Our dear daughter told her parents (that's us...) that she wanted to be called by her Chinese name.
Now, I know a lot of this stems from the fact that we are going to be giving her sister a choice as to which name she would like to be called - her Chinese name or her American name - and I've explained to Kenzie why we are doing it (after all, her sister has used the same name for the last 4.5 years). But I think Kenzie is wanting to have that choice, too.
But this isn't something I didn't expect. In fact, I've always told Kenzie if she ever decided to use her Chinese name instead of her American one, then we would do so. Now she's making a choice to do so.
I asked her last night if this was a permanent change or a temporary one. After answering her questions about what permanent and temporary meant, she gave it some serious thought and said, "I want it to be permanent. At least for one week."
Then last night, as we are getting ready for bed, she said, "You can call me YM, you can call me M-M, You can call me M..."
I've been trying to call her by her Chinese name - and when I goof and call her Kenzie, I correct myself. I'm trying to make the switch so she can see if she likes it.
3 comments:
What is Kenzie's Chinese name?
It is becoming cooler for Chinese to use their original name again. We grew up in colonial Hong Kong, and I was not allowed into the classroom in my American run convent school until my poor parents came up with a western name. They were very Chinese and didn't know any. A friend of my father chose one for me. Yan Mei is very nice sounding. I wonder what Jia means (there are a huge number of Chinese words with the same sound. Jia could be "family," "good quality," or something else.
Yan Mei means glamorous/gorgeous Plum Blossom.
Jia means excellent/good. Some Chinese friends of our told us her full name, Qin Jia, meant that they were wishing her good wishes for her life.
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