Yep..I was made in China! I was born and raised in China until I was about 8 years old, when my parents and I landed here in Washington state. Do you know what else is usually made in China? Toys! Lots and lots of toys! So...why was it that growing up in China...the biggest toy making country out there...I didn't own a single one to play with. Sad isn't it? Ahh...but don't judge too hastily!
I was born under the one child policy which limted most families to just one child per household. Since I didn't have sisters or brothers to play with, my cousins became my best friends. Growing up, all of our families were fairly poor. To give you an idea, when I was born, the apartment we lived in was the width of a queen sized bed. The length of the room was probably also the length of the bed itself plus imagine if you had a bench at the end of it. My mom, dad and I shared that room together. Our makeshift kitchen was in the hallway along with everyone else's and the bathrooms are all public. One on each floor.
But I digress, growing up without many toys because my parents couldn't afford them meant we had to get super creative with how we killed our time. I had a bunch of cousins that lived within a few blocks of me, so we'd always play outside. One thing we loved to do was we made nets to catch fire flies. Or, we'd play Chinese jump rope for hours on end. But around this time of the year, close to Chinese New Year was where the fun times began.
Not only did Chinese New Year mean spending tons of time with family, it also meant fireworks and my favorite, CONFETTI!!! Confetti will be all over our neighborhood streets after the festivities. I loved all the beautiful shiny pieces of paper and the different colors it came in. They were hard to come by for me so I wanted to preserve them somehow. I also loved kleidoscopes but, of course, couldn't afford one, so I hashed out what I thought was a brilliant idea. I'd collect all of the confetti I can find, find a piece of glass (usually broken alongside the street from a coke bottle), dig a hole next to a tree trunk, place the confetti in the hole, put the glass over it, and cover the hole with the dirt I dug up. This way, I can come back later to look at the beautiful colors through the glass.
OK, so if you've read to this point, you now probably had to re-read my last paragraph because you have no idea what I was doing or thinking! But, as sad as it was, THAT was my little treasure I created. Nowadays, my hubby makes fun of me and oftentimes will bring up confetti. He says my eyes widen in excitement if he says that word (and they do!!!). My first toy ever was when I came to the United States. It was a hand me down from my dad's colleague's kids...a pink stuffed my little pony. It had pink hair and I'd comb it to perfection. I treasured it as if it was the most expensive toy in the world. For the longest time, all I had was that pony, and now that I think about it, when she was alone, she had no one to play with. Not like Woody and Buzz! :) In a sense, I had an one child policy...poor pony! I eventually adopted other hand me downs though, which made life as a kid much more fun! But I still miss those innocent confetti days. Life just seemed simpler.
Seattle Center - Summer 1989
I loved this post! I was born and raised here but I definitely can relate to the joy of playing Chinese jump rope and looking forward to the festivities of Chinese New Year (I used to spend it in Taiwan when I was younger). Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteCindy - I'm so glad you can relate. I didn't know there'd be a Wiki page for Chinese jump rope and I'm surprised when I mention it, people actually know what it is!! My cousin always jumped higher than me tho. Hehehe.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story!!! I loved reading it and learning more about you.
ReplyDeleteI love tidbit Tuesdays! Great story:)
ReplyDeleteRobin - Well stay tuned because there are lots more to come!
ReplyDeleteKristin - Thank you! Come back next Tuesday for another nice surprise. :)
Ah, Love the post. It brings back the good memories. If you love confetti, do you collect candy papers? I wash them and dry them and put them in between thick books. We also dig mud and use whatever container we can find to mold them to food shape much like the kids play play dough nowadays. Kids will always find fun things to do. I felt the toys that makes noise and talks these days really isn't more fun than the simple ones.
ReplyDeleteOh Cindi, your post just reminded me so much of my childhood in China. I remember that New Year was the only time I got to wear new clothes. Along with the yummy treats and red envelops, it was my favorite festival growing up. I wish my kids can experience the true Chinese New Year some day. :) Great post!!! - Julia Zhu
ReplyDeleteInkmark - No I didn't collect candy wrappers, but what a great idea!!! I would have loved play dough!!! I remember we had like a racing contest at school and one of the prizes was playdough. OMG I wanted it soooo badly. But of course I wasn't fast enough. POO!!!
ReplyDeleteJulia - Oooh it's your first time commenting! I'm sooo glad. Congrats again and can't wait to see pics of Jasmine! Chinese New Year was so much fun in China. I just remember dressing up and going over to everyone's homes to visit. Ahhh...the good old days.
I loved reading this post...it's so interesting to learn more about other's lives and how they were brought up. I'm sure the simpler times you grew up in shaped who you are today which is obviously a well rounded, grateful person. THanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and moving story... And it shows that we do not have too posess to many things to be happy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this with us Cindi. I was born and raised in oz, but my parents came from a very poor SE asian country. Living in those circumstances must have been really hard.I think my dad told me that he used to pretend tin cans were cars and played with them. It's very sad when i think about it and makes me realise just how lucky i am to have been brought up in a developed country.
ReplyDeleteI love reading and learning more about your childhood. It's so interesting!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing :-)
Wow, I had no idea you lived in China until you were 8 - your parents are amazing for the new beginning they were able to make here in America! I'll bet they just want to burst when they see the woman you have become!
ReplyDeleteJenni - Awww..thank you! That's such a sweet thing to say. I do miss the simpler days but I'm super happy now as well.
ReplyDeleteMokkafiveocloc - I know right? The kids nowadays have everything I feel like. And once I have kids, I'm afraid of spoiling them too. We'll see though! =)
Jen - Aww your dad sounded so cute. I'm sure my dad was the same way. He used to tell me all sorts of things as well...but he had brothers and sisters and they could just play for hours with a few sticks they find. Haha.
Pamela - I'll have more childhood stories so don't worry! I'll keep them coming.
Jan - Haha...yeah my parents are pretty amazing. My parents stayed in the US for me actually so they've sacrificed a lot. I love them and I burst when I see them! :)
Cindi, you always find a way to move me with your words. It's such a beautiful, sad yet happy story that I had tears in my eyes. I wanna give my mom a hug right now, too bad she lives across the ocean :(
ReplyDeleteAww. I was born in the United States, right after my parents came over. Luckily, I don't remember the hard times.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tidbit. It's lovely to get to know you further. You've come quite a long way.
ReplyDeleteI love the photograph of you and your parents at the Seattle center.
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