Pieces of You
“People ask me what my greatest strengths are and I say perspective. The best way to get that is to meet people that are polar opposites; you learn the most from them. There are pieces of you that are inherently yours, but everything else is a collection of the things you’ve seen and the people you’ve met.” ~ Eddie Huang in Fresh Off The Boat
I remember hearing about this book a year or so ago on NPR and wanting to read it. A memoir by a Asian foodie. Right up my alley. But I had forgotten about it until it became made into a sitcom and I started hearing about it again on the radio and reading about it. It’s the first sitcom to star an Asian family since Margaret Cho’s All American Girl, which I never watched because it looked pretty dumb. If I had TV now, I’d likely think the same thing about Fresh Off The Boat. Mainstream sitcoms are just not funny, although I have to say I haven't watched one in a long time, so I could be wrong.
I’m enjoying the book a lot. And those few lines made me pause.
It made me nostalgic for long conversations with people I connect with. How they can go on and on because you’re enjoying the talk so much and time isn't really an issue. I used to have those all the time and now I feel like I don't have them at all. Besides when I’m home with Scott, my day to day interactions are a collection of brief interactions with people I don't have time for. I don’t have those people in my life who I truly connect with, who I want to linger words with. Meaningful conversation used to come so easily and I took it for granted, that it existed at all and that they’d last forever.
It also made me nostalgic for people we met during our travels - our Tanzanian and Bhutanese friends (and fellow Westerners we met in those places), the ones that penetrated past the initial barriers and became friends, the ones who welcomed us into their homes and hearts, who ate with us and passed their time with us. Their faces flash by me and I wish, so badly, they could come walking through my front door.
I remember hearing about this book a year or so ago on NPR and wanting to read it. A memoir by a Asian foodie. Right up my alley. But I had forgotten about it until it became made into a sitcom and I started hearing about it again on the radio and reading about it. It’s the first sitcom to star an Asian family since Margaret Cho’s All American Girl, which I never watched because it looked pretty dumb. If I had TV now, I’d likely think the same thing about Fresh Off The Boat. Mainstream sitcoms are just not funny, although I have to say I haven't watched one in a long time, so I could be wrong.
I’m enjoying the book a lot. And those few lines made me pause.
It made me nostalgic for long conversations with people I connect with. How they can go on and on because you’re enjoying the talk so much and time isn't really an issue. I used to have those all the time and now I feel like I don't have them at all. Besides when I’m home with Scott, my day to day interactions are a collection of brief interactions with people I don't have time for. I don’t have those people in my life who I truly connect with, who I want to linger words with. Meaningful conversation used to come so easily and I took it for granted, that it existed at all and that they’d last forever.
It also made me nostalgic for people we met during our travels - our Tanzanian and Bhutanese friends (and fellow Westerners we met in those places), the ones that penetrated past the initial barriers and became friends, the ones who welcomed us into their homes and hearts, who ate with us and passed their time with us. Their faces flash by me and I wish, so badly, they could come walking through my front door.
posted by Siapiau | 10:38 PM
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