In Grade 4 I had a very memorable time. My school was full of culture and there was chinese, black, brown, white kids everywhere. The community was just known for it's diversity. In the beginning of the year I looked forward to seeing this girl named Kelly Roncin. I loved this girl. She was this sweet girl whom i walked to school with. I remember i used to carry her home and we even held hands a couple times. That's right baby..grade 4 baby...grade 4. (stretch arms)
Transformers was the hottest toy and I had collected quite a few over the years. I owned Optimus Prime, bumblebee, Starscream, Grimlock and Soundwave. Come on....those are some sick transformers! I even got a hold of my first gadget...the dictaphone. I traded Jazz ( a transformer that was a porsche) for the dictaphone and even recorded my teachers lesson. Of course...I thought the dictaphone could record the whole class. Limitations of this new technology were quickly discovered. The damn thing started to beep after 10 minutes.
That year i even learned how to play 4 square. It's this playground game that you play with a rubber ball.
Grade 4 started out great!
Cut to December. My Dad comes home one day and tells us that he found a new job and we'd have to move to the south end of the city. I was excited at first...then as the days grew closer to moving...i felt scared. I remember crying one day because i had to face for the first time in my life...loss. I was leaving this house...this house where i have had so many great memories...gone. No more playing in the backyard with the sprinkler...no more jumping down the stairs in which took years to perfect...no more climbing the kitchen counter to steal chocolate bars.
My dad talked to me so i felt better. Then i went to my last day of school before my transfer.
I cried so much because i was no longer able to see these friends ever again. I could no longer walk the love of my life home from school, i could no longer sit at my desk in which i kept my lucky pencils in, i could no longer play by the bike racks which i grew so accustomed to. School that day was not fun at all. My parents came to pick me up that day and I remember seeing Kelly in the back window...walking home by herself. My parents didn't stop the car. We drove off into our new life.
If you live in calgary, you know that when you live in the south, it's predominantly white and you just have to live with it cuz the closest school with more than 1 asian in your classroom is downtown. Anyway...after the christmas holiday was the first day of school. Holy shit! This was a shock for me. In grade 4, i would experience my first taste of racism. What the hell does chink mean? Pots don't sound like ching chang chong when i throw them down the steps...what the hell is this guy talking about?! I don't know....but i don't like it. I tried to make friends with these kids but this was not easy for me. The only people that accepted me was the teacher and the principal. They expected that i act like everybody else...but they didn't understand. I just know they meant well. I had to take the school bus like all the other kids and let me tell you right now...being the only asian kid in a school bus isn't good news. Who knew that being asian was going to be this tough. I spoke the same language as them. I was wearing the same clothes as them. I quickly found out that i wasn't the same. I no longer had any friends to play with in the playground. I definitely didn't get to hang out with these hot white girls.( i knew how to distinguish hot girls in grade 4) I was picked on and I was humiliated daily.
As if my year wasn't going downhill enough that year...In march, my mom figured out that i now required to wear glasses. Holy fuck. First...i'm the first asian in the school...now i'm the first asian to wear glasses. Just kill me now i thought. I went through so many lonely recesses and lunch periods and it wasn't till grade 8 that my life started to change.
Whew!! I'm just gonna stop there. I'm actually a happy person now. lol. Grade 4 was a nightmare..that's all i have to say for now. I'll tell you about Grade 8 another day. My life has changed drastically since then and I just wanted to share a part of my life with you. I know that there must be a million stories just like mine from other jooksings as well. I'd love to hear them from you. Post a comment or email me at chris@jooksings.com
Chris
Life editor