yoda or burrito

my sister, pauline, and her husband, brad, just had their baby saturday night. she is yet unnamed and is being called yoda or burrito in the meantime.

i like that she has our kao deep-sleep-eyelids that always betrayed me at work, though i wonder how long they'll last - they're double eyelids. us single-lidders always lose out in the genetic battle. i'm so excited to be an aunt. i can't wait to meet her.

update: she's been named. amelia shuyao hilborn. i'm currently in thought-mode for possible torturous nicknames. a-big-mac-melia? amelias on wheelias?

"we do not wash our pits in the pool of sacred tears"

after seeing kung fu panda on saturday, i immediately personally vowed to become an owner of the dvd. legit or not, TBA. i give it an enthusiastic thumbs up. top three reasons you should see this movie immediately:

1. panda. how could you not love a panda? honestly, you hold up a picture of a baby panda to a hardened murderer and he will melt with coos akin to infants. yes, infants! i hear they're using panda-cuteness as a way to break down detainees in guantanamo.

2. doughy, bumbling hero with an obsession with food. po loves food. his training is driven entirely by his appetite for dumplings. maybe that's how i should instill more discipline in my life? wake up = get a dumpling. do my thai homework = get a dumpling. pray = get a dumpling...i'm realizing that i'm no more advanced than a domesticated house pet.
3. laughs. i laughed the entire movie. i can't tell you how many thai people have told me, "americans are really loud" and so i've toned down my voice volume. so, i felt like i couldn't realease my full-volume-laugh because it garners stares in thailand, but i was laughing hard. very witty, very fun. i'm going to buy this movie so i can gut-laugh in the privacy of my home.

4. granted, this was an american movie made with american writers, money, and production. but, it made me love my chinese heritage just a little more. i was talking to some chinese-thai food vendors the other day and was a little appalled at how inconsiderate they were (compared to thai people, everyone is inconsiderate. they create the standard.). lately, i haven't seen a whole lot of reasons to like chinese culture, but this movie painted chinese culture in such a whimsical, affectionate way, i couldn't help but be proud to identify with it.
po's dad explains, "i inherited this noodle shop from your grandfather, who inherited it from his father, who won it in a game of mahjong." in my heart, i was so proud to have family who are also obsessed with mahjong, "my mom loves mahjong, too!" sad, perhaps, but a good laugh.

i miss "you"

in english, subjects are easy: first person is always "I" and second person is always "you"

in thai, your speech always expresses your position and your conversant's position, dictating how formal you should call someone, how formally you should call yourself and how similar or different your respect levels are. i can call myself nu (literally, mouse), di-chan (formal), michelle (it's seen as cute), pi (when speaking with kids), or rao (essentially, "we"). i've been slowly getting it (or at least i thought i was), until i learned this word: "teuh." (เธอ)

ok, put your thinking caps on because these are 4 different ways to use this word. i'm avoiding using the word altogether.

1. between two intimates. if you were with a close friend or lovah, you'd use "teuh" when using the phrase "i love you."
2. teacher with a student. teachers can call students "teuh," indicating that they are higher in position and deserve respect.
3. formally referring to a 3rd person in writing. if you're writing something more formal, it's more polite to refer to a 3rd person as "teuh," assigning more respect and importance than the informal pronoun.

but be careful, because you may be
4. disrespecting someone. if you call someone "teuh" in the 2nd person, you're saying you're better and demeaning he/she.

can't we all just get along?

grandma knows all the words

just phoned my grandma and this is a little clip i recorded. though her mind is going in many ways, she still knows all the words to every chinese folk song and belts them out with gusto.


i'm happy to report that she's in good spirits.

child labor

don't get your panties in a wad. i'm not talking about paying children to work, i'm talking about making kids laboring for no pay!

one of the nice things about thai culture is that you make kids do all sorts of little tasks for you. at parties, they serve food and drinks, you send them on little errands to buy ice or garlic, they help carry groceries. it's nice. one thing i really appreciate is that it instills a normalcy in serving and helping from a young age. whenever i fill up water at the community purifier machine, a little gaggle of kids always helps me carry water back. and when i praise them for being helpful and adorable, they always say, "thai people have good hearts!"
i think anyone who does what i say has a good heart. hehe.

dtang, bu and dtack. 3 of the kids who help serve regularly. one term of endearment i've adopted is calling these precious little children "my slaves." KIDDING.

"i think in one of my previous lives i was a mighty king, because i like people to do what i say."
- from "deep thoughts" by jack handey