Japan, 我慢 and Heartless Trolls
Earlier today, I was watching some footage of the tsunami as it hit the Japanese coast. Unknowingly, The Little Empress sidled up to me and watched from my elbow as the water rose and began to sweep cars away.
“Lotta water,” said TLE, her eyes wide as she pointed to the screen.
“Yes, that is a lot of water,” I told TLE.
She watched a bit longer as water began to overtake the buildings. “Mommy, they need help!” she said urgently, pulling at my elbow. “Need help!”
I probably should have shooed her away from the screen at that point as she began to get more distressed. And then, she asked the question I’d been dreading. “Why mommy? Lotta water. Why?”
I could have told her about how, when tectonic plates shift undersea, they displace a lot of water which, due to the displacement, creates a super wave called a tsunami.
Somehow, the scientific explanation just fell flat.
“I don’t know,” I had to answer as she frowned.
“They need help,” TLE repeated.
* *
The Japan disaster is never far from my mind and since I’m always in the Internet, up to date information is always easy to find, too. A friend in Japan reports that the Western media is sensationalizing the situation; I’m not surprised. Yes, it is a crisis situation but so far, people are keeping relatively cool heads, considering what they’ve just been through.
Disasters often show a person’s true character. I would like to think that, in a disaster situation, the character that is revealed would be one of hope and helpfulness.
My minor in college was Asian-American studies and one of the courses I took for minor was called Japanese-American Psychology. During that course, I learned about the incredible attitude the Japanese people have called 我慢 (gaman) which loosely translated, means “to endure” or “to persevere”. This 我慢 attitude is what helped the Japanese-American community survive internment and helped rebuild the war torn Japan after World War II. I have no doubt that the Japanese people will show their 我慢 spirit again through this crisis.
Something that made me cry was reading this translated message from a Chinese immigrant who was stuck in a building in Sendai. Chinese face discrimination in Japan, much in the same way that many Chinese have not yet forgiven Japan for the atrocities of World War II. (Racism — it is alive and well and not just in America. Sad.)
And yet, as the translated message shows, during this time of crisis, this Chinese immigrant was shown kindness, compassion by fellow survivors: given milk powder by a mother with a baby; helped to find water when feeling faint; being allowed to call home first amongst the 80 people trapped because she was Chinese.
Honestly, I can’t help but think that, in the same situation, absolute pandemonium and outright looting would be taking place if a similar situation would happen in California. I’d love for someone to tell me I’m wrong and make me believe them.
But from what I’ve seen on the Internet, some people’s true character is nothing short of disgusting. There have been quite a few people coming out saying that Japan somehow deserved this disaster,saying that it is somehow karmic payback for Pearl Harbor.
Reading those Facebook messages quite frankly made me physically ill. I damn near chucked something at the monitor when I read that.
What disturbs me even more are so-called “Christians” who are praising God for raining these disasters upon Japan. As one of the only practicing Christians in my group of friends, I am constantly defending Christianity and trying, desperately, to show people that Christianity is not a religion of hate or exclusivity. And then morons like this come up, praising and thanking God for teaching people a “lesson.”
The only lesson to be learned from these attitudes are decidedly not Christian. I can only hope that the people who are spreading such foul, disgusting attitudes are doing so to be shocking and not truly believe that this is a punishment to the Japanese people for not being a Christian nation.
Read MoreCan’t Rush Me
TLE, the cheeky Empress
The Little Empress recently added two new, long awaited words to her vocabulary:
“Mommy! Daddy!”
Before last weekend, she would say “Mom” and “Dad.” Less often, she’d say “Mama” and “Dada”
I like the certain ring the words “Mommy” and “Daddy” have to them. I like this change.
* *
One of the more heartbreaking things about her speech delay is that we’re still waiting to hear her say, “I love you.”
We know she loves us. But sometimes, you just really… really… want to hear it.
But I can be patient for just a little while longer. If The Little Empress has taught me anything, it is that she does everything on her own terms, when she’s ready. I know I’ll hear it, eventually. And when I do, I know that she’ll mean it and it will make hearing it that much sweeter.
Can't rush her -- perfection takes time.
Daddy’s proudest moment (so far)
Today, we went out to get something to eat. As it was close to her naptime anyway, The Little Empress fell asleep in her carseat.
When we stopped the car, The Hubs ™ went around to wake her up and unbuckle her. She yawned, looked happily at her Daddy and said, “Hi! I want pho!”
Daddy was absolutely overjoyed. His little girl is now asking for pho! (And pronounces it better than Mommy 
)
Our love language
Every couple has their own “love language”. Some couples get each other gifts — flowers and jewelry for her, and (… uh, what DO women buy men?…) for him — to show their affection. Other couples leave sweet little notes or text messages to let their partner know they’re thinking about them.
The Hubs ™ and I have our own love language, spoken thusly. Over IM. Because it’s easier that way.
- The Hubs ™: So…
- Me: ??
- The Hubs ™: Want me to suffer through FFXIV for you?
Final Fantasy XIV Online logo
This, folks, is what passes for romance in our household. The Hubs ™ being ever willing to slog through (yet another) MMO that he knows I am interested even though he has no interest in it whatsoever. Our love language is him rolling up characters and slogging through what we not-so-affectionately term as “level stupid” where you’re a newbie in the game, with no skills, armor or money, trying to find the best way to level and build up our characters, all during the release week server crunch.
All this so he can help power level my character so I don’t have to slog through level stupid for nearly as long as he had to <3
I love our crazy gamer geek love. I really do.
Read MoreObligatory Epic Poop Post
What evil lurks beyond this grin?
- Michelle: OOOOOOOOOOMFG.
- Michelle: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DAUGHTER JUST DID
- Michelle: She came up to me and was like, “Baby euw. Baby euw.”
- Michelle: She had a full diaper. So I was like, “Okay, I’ll change it in a second.”
- Michelle: She keeps tapping my shoulder. “Baby euw. Baby euw.”
- Michelle: Then she PUTS HER FULL DIAPER ON MY ARM.
- Michelle: SHE DONE TOOK IT OFF. POOP AND ALL.
- The Hubs ™: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*SOB*AHAHAHAHA
- Michelle: I realized that she was telling me — “BIG BIG EUW! BIG BIG EUW!”
- The Hubs ™: If I could praise her from here, I would.
- Michelle: YOU SUCK.
- The Hubs ™: <3
ADDENDA: Poop was (thankGOD) contained within said diaper. But still. OMFG EUW.
Read MoreWhy yes, we are geeks…
Since The Hubster is at work most of the day, we do a lot of our communicating through IM and we end up sharing a lot of links. Of course, this is standard for most folks so that’s not what makes us geeks.
No, conversations like the following makes us geeks:
The Hubster ™: http://kotaku.com/5585676/double+decker-tvs-perfect-for-his-and-her-gaming
Me: DUDE THAT IS GEEK LOVE.
Me: I want that in the family room.
The Hubster ™: Same
The Hubster ™: Lets plan for it
Me: AWESOME.
Me: But we’ll need dual towers in the family room and some kind of comfortable set up so we can both play Star Wars The Old Republic MMO together.
Me: (… damn, we are geeks, holy crap.)
As well as…
The Hubster ™: Also
The Hubster ™: http://kotaku.com/5585447/this-chun+li-has-tiny-thighs
Me: That is the cutest not-TLE Chun Li EVER.
The Hubster ™: Yup
Me: TLE should be old enough for cosplay next year.
Me: What characters can we dress TLE as :/
Me: I was hoping for (Card Captor) Sakura but she’s no CCSakura.Sakura Kinomoto (from Card Captor Sakura)
Me: Well, maybe (Street Fighter series) Sakura
Sakura Kasugano (from Street Fighter Alpha 2)
The Hubster ™: And yeah, she’s definitely more that Sakura.
Read More
Copyright
Text and photographs copyrighted by Michelle N unless otherwise noted.