For the
past few months, I have been eagerly searching and seeking an erhu teacher. An
erhu is similar to a violin and usually has 2 strings: a D string and an A
string. When I finally found a suitable
teacher and brought it to my parents’ attention, they weren’t very pleased.
I have
taken piano lessons from the age of 4 until last year. I had finally quit
because I played terribly and I lacked enthusiasm. This is a very likely outcome
if you’re constantly told that you sound like crap and should practice. (If
telling someone that they sound like crap is how you’re supposed to motivate
people, then I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life!)
Anyways, a
few months later I was then gifted a beautiful erhu by my kind grandfather. It
was at this point that I realized how terribly out of tune I was with my own
culture. Despite my Chinese background, the two languages I speak fluently and
write and with which I am the most comfortable using are English and French. I
understand both Mandarin and Cantonese, but cannot read or speak a single sentence.
I decided it was time for some change and swore that from then on, I would
watch at one Chinese animation a week to widen my vocabulary, subscribe to
several Youtube channels that taught Chinese, and learn the erhu to become more
“culturally Chinese.”
This is where
the real story starts. My mother had always been keen on immersing me in
Chinese culture. Based on this, you would think that she would have shown a tad
of support in my new interest… wrong! In fact, she reprimanded and scolded me
for being a greedy selfish idiot. To be honest, I can’t blame her. She did spend
(in her words, not mine), over 10 thousand dollars on my piano. That’s a lot of
money. After mentally noting down the money I owe her in the future, I decided
that I would pay for my own lessons.
Now,
getting a job was out of the question. My parents are adamant that I
concentrate on my studies and not get distracted by a job. In short, I was not
to be blinded by money. Well okay, fine. I had to use the money I had carefully
saved in my bank account. With several calculations, I concluded that I had
enough to last me a year. Great.
I easily
contacted the teacher I had found and communicated back and forth with
questions. My mother then told me that she could pay for half of the fee (I
didn’t really care at this point). OH okay, how nice. After asking my mother if
having a lesson the next day was fine (to which she said ok), I started
composing an e-mail to inform the teacher. Halfway through, I asked my mother
is she had any questions to ask and she told me to ask if the teacher gave out
receipts. So I did. In addition to telling the teacher that the next day would
be fine, I asked if she gave out receipts. The next day, I went to my lesson,
had a wonderful time and paid for it with MY OWN money.
Once back
home, I found my mother in a snarky mood and I sat there bewildered as she
accused me of being irresponsible. Apparently she had wanted me to ask if there
were any receipts BEFORE confirming that I could attend the lesson. This is
where my rant starts.
First off, mom, when I asked you the night
before, you gave me the most terrible attitude and stated very UNCLEARLY what
you wanted to ask. I then double check a second time, but your attitude was so
repulsive and you didn’t even bother properly communicating what you wanted.
Secondly, you then told my father a version of
what happened that was totally off reality. You HAD NOT clearly told me that if
no receipt was available I wouldn’t be allowed to attend the lessons. And I was
the one who reminded you of the tax exemptions you could get if you payed. I
informed you because you had offered to pay half and I told you because I didn’t
want you to spend all that money on me. There was absolutely no need for you to
send my father to me with an insulting speech on how you weren’t going to pay
for the lessons anymore and how irresponsible I was. I really have no words to
say. I’d been having a tough time ever since entering high school and my
parents were only adding more stress and pain to my already frustrating life. I
have a terrible social life at school and a terrible familial life at home.
Tough luck.
Well, my
dear readers, that’s it for today. Thanks for the reads.
Love,
A Jaded
Misanthrope
