The Language Barrier

Well, Mom apparently is safely on her way to Taipei. Eva Air says the flight is "early", which in my experience rarely happens. She will arrive at about 22:10 tomorrow night, local time. I don't know when she's even getting back. She has a visa that will allow her to stay in-country for 60 days, but I *think* she's coming back in October.

While the reason why my mother is going to be out of the country is completely valid, I'm going to miss her a lot. She's my best friend (yeah, I'm a nerd, I know), and we chat on the phone all the time. I'm actually kind of jealous that she's going over, because the food there is so very delicious.

Mom's been teaching me bits of Mandarin, which we use on the phone. When I visit my favourite Math professor's wife, who is Chinese, I tell her all the new phrases I've learned and what I can remember from my last visit. I'm far, far from being conversational in Mandarin, but it's a lot of fun.

I wish Mom had brought me up bilingual. While I understand why she only wanted me to learn English growing up, it would be so cool to be fluent in another language. All the multi-racial kids (mostly Asian/White descent) I knew in California are bilingual, and I feel kind of left out.

Language is such an important part of human culture, and I feel I've missed out on a lot of my heritage. Especially since most of American culture disappoints me.

It sucks not being able to even communicate to your relatives. Even though English proficency is mandatory in Taiwanese and Chinese schools (you even have to pass an English test to get your college degree), that does not necessarily mean the people educated there are fluent in English.

It would be nice to visit Taiwan next summer when I get done with school and the only thing I have to worry about is my (other) best friend's wedding in August. And hopefully starting the new job (don't know what it is yet) in September. That would be a lovely plan.