Fourth Reflection

      In the novel, it is easy to see that the older you are, the more power you have. So in the book, when Poh-Poh suggested to call the girl's mother "Stepmother", nobody protested, and in the girl's words, "That was the order of things in China." Even now in China, it is still the order of things, because the elders have lived longer, they are more likely to know better. Therefore, it is important to listen to their opinion and let them make the decisions, that is why in the novel, Poh-Poh is the master of the house.
     However, although it is the right thing to do to respect the elders, it doesn't mean they can always make the right decision. In my opinion, it is much better if the family sit together to decide on something important.

Third Reflection

           Further in the first chapter, this nine-years old girl, Jook Liang, becomes friends with an ugly old man, who is described as a “monkey face”. I was surprised that at a such a young age, this little girl had the ability to see someone’s inner beauty when her other family members were frightened by him. She even hugs him because she thinks he looks like the monkey king in a Chinese myth. Perhaps when children are young, their thoughts are not as complicated as adults’ thoughts. Nowadays, people value others based on their monetary fortune, power, and appearance more than on their inner beauty. However, a girl like Jook does not do this;  she is precious because she is able to make friends with an unattractive person with a  kind heart.

Second Reflection

After reading the first 50 pages of “The Jade Peony”, I felt sorry for the main character, Jook Liang, the only girl in her family of three children. Jook states that she feels useless at home, even her grandmother says “Jook-Liang, if you want a place in this world, do not be born a girl-child.”

Even though today is 80 years after the setting in this novel, some Chinese parents still feel that boys are better than girls and thus favor boys, especially the elders. Some uneducated Chinese parents even starve their daughters to death while feeding their sons expensive food. Fortunately, both my parents are well-educated and I am so loved and cherished given I am also an only child. Furthermore,  all my cousins are girls, so I do not feel I am treated differently than anyone in my extended family.

First Reflection

       TI chose to read the novel  "The Jade Peony" by Wayson Choy, because it tells a story about an immigrant family who has moved from HongKong, China to Vancouver, Canada during the late 1930s up until the early 40s.
       I believe that this will be a very interesting story. I hope to learn what the immigrant people in Canada were like back in the '40s. My inquiry question is about the differences between the Chinese immigrants from that time until today

Lucky Curse(the short story)

“I don’t like my job.”said William, talking to his co-worker Jack, at their job as car mechanics in the eastside of Vancouver, BC. “Of course you don’t like it, I mean, the work is hard and the wage is poor, but we need money to live, so what can we do other than working here?” Jack responded. William thought for a minute and muttered, “If only I can get millions of dollars in one day.” “Well, why don’t you try the lottery? It might work. Ha-ha.” “Are you inferring that I will never need to work again?” inquired William. Jack laughed and said “I guess that depends on how much you win.” The rain pounded on the windows of their shop as the two friends continued to repair cars on a dreary November day.  

When William arrived home wet, tired and hungry, he actually thought about Jack’s lottery joke. “Maybe it’s not so impossible. I guess I should try buying a lottery ticket, it can help me escape the grumpy boss and tiresome job.” So the next day, William went to the nearby Kingsgate Mall and bought his first ever lottery ticket.

After one week, William forgetting that he had bought a lottery ticket, was reminded when Jack made yet another lottery joke. William then reported, “Hey Jack, I actually took your advice and bought one last week. Who knows, maybe I will win two dollars.” Obviously William didn’t think he would win the lottery.

Later that evening William went on the internet to check the winning numbers. He couldn’t believe his eyes.  He had just won the jackpot of five millions dollars! He roared in excitement, “I won! I won the jackpot!” After he had composed himself, he called his friend Jack who hurried over to his own computer to check if this was indeed the case.  “Wow! I can’t believe it. William has actually won five million dollars! That’s such a enormous amount of money!”, mumbled Jack to himself. Jack then quickly phoned William and asked him what he planned do with all that money. “Are you thinking about quitting the job?” questioned Jack. “Why not? I’ve just won five millions, I don’t need this stupid job anymore.” replied William.

The next morning was a beautiful sunny day, and William went straight into the boss’s office to quit his job with great satisfaction and relief. When he returned home, the first thing he did was to call all his friends and family members to inform them of his great win. He was so happy that he didn’t realize the consequences to follow.

Within one year, William had treated his friends and family to several trips around the world with him, every one partied hard and there was always plenty of good food and drinks. Comments like “William! You’re the best! These 5 star vocations rock!” could be heard on a regular bases from all his friends and family. William, however, found himself reaching for a drink more frequently than ever in the past. He would often order up “Another around of drinks, please!” He ended up so addicted to alcohol and so satisfied from all the partying that he lost complete track of his finances. His lavish spending was so extreme that the five million dollar win dwindled down to nothing in just over a year. Nevertheless, he was drinking and partying so frequently that he didn’t even notice that so much money had been spent in such a short period of time.

Upon his return home from his last trip abroad with his friends, he was faced with a rude and sobering fact: a huge pile of bills were waiting for him. These bills exceeded the amount of money left in the his bank account and he had to declare bankruptcy.

He tried to get his friends to help pay some of these bills, but no one would contribute. “Where is everyone now that I need them?” thought William to himself. He found himself penniless and friendless. This fact depressed him so much that he drank even more excessively to the point where he became a full blown alcoholic. William pulled his curtains shut and turned his lights off.  He resorted to calling Dial-A-Bottle for his daily alcohol needs. His credit card was now mounting with debts. His weight was dropping, and his cheerful and happy days had all but disappeared.

One gloomy February Sunday morning, William’s mother who hadn’t heard from her son for over 3 months, appeared unexpectedly at his door and knocked. William opened it wearily  and saw his mother with a smile from ear to ear. She was holding a lottery ticket in her hand. “William! I bought a lottery ticket, the jackpot is 3 millions dollars!” “Oh, mother,” William almost vomited when he saw the ticket, “I hope you don’t win. Winning has cost me everything; my health, my sanity, and my friends. Now all I have is alcohol.” His mother looked around the house in a very perplexed manner. She was horrified to see hundreds of empty bottles of alcohol, half empty containers of take-out food and filth everywhere! She discerned that her son was in deep trouble just by looking at his situation. “What happened, dear?” asked his mother. “There’s a drawback to winning the jackpot.” William replied, “It  can be a real curse; it is not always what it is made it out to be.” His mother then proceeded to rip up her lottery ticket. 

Love

Love 




When they were five
He said "Close your eyes"
So she did
He kissed her on the face then ran away
Laughing

When they were twenty five
He said "Close your eyes"
So she did
When she opened her eyes
He was down to one knee with a ring
"Marry me"

When they were eighty five
He was lying in the bed, said
"Close your eyes"
So she did
When she opened her eyes
He was gone

The Physical Me

THE PHYSICAL ME

      My mom and dad are very physical, so as a result, I am physical. When I was little, my dad taught me how to play all kinds of sports that he likes, teens, golf and swimming. He always say that “Life lies in movement". So when he sees me lying on the couch, watching TV, he will grab me and go to the tennis course to play tennis. Sometimes he will even take away all the electronics away so that I can have a physical life.

      Then, I feel in love with my physical life. I feel alive when I'm biking through the fields and to actually see this world other than see it on TV. When there is a long weekend, we cannot go any where far, so my parents will take me to go hike. We go to a place that we have never gone to before, maybe it's a mountain, or maybe it's a forest, it doesn't matter. The only thing I know is that the nature is so beautiful and we really should spend some time to feel this wonderful natural.

      I guess I should thank my parents for bring me into this excellent physical life.