Two weeks ago I had surprised family in town. When I say "surprised", it was literally a phone call the day before telling my family to expect them the next day.
Here's the short version of the story.
My uncle who use to live in Cali moved to China for work, has a family there, and the family of five flew to the States earlier this Fall so they could get green cards to better the kids' future and have a better education and all. They've been wanting to visit us across the border and tickets were quite expensive for a while, but with the temporary shutdown of the US government and other interferences, they decided to come up earlier than they had planned on a relatively cheap deal they found.
Twenty-four hours later they've arrived and I see my dad side almost everyday (and almost every dinner), for like 6 nights straight. For me, this was quite unusual as other than birthdays, the extended family hardly comes together. When we do see each other, conversations are surfaced level and short and the sense of 'family' seems distant. Having my uncle in town meant that all my grandma's kids were in one place and that is definitely a rarity. The last time this reunion on my dad's side occurred was seven if not eight years ago for my auntie's wedding. Not only that, but this uncle is the eldest, and as Chinese tradition goes, my granny didn't show it, but I knew she was definitely ecstatic to have her eldest son and all her other children and newest additions of grandchildren in one place.
One thing I love about Chinese (or Asian) etiquette for that matter is the willingness to treat (and even fight for the bill) as all the siblings of my uncle took turns treating the family out each day. I think this is a strong value to have as it's a simple way to show affection and respect to another person/family/friends. With the whole "Going Dutch" version of paying these days (splitting the bill), it feels like the higher significance of treating another person beyond its monetary value has been lost.
For me, I have to admit that I initially felt annoyance to the arrival of my Uncle as the possibility of having to share my room (read all about my previous initial selfishness here), lend my car, and rework my schedule to be accommodating was not something I was looking forward to, especially when I was in the middle of my nine day streak of work. I really just wanted things to go my way! Wow, I do sound so self centered there...
Anyhow, things went better than I thought as they always do (PTL!). I didn't have to give up my room, my uncle and his family had rides provided for them each day, and I actually wanted to make time in my busy crazy schedule to spend with my uncle's family. Personally, I had my initial reservations about my uncle, but turns out, God really changed my heart to display love and care to this side of my family. Why be bitter when I had less than a week to cherish this blood bond?
Lord, help me be more self sacrificing.
P.S. I also survived my nine day streak, but another one (and longer) is just right around the corner... I don't know how I get myself into this.
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