Collection

My Dad is halfway across the world, but sometimes it feels like he is still just 30 miles away. :) He has been calling us regularly, and we are still IMing. On occasion, he still uses me as his secretary, having me "collect" some of his e-mails (he means, "correct"). He sent me this one e-mail to collect/correct to send to his token non-Asian friend (a.k.a. my Godfather). This was by far the most fun e-mail I've had to help him with:

Dear [Cheryl's Godfather who sings and plays "Great Balls of Fire" really well]:

thank you for your ride to airport.

i am safety arrival to Shanghai, everything is doing fine, except, i still can not hold of [female friend of Godfather], i call her many times, her cell phone still power off. i think she is out of contry. if still can not find her, i going to eat That SEE'S CANDY, how's that? haha.......

I was ROFLMAO! I couldn't believe that my dad joked in English and in e-mail AND added the "haha"! That is awesome!

BTW, in my dad's defense, his English really isn't so bad (I mean, seriously, he used to say "correct," not "collect"). I seriously think he doesn't put in the effort. =P I guess it's a tweaked version of learned helplessness.

I love my dad and actually miss him a lot. I can't believe it's been over 15 years since he first started traveling to China. For me, going to China brought back lots of memories of my Dad. On every trip, he would bring back little souvenirs: delicate wooden fans with incense, tiny glass bottles intricately painted like Chinese scroll paintings from the inside, and even those little whistle pipes that make bird noises (that were fun when we were kids but kind of annoying as adults). We saw the same souvenirs all along our trip, but just being there helped me realize why my dad bought those souvenirs for me; he really saw the beauty and craftsmenship in it all (well, aside from the pipe). I still remember him giving me the little painted bottle and telling me how amazing it was that the artist painted it from the inside out. I didn't understand (nor appreciate) it as a 9 y/o...but then I saw it with my own 2 eyes along the Great Wall. Indeed, it is amazing.

BF and I are already plotting on when we can go back and where we should go next. :)