In the summer of 1993 I noticed that my English flash card lessons were starting to pick up, along with talk that my departure date to Canada was drawing even nearer.
I didn’t like that one bit.
My whole family—my yéye, nainai, gugu, gufu，even my cousin JingJing—spoke of this “Canada” as if it were some sort of idyllic paradise, a place of abundant snacks and endless affection.
“You can eat whatever you want,” Nainai would say, as if I didn’t already have pretty regular access to all of my favorites on Héxìnglù.
“You will finally reunite with your parents,” my gugu added reassuringly, as if I didn’t already have five amazing people around me who loved me.
Looking back, it felt kind of cult-y, like gospel from the Church of Canadology that I was supposed to just accept. I played along, even though I was still rough on the exact terms of this proposition. Sure, I welcomed the thought of meeting more members of my family . . . but I had no idea that said new family members would come at the cost of everyone that I knew and loved.
So, with about as much agency as any four-year-old possessed, I kept on, ever the obedient child, dutifully memorizing my English flash cards. 苹果(píngguo)—Apple. 猫(mao)—Cat. 香蕉(xiangjiao)—Banana. 爸爸妈妈(bàbamama)—Parents, whom I would meet in the winter.
An air of excitement permeated our household in the days leading up to my father’s arrival in late December. Word had come to us that Bàba 3 would fly over to pick me up and escort me back to Canada, while Mama would meet us at the airport once we landed in Toronto. If my grandparents were dreading letting me go (they were), they went to great lengths not to show it. We made a big WELCOME BACK sign in giant letters and hung it on our door. I wore my nicest clothes on the day, an outfit of absolute fire consisting of a collared rugby shirt with blue and purple stripes, a pair of brown overalls with yellow polka dots and a vest that looked like a burlap sack. That’s right, I was pattern clashing way before it was cool. 本章未完，请点击下一页继续阅读！ 第1页/共2页
梦远书城已将原网页转码以便移动设备浏览
本站仅提供资源搜索服务，不存放任何实质内容。如有侵权内容请联系搜狗，源资源删除后本站的链接将自动失效。
推荐阅读