Sometimes You Don't Realize You Have Reached Your Dreams

Did you send your kids to Chinese School?  I did and they hated it.  I had to buy them a Sony PlayStation in order to keep them going.  They went for two years and it was difficult as it was Mandarin and we are Cantonese.  No way to practice.  They were in the bilingual class, kindergarten and first grade.  They let parents sit on the side with their kids -- so it was free Mandarin lessons for me!

I was very disappointed when they dropped out.  As a parent, you feel like a failure -- I didn't teach my kids about our culture.  Another mother tried to console me and said, "At least you exposed them.  Years from now, they may pick it up, in college, or at least have an interest because of this."

Fast forward 15 years later and my younger son chose to study abroad in Shanghai (Fudan U).  He chose to live with a family to get the first hand feel instead of a dorm.  This really surprised me as he really liked the dorm life in college.  He got to know his family, eat with them, wash his clothes like them, take the metro like them.  What a great experience.

Yesterday was Chinese New Year.  He said to us "Gung Hay Fot Choy.  Lai See Dau Lau".

I realized my Lai See have come here.  My proudest accomplishments are my kids.  I think they benefited from those two years of Chinese School.