IACA - Indiana Association of Chinese Americans

Flashback

The Dragon Boat Festival/Picnic was held on June the 4 at Eagle Creek Park. There were many Chinese-American families and a complementary number of American-Chinese families. I fall into the latter category. My beautiful daughter, age 2, Daisy was born in Hengyang, Hunan, China, making us an American-Chinese family.

Daisy and I have attended the last two Festivals. Daisy loves the time to be outside, play with her friends and eat. It is always a treat to attend a Chinese event, as there is always lots of good food. It is it important to me to expose Daisy to the foods of her homeland. It is fun for me to learn about the special dishes prepared for each festival, the history behind the foods and how they have come to be. I take every opportunity I can to attend all the events. It is important to me to learn about the Chinese culture and equally important to me to have Daisy learn this so that she grows up learning about where she came from. I want to thank you in advance for helping to teach Daisy.

I work with a man from Vietnam, who lived for several years in a refugee camp before finally making it to the United States. He has not taught his three children anything about his homeland and would just as soon forget about where he came from, feeling that his children are American & should learn American ways. I find it so strange in some ways. Here I am trying to learn about and teach Daisy where she is from and be proud of her 2 countries. I think that most of the families with adopted Chinese children feel that same. Our children are first American, but we want them to know where they came from.

The older girls had such a good time having boat races with cardboard boxes made into boats. I can only imagine what it must be like in China to see real Dragon Boat races. I have seen pictures of the boats during the races. The colors are all so vivid, the competitors so intense. Not quite the same as the pontoon boat rides around Eagle Creek!

We arrived at the end of the ceremony to honor the students for their accomplishments. Daisy ran into the tent with them. I can see her there one day, accepting an award for her hard study. It seems so far away, but I am sure it will occur all too fast. Our little girls will be all grown up. I hope that they choose to stay associated with this wonderful group of people. I know that Daisy will always have a group of friends she can count on as she gets older, friends that can help her when Mom can't understand what is like to be Asian. For now, her mom wants her to learn and absorb as much as she can so she can get the best from both of her cultures.

See you next year at the Festival. Look out for Daisy. By next year she will be a wild little one running around in her dragon race boat!

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