Woke up late again because I went to bed late again. I went with my 4th Aunty to the local open stall market to buy ingredients for hot pot. When we finished we go a call from 3rd aunty to go to her house for lunch because she already finished preparing and she made hot pot. I just hung out with relatives for the rest of the day and waited for my brother Mike and his wife Shelley and their son Dustin and his cousin Bao Bao to show up from Kao Shong southern Taiwan. They took the new train and it only takes something like two hours to get to Taipei.
I haven't seen Bao Bao for a few years, he looks all grown up. After dinner at a local restaurant 4th uncle took Dustin to a buy firework so we can light them off by the river. The only time firework is legal is during new years. New Years is really a month away but we really want to set off fireworks. I love the butterfly one. It's one of my favorite. It spins and flutters as it sparks off fire. There nothing like fireworks to turn everyone into tiny little kids again. It was a cousins reunion by the riverbank over fireworks and totally fun.
Afterward everyone left my 4th aunty interrogated me on my lifestyle. She wanted to know why I don't live with my parents and why I don't have a fat savings accounts or capital assets. I was not at all prepared for this. I was in shock at the aggressiveness from her. In Asia it is a custom and no question that children of parents live with their parents even after marriage along with grandchildren. It is like a form of shame if your children don't live with you. But in America if you still live with your parents after college it's frowned upon. Difference in cultural values and lifestyle.
