
Ted Lerner: Easily the most admired attitude of Filipinos is their innate hospitality towards outsiders. No matter your age, looks, religion, etc, Filipinos will accept you and invite you in to have a drink and a chat. It’s amazing how easy people here are towards outsiders. Perhaps the thing I don’t like is that nobody here ever complains about anything. It is on the one hand a nice trait, but it gets taken way too far here. If the sound on the bus’ TV is screeching loud, ask to turn it down. If the soda you just ordered in the restaurant is flat, send it back. I’m not surprised that progress is so slow in this country. Nobody complains, so why should anyone in the know do anything about it.
Jay-R Patron: What has been your life’s greatest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Ted Lerner: Writing a book. I just force myself to sit in a chair and get it done. I have a million and one reasons to procrastinate so it’s not easy. Deadlines sure help bring out the material.
Jay-R Patron: What has been your greatest achievement so far?
Ted Lerner: Having an incredibly beautiful and smart daughter!
Jay-R Patron: What role does your family play in your life? How is it living with a Filipino family?
Ted Lerner: What’s good about my situation is that I don’t have to take care of an endless list of family members. It’s just my wife and our daughter. I like the family life here because there is very little pressure, unlike in the US where once you have a kid, you’re finished. I like the fact that kids are allowed to be kids, to play in the street and have time to themselves to explore and create. There’s no rush to create a genius here or to achieve success. Kids are allowed to be kids.
Jay-R Patron: Has there been a time in your life that the right person has told you the right words at the right place at the right time? Basically everything that you needed to hear at the best circumstance.
Ted Lerner: When I was 23 years old I was desperate to travel and see the world. I had graduated from college and was basically lost and living at home in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I found a job in Hawaii and I was just about to fly out there and take my chances. I remember sitting at a bar in Allentown with a friend of my brother’s and I asked him if he thought I was doing the right thing. He replied: “A rolling stone gathers no moss…but it sure gets a lot of polish.” That phrase has brought me through some tough times and I think about it often, even to this day.
Jay-R Patron: Who is/are your greatest mentor/s?
Ted Lerner: My parents are responsible for all of this, because they were the ones who worked their butts off to put me through three years of a very good private school and a very good college. Having a proper education is the most important thing a person can have. My brother Rich, who now works as a commentator on the Golf Channel in the US, has always been a mentor of mine. As for writing mentors, I have had some very good English teachers that instilled proper grammar in my brain. Writers I like very much include Tom Robbins and Hunter S. Thompson.
Jay-R Patron: What has been the most important lesson taught to you that you cherish to this day?
Ted Lerner: Get a good education. But don’t get educated just to get a good paying job. Get yourself educated so that you can expand your mind. Once you open up your mind there is no turning back. It can be difficult at times because you start to see the inequities in the world. But I’m convinced if more people had open minds to things they don’t know, the world would be a dramatically different place, for the better.
Jay-R Patron: For your children, what will be the most important lessons that you will teach them?
Ted Lerner: Stay positive, question everything, there are no problems only solutions, and the glass is definitely half full, not half empty. Plus the thing I said above about education.
Jay-R Patron: What was your most memorable childhood experience?
Ted Lerner: The day, when I was 8 years old, I got my first dog, a miniature schnauzer whom we named Ozzie. She didn’t have her ears clipped and she was too cute.
Jay-R Patron: It says on your bio that you went to the Philippines “on a lark”. Did you expect that you will actually stay and live in the Philippines in the long-term?
Ted Lerner: No I was scared to death of coming to the Philippines. I expected to have Filipino guys with bolos chasing me down the street just because I was an American. That’s how ignorant I was about the Philippines.
Jay-R Patron: What difference have you noticed about the culture in Hawaii, the mainland US, and the Philippines? How about any cultural similarities?
Ted Lerner: The similarities are that they are people with limbs, eyes, hair and the like, and who wear clothes and sleep and eat every day. Culturally there are few similarities. Because the people in the Philippines dress western and speak English, you can easily get tricked into thinking that Filipinos are very similar to westerners. But the more you delve into the culture, the more you discover that things here are very, very different. That’s ok with me. That’s why I like living in a foreign country like the Philippines. Everyday is a new day.
Jay-R Patron: Being a former alien to the Filipino culture, what do you think are the most detrimental attitudes of Filipinos that contribute to the woes of the country? What do you think are the possible remedies/solutions?
Ted Lerner: There seems to be a general lack of concern about the environment. There’s quite a bit of corruption. Things just never seem to get done. And quality standards are not where they really should be, considering it’s the 21st century already. All of these things can improve if there is a more emphasis on education. The government here should pour money into education. It’s the one and only hope for this country.
Jay-R Patron: What would be your message to foreigners who want to settle in the Philippines?
Ted Lerner: Come on over. But don’t expect things to be just like in your country, especially if you come from a modern, developed country. If you like perfection, stay home. If you can handle unpredictability, then you’ve gotten over a very big hurdle. Then you can experience and enjoy a life that few outsiders will ever experience or understand in their lifetime, unless they too come over and see for themselves.
Jay-R Patron: What can we expect from Ted Lerner in the next two, five, ten years?
Ted Lerner: I’m currently putting together a third book. And I have ideas for a fourth and fifth book. I want to have a collection of books out there so one day I can sit back with my babe and utter that famous line by actor Steven Segal in the Tanduay Rum commercial: “I found gold in the Philippines…. Now I can take it easy.”
posted by jayr
July 20, 2008 @ 9:00 pm