"Principal Fung asked me to say a few words on behalf of the parents of the graduating class.Let me start out by telling you a little about myself. I was born and raised in Chinatown. And when I was growing up, my parents sent me to Chinese school, but I had to go five days a week, not just on Saturdays. It was hard work and there were times when I didn’t understand why I needed to commit so much time to learning Chinese. But over time I came to realize that learning Chinese and becoming bilingual was a gift that my parents gave to me. I see now that it was a gift because I would have to go to my mother for help with my Chinese homework, and over the years that brought us closer. And when my children started going to Chinese school, there would be words that I had never learned or that I had long since forgotten, but we could always go to Popo for help and that brought all of us closer. It’s been a gift whenever I have traveled to Hong Kong and China and met relatives and we have an instant bond because we can speak the same language. It was a gift the first time I went to Japan. I didn’t speak a word of Japanese, but I was not completely at sea because in Japan many street signs and shop windows use Chinese characters in addition to Japanese and I was able to figure out where I was going. It’s been a gift whenever I run into a new Chinese immigrant on the subway or even on the street who needs help finding their way. They approach me because they’re lost and they’re hoping that I will understand them. We live in a city of immigrants and this happens a lot more than you might imagine – but the look of relief, joy even, that comes over their faces when I can respond to them in Chinese is a true gift. Most recently, it was a gift when we went on vacation to Montreal, where French is the main language. I speak very little French, and the people there speak very little English. But the place where I felt most at home was in Montreal’s Chinatown, where I understood the language being spoken on the streets and in the shops and suddenly I didn’t feel so much like a foreigner. You all have worked hard to reach this graduation day, and I know I speak for all the parents when I say how proud we are of all the hard work you have put in and how much you have accomplished. You may not have always felt that coming to Chinese school and learning Chinese was a gift. But I promise you that as you move on and get older, you will realize just how wonderful a gift it is." -- 龍美姿 Katie Langston’s mom, Vivian Toy
