Free A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo Page A

kids are from three to twenty-four. The youngest one was born in 2000. How strange a child born of that year! He only can say “bye-bye” in English. The oldest one just graduated from the Goldsmith College. He studied Politics and he wants become lawyer.
    “I not understand how mother can raise ten children without a husband,” I say in little voice. “And she doesn’t have any job either!”
    “That’s why I like this family. They just get on with their life without making any fuss. They have a small business making earrings and necklaces from home.”
    “And two groups of children from different mother, they don’t fight at all?”
    “No. They enjoy sharing life together, not like other families. I wish my family was like this.”
    “Do you hate your family?” I ask.
    “Well, I don’t like them. They are sad people. I broke away from them many years ago.”
    You go into silent.
    I can’t imagine what like to break up with my family. Even though my mother very bad temper and make me pain, my life relies on them, and I can’t survive without them.
    “Do you want have family with me?” I ask.
    “Aren’t we a family now?” you say.
    “No, a real family.”
    “What is a real family?”
    ‘“House, husband and wife, then have some children, then cooking dinner together, then travel together…”
    “I thought the Chinese were supposed to be Communists.”
    You seem like making fun. What you mean?
    We look at each other, no more discussion on this.
    You say
salaam malai coom
to the old mother. The mother, she is covered in old green Sari. Her skin is deep brown and lots of wrinkles on her face. She never any education and never speak one word English. She always smiles and very little talking. When her children talks in English loudly in TV room and watching BBC she just sit there, peacefully watching, like she understand they say. Bathroom flush doesn’t work and shower doesn’t work. There is not money to fix house. But it seem fine for them. It seem their life is not messy at all. They use cold-water-shower once a week, and they don’t use toilet paper because they always use water to clean then tip bucket down loo.
    There are drug dealers doing business outside of their windows, and many drunkens pass by with bottles clunkling every night, but the family not get any harm.
    In Chinese, it is the same word “” ( jia) for “home” and “family” and sometimes including “house.” To us, family is same thing as house, and this house is their only home too. “,” a roof on top, then some legs and arms inside. When you write this character down, you can feel those legs and arms move around underneath the roof. Home, is a dwelling house for the family to live.
    But English, it’s different. In
Roget’s Thesaurus
, “Family” related to:
subdivision, greed, genealogy, parental, posterity, community, nobility
.
    It seems like that “family” doesn’t mean a place. Maybe in West people just move round from one house to another house? Always looking for a house, maybe that’s the lifelong job for Westerners.
    I keep telling you I need a home. Your face look gloomy, and seem disappointed that you cannot make me happy.
    “But I am your home,” you say.
    “Yes, but you always move around, and you don’t want live in this house.”
    “You’re right. I’m tired of living in the city.” Then you add, “I can’t see myself getting married either.”
    “But I like city and like to have marriage. So that mean we can’t have a home together,” I confirm.
    “No, I didn’t say that,” you say.
    You look distant to me.
    Love mean home. Or, home mean love?
    The fear of without home. Maybe that why I love you? The simple fear?
    I am building the Great Wall around you and me because I am too scared to lose the home. I been living in that big fear since my childhood.
    You barely ask my childhood. To you it a blind zone. When I look back my childhood I realise how violence of my emotional