I close my eyes.
I see my mother cooking chicken curry and rice in the kitchen as she sings to classical, Indian songs. She looks so happy and twirls around in her apron every few minutes while she waits for her dishes to finish warming. I walk into the living room and see my two brothers playing video games. Although they are shooting each other incessantly in the game, their expressions of playful aggression show that they are actually friends, despite the age difference and blood relations. The clock strikes 6:35 and I hear the front door unlocking. My dad walks in with his laptop bag and my brothers and I run to him as fast as we can, latching onto his leg. He smiles real big and gives us each a hug. We all walk into the kitchen where my mom has finished preparing dinner. My brothers and I set the table as my parents finish washing up. Finally, we all reunite at the dinner table, discussing how our days went, what we did, and any issues we have with life in general. We share stories, smile, and laugh. I reflect on how lucky I am to have such a loving family who cares as much about each member as they do for themselves.
After dinner, we all wash the dishes together and clean the table. We head over to the couch to watch a movie together as a family. We spend the first hour of our movie night fighting over which movie to watch. My mother argues for a musical, Indian/Bollywood film, while my brothers fight to watch something more aggressive and of the English language. My dad pretends to be indifferent, while he’s secretly voting for some historic documentary on the life of Gandhi. I shake my head to myself as I see the craziness that is my family. All of us, including my parents, are still children at heart. We finally decide upon watching a Disney movie, Mulan; a definite classic that never gets old. As the songs come on, we all sing along together, having every scene and line memorized, since it has been our chosen movie to watch at least 500 times during our innumerable , weekly movie night sessions. After the movie is over, my parents head to bed, thinking that us kids are doing the same. Instead, my brothers and I all sneak into my room and watch various T.V. shows on YouTube until 3 AM. From “That 70’s Show” to “Wizards of Waverly Place”, we bond over the most random videos. Some nights, instead of watching T.V. shows, we make music videos to the latest songs on the radio. We sing, we laugh, we scream, we dance: this was my life.
I open my eyes. I’m in my own apartment now, about 9,704 miles away from my family in Singapore. I never realized how fast my childhood went by until coming to college. I’m sitting alone in my room with the door closed: I'm homesick more than ever.
I see my mother cooking chicken curry and rice in the kitchen as she sings to classical, Indian songs. She looks so happy and twirls around in her apron every few minutes while she waits for her dishes to finish warming. I walk into the living room and see my two brothers playing video games. Although they are shooting each other incessantly in the game, their expressions of playful aggression show that they are actually friends, despite the age difference and blood relations. The clock strikes 6:35 and I hear the front door unlocking. My dad walks in with his laptop bag and my brothers and I run to him as fast as we can, latching onto his leg. He smiles real big and gives us each a hug. We all walk into the kitchen where my mom has finished preparing dinner. My brothers and I set the table as my parents finish washing up. Finally, we all reunite at the dinner table, discussing how our days went, what we did, and any issues we have with life in general. We share stories, smile, and laugh. I reflect on how lucky I am to have such a loving family who cares as much about each member as they do for themselves.
After dinner, we all wash the dishes together and clean the table. We head over to the couch to watch a movie together as a family. We spend the first hour of our movie night fighting over which movie to watch. My mother argues for a musical, Indian/Bollywood film, while my brothers fight to watch something more aggressive and of the English language. My dad pretends to be indifferent, while he’s secretly voting for some historic documentary on the life of Gandhi. I shake my head to myself as I see the craziness that is my family. All of us, including my parents, are still children at heart. We finally decide upon watching a Disney movie, Mulan; a definite classic that never gets old. As the songs come on, we all sing along together, having every scene and line memorized, since it has been our chosen movie to watch at least 500 times during our innumerable , weekly movie night sessions. After the movie is over, my parents head to bed, thinking that us kids are doing the same. Instead, my brothers and I all sneak into my room and watch various T.V. shows on YouTube until 3 AM. From “That 70’s Show” to “Wizards of Waverly Place”, we bond over the most random videos. Some nights, instead of watching T.V. shows, we make music videos to the latest songs on the radio. We sing, we laugh, we scream, we dance: this was my life.
I open my eyes. I’m in my own apartment now, about 9,704 miles away from my family in Singapore. I never realized how fast my childhood went by until coming to college. I’m sitting alone in my room with the door closed: I'm homesick more than ever.
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| Video chatting with my family in Singapore |
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| Hanging with my brothers in Singapore Summer 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YIELbdiZCc |
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