So tonight my 4 year old asks Daddy, why are you a mei gou ren?
I don’t know, that is just were I happened to be born, why do you ask?
Well, the kids at school said “Wa da ba ba tai wan ren, wa da ma ma tai wan ren”
I have to say it caught me quite off gaurd. My wife and I tried to reassure him that it is allright, that we love each other in spite of our differences, and that we love him too.
But I wonder if we should mention this to his teacher?
It could only of come from some redneck parent, kids aren’t born with this are they?
It made me think back to when I was in school in the 70’s, we were about to have our first black kid move into our school district, and about a week before he started school, some teachers and counselors talked to all of us kids about it. I don’t know if it helped or not, but all of the kids loved Chris anyway.
Unfortuately, about 6 months later some asshole grown-ups lit a cross on fire in his yard and started theatening his parents.
Glad there is no KKK here.
Has anyone had this happen? How to best deal with it?
Same thing here, like MJB pointed out, kids will always be kids. Just make sure you tell your boy often enough that there isn’t anything wrong with being a mei gouo ren’s son.
I have a 9 year old boy and his first days at school were like this, poiting fingures at him and saying “mei gouo ren”. Although mind you, it didn’t happen all day long with all the kids in school, every single day.
Only a few kids, and a few times. Now he is use to it and it doesn’t bother him much.
Your son should be fine.
Our boy just started the 6th grade. He’s been going to this same school, which is a Chinese school, since the 1st grade. He was born in Tainan, speaks Mando - also pretty good engrish - but is a “waiguo” in the eyes of his classmates.
is year the taunting has increased and it is getting to him. About everyday he has a new story to tell me of the names, now getting into vulgar terms, and actions of his schoolmates. The same ones who have been his buddies since the 1st grade.
I’ve had one “conference” with his teacher & Principal about this already this year. His teacher does SFA about it. His Principal assures me that the teacher is doing things ‘according to our methods.’ I am not convinced these 'methods" actually exist.
It gets depressing to see this happening.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Our boy just started the 6th grade. He’s been going to this same school, which is a Chinese school, since the 1st grade. He was born in Tainan, speaks Mando - also pretty good engrish - but is a “waiguo” in the eyes of his classmates.
is year the taunting has increased and it is getting to him. About everyday he has a new story to tell me of the names, now getting into vulgar terms, and actions of his schoolmates. The same ones who have been his buddies since the 1st grade.
I’ve had one “conference” with his teacher & Principal about this already this year. His teacher does SFA about it. His Principal assures me that the teacher is doing things ‘according to our methods.’ I am not convinced these 'methods" actually exist.
It gets depressing to see this happening.[/quote]
I took my son out his school in Hsichih after only 3 months. He simply didn’t need the grief and I didn’t want to go to prison for murdering the teacher and principal. I got software and taught him at home. He’s now one of the top students in a private international school in the Netherlands. He speaks Dutch, English, Mandarin, Taiwanese and German.
[quote=“Doctor Evil”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]Our boy just started the 6th grade. He’s been going to this same school, which is a Chinese school, since the 1st grade. He was born in Tainan, speaks Mando - also pretty good engrish - but is a “waiguo” in the eyes of his classmates.
is year the taunting has increased and it is getting to him. About everyday he has a new story to tell me of the names, now getting into vulgar terms, and actions of his schoolmates. The same ones who have been his buddies since the 1st grade.
I’ve had one “conference” with his teacher & Principal about this already this year. His teacher does SFA about it. His Principal assures me that the teacher is doing things ‘according to our methods.’ I am not convinced these 'methods" actually exist.
It gets depressing to see this happening.[/quote]
I took my son out his school in Hsichih (Xizhi) after only 3 months. He simply didn’t need the grief and I didn’t want to go to prison for murdering the teacher and principal. I got software and taught him at home. He’s now one of the top students in a private international school in the Netherlands. He speaks Dutch, English, Mandarin, Taiwanese and German.
[quote]He’s now one of the top students in a private international school in the Netherlands. He speaks Dutch, English, Mandarin, Taiwanese and German.
It made me think back to when I was in school in the 70’s, we were about to have our first black kid move into our school district, and about a week before he started school, some teachers and counselors talked to all of us kids about it. I don’t know if it helped or not, but all of the kids loved Chris anyway.[/quote]
Loved him so much that he grew up to become a comedian with a show about those school years called “Everybody Hates Chris”
He was the top child model in Taiwan in the 1990s. He averaged close to $20,000NT a day. His main selling point (other than being handsome and able to speak Mandarin) was that he would kiss girls without being begged. Not shy at all.
Once I had an American model in the studio…Sean (he was about 5) walked thru and I introduced them…he looked at her, shrugged and muttered “More nudes” as he went out to play…
BTW…my 3 year old swears she is Taiwanese and refuses to speak English.
This thread reminds me of when my kindy kids “wake up” to the world, around Zhong Ban level, and realize that I’m not Chinese. The epiphany usually goes like this (in Mandarin):
Peggy: Teacher, is your mom from Taiwan?
Me: no.
Phoebe: Is your dad?
Me: No.
Maggie: Are you?
Me: No.
Intense half-circle staring and complete silence.
Zoe: Hey wait a minute. You have blue eyes.
Sam: And why is your hair gold?
Me: It’s not gold it’s brown.
[quote=“bobl”]Well, the kids at school said “Wa da ba ba tai wan ren, wa da ma ma tai wan ren”
Has anyone had this happen? How to best deal with it?[/quote]
How about teaching your child to reply with:
“So that makes you Taiwanese also?”
“Yes”
“So can you speak Taiwanese?”
“ummm,…uhh…”
Would even be more effective if your child could then switch into Taiwanese.
I know many kids here who can’t speak Taiwanese find it embarrassing when the subject is brought up
We havn’t yet reached this problem with our child but I do hope to arm him with being able to speak Taiwanese. Wheather or not it will help I don’t know.
A friend of mine has a 16 year old daughter. At the beginning of the school year the new students start in on this but quickly learn she has a big circle of friends,…and then they back off.
I’m not actually “having” him learn Taiwanese. He’s picking it up naturally from his grandparents.He is afterall half Taiwanese…so why not?
And I wouldn’t call the questions silly if a few people here have already said they pulled their kids out of school because of such questions.
Picking it up naturally from grandparents, given that he’s half Taiwanese, is a good reason. That wasn’t quite what you said, originally! You said he should be “armed” with Taiwanese specifically so he could show his classmates up, and thereby seem less foreign.
Not shy at all.
