[City girl lost in a foreign land]
So I'm finally back from visiting my ancestral home and I think I may have gotten a heat stroke. My head's been spining ever since last night and my stomach's doing quite a lot of churning. In short, not feeling so hot at all! =( Well at least now I can say that I've been there.
My ancestral home on my dad's side is located in the region of Shendu in Guangdong Province in China. From our home in Ma On Shan, it's a 20 minute train ride to Shenzhen and then 2 hours more on the bus. Let me first say that I was a little weary about going there. First off, I don't know any of these people but they're all supposed related to me in some way and if you know anything about Chinese culture, there's a bajillion different ways to address them. There were cousins of my grandma, their children, my grandpa's sister's daughter's kid, a whole slew of my distant cousins... After a while it just go SO confusing, my aunt just told me to call everyone "auntie" or "uncle". =P The weather is also extremely hot in Shendu at this time of the year so that definitely put a damper on things.
Some highlights of our journey:
I was already finding the heat a little unbearable but one of our relatives decided to take us to Shendu's Ecology Park. What it ended up looking more like was an abandoned theme park (a little bit of a deja vu from Spirited Away which was showing on TV the previous night). It's a bit of a shame really because the scenary was actually quite nice. A little more publicity and the introduction of some more shows or games should be able to bring the park back up on its feet.
On the motor bike ride (YES! How cool is that? =P) back to my grandma's village we stopped by the ancestral home of Bruce Lee. I'm not a big fan or anything but it was kind of a nice surprise to find out that our ancestors lived so close to one another. Heck I might even be related to him somehow! o.O The place itself wasn't all that special. It was just an old brick house with a sign that indicating the spot. We saw a family squatting just outside the house peeling ginger and assumed they must be his distant relatives.
A bit of a shock was the village children's behaviour. I guess different cultures have different standards but according to my standards those kids were just plain rude! Most of the Au Yeung family gathered together last night for dinner to welcome my grandma home. The party consisted of some kids some younger ones 8-12ish and some older ones 15-18ish. The young ones I can somewhat excuse but the older ones... First off they didn't acknowledge my grandma's presence at all and it seemed as if they came only for the food. They just kept gourging down everything in sight without a thought of whether other people have gotten any. As it that wasn't enough, this one 17 year old punk got up and left as soon as he was full without saying a word. Seriously now, that kid deserves a good beating!!
So I'm finally back from visiting my ancestral home and I think I may have gotten a heat stroke. My head's been spining ever since last night and my stomach's doing quite a lot of churning. In short, not feeling so hot at all! =( Well at least now I can say that I've been there.
My ancestral home on my dad's side is located in the region of Shendu in Guangdong Province in China. From our home in Ma On Shan, it's a 20 minute train ride to Shenzhen and then 2 hours more on the bus. Let me first say that I was a little weary about going there. First off, I don't know any of these people but they're all supposed related to me in some way and if you know anything about Chinese culture, there's a bajillion different ways to address them. There were cousins of my grandma, their children, my grandpa's sister's daughter's kid, a whole slew of my distant cousins... After a while it just go SO confusing, my aunt just told me to call everyone "auntie" or "uncle". =P The weather is also extremely hot in Shendu at this time of the year so that definitely put a damper on things.
Some highlights of our journey:
I was already finding the heat a little unbearable but one of our relatives decided to take us to Shendu's Ecology Park. What it ended up looking more like was an abandoned theme park (a little bit of a deja vu from Spirited Away which was showing on TV the previous night). It's a bit of a shame really because the scenary was actually quite nice. A little more publicity and the introduction of some more shows or games should be able to bring the park back up on its feet.
On the motor bike ride (YES! How cool is that? =P) back to my grandma's village we stopped by the ancestral home of Bruce Lee. I'm not a big fan or anything but it was kind of a nice surprise to find out that our ancestors lived so close to one another. Heck I might even be related to him somehow! o.O The place itself wasn't all that special. It was just an old brick house with a sign that indicating the spot. We saw a family squatting just outside the house peeling ginger and assumed they must be his distant relatives.
A bit of a shock was the village children's behaviour. I guess different cultures have different standards but according to my standards those kids were just plain rude! Most of the Au Yeung family gathered together last night for dinner to welcome my grandma home. The party consisted of some kids some younger ones 8-12ish and some older ones 15-18ish. The young ones I can somewhat excuse but the older ones... First off they didn't acknowledge my grandma's presence at all and it seemed as if they came only for the food. They just kept gourging down everything in sight without a thought of whether other people have gotten any. As it that wasn't enough, this one 17 year old punk got up and left as soon as he was full without saying a word. Seriously now, that kid deserves a good beating!!
2 Comments:
Oh no it sounds like the Lai Clan is having troubles =P it's full of punk kids that need a punting. Maybe something happend between the Lee Clan and the Lai Clan in the past? Well sounds like you're having lots of fun there. I wanna visit this theme park! It sounds so cool. Maybe next time I'm in China I have to visit that town and I'll probably be like the only waiguo ren =P
By
Phong, at 8:55 AM
I wonder where my ancestral home is... it'd be cool to go back to my "roots".. I've never even been to China, so it all seems so distant...
Hmm.. rude little kids.. reminds me of my spoiled little cousins. Actually, one of the few memories I have of HK was of another rude little kid who squirted lemon into my eye for no reason at all.. I think he was doing it for fun. It made me so angry back then.. I see it from a 3rd person's view right now, and I just think.. that I was one rude kid.
By
Anonymous, at 1:32 AM
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