Why oh why are Fartleks so darn hard? It's supposed to be speed "play", but really, it's just torture. It's hard to say why I keep trying them. My theory is that I really hate myself. Also, I found that it does make me faster. So, no pain no gain, or something like that.
The fun thing about being a child of parents who speak English as a second language is that you get to learn all the fun idioms later in life. Then you have the capacity to really savor the literary magic that they are, Ha!
It's also humorous to listen to my mom butcher them.
- Kill a Horse (Beat a Dead Horse)
- If It's Pouring, It Rains (When It Rains, It Pours)
- Hammered the Nail (Hit the Nail on the Head)
Most of the time I haven't the heart to correct her. Largely because she won't remember next time anyway, and also because I know what she is trying to say. To her credit, some of them ie, cat got your tongue, are just plain weird. Also, my mom knows a shit ton of idioms in Chinese. Not to bag the English idioms, Chinese sayings are actually beautiful. The majority of them are only 4 words long, rhyme, and have elaborate stories that go along with them. They are supposed to save time by conveying a complex message quickly, but it takes longer for me because she has to stop to tell me the story. It doesn't help that the Chinese people have a long history to draw stories from.
It saddens me a little that the B will get such a diluted version of the Chinese culture. Amongst many other things, she probably won't experience:
- Praying to ancestors using incense and bowing
- Folding paper boats to burn for ancestors
- The anticipation of red envelopes for Chinese New Year
- Having moon cake for the moon festival because I'm terrible with dates and always forget
Growing up my Chinese friends and I would joke that we are like bananas, yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Since the B is only half Chinese, I'm not even sure what she'll resemble. Is there such thing as an albino banana? She's a good mix I suppose, she doesn't enjoy noodles but she sure does love her rice.
At any rate, I'm making the resolution to speak more Chinese to her. Even though she does look at me strangely when I try.
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| Hmmm, I don't know if I like the sound of this... |
ah this will be a long comment hah...
ReplyDelete1. fartleks are pretty terrible, and that was my thought exactly too - "THIS ISN'T PLAYING!" but they really do work! i've found it helps to have some songs that you're really pumped about, and speed up during the chorus or something. at least that makes the time go by much faster :) if you're not running on the track, it also helps to be like.....TO THE LAMP-POST! hah.
2. another idiom mom asked me about the other day....she kept saying "hit the bush." I was slightly confused until she described what she was trying to say....then i realized she was trying to say "beat around the bush"... 10 minutes later, she was saying hitting around the bush.
3. don't you worry - i'm sure bonnie will have more than her fair share of red envelopes to enjoy...even if her auntie is broke and in medical school, she'll get something in a red envelope =P and also, having an aunt that LOVES moon cakes, i'll make sure you stay on task with that. because i basically start looking forward to moon cakes right after the mid-autumn festival ends....speaking of which, 73 days until the next mid-autumn festival (Sept. 30). better stock up on those mooncakes!
1. I'll have to try that out. :) To the ice cream store!
Delete2. Ha! Hitting around the bush. I think I'll start saying that. I'm certain there are more too, just can't remember them. What was that thing mom was saying was contagious?
3. Yum moon cake. You'll have to remind me when it gets closer, I'm going to forget by tomorrow. Wait, already forgotten :(
I don't have a drop of Chinese in me and I still got to experience the excitement of the red envelopes for New Year. In Kung Fu I did lion dance (all the senior students had to) and I had to shove those envelopes down my shirt as we worked the crowd. Ah, sweaty 2 dollar bills.
ReplyDeleteThe moral here is you need to enroll her in kung fun when she turns 4 :)
$2 bills! Who gets and gives those other than us Chinese? Why wait until she's 4, I'm sure I could find a Kung fu class foe toddlers. But maybe I should wait until she can do a real somersault. At this point it's more of a downward dog rolling on it's head. :)
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