When my parents decided to immigrate from Hong Kong to Canada, there was a system-level consequence: their future child was going to grow up speaking English, soaking up North American culture, and living a Canadian lifestyle.

Saturday morning cartoons were part of this culture and lifestyle, but my parents had other ideas. Instead of letting me soak in animated brainrot, they shuffled me off to Chinese school every Saturday morning to learn traditional Chinese characters and how to speak Cantonese Chinese. If you attended, you’d quickly realize it was futile: you learned a language that you had no actual real-world need to learn—that is, until this class again next Saturday. 

I was already learning piano, so I didn’t mind so much that I learned more stuff I didn’t need, but I resented that I needed to give up cartoons to do that. I woke up at 6:45am every Saturday morning in order to get whatever cartoons I could in, but I had to leave home before the good ones started. I aced my elementary school classes, but I didn’t retain much of Chinese school at all.

Fast forward nearly three decades later. After I’d lived in Hong Kong for over a year, I picked up the Chinese Character Writing Practice Pad by Xin Liang and Martha Lam. I tried it one night while I lived in New York City, then I fell out of the habit. 

A couple of weeks ago, now in Toronto, I picked it up again, and I have been learning a new Chinese character and mandarin Chinese pronunciation first thing every morning. My childhood Chinese school foundation gave me something of a foundation, but I really feel like my heart’s in it this time.