My Roots

A lighter scribble today, I wanna start writing a story! haha.

A few days back, my parents were talking in the car about how if my mom had married a Chinese, she wouldn't have wanted to 'watch the store' all day, because of her childhood. It made me think of my roots, where my parents came from and how I ended up growing up the way I did.

My dad's Filipino, his dad grew up in a province in the south and he came here to the city to become a doctor. I have no idea how my grandmother and my granddad met, but I do know that my dad had a comfortable life, 'lolo', (the term for grandfather), was an orthopedic surgeon and 'lola'(grandmother) was a choral director/professor/dean.

My mom, from her stories, lived a little more than comfortably. She comes from a very Chinese family, her mother's family owned(and still do..) a huge business, something to do with upholstery I think and her dad's family own(still do as well..) and are into leather and stuff like that, her dad had his own store. My grandparents' marriage was arranged, like how most Chinese marriages were at the time, to ensure that the family business is properly taken care of.

I never struggled with my cultural identity, because I think I was exposed to both cultures from the very start. I was born and raised here in the Philippines, but I live with a mix of Chinese and Filipino customs. I was taught Chinese as a kid, I can speak and read but I can't write whereas I was taught FIlipino to get into a school. I have two Filipino and two Chinese god parents, we frequently go to my Chinese and Filipino cousins' houses because I'm an only child and I celebrate both Chinese and Filipino holidays so as you can see, my parents balanced the two cultures quite well.