My ‘getting to know you’ session with my 大姑 and 姑丈 continued today. There are lots of interesting new bits I’ve been learning about them in the past few days…
1. 大姑 loves Earl Grey tea (same as me!)
2. 大姑 knows quite a bit about cameras and photography. (ok, so it’s associated with her job as a press secretary but i never made the direct link between knowledge of photography and media before.) I showed her photos I’ve taken in the past and she gave me some really helpful critique and tips. I’m also really envious because she gets to work with professional grade cameras but never has to maintain them herself because her office does so for her. :P
3. Both 大姑 and 姑丈 learn Pilates! It was so funny this afternoon… we actually had a long discussion about Pilates, Yoga and meditation, and 姑丈 even demonstrated some Pilates moves he’d been learning!
4. I learned a lot more about what they do in their respective careers. 姑丈 is in the construction business and always has interesting insights about the architecture and material of the buildings we see in Toronto. It was also very interesting to hear more about the nature of 大姑’s job as press secretary.
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Today, we had dinner together with Tingbin a.k.a. “Bin Bin” and “Xin Xin” (who turned out to be Jimmy from EngSci 3rd year!) because my 大姑and 姑丈 are good friends with their respective parents. It was quite surprising at how such a motley crew could have such an interesting time together.
Throughout the entire dinner and post-dinner tea, conversation was in very er… precise Mandarin. The conversation topics ranged from academic subjects (hats off to Tingbin who explained physical chemistry to us in pure Mandarin), to old life stories, to university life, to jokes and teasing… I rarely have to hold such intellectual and varied conversations in pure Mandarin and I sadly discovered once again how poor my vocabulary is. Among the “young people” present, I think I had the poorest command of the language. *sigh*
Nevertheless, I had a great time. :P
Journey of the Heart 