HeyChristine.com

Wednesday, February 28th

Amy Tan I am not... by a LONG shot.

At some point on Tuesday I made the spontaneous decision to go down south after work and surprise my family since Wednesday was a holiday. Lots of relatives are leaving soon (FINALLY I mean DARN...!) so I figured I should. What a good little Chinese girl I yam!

By the time I got off work (8:00 pm), grabbed dinner (8:30 pm), went home to get my stuff (9:00 pm) and made it to their place (10:45 pm), I was pooped. However, I was determined to get as much information from Wypoh as possible this time, so I got everyone together and whipped out my laptop, ready to take notes.

It was painful.

First, Wypoh's Shandongnese accent is way too thick. I couldn't understand most of what she said. Second, though Wypoh's mind is crystal clear, especially for a woman who is about to turn 80-years-old, her answers were never straightforward.

Third, Mom kept trying to answer the questions *for* her when I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth herself (did I just call my grandmother a horse? Gods. Hope I didn't just bring myself bad luck...), and with Mom trying to summarize and re-interpret Wypoh's digressions into English, it wasn't making a whole lot of sense by the time it got to me. See below.

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   Me: "So, where was she born."
Mom: "In Shandong province."
   Me: "I know Mom but *where* in Shandong province."
Mom: "I don't know where!"
   Me: "Mom... can you ASK her?"

So she asked Wypoh. I was a little surprised that Mom DIDN'T know because she and Wypoh actually flew to Harbin to visit my great grandmother when she was still alive. After the communists took over, my grandmother had zero contact with her mother for almost 40 years. It was the Joy Luck Club to a tee -- a real tear jerker -- but I'll get to that later.

Mom: "She said she was born in Leejrlrrrr."
Me: "Huh?"
Mom: "Leejrlrrrr!"

Mom cracks up because she KNOWS I have no idea what she just said. Ugh.

Me: "Mom what does that MEAN. English por favor!"
Mom: "It's like the Lee Village. Everybody's last name was Lee."
Me: "EVERYBODY? How is that possible?!"

Mom was confused herself and asked Wypoh.

Mom: "Wypoh says there were like thirty Lee families living together."
   Me: "You sure?"
Mom: "That's what she said."
   Me: "I don't get it. Commies round up people surnamed Lee and
           brought them to this village and gave it a name?"
Mom: "NO! The communists didn't take over until 1940s!"
   Me: "Oh... right..."
Mom: "Ayah... !"
   Me: "Sorry... so what are the CHARACTERS for Leejrlrrrr."
Mom: "LEE (surname Lee)... JA (family)... LRRRR."
   Me: "What is the Chinese character for LRRRR?!"
Mom: "... I don't know..."
   Me: "Mom can you ask her?"
Mom: "She doesn't know either!"
   Me: "Is it LU, for ROAD?"
Mom: "I really don't know. Could be LO (floor). I'll have to find out..."
   Me: "Oh... boy."

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And the saga continues...

I started to get a headache. Obviously, we didn't get too far that night. After about an hour of this, my grandmother started to get annoyed with my interrogation and in Shandongnese said, "Why do you want to know this information? There's no point! Come sit on the couch and relax!" I understood that much. Sigh... this is not going to be easy. To be continued...

Wypoh got up early this morning to make a full round of fried BAOS for lunch. I could only eat one. I've been living in Taiwan for over SIX years now, she KNOWS I don't eat a lot and yet each time I visit, she cooks for me like she's cooking for an entire, well, village. LRRRR!!

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