This is an in-person program. Regi stration is not required.
\nhttps://www.reginalibrary.ca/search/3369339
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"A warm and poignant narra tive about finding one's self amidst the grind of restaurant life\, the cr oss-generational immigrant experience\, and a daughter's attempts to conne ct with parents who have always been just out of reach. When she was three years old\, Rachel Phan met her replacement. Instead of a new sibling\, h er mother and father's time and attention were suddenly devoted entirely t o their new family restaurant. For her parents--whose own families fled Ch ina during Japanese occupation and then survived bombs and starvation duri ng the war in Vietnam--it was a dream come true. For Phan\, it was somethi ng quite different. Overnight\, she became a restaurant kid\, living on th e periphery of her own family and trying her best to stay out of the way. As Phan grew up\, the restaurant was the most stalwart and suffocating mem ber of her family. For decades\, it's been both their crowning achievement and the origin of so much of their pain and suffering: screaming matches complete with smashed dishes\; bodies worn down by long hours and repetiti ve strain\; and tenuous relationships where the family loved one another d eeply without ever really knowing each other. In Restaurant Kid\, Phan see ks to examine the way her life has been shaped by the rigid boxes placed a round her. She had to be a "good daughter\," never asking questions\, alwa ys being grateful. She had to be a "real Canadian\," watching hockey and s peaking English so flawlessly that her tongue has since forgotten how to c ontort around Cantonese tones. As the only Chinese girl at school\, she ha d to alternate between being the sidekick\, geek\, or Asian fetish\, depen ding on whose gaze was on her. Now\, three decades after their restaurant first opened\, Phan's parents are cautiously talking about retirement. As an adult\, Phan's "good daughter" role demands something new of her--and a chance to get to know her parents away from the restaurant. In Restaurant Kid\, Phan deftly combines candour\, wit and insight to craft a vibrant a nd important narrative on the strength and foibles of family\, and how we come to understand ourselves."--Provided by publisher.
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