Category: Family

Papa’ and I

Hi everyone,

I love and respect my Papa’ ( father or dad ) a lot.  When I was a little boy and woke up in the middle of the night.  I saw my Papa’ at his desk using English to Chinese  dictionary to read his English book.  My Papa’ had completed only third grade.  My grandparents had eleven children and my Papa’ was the  fifth child.  My grandfather was a carpenter and he did not make much money to feed his family.  My Papa’ ran away from home when he was eleven years old, so that his brothers and sisters would have more to eat.  Maybe that is why my Papa’ sent me over here to have a better education.  I will have a good life later on.  He ran away from home to my grandfather’s ( my Mama’ s dad ) shipyard.  My grandfather had a kind heart, he took care of a lot of the runaway children.  He put them to work as a trainee to learn how to be a welder, carpenter, lathe operator, mechanic, etc.  He provided a dormitory for them to sleep and had an old cook to prepare meals for them.  They learned and earned some money.  My Papa’ was one of them.  He was the most hard working and aggressive boy.  He didn’t learn just one skill.  When he completed the training to be a mechanic,  he asked to go to another department to learn another skill.  All the children moved on to be promoted to be the master of the skill they had learned because they made more money.  My Papa’ wanted to stay on as a trainee to learn the other skills.  Many years went by, he finished all the training in every department.  My grandfather had been observing my Papa’ all along.  My grandfather knew that my Papa’ was a hard worker, intelligent, had a nice personality, and  cared for his family.  My grandfather promoted him to be the manager of the shipyard.  The English book that he read at night was about how to repair the commercial liner or ship.  He tried to keep himself up with the new tech.

One day when I was a little boy, Papa’ came home from work.  He saw me watching our new black and white television with rabbit ears.  He asked me if  I finished my homework? Yes sir, I told him.  Did you do all your chores around the house? Yes sir, I did.  You don’t have anything else to do?  No sir.  In that case, you follow me to the ship yard.  When we got to the ship yard, he told me to walk around the place.  I did as he told.  I got back to him.  He asked me what I would like to be a welder, a mechanic or whatever I like to work after school.  Well Papa’, you didn’t tell me that, please let me walk again one more round.  After I finished my observation in every department,  I decided to be a welder.  Papa’, I would like to learn how to be a welder, it looked interesting to put two pieces of metal to become one.  You will report to the welding foreman that you are going to start working there tomorrow as a trainee.  I tell you what.  It is not easy at all in the beginning.  I burned my eyes because my welding hood did not cover my eyes fast enough.  You have to have a good coordination of your neck and your hand.  Before you stroke the welding rod, you need to snap your head to bring your welding hood down.  It took me a few days to accomplish it, but that caused my eyes to burn and start watering.  It hurt  very bad, so don’t watch the welding without a welding hood.

I was the youngest ever at the shipyard.  There is one incident I  would like to share with you.  One morning the house phone rang at 2 a.m., Papa’ woke me up and told me to get dressed to go to work.  He told me that two ships had an accident by head on collision.  One of them was a Panamanian ship severely damaged.  I went with Papa’ on that ship.  The head of the ship had a big hole but only a small boy like me could go to it easier.  They put the big steel plate to seal the head of the ship with me inside to weld by myself.  Outside, they got three welders to weld.  It took 3 days and 2 nights to finish the job with no sleep.   Papa’ told all of his staff at the shipyard that if my son can perform this kind of job, you all can do it too.  Papa’ was very proud of me.

Well I better say goodbye for now.  I will tell you some more later next time.

Mana

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

categories Family, Mana's Story | manaratana July 25, 2009 | comments Comments (0)

Me and my mother (Mama’) Part 2

Hi everyone,

When I was growing up, my Mama’ taught me not to waste anything including food.  My parents always encouraged us to eat a lot, but do not waste the food.  Rice was one of them, if we were still hungry, do get a  second serving but just get only what you can finish.  Mama’ explained to me that rice farmers worked very hard to grow rice and they were low income people.  They used  their blood, sweat and tears to grow rice.  All the Chinese family will tell their children the same, because rice is playing a big part of Chinese culture.  Mama’ did not waste anything at all, she saved all the Chinese newspapers so that we could use them to start the charcoal to cook.  I was growing up with the left over food.  When we finished the meal and had left over, Mama’ always saved them in refrigerator.  She would add one or two more new dishes to go with the left over.  When we had a lot of left over rice, she would make a fried rice dish.  In case you did not know that this is the history of fried rice- the left over meal.

Mama’ showed me to love and care about the other people.  She got a busy schedule at home, but she always made the time to visit our relatives on both side of the family.  She would buy oranges or tangerines to give to our relatives.  Mama’ told me that we should  not wait until they got sick to see them.  You should make the effort to see them while they are healthy and cherish the time of happiness with them.  My Mama’ is a loving and caring person.  She was always giving, not taking.  She was a kind of person that anyone will feel love  and care whenever they meet her.  One day, she took me to the thai temple to worship.  She gave money to a few beggars in front of the temple.  I said to her ” Mama’ don’ t give the money to the young beggar, he is young and strong enough to find job and make money.  I think that he is a fake to make an easy money.”  Mama’ said to me that ” we are here to do a good deed, we are not here to judge people.  You don’t really know about him.  He might fall in a hardship right now.  Look at his clothes how dirty it is.  Do you think people will hire him the way he look?  Of course not, they probably scold him and beat him up with a stick.  You always help the other people if they need the help.”  I will never forget what she taught me.

At home, I saw how much my Mama’ really love my Papa’.  She didn’t have to tell anyone about that, it showed.  When Papa’ came home from work, she would  greet him with a smiling face and asked how the day go.  She would bring him something to drink and took his socks and shoes off.  At the dinning table, she put food on his rice bowl from different dishes with her chopsticks.  She said to him that I want you to taste this dish to see if you like it.  When Papa’ ate it, she would give him more without his asking.  She served the meal to him with love.  When Papa’ worked around the house.  She always wiped his face with a cold towel.  She always took care of him.  Today some Oriental ladies are still doing it.  You can see this kind of love only in ancient Chinese movie.  In today society we should give more unconditional love and understanding of each other.

Goodbye for now,

Mana

Tags: , , , , , , ,

categories Culture, Family, Food, Mana's Story | manaratana June 15, 2009 | comments Comments (2)