Milk, it does a body good. That’s the tagline I recall. We didn’t drink milk in Taiwan but when it was readily available in the US, we consumed a fair number of gallons. A gallon of anything is a lot but like the new found space everywhere, there was much more available in our fridge. I particularly liked the milk containers that had smiley faces in the circle indentations on the side. I would cut it out, colour the entire surface with Crayola markers and fill it with a thin layer of Elmer’s glue. I liked watching the colour mix into the glue and turn translucent as it dried. As you can imagine, I ended up with many smiley faces. Fresh milk again was ridiculously expensive on our next move to Hong Kong. It was a difficult and unsuccessful shift to UHT milk. We did not cross paths again until uni in Canada where to my delight, milk came in bags and their external packaging would be collected and woven into mats.
#09
valentine's day cards
I fell in love with mail during my very first Valentine’s Day in grade one. We made our own mailbox for our desk and the days leading up to the fourteenth we could deliver mail every morning. There was a rule that if you were going to “send” a card, you had to send one to everyone in the class. I still think mail is a wonderful thing and take every opportunity I get to post some out into the world.
#08
radishes
I peeled many radishes as a kid. When I was assigned this task, it meant we were having people over for dinner. Living in small town America, company enjoyed Chinese fare. My mum’s food was and still is delicious. She started cooking when she was eight. It’s sad to say but I reckon the art of cooking Chinese food is ending in my family with my generation. I do cook a fair bit, oddly just not Chinese. Perhaps I should figure out why. But back to radishes, my job was to peel them carefully taking off only the necessary vibrant red and leaving behind a pile of spheres. Mum cooked it with dried scallops and then it was topped with scallions. I was satisfied I had a part in the aesthetics of the dish. We haven’t had radishes since leaving the states. They’re not easy to come by in Hong Kong.
#07
book it!
Collecting stars on a button for reading books? Sign me up! Loved reading and the pizza was just an added bonus though it did mean a trip into town when my little brother and I both filled our buttons. He would always get green pepper and I’d get pepperoni. Nowadays I think it’d be the other way around...and my Goodreads shelf has replaced my Book It! button.
#06
caterpillars
Not so much their appearance that horrified me but the fact that kids from school would gather them into mounds, stomp on them and leave splatters and trails of caterpillar guts all over the sidewalks and schoolyard. Distressing times walking to and from school and generally being outdoors.
#05
i pledge allegiance
We recited this every morning to the flag high up in the corner of our classroom. I’m not sure what the purpose or significance of this was but I do still remember it, along with the words to the national anthem and America. On a side note, I did make sure I learned O Canada before heading back to the motherland for uni but it didn't help much in adjusting to life there or feeling more Canadian. Back to allegiances to flags and so called republics, I hope that in everything we do, we continually strive towards liberty and justice for all.
#04
caramel apple
I was first introduced to these treats on a stick when mum ordered them from school for a fundraiser. It became something I looked forward to each fall and something I longed for when we left. My next encounter with a caramel apple was eight years later in the window of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at First Canadian Place. Seeing rows upon rows of apples brought me back to that day walking home from school carrying six caramel apples in a white paper bag.
#03
sugar plum fairy's entourage
Every winter, the entire third grade put on the Nutcracker. I was given the role of one of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s entourage. It's the first time I remember feeling self-conscious about my body, likely due to the fact we had to dance across stage in tight pink frilly outfits. Pink didn't ever quite resonate with me.
#02
state project
I believe I was assigned Ohio. I don’t remember anything about the state except that silly joke I read in one of my research books. The cardinal is the state bird in case you wanted to know. I had to look that up right before I started painting. I don't recall what grade I was in but we each had to give an oral presentation about our state so technically, from the entire class, I should’ve learned something about 50% of the United States. I need to visit Ohio for some closure.
#01
o america
Pondering a return, it’s been on my mind as of late. Partially growing up there provided a lot of context for me these later years in life. I can’t say I thought much about my childhood prior to reading Yellow a few summers ago. Not a book I would’ve crossed paths with on my own but came highly recommended. Appreciate people taking the time to give book recommendations and find that through it, you not only learn a little more about them but about yourself as well.
I found parallels to my own life in Yellow. Growing up you think you’re the only one having these experiences but strangely it was both common and shared. It’s unfortunate that little has changed regarding race, stereotypes and prejudices.
I’ve been a collector of sorts from a young age likely to the dismay of my parents. The idea of trading cards was just a bit nostalgic for me–reminiscent of baseball cards wrapped in wax paper. I was a Cubs fan back in the day. Trading cards lend itself well to space constraints in Hong Kong but even more so to the potential of a trade, an exchange of stories I’d like to make with you.
And so this series begins, slowly piecing together thoughts and memories of moving to small town America at the age of six and the unfolding of a new and strange life.