How would you describe American Time? How would you describe Filipino time?

Philippines

My school scheduled its annual-fundraising dance. The day of the dance I was told by the teachers, “Two gentlemen will come for you and your companion between 8:00 and 8:30 PM.” Although we were dressed and waiting at eight o’clock, we expected that our escorts would go on Filipino time, and arrive around nine or nine-thirty. We could relax for a while. At ten o’clock we decided to change out of our gowns because we assumed no one was coming for us. We had toyed with the thought of going alone to the dance, but then thought better of it because we’d only embarrass those who were to come for us.

At eleven o’clock there was a knock on the door. Our escorts had arrived and there we stood in our pajamas! At that point all we wanted to do was to go to bed! After about five minutes of apologies, they understood and left.

At school the next morning, my principal asked me why we didn’t come to the dance. I told her it was 11:00 PM when our escorts arrived and we were ready for our bed. She answered, “We assumed you understood Filipino culture.” That afternoon the two teachers who had come for us the night before returned to our house to apologize (upon the request of the principal). The result was only embarrassment for us, the gentlemen and the principal.

• How would you describe American Time?
• How would you describe Filipino time?
• Summarize what the text says about Time.
• Relate what the text says about Informal Time systems (under the heading Time Systems) to this scenario.
• Explain the difference between Formal and Informal Time systems.