chinese school, TVB, memories ...

comfort food. though cantonese soap operas do not qualify as food, they are a symbolism of comfort to me. in retrospect, as a chinese-american little girl, i did not appreciate the experience of having to go out to chinatown here in nyc to attend chinese class on saturday mornings ... little did i know that the poems we read, essays we were "forced" to write would help to weave a a fabric of rich chinese culture into the fiber of my being. ask me if i understood most of the things i read or their content ... to this day i will tell you, not so much. but, i think that the significance of my experience there was not so much what i did or did not learn in my readings and writings (i stunk and still do), but more so what my dear teacher, ms. lam taught us ... the importance of family, honoring and respecting our parents, authority figures, elders, and teaching us about the history so we could know where we "came" from, who we are ... because the rich legacy that was left behind as a result of those who came before us flows in and through us whether we realize it or not. one of my most memorable experiences was writing as essay about Jesus and how i was a christian and using scripture. of course my essay was corrected A LOT because i really didn't know how to write or what words to use ... the beauty of it was that through this, i came to discover that my teacher was a christian ... it was such a blessing to have her in my life ... even more of a blessing because we still talk and we share a special bond because of Christ and Christ being our primary culture connects us.

not to mention that in chinese school, i made some sweet friends ... we shared some fun times ... i still have pictures from a banquet that we all went to out in chinatown ... i'm glad to say that we all still keep in touch when we can ... we should definitely get together soon! i miss you guys & am proud of us for all moving forward, being given opportunities to share our wonderful spirits with others!

all this to say, as i get older, i am more and more thankful for the heritage that God chose to allow me to be a part of ... i'm still debating if i would send my kids to chinese school haha, but i have to admit, the older i get, the more i think that it would be a beneficial thing to do, that is if the kiddies have no objection to it, because i do want them to enjoy whatever it is they participate in, especially as little ones!

i must also include my childhood friend, tiffany in here because we were practically like partners in crime from a very young age ... we have shared so many memories together as little kids, then through the teen years, TVB (chinese soap opera channel/broadcasting company based in hong kong), canto pop, jay chou, david tao, edison, steven ma (cantonese music artists), & the list goes on ... even though life and growing up gets in the way, you still have a special place in my heart ;) there is no other partner in crime i would have rather had! i'm glad i get to tell our kids about the "adventures" we had in our younger years! lol ... i'm starting to think maybe i should write a book, like amy tan ... haha!

here's a song for you lovely people! ... Appreciated - Raymond Lam & Linda Chung

prof. tokke - it's a cantonese "love" song, featured in a cantonese soap opera ... but it's not corny or sappy like your typical american love song ... pretty meaningful! ... thought you would appreciate this post, since i pretty much consider you cantonese - but canadian cantonese LOL!