A Letter To My Grandparents by Kristie Lim

A Letter To My Grandparents

Dear Gong Gong and Po Po, 9

I will never be able to express myself in Chinese as well as I can in English, but this is the kind of letter I would write if I was able to. I first came up with the idea of calling you weekly when I dropped my Chinese class. I had a homework assignment due the next day that I desperately did not want to do. So to justify dropping the class, I resolved to call you once a week. I didn't really know what to expect when I started and I was even a little scared, especially since my Chinese is barely conversational. But I really cherish each call that we've had so far even with the language barrier. I love hearing about what you do every day, what you're eating, what China was like before you left. I try to imagine a supermarket where there are no soy sauce bottles and you have to bring your own bottle to refill. I'm really expanding my Chinese vocabulary to extents I didn't even know were possible, talking about topics like voting and how to be more environmentally conscious.

Thank you for being patient with me and explaining words I don't know in simpler terms. It takes a lot of creativity to describe judges as the people wearing the wigs. I never knew how funny and talkative you both were. Between the language, generational, and geographical distance between us, it was very possible for us to not have anything to talk about but somehow we're able to pull it together. You lived in California with me only when I was very little, a time that I don't really remember. I wish you could have stayed longer. Talking right now feels like I'm making up for lost time. I still want to get to know you both better, and I promise to keep calling once a week.

Love you very much, Kristie Lim