Learning Chinese

As much as I'm grateful for growing up in Toronto and being a native English speaker, I am also grateful my parents made me learn to read and write Chinese as well as speaking in Manadrin. At the late age of 10, when everybody in school was doing better than you, learning Chinese could be extremely treacherous... an absolute pain in the ass. But in retrospect,  it has been the smartest thing my parents did. Being able to read and write Chinese has not only enabled me to read a menu or a sign, not only got me into college but it opened me up to...drum roll please... 

Cantopop, mandopop and kareoke!=) As much as I love my American music, there will always be a small part of me that reminisces the Chinese kareoke days. .. it's not only the catchy melody or lyrics that you can relate to, but the joy of bonding through "Sarajevo Rome and Juliet" or "漩渦" is beyond any David Guetta concert, because only someone who understands Chinese could fully comprehend and decipher the song, as well as enjoying the company of those who understand as well singing with them. 

And the innocent adolescent gossip of who-is-dating-who in the k-room is so different to our who-is-sleeping-with-who conversations nowadays at LMFAO. As we grow up, our kareoke experience will also inevitably evolve to a certain extent of inebriation and decadence. But the real part of "growing up" is realizing that such inebriation and decadence has to come to an end, and that the true beauty of kareoke is really the choral singing and mutual understanding of the song. So here's to more beautiful kareoke days! Cheers!=)