Tony's cousin (also called sister in Wuxi) plays association football with the Chilliwack Dynamite. Tony's aunt Benita (my sister) tells me that Steph is a star player on the team. Stephannie, in the above photo, is the fourth girl from the right in the back row.
In the football these girls play, they do keep score. And don't worry about feelings being hurt if one of teams doesn't get to win.
Chilliwack is about one hour from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I lived there for a few years before moving on.
When I contemplate Tony and sports, I can say that I don't want him to be a star athlete. That is, he can be athletic, but I don't care to see him pursue the dream of being a sports star. I rather he be the special forces soldier type who can read Plato and Aristotle in the original Greek. I do hope he is more athletic than the middle school and high school students I see here in Wuxi.
Tony still calls Steph "cousin", not "sister". He would call your brother's daughter "sister", but still call your sister's daughter "cousin". Tony will call children of his mother's brothers and sisters "cousin" too.
ReplyDeleteI know. Chinese is a sexist language.
It has been my experience in Wuxi that the locals will tell you that their cousins are their brothers or sisters. I always have to confirm if their brother or sister is in fact a sibling or a cousin. I assume that the one child policy is causing them to see their cousins like sibling.
ReplyDeleteAs for, Chinese being a sexist language. This whole idea of sexism in language comes from a political view I find abhorent. Language is language. Trying to tell the Chinese students about this idea of sexism in the English language, they find it a small thing to fuss about.