Added links to my cousins, Carson and Zen's, websites. Go check them out. I had no idea that Carson has a Xanga. =)
As an addendum to my brief discussion of Chinese-Canadian and Chinese-American veterans who fought in the Second World War, here is a letter that two high school students wrote to Mr. Gim Wong, one of the veterans who shared his account of and his experiences in the war. The following is what I find to be the most compelling part of the letter because it precisely echoes my sentiments:
As Chinese Canadians, we are even more grateful for your contributions to Canada. Without you, we would not be here in Canada today. Your tale was very inspirational to us; we give you all the respect in the world. Your service in the military shows that you were truly Canadian, even though Canada did not want you. Only a man of great principles would fight for a country that did not even recognize him. You blazed a path for all minorities to have lives in Canada. You might have just been doing what you believed was right, but you did a service for all of Canada. You allowed Canada to be diverse. You helped make Canada into the great country it is today. You make us proud to be Chinese Canadians. Once again, we really want to thank you for participating in the Veterans Affairs Activity at the Armories.
I vaguely recall hearing about this movie from one of my instructors in the Asia-Canada minor program at SFU a few years ago. However, I did not think too much of it until we saw the beginning of the film in my HIST 481 class earlier this month. Dr. Jay told us that even though the movie is set in New York Chinatown during the late 1940s and early 1950s, it does relate to some of the issues that we have read and discussed in class such as the whole tidbit on chaste widows in traditional Chinese society.
So what is Eat a Bowl of Tea about? Well, first of all, the film was directed by Wayne Wang, the guy who also directed the Joy Luck Club and Maid in Manhattan. It is essentially the story of a young Chinese-American man named Ben Loy (Russell Wong) who has just returned home from serving in the U.S Army in World War Two. The Chinese Exclusion Act has been revoked and a new law has been passed where Chinese men were finally able to bring over their wives and daughters over to America. I believe that it was due to the Chinese-American contribution to the Second World War (as it also was the case in Canada at the time) that both China-born and American-born Chinese-Americans were finally able to obtain citizenship. During the era when the Exclusion Act was in place, Chinatowns all over the U.S were essentially bachelor societies where there were few women and married men lived like bachelors because they could not bring their wives over to America. The few Chinese women that were there were all prostitutes.
Hotels centre Bohinjsko JezeroTo take advantage of the new law, Wah Gay (Victor Wong and no relation to Russell Wong), decided to send Ben Loy to their ancestral village in Guangdong province in China to bring home a bride. Ben has a tender reunion with his mother when he arrives at his ancestral home and later meets his bride, the lovely Mei Oi (Cora Miao, the real-life wife of Wayne Wang), who is no other than the daughter of Lee Gong, Wah Gay's best friend. Luckily for Ben and Mei Oi, the two fell in love at first sight despite the fact that their marriage was arranged.
When Ben Loy returns to New York with his new bride, he is forced to take on a new job as manager of the restaurant, Grand China, even though his plan was to save money so he can return to school. The couple's relationship is great at first, but gradually deteriorates amidst the stress that Ben has from being forced to work long hours at the restaurant and the pressure on him from his father and the bachelor community to produce children renders him impotent. His wife is beginning to become lonely because she has nothing to do when he is working and she has no female social network (this is very important as it was for my mother as well and will not be in place in Chinese communities until more women start coming in) to turn to because everyone in Chinatown are married bachelors whose wives are still in China. Upon the recommendation of Ben's doctor, Ben takes his wife on a brief excursion to Washington, D.C where the couple revive the early glow of their romance. However, Ben becomes impotent again when they return to New York where things eventually get even worse because his wife wants the attention that she desperately craves when he is unable to provide it to her because of his condition. Thus, Mei Oi takes Ah Song (Eric Tsang Chi Wai) as her lover and has him come up to their apartment when Ben is away working at the restaurant.
His father wants him to produce children immediately, his wife wants a bit more attention while his boss wants him to work harder. Giving into these pressures, it is up to Ben to break free from these demands, take his life into his own hands and mend a marriage that is quickly deteriorating. As an attempt to not spoil the film for those who are interested in watching it, I am just going to say that the film ends very happily for the main characters.
In short, I really enjoyed this film and it is fast becoming one of my favorites. It is very theatrical and captures the essence of the era. I actually watched this movie more than five times since I rented it from Blockbuster and I am planning to buy the DVD because this is one of those movies that I don't mind watching again and again. It is based on Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of TeaERROR MSG and although I have never read the book, which I also plan to buy, I heard the movie does not capture the sense of "Chineseness" that the novel contains. Despite the complaint, I felt the movie wasn't about being Chinese. Rather, it is about culture bridging and the movie does so effortlessly in the character and relationship between Ben and Mei Oi. You can also see this in the way in which Ben tries to work within the traditional Chinese ways even though he is a thoroughly Americanized Chinese man.
The movie came out in 1989 and deals a little with a part of history that is rarely taught in elementary and high school social studies and history classes in North America. In fact, watching it made me think of the Chinese-Canadian war effort as well because Ben was one of those of Chinese descent who enlisted in the U.S Army during World War Two. Besides, Chinese-Canadians and Chinese-Americans have similar experiences and a similar history in North America anyway. To get back to my discussion, I really do appreciate what they did for us because if it had not been for them, we would not be able to enjoy the rights we have today. Because of them, the Chinese are able to be citizens of Canada. Because of them, we enjoy the same rights as any other citizen in this country. Because of them, we are able to have a sound education and go into any profession we choose. Because of them, we are able to enjoy all the little things that we get to enjoy now that were denied to them when they were growing up. Because of them, we can live anywhere we choose to in this country just like anyone else. I can well imagine what it must have been like to be denied all of these things that we take for granted now and I thank them for serving so valiantly for our country.
ERROR MSGAmongst other things. Well, I cannot deny that Russell Wong is hot and he was very much so in Eat a Bowl of Tea! Yeah. He is 42 years old now and he's married to the Hong Kong fashion designer, Flora Cheong-leen. Well, he is old, but he's still very handsome and I have to admit that it was very nice watching him in this movie. I mean, look at the guy! Haha. ^o^! He was 25 or 26 years old in Eat a Bowl of Tea so that would make him just 2 or 3 years older than I am when the movie came out. He was even hotter as a 25 or 26 year old and throughout the movie, he was just so...Wow! What makes it even better is that he plays a very good man in this film and watching him on-screen made me melt into a big pile of goo and rendered me speechless. ^______^!
Okay. Enough gushing about Russell Wong. =P! One thing that I found out recently but never knew was that he is the brother of Michael Wong, the actor. I have actually seen Michael Wong in various HK films and TV series, but I would've never fathomed that he is actually Russell Wong's brother. In case you guys are wondering who Michael Wong is, he's the half-Chinese, half-Caucasian guy who speaks Cantonese with a strong Caucasian accent. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, look at this site and maybe you'll recognize the actor. I was pretty surprised when I learned that he and Russell Wong are brothers. Anyway, Michael Wong is still quite active in the Hong Kong entertainment industry and lives and works there. He is now married to a Hong Kong model, Janet Ma, and has three children with her. It is funny and ironic how Michael had more success in the Hong Kong entertainment industry while Russell did not even though Russell looks more Chinese than he does. The two brothers actually went to Hong Kong to try to break into the entertainment industry there in the early 1980s. Michael was successful in doing that while Russell wasn't so the latter left Hong Kong after making a few films there and returned to America to begin his acting career while Michael stayed on in Hong Kong where he still resides in. In any case, I still think Russell is hotter. Haha. ^o^!
Okay. I'll stop gushing like a 15 year old now. =D! I did not intend for this entry to end in a gushfest. =)
One thing I don't understand is why Mei Oi would cheat on Ben with such a worthless gambler who also happens to be a jerk (Ew. Tsang Chi Wai. If you're into the HK entertainment industry, then you know what I'm talking about). The guy is a bum and he is short, fat and ugly. Here you have a husband who is tall, handsome and who also happens to be a very wonderful person. He treats her very well and the reason why he isn't home as often is because he is sucked into working extremely long and hard hours at the restaurant. It's not like he wants to, but more like he has to. The social environment is not as tolerant as it is today and it's not like Ben can easily find a job outside Chinatown despite the fact that he is Chinese-American. Plus, he wants to save money to go back to school and perhaps get a better job, but he can't because his father doesn't want him to and prefers that he stay in Chinatown, work at Grand China and be a big shot. I mean, the guy needs to work at this job to support her and the least she could do is be more understanding and support him with all these pressures from the community and from his father. And it's not like he doesn't want her and isn't attracted to her because he is attracted to her and is very much in love with her only that he can't do anything about it because all the stress made him impotent. Yeesh. And what does she do when he's away slaving away so he can support himself and her? Yep. She cheats on him by taking on a lover and Ben is so good to her! I would melt like a giant marshmallow if I was her! I mean, if I was in her position and I had a husband like that, I'd do my best to support and help him and not give him a hard time when he is having a hard time already because he cannot help the way things are, especially when he is impotent because of stress! I mean, come on, with a husband who is tall, handsome and wonderful like that? What more can you ask for, girl? You better hang onto him, man! Yeesh! With a husband who is hot like Russell Wong. Geez! =)
I spent the whole day sleeping in my room. I didn't get up until 6:00 pm today and it's something that I have never done before. I was so exhausted from the minimal amount of sleep I was getting. I guess it goes to show you how much sleep I have lost this past week. Apart from getting less than 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night this week, I pulled an all-nighter on Wednesday night so I can get my CLASS 102 paper done and handed in the following day. Writing that paper required reading the entire Iliadfive star hotel in Cannes, which consisted of 24 books (chapters), the first 2 books of the Aeneid and watching the movie Troy. Basically, we had to compare the movie with the original works by Homer and Virgil. I'm just glad that it's over and done with. That's one thing taken off of my list of my extensive list of things to do. I'm just glad that we get a four day Easter weekend because it means more time to work on my other essays.
I am so bad with keeping this blog updated lately. I have been so busy with school and volunteering lately that I just did not have the time to write in here. There were times when I didn't feel like blogging even though I wanted to write something in here because I felt it was worthwhile to do so and there were other times when I wanted to blog, but just could not find the time to do it. The problem with me is that there are many things that I want to write about in here, but I never do because I don't know whether I will be judged negatively for my views or not. There are some things that I would rather put in my own private journal, but I left that at home so even when I did feel like pouring out my thoughts in there, I just kept them inside because I have no other means of expressing them.
Can you believe that we are quickly approaching the end of March? Soon it will be April and before I know it, I will be done and back home working on the rest of my grad school applications and anticipating word from the U of A, UBC and McGill. I have already submitted my applications to the U of A and UBC while I am still putting together a cover letter and resume for McGill. I have already submitted my transcripts and gotten my professors to write me reference letters to the universities that I am applying to. I am applying to U of A and McGill for September entry because the library schools there only accept students for entry into the fall term. For UBC, SJSU and Western, I will be applying for January entry because those schools have multiple terms of entry. My first choice is UBC because I really want to stay home for grad school, but if it happens that they won't accept me for grad school and another school accepts me, I will be just as happy going to that school. So far I have been put on the waiting list for entry to the School of Library and Information Studies at the U of A and I am still awaiting word from UBC because their deadline for January entry is May 1. The reason why the U of A put me on their waiting list is because it is very competitive to get into their library school. They receive about 200 applications each year, but they only have 40 seats in their school. They fill in 2/3 of those seats during the first round (those who submitted their applications before February 1) and take the remaining third of the applicants during the second round of admissions (those who were put on the waiting list in the first round and those who submitted their applications after February 1 and before April 15). I hope I'll get into at least one library school regardless of the location. I'll be happy as long as I get to study something that I plan to make into my lifelong career. Of course, it would be wonderful if I can get into UBC's library school, which is just as competitive as the library school at the U of A. They also receive about 200 applications each year and take 38 students out of those 200. You think that it would be easy to get into library school, but it isn't. The field is strangely and surprisingly popular. In any case, I will be applying to other schools to increase my chances of getting accepted into one. I'm going to postpone working on my SJSU and Western Ontario applications to the summer because their deadlines for January entry are much later than the rest.
| Disorder | Rating |
| Paranoid: | Low |
| Schizoid: | Low |
| Schizotypal: | Low |
| Antisocial: | Low |
| Borderline: | Low |
| Histrionic: | Low |
| Narcissistic: | Low |
| Avoidant: | Low |
| Dependent: | Low |
| Obsessive-Compulsive: | Low |
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! -- | |