#224
***Correction on 11 Sept 2012 – Rockstar came home and told me he is not the official “Environment Monitor”, another classmate of his is. Don’t know how he thought he was, but he asked me to correct ASAP.
Rockstar: Mum. I learned to say “sorry” and “it’s ok” in Chai-nese (i.e. Putonghua).
Rockstar proceeds to recite some of the best-accented “Chai-nese” phrases I’ve heard from him so far. He rarely does that, and not with that accent either. If I didn’t eavesdrop or check with his Putonghua teacher from the outside tuition center we sent him to Putonghua camp at (after ESF Kindy camp finished), I wouldn’t know he can speak at all. Though various people ranging from other kids’ parents to his grandparents have told me he can respond to them in Chai-nese.
Me: Wow, that sounds great…
Rockstar: Yeah. <pause> My teacher’s Caucasian, you know.
Me: Really?
(Mild surprise – I hadn’t noticed they had Caucasian Chinese teachers in the school, is all. The ease with which my Chai-nese can be topped is seriously not funny anyway – I still remember Kings’ ex-colleague who was very French, writing Collateralized Debt Obligation in Mandarin, to my amazement and chagrin…)
Also a bit dubious because Rockstar was recently telling us various classmates were “Asian” and then one day Kings thought to ask him if he was “Asian” and he’d said “No, Caucasian,” which gave us a heart attack (When You Decide You White, Boy? Your Parents Look So Freaking Asian. You Look So Freaking Asian) until we realized he’d switched the two around because it turned out his so called “Asian” friends at school had blonde hair… Apparently Malaysians were Caucasians.
Rockstar: Yeah. She speaks Chai-nese, but she’s Caucasian.
Me: O-kay… And does she teach Putonghua totally in Putonghua, or with English as well?
Rockstar: With English. <pause> So that’s why I learn faster! <serious I’ve Figured It Out expression>
Rockstar: Hey. What about (current favorite buddy at school who happens to be mixed)? I’ve seen his mum. His mum’s Asian. Is he still Asian?
Me: His dad’s (Scottish) Caucasian. So he would be Eurasian.
Rockstar: <laughing> What a funny word. Eurasian.
Me: Yeah it just means half Asian half Caucasian – well “of half European and half Asian descent,” to be exact (I googled)… Can you tell?
Rockstar: What, Eurasian? Nope.
Me: So you can only tell fully Asian or fully Caucasian features, and you can’t really tell Eurasian?
Rockstar: Yup. Are you blogging that? <mildly disappointed> I thought you’d blog about me being an “Environment Monitor.”
(Obviously he doesn’t consider a conversation about race/racial features that interesting)
Me: Ok will do…
Rockstar told us he’s now an “Environment Monitor.” The job description is to correct mistakes in stowing school bags in the open lockers. Two other school friends appointed “Bag Monitors” check. No, I don’t know the difference. On average, 3 bags (out of 30) would be stowed wrongly. Rockstar made me type that. He’s looking over my shoulder crunching cereal right now. Next time he should just do his own typing.
"Can I Have A Bite Of That?" I'm so dreading when she starts on solids, she watches Rockstar so avidly when he eats, she is going to be demanding foods she can't eat yet...
Rockstar must be pleased to be an “Environment Monitor”. Good for him! 🙂 In what way is a bag stowed wrongly?
So nice of Rockstar to recite Putonghua to you. Soon you’ll be able to have a video for us if Little Ms Rockstar permits it. 🙂
I’ve GOT to try and record at least one of her screaming her loudest! But usually I’m really bothered by it and can’t film 🙁
I asked Rockstar, he just said wrong as in it has to be taken out of the open locker and put back correctly (so basically I still have no idea what he’s talking about)
I LOVE that kids his age are mostly so “blind” and innocent to a person’s skin colour. All the little kids I have known have thought that if you speak English, no matter what colour skin you have, then you’re English.(or an “England person” as one told me). I had to explain to one child that his new friend in the USA was actually American, even though he spoke English because America was where he was born and growing up.
“Next time he should just do his own typing” It won’t be long before this will happen 😉 And please pass on my congratulations to Rockstar for being chosen to be the Environment Monitor. Keep up the good work!
THANK you. Exactly why I mentioned the race discussion. Rockstar has absolutely no preference for “color,” only an awareness that differences in color exist. Nature vs nurture argument re prejudices.
Out of curiosity I’ve tried asking him opinions about the girls in his old class where I knew what all of em looked like – he doesn’t “discriminate” between blondes, very dark-skinned indians or etc. His preference was based on what they brought for Show n Tell (bringing dolls or wearing very frilly things on dress up days made them a total FAIL in his opinionated little eyes)…