family reunion in China..

Hi!

So, I'm feeling in the mood to write.. lol I have 8 months to catch up so I can start talking about my birthday yesterday and the day before in Sydney!

My first stop was Hong Kong.. then a taxi into China to Shenzhen.. prior to this day.. I have been talking to my cousin whom I've never met or heard of in my life until a month before my departure.. so it was so exciting to talk to him and organising how we'll meet in China. He told me to get a taxi from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and that my other cousin will meet us at the airport.. it was so exciting.. I mean I'm extremely excited to find out about my other half that I never knew about.. and just being there with my parents and other family members from Cambodia was just extraordinary!

My parents was in Cambodia by this stage, and they were getting a plane to Hong Kong and I was to meet them there. I waited for such a long time in Hong Kong Airport for my parents and aunties to arrived. But I was ok.. I enjoyed being by myself.. listening to music, reading my magazines and writing in my journal so it wasn't too bad.. Finally they arrived.. and I was stoked to see my parents and my aunties from Cambodia as I haven't seen them for a year or two.

I know this is weird.. but I was like the leader of a tour group.. my parents have no idea.. what we were doing and everyone was relying on me, which was fine. I mean I was the "world traveller" lol they just thought that i was travel savvy and knew exactly what i was doing.. I was purely reading signs.. you know those airport signs that tells you where the taxi was.. AHHAHA

I got them to a taxi and finally we were heading towards CHINA. My first time.

Here is an entry word for word from my journal on the 13th April in China...

"I'm in China at the moment living/staying in my grandfather's hometown... We walked through the town which is relatively small. Everyone was gawking at us. Now I know how those animals at the zoo felt like..haha. On arrival to one of my relatives house we were greeted with two fried eggs in a sweet clear soup. This is a traditional "entre"for when family meet together. For all of us, we couldn't really eat it! haha! It's supposed to represent family reuniting and for long life. Something like that LOL!

What I noticed after this two days in China is that all the men smoke and drink a lot! It's been so long since Australia, where we were allowed to smoke in restaurant etc. Here nothing has change. My relatives - the men anyway, smokes everywhere including in cars, buses, at the lunch/dinner table.

I also noticed that no matter where you live or how rich or poor you are, when it comes down to family - we are all the same with our hearts, laughs, mannerism, upbringing and generosity.

Last night (or yesterday rather) when we first arrived we were taken to a hotel in a private room with a huge table in the middle. There's also a huge TV and lounges, it looked like one of those VIP karaoke room minus the huge table in the middle.

We had all these chinese dishes, one was swan meat I believe. I must admit that it tasted strange! But I had to taste it. I thought it was duck! trust me, it did not taste like chicken either!

Then they booked us two deluxe suite at the same hotel and refuses for my parents to pay for anything.

We then got chauffeured to the bus onto my grandfather's hometown which took.... i think 3 hours? I'm not sure cuz I slept most if not all! haha.

What impressed me the most is their hospitality. They fed us well! even though now that we're in rural China, we still have great food to eat and beds to sleep in!

We walked around town and went to my grandfather's house where he lived until he was 18 years old when he left to go to Cambodia.

Because my grandfather left the country so young, he met and married my grandmother in Cambodia.

So all my relatives in China are actually cousins to my father. And their kids are my distance relatives but they are our only connection to my grandfather's family tree. I'm glad I'm here. My only regret is not knowing how to speak Chinese so I can speak to them.

My aim when I get back to Sydney is to learn Chinese - properly = at TAFE or something equivalent.

My highlights so far is seeing how happy my father is, meeting and reuniting with his father's family. I'm glad he decided to come and visit again. And I'm glad that I'm here. I hope that by the time I go back I will know Chinese and that they can remember me. Well, there's only one of me! haha! there's so many of them.

1. my grandfather's house still standing and is over 300 years old. Although no one lives there, it is a gathering house where the old folks will go and have a yarn or probably a few pots of tea! That's what we've been drinking a lot too.

It's such a tradition and Í'm intrigued at the way it's being made and pure. When I get back to Sydney - I want to go buy one of those traditional tea sets and invite my friends to come over and have tea & a yarn or two.

My Aunty & I are sharing a bed and she's snoring at the moment! haha. On that note I'm going to bed.."