e.g: c/Music...

I wanna make a c/ChineseMusic... cuz it's kinda weird to post in c/Music where its mostly English/Western music... I don't wanna feel kinda obnoxious and feel like I'm "invading" a space... (and c/Chinese is for language learning, doesn't feel like I should be going there to spam Youtube links lol)

(I've been finding a bunch of Mandarin songs on Youtube and I feel like sharing... or I guess it could also serve as a sort of "bookmark" for me lol)

Do y'all like these "4K" Photos? 👀

(It's Guangzhou City btw... pretty sure I used to walked around here as a kid before we emigrated)

Context: Yesterday, I went to a movie theater for the first time in my life at age 23 with my parents. This is like a "new thing" for us...

I look back at my childhood and felt a bit sad I didn't do a lot of "Normal Childhood" things... the fun stuff I mean...

They weren't that stereotypical... but like 50% didnt do too many of the "tiger parent" stuff but also didnt really have much fun family moments...

My take away is basically:

1. Language schools don't work... your kids will hate it...

2. Immersion is good... like maybe move to your ancestor's country... (no thanks fam, I don't like this)

3. Only speak your heritage language to your children... And you need to know enough to fully express yourself so you don't revert back to English (or whatever your new country's language is)

Yeah... Cantonese and Mandarin might die with me... I don't even know it enough to be teaching my (future) children... too much emotional trauma from my parents 😭

This was actually taken last month but I procrastinated and forgot to post this till now lmao

Panorama:

Anyone wanna Geoguess the exact coordinates of this? (It's kinda easy mode tbh)

crossposted from: https://piefed.social/c/theasiandiaspora/p/1785433/oc-my-lunar-new-year-in-usa-chinese-american-edition-philadelphia-pa

So this is like a table my parent put right by the door, then they get the fake money stuff and hold it in between the palm of their hands, do some prayer thing, then burn the "fake money", so the ancestors in the heavens can... checks notes ...get money to spend? Idk I'm so confused, as a 1.5 gen I don't even understand my own heritage either.

(Also why is Heaven run under capitalism? lmfao, but hey, at least we can relate to our "ancestors in the heavens", money struggles both in coporeal and non-corporeal forms 😆 (meant as a joke, pls don't bring the seriousness of politics here lol))

Honestly idk if I'd even do this stuff with my future chosen-family... I'm just very leaning towards atheism and, no offense to my ancestors, but this just seems kinda silly to me IMO.

I feel too Americanized already and doing this now makes me feel like I'm a "phoney" (as if I'm a "pretender to Chinese Culture"... like idk my mind doesn't feel very "Chinese" exactly... I haven't participated in the prayer thing ever since like teenage years and I read about atheism)

Also now its new years and I'm not allowed to mention "bad words" like... "death" and like no yelling allowed

Oh yea mom maybe can you do the "no scolding your children" thing 365 days a year? thanks xD

Bonus:

So anyways: Enjoy your Lunar New Years! (enjoy the few days of being immune from getting a scolding xD cuz it's bad luck to scold your children on New Years apparantly)

So this is like a table my parent put right by the door, then they get the fake money stuff and hold it in between the palm of their hands, do some prayer thing, then burn the "fake money", so the ancestors in the heavens can... checks notes ...get money to spend? Idk I'm so confused, as a 1.5 gen I don't even understand my own heritage either.

(Also why is Heaven run under capitalism? lmfao, but hey, at least we can relate to our "ancestors in the heavens", money struggles both in coporeal and non-corporeal forms 😆 (meant as a joke, pls don't bring the seriousness of politics here lol))

Honestly idk if I'd even do this stuff with my future chosen-family... I'm just very leaning towards atheism and, no offense to my ancestors, but this just seems kinda silly to me IMO.

I feel too Americanized already and doing this now makes me feel like I'm a "phoney" (as if I'm a "pretender to Chinese Culture"... like idk my mind doesn't feel very "Chinese" exactly... I haven't participated in the prayer thing ever since like teenage years and I read about atheism)

Also now its new years and I'm not allowed to mention "bad words" like... "death" and like no yelling allowed

Oh yea mom maybe can you do the "no scolding your children" thing 365 days a year? thanks xD

Bonus:

So anyways: Enjoy your Lunar New Years! (enjoy the few days of being immune from getting a scolding xD cuz it's bad luck to scold your children on New Years apparantly)

crossposted from: https://piefed.social/c/ocpoetry/p/1713888/oc-i-want-to-talk-but-you-d-prefer-my-silence-english

「I want to talk, but you'd prefer my silence」

I've always desired this connection
I never wanted to face rejection

Feelin' alone in this land
Always holding my hand
Too afraid for solo exploration
Always obeying your every command

Tell me, mother: was my existence part of your plan?
All this noise, so hard for me to stand
Have you ever tried to stand...
in my shoes; To understand?

So long ago, not sure if I still remember
I can barely remember the motherland

Crossing this intersection
Always dreamed of going on my own direction
This isn't a treasonous defection
I just have a fundamental objection

In the past, you've always shown affection
Everything you did, 'said was for my own protection
Under control by your emotional infection
Am I just another one of your possessions?

I'm afraid the status quo of this silence remain
I'm afraid there is more to lose than there's to gain
I just don't want you to misunderstand
You can pretend I'll still the obedient child holding your hand

Footnote: Yes my mother actually used to hold my hand when I was like around 8 years old all the way toll I was 12... and sometimes even after, its not just a metaphor, it's literal. (But also metaphorical at the same time)

I'm not sure if that was supposed to be her way of expressing "maternal love" or just weirdly obsessive and controlling... 🤔 she said she "just want to make sure I'm safe"... eh... idk... maybe she does care? maybe? I'm not even sure anymore...

「I want to talk, but you'd prefer my silence」

I've always desired this connection
I never wanted to face rejection

Feelin' alone in this land
Always holding my hand
Too afraid for solo exploration
Always obeying your every command

Tell me, mother: was my existence part of your plan?
All this noise, so hard for me to stand
Have you ever tried to stand...
in my shoes; To understand?

So long ago, not sure if I still remember
I can barely remember the motherland

Crossing this intersection
Always dreamed of going on my own direction
This isn't a treasonous defection
I just have a fundamental objection

In the past, you've always shown affection
Everything you did, 'said was for my own protection
Under control by your emotional infection
Am I just another one of your possessions?

I'm afraid the status quo of this silence remain
I'm afraid there is more to lose than there's to gain
I just don't want you to misunderstand
You can pretend I'll still the obedient child holding your hand

Footnote: Yes my mother actually used to hold my hand when I was like around 8 years old all the way toll I was 12... and sometimes even after, its not just a metaphor, it's literal. (But also metaphorical at the same time)

I'm not sure if that was supposed to be her way of expressing "maternal love" or just weirdly obsessive and controlling... 🤔 she said she "just want to make sure I'm safe"... eh... idk... maybe she does care? maybe? I'm not even sure anymore...

[crossposted from: https://piefed.social/c/ocpoetry/p/1608747/oc-the-falling-stars-english]

「The Falling Stars」

A land east of the pacific
Crossing the oceans slow and steady
Land that spans towards the atlantic
Leaving everything behind, not sure if ready

They say this land is for the freed
They say this land is full of liberty
That it doesn't discriminate by ethnicity
That it is a unifying creed

"Back home", is a place I no longer belong
No longer welcomed, "race traitors" like me
Yet here, I can't find the home that I longed...
for; it's vast enough for both you and me

Embarcing the Fifty Stars
My birthplace is somewhere afar
Stuggling as if fighting through wars
I plead for help, I'm on my knee
Yet being told "Get out of my country!"

No place to call home
No refuge for those like me
In between empires of cruelty
Always trying to rule over me

Where do I go?
No place to go
In a sea of thieves
Who will be the hero?

My heart is full of snow
Leaving no place for me to grow
Trying to lay low
As if I'm on death-row

Still remember Guǎngzhōu
Still remember that day's rainbow
From memory long ago
It's a place I can no longer go
They treat me like a criminal

Where do I go?
No place to go
Still remember my NYC Borough
In my youth, enjoying the Snow

"The Falling Stars" was chosen as the title because it was supposed to be about the decline of democracy, but I got a bit too emotional and went off on a tangent about me getting rejected by this country, as evident by the 2024 Presidential Election reflecting on the US's sentinment on immigration and the rising xenophobia.

[crossposted from: https://piefed.social/c/ocpoetry/p/1607674/oc-hou-dai-the-next-generation-multilingual-english-cantonese-mandarin]

粵 mean Cantonese; 国 means Mandarin; But that probably doesn't matter here on an English platform lol (it's for rhyming purposes)

「後代 The Next Generation」

［粵］

今日已黑暗
(Today it's already dark)
夜中的宵禁
(This night's curfew has begun)
界線的犯侵
(The line has been crossed)
正義已倒冧
(Rightiousness has fallen)

［En］

What will remain in the world tomorrow
Will there anything left but sorrows
Is every promise ever made just hollow
Ashes... all reduced to zero

What will be our legacy?
Will the children know of joy and serenity?
Being told that the world is your enemy
Living mercilessly, under this cruelty

［国］
亲爱的
(Dear Love)
［粵］
天日其實仲有冇黎明？
(Will the sun still dawn tomorrow?)

［国］
为什么？
(Why?)
［粵］
講來講去你都唔會明
(You never understand no matter how many times I say it)

［国］
打骂着
(As you yell and hit me)
［粵］
我淨係想得到啲安寧
(I only wish for some peace and quiet)

［国］
忍不得
(Can't withstand it)
［粵］
一日到黑都逼我服從命令
(Day and night, always forcing me to obey your every order)

［En］

There's a faraway land, over the horizon
Unlike this, this land is nothing but barren
This so-called "home", it's already broken
In the darkness, without any direction

They say the moon was impossible
Is hope only for the rich and powerful?
Is it too late build a new world?
Something better, and more beautiful.

［粵］

一代代都心狠
(Every generation has a cruel heart)
傳落去的傷痕
(What gets passed on is just scars)
日與夜的怒憤
(Day and night, in fury)
靈魂已被燒焚
(My soul has been lit on fire)

Note: You are supposed to feel confused when seeing the Chinese Characters, don't worry about it, just read the English parts until the footnotes, then you can go back and re-read with the translation. Like pretend I'm talking to my parents in my native language, and you're just standing right there, confused. Then you get the translation later and the truth of what actually happened gets revealed.

「Harmonious Family 救命¹」

It's an average afternoon
We are a united family
Under the night moon
We live together happily

Another morning
We say "see you again"¹⁴
My heart is raining
Can't disapoint you again

Another day, another day
We've come from faraway
It's been a long way
Not sure if we're still okay

Supposed to be a normal day
Beautiful lands, under the sun rays
I was just a kid, just wanna play
Just by the New York Bay

**“你而家即刻落來！”**²
Yes everything is fine at home
**“我數到三”**³
Please just leave me alone
**“你如果唔落來，後果自負!”**⁴
They say: "You are not alone"
**“一。。。二。。。”**⁵
I know the truth... that I'm on my own
**“三！”**⁶

Mother, I love you
唔好打我啦⁷
I grateful for you
protected me when I needed you the most
放過我啦，原諒我啦⁸
I'm content with this place
nothing can go wrong
點解乜嘢都係我錯？我前世究竟犯過乜錯？⁹
What a beautiful East Coast
呢鬼地方，邊個都信唔過。¹⁰

My room, my realm
Everything is fine here
**“我哋離婚啦，細路自生自滅，我冇眼睇啦！”**¹¹
A lot of chatter is happening downstair
I'm fine, I won't get overwhelmed
**“一個二個都冇鬼用！”**¹²
I'm not lost, I'm calm
I'm in control, I'm in the helm
**“你哋冇咗我，餓死街頭！”**¹³

Another day, another day
Are we still going the right way?
Another day, another day
Are we are still doing okay?

I still remember my mother
I used to be happy with her
A relationship that withers
Don't want this to be over

Oh please, don't tell me
that there are people out there that "care"
This burden is bigger than you can bear
It's not like y'all ever understand
The dark truth that happens in a home
It's so hard to withstand
I don't wanna find another home

I know this is not right
But this isn't the time to fight
Can't let the authorities know
I just wanna maintain status-quo
I don't wanna report it
Don't want us to get separated
I can't just report it
Don't want us to get deported

We are a united family
We live together happily
No matter if it's a tragedy
This is just my reality

² "COME DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW!" ³ "I WILL COUNT TO THREE"
⁴ "IF YOU DON'T, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"
⁵ "1... 2..."
⁶ "3!"
⁷ Mom, please don't hit me
⁸ Please let me go, Please forgive me
⁹ Why is everything "my fault"? What did I do in my past life to deserve this?
¹⁰ This foreign place, I can't trust anyone here
¹¹ "We [parents] are going to get divorced, the kids can die by themselves, I don't care anymore!" [Said by mom] ¹² "Both of you [me and my older brother] are useless!" ¹³ "Without me, you both will starve to death!"

¹ "Help Me" (The incorrect translation of "Harmonious Family" is intentional, it shows the difference between what an outsider sees and what is reality)

¹⁴ (bye = 再見 = literally meaning "see you again")