Archive for "Family"
Speaking of Speech Impediments…
Posted on March 2, 2011 by Ching under Confessions, Family, Life.
Remember how my biological father didn’t know that I had a speech impediment just like his when I was growing up? I can’t really blame him since he didn’t really know me well enough to know how much we had in common. He knew of my existence, but I didn’t know of his until I was about 11 or 12 years old. I didn’t actually get to meet him until I was 21, and we only spent a couple of weeks together. Not long enough to really get to know one another. And, I’d already lived in the US about five years when we met. I think moving to the US is what cured me.
Well… My speech impediment isn’t really cured. It’s just less evident. Somehow I don’t have much of a problem when I’m speaking English. It’s only apparent when I’m speaking Tagalog. Honestly, I would have completely forgotten about my speech impediment if things didn’t remind me of this flaw every now and then.
A lot of people don’t know of this flaw until I tell them. Actually, I don’t even think Brian knew until a few years ago when he was trying to learn how to speak Tagalog. He asked me to pronounce one of the words for him because he had trouble saying it. I read it to him, and then read it to him again because he looked confused. It didn’t seem like he was getting it so I had to say it a few times. Finally, he was like “Baby! There are no L’s in this word?!” So I had to explain to him that my R’s sound like L’s or W’s whenever I speak Tagalog.
I told him how I was tormented by all my friends and classmates growing up because of this. They would always make me say words that they knew I wasn’t capable of saying properly just so they could laugh at my expense. Para (which sounds like pawa when I say it) and araw (comes out as either awaw or alaw) were two words that I’d be asked to say frequently.
“Great! I’m learning to speak Tagalog from someone who has a speech impediment,” Brian said, a little frustrated. “I’m going to sound like a retard!”
“Trust me,” I told him. “If anyone makes fun of you when you’re speaking Tagalog, it won’t be because of your R’s. It’ll be because of the way you mispronounce everything else.” LOL.
Anyway, it’s just in Tagalog that I have a problem saying R’s. I don’t have the same issue with English words. I think that’s mostly how I’ve gotten by without people being aware of my speech impediment. That is, of course, until I tell them. When I’m inebriated I tend to overshare.
I found myself in such a situation that night we were at Stacy and Jeff’s for the sushi party a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure how we got into the subject of speech impediments, but I ended up sharing mine. I confessed it almost like I was at an AA meeting, “Hi, I’m Ching and I have a speech impediment.”
Well, not quite but sort of…
And then “Say something! Say something!” inevitably followed. I had flashbacks of my tormented childhood when I’d actually oblige my tormentors and say the words that they’d ask me to say. There was really no point in me saying some Tagalog words because none of them would know whether or not I was pronouncing the words correctly. However, since I’d put myself out there, I felt the need to explain.
The only way I can describe it is that many of the R’s in Tagalog sound a lot like the double R’s in Spanish. I cannot say those at all to save my life. So that’s how I described it to these folks I’d just recently met. They were like, “I can’t say the double R’s in Spanish either.”
So I was like, “Maybe you’d have a speech impediment too, if you had to speak Tagalog.” LOL. Maybe I’m just meant to be American. I do tend to fit in a little better here. Well, not really. Most of the time I don’t think I fit in anywhere. I do feel less out of place. At least, I don’t have a speech impediment in English!
Now, the accent… That’s something else altogether that I may never be able to overcome. LOL.
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Double Date with Mom and Dad
Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ching under Family.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you for letting Brian and I tag along on your special dinner. Thank you also for allowing us to drag you to Suede. Admit it. You had fun. LOL.
Hope we get to do it again sometime soon.
Love,
Ching
Brian being anti-social in the limo.
He smiles!
Mom and dad at Scotch & Sirloin.
Head on over to FOODIES for pictures of the food.
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Only in Kansas
Posted on February 1, 2011 by Ching under Family, Things to Do.
It’s hard to believe that it was 70 degrees just the other day. Only in Kansas.
We made the most of the fantastic weekend weather by spending the afternoon with mom and Logan at All Star Adventures. We did some putt-putt, rode go carts (mom even got to ride; it was her first time), and bumper cars. It was so much fun!
Brian, playing putt-putt in his Vibram FiveFingers.
Logan and Brian.
Logan and mom.
Getting ready to ride the go carts.
So glad they let Logan ride the go cart by himself, even though he didn’t quite meet the height requirement.
The four of us went to Orange Leaf after. We had a great day!
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Great Minds Think Alike
Posted on January 22, 2011 by Ching under Family, Shopping.
My mother-in-law and I ended up buying the exact same peacoat, unintentionally. She got hers first. I didn’t know she had it until the night we met them for dinner at PCP (which is now one of their favorite places to eat). I had gotten mine as a replacement for one that I’d outgrown. Great minds think alike!
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Do We Look Alike?
Posted on January 17, 2011 by Ching under Family, Games, Travel.
It’s my biological father’s birthday today! Happy Birthday!
It’s a little weird because I’m not quite sure what to call him. I’ve only spent time with him twice in my entire life. Once in 1999. He sent me airline tickets to visit him and his family who were living in California at the time. And then New Year’s Eve 2010. They live in Las Vegas now, where they moved back in 2000 when they left California. They live about five minutes from The Strip.
Fredo seems like a cool, fun guy. I actually found out that we have a few things in common like we are both yungit (can’t say words with the letter “r” but I mostly only have this problem when I’m speaking Tagalog or Cebuano not so much in English, fortunately) and we both enjoy playing chess. My half brother Adel likes to play chess also and is pretty good at it.
Adel played against both me and Brian. He lost against me, but won against Brian. He initially wanted a rematch, but I was afraid I would lose the second time around so I had him play against Brian instead. 😉
Naturally, I lost when I played against Fredo. Adel said he is very good at chess, but I wanted to try anyway. We only played once so I’m looking forward to a rematch. I think if I play him a few more times I can take him. LOL.
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