I have the most interesting conversations sometimes with one of my co-workers. She's one of the ladies I walk with, and to be honest, she's my inspiration. I referred to her before on my blog, as "Small," because she's a tiny Asian woman. I should've referred to her as "Tiny." Her real name is Hung.
I think she's around 10 or 12 years older than me, in the 47-50 range. She's Chinese, and came to America by way of Vietnam. I think she spent most of her life (until she was in her 20s) in Vietnam. She and some of her other family members were stuck for a long time (she's always vague about just how much time) on a boat, waiting to be allowed into the United States. Another time, when we were talking about vacations, she told me about a disastrous cruise she was on once, and how sick she got, so I can only imagine that the time spent on that other ship was pretty horrific. She's a sweet woman, and I really enjoy our walks. She talks about her two sons a lot (both are super-smart; one is at UCLA and the other will be a senior in high school), and they sound like nice, responsible boys. The one at UCLA is a really hard worker, and serious. Her stories about coming here, and her father (he had a pharmacy back home, and as a girl, she used to help him mix up the herbal prescriptions; I think this is really interesting because her son is studying to become a pharmacist) are so inspirational. She didn't have an easy life, but she and her husband work hard, and her boys sound appreciative.
We talk about lots of stuff: the gym, food (I had another Chinese/Vietnamese co-worker once who used to take me to this great tofu restaurant in Koreatown, and I learned a little bit about that kind of food, and cooking. She used to bring me "leftovers" of her mother's dinners, and I thought I died and went to heaven. I don't think Hung likes to cook that much [she's said as much], but one day hopefully I'll score some more homemade Chinese tamales), work, whatever. She's a really kind woman, and she likes to laugh. Ah, now you know why I really like her.
Anyway, yesterday we were talking about music, and I asked her what she liked to listen to.
Do you know, she couldn't think of anything? I was kind of surprised. Finally, after thinking about it for awhile, she mentioned that she was in Vegas while Celine Dion was still doing her shows, and that she likes her voice. She told me that her sister, who lives in Canada (are Canadians constitutionally obligated to like Celine Dion?), was a big fan. We talked a little about Celine Dion. I'm not into that style of music but I listened to a ton of her music when I worked at Rizzoli. We had her earlier albums and of course the current (now 8 or 9 years out of date) stuff. Again: not my thing, but I appreciate her voice.
So now I'm wondering what type of music a middle-aged, Chinese/Vietnamese woman might like. I'm curious about classical Chinese music but don't know anything about where, exactly she's from and suspect that might make a difference. Anyway, I want to surprise her and if I start asking a bunch more questions, she might get suspicious. I'm going to scour my music and go online and see what I can find.
Maybe she'd like Bette Midler, or Cat Stevens and Van Morrison-type stuff... well, I have to start somewhere. Maybe not there, exactly. I will put more thought into this, don't worry. Her younger son listens to rap (she says she can't understand what the rappers are saying, and I don't doubt it). I think this will be fun. I'll let you know if I hit a match with anything, and if anybody has any suggestions, post a comment.
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