Tues, 1:22 pm
I’m like 感冒 (gan mao sick). My coughs sound like a 78 years
old person wheezing lol(No offense to grandparents, you guys rule!).
This was when I headed down to my dad’s hometown after being in canton for like less than three days. My cold got so obvious(not bronchitis or anything) and my yi ma-dad’s oldest sister(my grandparents adopted her) was like to my mother “Do you want to take her to a local hospital in China? Mind you there is a language barrier because although I can speak mandarin to speak to relatives in Canton, Guangzhou but I cannot speak the chinese dialect in my dad’s hometown and currently the place where my dad’s relatives reside in (ke jia hua dialect).
My cold got worse as I showered in cold water (hehe lol opps yeah during summer time) 2 days
straight-I did not know how to function the shower head and activation of
certain controls and therefore could not get hot water. I learned to get hot
water on the third day of that city, (you need to wait 5-13 mins till it heats
up) and by that time it was pointless seeing that I caught a cold already, and
the initiation of the sick had marked its territory already. I was sick. It eventually went away after a little over
two weeks, no worries ;)
Taking the trip down the memory lane, I befriended what I
considered distant cousins. The bulk
of my cousins are in Guangzhou (Canton), but eight years ago the bulk of them
were stationed in. These cousins came from my dad’s side. Since me and my
sister’s chinese was terrible starting 2004; these cousins would only speak to
my parent’s, particularly my dad in “ke jia hua” dialect. So we just let our cousins click with every other family
member except for us. This year when
going back I decided to reach out to the cousins, referring explicitly to the
two that are my dad’s youngest brother’s children out of my 7+cousins. It was really frightening and really
uncomfortable at first, especially because we (my sis and I) gave them the
silent treatment again in 2008. But as I approached to them and was very warm
to them, it soften their hearts and allowed them to open to us. It was super
cool-as I became a Jerry Seinfeld to
them. Cracking jokes and laughing at my own pathetic jokes as well. Little did
I know that my dreading (there was an awkward moment during the greeting phase
to my dad’s relatives)to visit my dad’s
hometown would be the best thing that has ever happened to me. Photos displayed
of pics with my cuz(s).
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| the pleasant photo of me w/ cousins, right before the crazy picture! |
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| this cousin in the left has this freakin awesome sense of humor, and he's musically gifted too :) |
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| this is the living room where a bunch of uncles came to visit; they are humbled and grateful that my dad can still provide financially to family and after emigrating with my mother to the United States |
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