Finally, it's Friday!
YUPPI, today is Friday! This week has felt really long.. forever since Sunday. *YAWN*.. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning! (and also looking forward to watching shows tonight and reading late into the evening - sad eh? Ah well, I can be a homebody when I'm lazy :P)Last night I attended a lecture about Chinese Canadians. It was given by Dr. Shyu (of course). Was rather interesting actually. I initially thought it'd be a snoozer, but I found myself really intrigued. Actually, I'm not sure why I'm so surprised considering I have an interest in Chinese history, especially Chinese Canadian history (since it hits so close to home :P). He spoke about how the immigration process began in China.. that there was something called a Maritime silk road that travelled along the southern border and took them to places like India, Malaysia, Thailand, etc (I can't remember the details.. there was so much information to absorb!). So THAT's how Chinese people landed in Malaysia/Singapore! One of the reasons besides trade was because Buddhism had started to settle into China, so many of the reasons for travel was because of religion. Additionally, he talked about how Indians (from India) immigrated to only British colonies, which explains how Malaysia has Indians!
Onto how Chinese people came to North America. This started to occur in 1840 (one of the only dates I remember from this lecture :P). They started to go to California because of the gold rush, and then moved onto BC because of the goldrush THERE. Then there was the whole building of the rail roads through the Rocky Mountains where lots of them died. To make the long speal shorter, Canada had actually set up a Chinese Exclusion Act after the whole head tax issue and it wasn't until after WW2 that it was lifted.
I think it'd be really interesting to learn more about Chinese immigration into Canada and to study the effects on the coming generations. I mean, as a CBC, it seems that our cultural identity is really complex and that there hasn't been much focus on it at all. Especially those that live in smaller cities, it's really hard to find people to identify with. I guess it won't be so bad on 3rd or 4th generation CBC's, but it definitely is on 1st generation. Anyhow, maybe I'll see if I can hunt up information on this topic.
Last night's lecture started me thinking about my family roots too. My parents families are huge so it's already mind boggling to try to remember who is who. My dad's side has 11 siblings and since there were that many, my dad's elder sisters and brothers were having children while my grandmother was still popping them out herself. SO, I have a bunch of "nieces" and "nephews" that are the close to my age (actually, I have one that is a few months OLDER!). It's all rather bizarre. Back to what I was saying though: listening to the history of Chinese immigration into Canada, made me think: I should try to find out more about my own family history. I can only imagine how complex it'd be .. my Chinese surname being Chen! I mean, there are people who have my last name (both the English & Chinese version) that don't come from the same region as my family. I'm hokkien (fu jian) and they are some other dialect that I don't have a clue how to pin yin :P Conclusion: I don't know how to find my roots .. especially since I'm practically Chinese illiterate.
All this talk of my dad's side and how large it is reminds me of the last time I was back in Malaysia. We were walking along in his hometown (a very small little place called Muar in the state of Johor Bahru (aka. JB)), and all of a sudden, this very tall man comes towards us. My first reaction is, keep walking, he's just another pedestrian. But nooooo.. my dad starts to greet him, shaking his hand.. and I'm standing there staring and thinking.. HUH?? Who is this?? Turns out he's my COUSIN! Oh how weird is that?! Walking along and meeting your COUSIN who you've never met on a STREET at RANDOM?! Gah! How embarassing, I don't even know my cousin!
Living over here, far away from relatives (ok, I have a few relatives in Canada, but only 2 whom I rarely see) makes me feel sort of sad sometimes. I alway wish that I have the opportunity to get to know my relatives and to obtain a easy going relationship with them. One of comfort. Especially those cousins that are on my mom's side (I've quite a few that are close to my age), I see their friendships and how close they are, and I wish I were part of that. We do keep in touch via email/icq/msn and when I go back, it's lots of fun being with them, but it's not the same. I guess I should count myself lucky that we've had the opportunity to spend time togather and that we have developped a bond (at least enough that we can have occasional heart to hearts and I know I can tell/get advice from some of them when I have problems), it's better than most in my situation. But I still wish for more! (aren't I a greedy one? ;))
I think I need to shrink my font so that it doesn't look like I'm so long winded ..hehehe
Alrighty, have a great weekend peeps! (hahaha!! What a word!)
JY
ps./ I just remember something, don't you HATE it when people TyPe LiKe ThIs?! ArGh. iT's HaRd to Do ThAt YoU kNoW, I wOuLdN't BoThEr!
pps./ Last thing, I PROMISE! I spotted the beginnings of the tulip bulbs I planted in the fall!!! Spring is ON IT'S WAY!!!! YUPPPI!!!!!
posted by jaryee @ 6:13 a.m.
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