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November 2009 
What makes your family unique?
Posted on Oct 17th, 2008
by 
Mitsu
Mitsu
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for October 17, 2008:
My father comes from Japan. My mother comes from Ireland. If that right there doesn't make my family unique, i don't know what will.
We are a biracial, bicultural familiy, and at times the two cultures didn't mix. I say "didn't" because my parents are now divorced. So, I guess obivously the two didn't mix for the most part! Hehe.
My parents were members of the Unification Church, headed by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and so were matched in a huge room of brides & grooms and hardly knew each other when they got married. This presented some interesting factors to add to a family. My mom has had to be my dad's interpretor for most of our childhood. My father's poor English skills and short temper, was like living with a foreign exchange student with anger issues. When I saw my friends complaining that their parents didn't understand them, or when they talked back to their parents, i looked on in disbelief. Doesn't understand you? My dad LITERALLY doesn't understand me or my siblings! It would take me 10 minutes to explain just what "hanging out" meant, and by the time i got through explaining and describing that, "I was hanging out at a friend's house", the sun was would be setting and I would tired and irritable.
My family would visit our relatives maybe once every 3 years, which made us appreciate them even more the few times we did get to see them. It also ruled out the playground myth that Santa Claus was really just your grandparents. Even at 6 years old, i doubted very much that nana would swim the Atlantic, or that obaachan would paddle the Pacific just to deliever us presents.
It's funny now to look at my family. If you came over any given day, you might find us running bellowing and laughing like a somewhat tradiitional Irish family; or, you might feel like you are in a Japanese home, because of the reservedness and quiet.
One family value I always knew my family possessed, was unique, if not weird. :-)
We are a biracial, bicultural familiy, and at times the two cultures didn't mix. I say "didn't" because my parents are now divorced. So, I guess obivously the two didn't mix for the most part! Hehe.
My parents were members of the Unification Church, headed by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and so were matched in a huge room of brides & grooms and hardly knew each other when they got married. This presented some interesting factors to add to a family. My mom has had to be my dad's interpretor for most of our childhood. My father's poor English skills and short temper, was like living with a foreign exchange student with anger issues. When I saw my friends complaining that their parents didn't understand them, or when they talked back to their parents, i looked on in disbelief. Doesn't understand you? My dad LITERALLY doesn't understand me or my siblings! It would take me 10 minutes to explain just what "hanging out" meant, and by the time i got through explaining and describing that, "I was hanging out at a friend's house", the sun was would be setting and I would tired and irritable.
My family would visit our relatives maybe once every 3 years, which made us appreciate them even more the few times we did get to see them. It also ruled out the playground myth that Santa Claus was really just your grandparents. Even at 6 years old, i doubted very much that nana would swim the Atlantic, or that obaachan would paddle the Pacific just to deliever us presents.
It's funny now to look at my family. If you came over any given day, you might find us running bellowing and laughing like a somewhat tradiitional Irish family; or, you might feel like you are in a Japanese home, because of the reservedness and quiet.
One family value I always knew my family possessed, was unique, if not weird. :-)
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What an utterly extraordinary upbringing you must have had, Mitsu…..I take it you were brought up in Ireland…your father must have been bemused at the blarney….and sounds like you experienced considerable frustration with yr father.
Thanx for this, Mitsu…I find the situation rather haunting.
Warmly, Jon x
What a story. It's crazy to think of becoming engaged like that. In a big room with a throw of the dice.
You could write a fantastic autobiographical piece and I imagine it would be very unique and engaging, just like this post here.
Thank you for sharing.