Friday Five 1-October-2021 #2

[elusivek]

These questions are from thefridayfive

1. Growing up, what sayings/phrases do you remember your mother using? Your father?
From my Mom (Portuguese) O macaco que não sabe dançar diz que o chão está torta. Literally, The monkey that doesn't know how to dance, blames that the ground is not flat. The nearest idiom in English is "A bad workman blames his tools".
From my Dad (German) Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht sind für kleine Kindern nicht. Literally, Knives, forks, scissors and lightbulbs are not for small children.

There are also some phrases now that, although I "claim" English is almost like my first language, but there are some things that I can't say in English, and will still say them in either Portuguese or German LOL. Sometimes, I just can't say "Shit!". I say "Scheisse!" Or "Merda!" Depending on how upset I am. Also, when in a situation where I can't stand it anymore, I don't say "I can't take it anymore!" I revert to Portuguese. "Isto é insuportável!"

2. What book/song/other did your parents use to put you to sleep?
Honestly, I don't remember ever being "put in bed" or being "read stories". There was never a "I'll read you a story to go to sleep" from my parents. It was always, "it's 10pm. Go sleep." I still remember on Saturday nights we would sneak out of bed to watch the Saturday midnight cartoon Anime (at that time it was Saint Seiya, later Yuyu Hakusho, at one point in time Sohryuden)... eventually the urge to sneak out to watch thinned out.... I need my 10 hours of sleep LOL.

3. What did you fight with your siblings over?
It was never about toys or sharing, it was always for the attention from the parents.

4. Do you and your siblings still fight?
Yeah. I'm fed up of the blatant favoritism. I'm not gonna fight anymore. Just gonna show I'm more capable by doing my chores without prompting, pay my dues, do whatever I'm supposed to do in a timely manner.

5. What was the worst fight you had with any family member?
It's always with Mom. She can't see things as they are, she only sees things as she wants to see them.

Comments

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

Sometimes just doing what you can do is the best revenge of all. I gave up competing against my siblings a long time ago. It's made me a happier person.

[supernutjapan.livejournal.com]

Portuguese and German parents. Wow. And you can speak three languages then? That's awesome. My dad had some German heritage. Originally his family was from Holand, but moved to Germany during WW1, then to the Ukraine and on to the USA and then Canada during and after WW2 but they kept speaking German in the home. Low German though. My mom's family is originally from England but she is Canadian.

That's sad about your parents. I'm sorry to hear it.

[notte0.livejournal.com]

My mom is a local Macau person with Portuguese nationality by her Dad. Not much is known about her maternal grandmother (or was that her mother?) somewhere up the ancestors, someone was an orphan.

My Dad is Austrian and came to Macau in a funny story… short recap: he’s a chef, he worked on ships as chef, so he’s been to many places, and he liked Brazil a lot. So when he wanted to find a more permanent job in Brazil, the employment agency said “you need to know Portuguese to make it easier. I have an opening in Portuguese Macau. Why don’t you go there, work, learn Portuguese, then you can go to Brazil!” He came. And 40-something odd years later he’s still in Macau LOL LOL LOL. Yes, I make fun of him about that hahaha.

So, I don’t really have any direct Chinese ancestry, but I grew up here like any other kid and so I speak Cantonese like a native (I’m told if I talk to them on the phone and they don’t know what I look like, they will never guess I’m foreign-looking)

Language-wise, I speak Portuguese because it’s spoken at home, but I never really studied in school, because I went to an English school. My Dad later worked as an expat in China, so i never got the chance to learn German from him. So definitely, I know English and Cantonese Chinese. I don’t speak Mandarin Chinese (maybe a bit. If I try) and I loathe simplified Chinese characters. I can survive in Portuguese, if I must. I’ve mentioned how I learnt Japanese (tv games LOL) and now I try to learn German whenever i can. I had a stint with French, but again with no chance to practice, that’s really lost to me now.