我的家人

My Grandparents made a surprise visit to China and I found out that they happened to be in Shanghai! So I did a little digging and luckily got in touch with my cousin through facebook for 2 of my cousins' numbers in Shanghai! Wait....I've been here for 3 months and was completely oblivious to the fact that I have family here? Kang Ning and Kang Gong are 55 and 52 year-old married men with children older than me. One is in the construction business, and the other owns an air conditioner business. This is what happens when you have a 100 year-old Grandfather that had a bunch of offspring in his youth.

Anyway, I decided to tag along with them to Hangzhou to visit my Grandfather's hometown - I missed two days of class which puts me on the brink of getting kicked out of the program. However, it didn't work out too well because all the traveling really took a toll on my Grandfather's body - he had to rest for awhile and we took him to the hospital to help monitor his health. Although it was bittersweet, I still had a great time getting to know my jiaren...family. I used my new-found Chinese skills and was able to carry basic conversations with my Nai Nai~Grandma. She is a funny lady.

For the longest time I considered myself Taiwanese - or of Taiwanese descent. However, I learned from my uncle that actually........everyone of the kids was born in China and my Grandpa had been elected to be a senator for Taiwan. This was before the communist party formed. On top of owning a couple businesses, the Chang family actually traveled quite extensively and moved around in China quite often. Although my father went to a deaf school in Taipei, he is still very much Chinese. And therefore, I am Chinese. But what am I saying...Taiwan is a part of China! Or is it? I shouldn't bring up such subjects while I'm in China - perhaps I will elaborate later when I'm back in the U.S.

Anyway, I am very happy to see my Grandpa! The main reason why I wanted to come to China was to force myself to learn Chinese so that I could in the end, speak with my 100 year-old Grandfather. It looks like I didn't have to wait that long and he came to me instead :) Funny how life works out...