September
9 |
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| Today,
I got up early and went online and finally connect with a friend who
I could connect with for a while. However, he seemed more involved
in watching a football game and playing computer games. After getting
dressed and ready, we headed out to go to Tainan. My second uncle
and his wife were not there as they had already gone off to work.
I said goodbye to Kiki, and took off. My second uncle’s wife’s
mom and brother were going to take me there. I thought it was very
nice of them to do so. Before actually departing, we, or actually,
I, ate breakfast. It was chilled soybean milk with some Chinese biscuits.
Earlier, my other cousins had gone off to school. Apparently school
was just starting for them. Anyway, we finally took off for Tainan.
The ride took less than two hours and along the way, they asked me
if I sang songs and I told them that I did, but not Chinese songs.
This prompted them to put on some English songs, which I found to
be outdated. They tried to get me to sing, but I politely refused.
I’m not sure what the obsession is with some people and singing
Karaoke. Once we arrived in Tainan, they took me to my grandma’s or mother’s mother’s apartment. I thanked them for taking me there and I greeted my third uncle and my grandmother. There was a third party there as well whom I did not recognize. I soon found out that she was my third uncle’s wife. I was surprised by how young she was. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of years older than me. |
We
took some pictures at first. They found my digital camera interesting.
Later, my third uncle started asking me all sorts of odd questions
just as I remembered him doing before. He has got to be the most eccentric
of all my uncles. He asked me questions about religion, Chinese politics,
American stereotypes, international relations of countries, weapons,
tea brand, recreational activities, and a bunch of other random questions.
I found them to be amusing and I answered them as best I could. I
could see that my third uncle was trying to put forth the effort to
speak to me in English. At times, it succeeded, but most of the time,
I wasn’t really sure what he was talking about. This was all
very fun to listen to indeed. I knew that grandpa, my mother’s father, had passed on earlier that year. It was odd not seeing him. It was even odder that I got to sleep in his old room. My entire family had gone to Taiwan earlier that year to attend the funeral and I was the only one not able to go because I had school. I thought this time around, I would finally get a chance to pay my last respects to him. There was a photograph on the wall of my grandpa, still youthful looking. My grandma told me to bow to him as a symbol of respect and as a way of saying goodbye to him. I felt better now that I had done so. |
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