Wednesday, October 01, 2003
My cousin Ferdi aged 5 1/2 has been visiiting from Beijing, and yesterday on my day off I bravely accompanied him and my Aunty to the Zoo, at the peak of the school holiday season. Taronga Park Zoo is enchantingly situated across the harbour, a ferry ride away from the bustle of the city. From this peninsula, one can see unlikely vistas of exotic animals grazing within sight of the Opera House.
I haven't seen Ferdi since my visit to Beijing in 1998 when he was one. On this occasion, he chattered away to me in Cantonese with the assurance of one who already knows that they are in full control of the world. I found myself fielding enquiries about why my Chinese was so bad (there is nothing so deflating as a young relative correcting your grammar). I also had a hard time convincing him that I was any older than 9 years old (perhaps he had a point, as I had been busy impersonating rabbits and frogs jumping along the pavement at the time). Eventually he conceded that I might be as old as ten.
Strangely, whenever I have relatives to try to impress like my aunties, I immediately feel very small and young again, and no matter how hard I try I always end up feeling incapable and about ten years old instead of 30. Usually something embarrassing happens - once when I was trying to impress my uncle by taking him to a popular cafe my car got towed away while we were having coffee. Is this a common experience or is this just a function of my Chinese family?
email me: piokiwi@yahoo.com.au
Piokiwi 9:21 pm
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