Muse back!
August 11, 2008 / Monday
Happy Birthday Grandma, And Thanks!
My grandma turned 80 today. I spent most of the afternoon busy at work, but remembered to call her before it got too late in her time zone. We had a nice long conversation about all sorts of things, and I amazingly managed to say everything I wanted to without a lick of Chinglish*.
At one point, she was talking about how my sister recently got a raise, and how she still remembered carrying her home from the hospital like a little lump of dough. (When you say it in Chinese it's cute and endearing. "meen fun") "And now," she said happily, "you're both grown up and making money, and your sister even drives me around!" I took that opportunity to thank her for where my sister and I are today, because if it weren't for my grandma, I wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't be reading this.
You see, way back when I was just a wee little meen fun, my grandma, who does not speak any English, bought a book about America and started studying. She studied every night while she worked on her sewing (for pay, not for fun). Then she rounded up a couple of US citizen friends to accompany her to the naturalization exam. (I guess you need to prove you know people who belong here?) She failed. She studied more, rounded up a couple friends, and went back. She failed again. She didn't give up, though. There was more studying, another round of rounding up two friends, and finally, on her third try, she passed.
After that, my mom (then pregnant with my sister), dad, and I got to move to the US. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I'd grown up in Hong Kong. As it was, when my mom told my teacher we were moving here, she replied, "Good! Vivian will never make it here. She'll do much better in American schools." And she was right. In Hong Kong, I struggled to focus, and got in trouble because I couldn't. Here, I thrived.
Thanks, grandma, from the bottom of my heart.
* By "Chinglish", I mean Chinese that is interspersed with English, or vice versa, not bad English, as it is defined in Wikipedia. Bad English, in my book, is "Engrish". I've been using the term "Chinglish" since the 90's, and the initial Wikipedia definition of the word came about only in 2003, so suck it, Wikipedia, that's my word.
August 11, 2008 11:08 PM | Famidotes
Comments
I certainly see where you get your spirit! That story just really made my day. Many thanks to Grandma of Viv from those reading!
Posted by: Mike at August 14, 2008 05:30 AM
awwww!
Posted by: heather at August 14, 2008 08:41 AM
Viv, this is an awesome post.
here's one more thanks, Viv's Grandma!
Posted by: cheddah at August 14, 2008 12:14 PM
Thank you for sharing that! My grandma has a similar story and they are truly more American that most born here nowadays.
Posted by: Utena39 at August 16, 2008 03:52 PM
Aw! That is awesome.
And I love "so suck it, Wikipedia." You tell 'em!
Posted by: Jennie at August 21, 2008 03:47 PM