This time they are not mine but my husband's cousins. We went to Vancouver, B.C. to hang out with Matthew's dad's side of the family, specifically his dad's younger sister and youngest brother.
We visited with three of his cousins.
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| On a cruise in 1993, with Sherman, Stacy, and Jason. |
One is Jason or 'Dat-Dat' as I was originally introduced to him way back when I first met him in 1993, who is the only child of Matthew's Aunt Eugenia & Uncle Roy (3-Goo-Jeh and Goo-Jeung). The other two are Stacy and Sherman from Uncle Pat and Aunt Carmen's (5-Sook and 5-Sum) family.
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| Summer 2012 |
We don't get together with them very much (since they do live in a different country) but when we do it's always a lot of fun...filled with laughter and eating. Yes, they love to eat... all the time.
The last time we were in Vancouver was at Jason's wedding to Maki. That was in 2005.
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| Maki, Jason, 3- Goo-Jeh, Enzo & 3-Goo-Jeung |
Now Jason has a little boy of his own, Enzo, who is turning 3 this month. It's hard for Matthew to believe that his little cousin is a Dad. Both Jason and Maki are architects in NY. (Yes, I do believe that the architect bug is in the genes!) It was a wonderful surprise to find out that our Vancouver trip coincided with their trip visiting home!
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| It doesn't seem that long ago when we were playing with He-Man and GI Joe action figures. Enzo would go crazy if he saw his dad's old toy collection! -Matt |
We celebrated with a Ma-bbq...at 3-Goo-Jeh/Jeung's home and they surprised me with a cake. Yes, I did celebrate my birthday there!
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| Uncle Roy (3-Goo-Jeung) grilling away! |
Emily and Hannah with 3-Goo Jeung/Jeh's doberman pincher, Buddy.
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| Hannah with her Auntie Stacy, who just got engaged! Guess we'll be heading back to Vancouver this year! |
Sherman is a realtor so if you're looking for a place in Vancouver let me know. I'll hook you up with him! And he's single! :) Stacy is in interior design. Both spent their free weekend taking us around Vancouver and hung out with us. They made it obvious that they value spending time with family and we so appreciated it!
We stayed at 5-Sook/Sum's home and took over Sherman's old room. 5-Sook is known as the Race Car Uncle. He'll go all over the world to race cars and motorcycles. A really BIG kid at heart!
He also celebrated his 60+ something birthday this month.
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| Matthew at 40-something and his Uncle Pat at 60-something (next door home getting a 'small' remodel) |
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| Uncle Pat here is 43 (pretty much the same age as Mathew is now) with his family in 1993; Yep.. he had kids early so he can enjoy his 'retirement stage of life' |
Next up... Vancouver-Ma-Style
6 comments:
Happy belated birthday!
Happy belated birthday! Why do so many of Matt's family members have numbers attached to their names?
I love this blog. It brings back a lot of good remembrances. Families reunion is always fun. I love the way you compared the ages of Matt and 5 Sook!
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!
Heather..living in Asia we assumed that you would know the meaning behind the 'numbers' of relatives.. but since you don't have any relatives there you probably had no opportunity to come across the 'naming and labeling' of relatives .. so here's my short quick lesson: For the Chinese..When we address our elder relatives (elder means anyone that is older than you even by a day) we don't call them by their given name; instead we call them by their title and position within the family. So.. "3-Goo-Jeh" translates to "father's younger sister who is third in the family" Auntie. "3-Goo-Jeung" is "father's younger sister who is third in the family" auntie's husband.
"5-Sook" is "father's younger brother who is fifth in the family" Uncle; "5-Sum" is the above plus wife. And since his cousins are all younger than Matthew, they technically should call him by his title: "Hai-Tin Biu-Goh" which is his chinese name (Hai-Tin) and older boy cousin. So every elder family member technically has a rank and position. It's very clear on what branch on the family tree you are at but very confusing for an American born younger person to remember all the titles. Plus if you are younger then them you have to call them by their titles BUT if you are the oldest you can just call them by their given name. Crazy confusing huh?
Thanks for sharing-I enjoyed reading this blog and seeing old and new pics of the Ma family. Can't believe Stacy is finally engaged! and that we are going to Vancouver this Nov!
Wow, no, haven't heard anyone here refer to their relatives this way, and you're right, I don't have any Chinese relatives! Except you, my sista! I have heard a lot of explanations of how kids get named aspirational names and based on their birth order (especially if they have a second child and have a boy!). Our Mandarin teacher is a 2nd daughter, her name means something along the lines of "She who will make her own way in life" (because her parents wouldn't be able to much support her). Her parents had an illegal 3rd child and had a son. His name is something like "supreme lion, light of the sun." Her mom had to hide throughout her pregnancy and her parents were penalized by the government and had to pay a lot of money to register him so he could get a birth certificate, residency, and be allowed to attend school.
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