Dialects

I'm an Indonesian born Chinese. Great great grandparents are from Fujian Province, China. We speak dialect at home. When I was little, I was kind of embarrassed when my folks talked to me in dialect. It wasn't cool at all, I thought. In fact, I don't speak the dialect 100% correctly. As I grew up in Indonesia, I understand more Indonesian. I have no idea how to say "potato" in dialect. We call it "ma ling shu" in Mandarin which sounds like "maling", a thief, in Indonesian.

As a kid, I interacted with other kids in neighborhood. Most of them spoke Hakka (客家话).
That's why I can speak Hakka, more or less. I feel darn lucky! Speaking a little dialects is better than none. At least they really helped when I decided to learn Mandarin 13 years ago. Hakka takes a lot of Mandarin pronunciation. If you know how to say "papaya" in Hakka then you'll remember how to say it in Mandarin "木瓜" (mu gua) . Another example, they both say 有用 ( you yong ) when you want to describe something/someone is "useful". It's easy,isn't it? :)

Little Me

In 1981, I went to the kindergarten. Mom bought me a red lunch box with picture of a rabbit printed on the lid. The first day of school, she took me to the classroom and waited outside the class with another parents. I was as quiet as a mouse sitting at my table, looking around the room and at my peers. The teacher yakked in front and then asked " Who wants to come to the front and sing?" Give me a break teacher..I didn't even dare to speak, let alone sing :) I felt relieved when the bell rang. One day has passed.

As time went by, I enjoyed going to school. One day, I had an accident. It wasn't serious though. I got hit by a bicycle while crossing the street near my house. I hobbled home and cried loudly as I saw the blood oozing out of my foot. Mom helped me to apply some Chinese ointment.It damn hurt. Practically I couldn't put on shoes. Instead, I wore flip flops to go to school. It took a few weeks for the wound to heal. But.. A devious kid in my class stepped on my injured foot on purpose. The teacher, without question, punished him. Yes, I still remember that evil kid :) I wonder where he is now..:)) I distinctly recall, another kid cut my hair with handy craft scissors some time later. I laid my head on the table and he did it quietly.When I found out I cried. The other kids snitched on him, told the teacher what he has done to me :) After school, mom took me to the salon next door to get my hair cut

When the class finished, the teacher would lead the pupils to the gate and everyone shook hand with her before leaving. One afternoon, I extended my left hand to the teacher. I waited and waited....hmm... It was definitely something wrong. Why did she ignore me? I saw mom fixed her eyes on me, but I didn't get with it. At last, I realized I used the wrong hand :)

I didn't have the guts to play on slide. I was afraid of hurting my rear when I reached the bottom :) The slide is way better nowadays. Long time ago, It was made from cement. I loved see saw and swing anyway.

Little Me graduated from the kindergarten in 1983.