To my dearest niece,
So, you have struck the big two years old, eh? It is weird to me knowing that you have experienced two years of autonomous existence on this planet. I still remember the prologue to your creation. Your father moved from California to South Korea to take a teaching job. Your mother decided a short while after his move that she should leave her place in Paris, France and move to South Korea as well. I will spare you the details, but it was quite a shock receiving a phone call from your other uncle saying that we're going to be uncles. I'll admit, I was in denial because I was thinking "who's going to be a father?" I wasn't ready to accept that a Stults helped reproduce a life, let alone, your dad being that Stults to do it.
I remember thinking that your upbringing would be a tad alternative compared to some of the other kids your age; American dad, French mom, both speaking to you in their own tongues, and to be raised in Seoul, Korea. Quite the international neice I would have.
However, that all changed. Your mother left South Korea due to some differences she had with the surroundings, and the good man that your father is, left shortly after that and moved to Paris to be with your mom.
While you were blossoming, I was quite excited about your arrival. I bragged about you to all my friends and I hadn't even met you yet. However, some relatives decided to take a more conservartive old-school Catholic mentality, and decided to not discuss you since your parents weren't married. I remember reading a certain annual letter that came out around Christmas time that mentioned your father's accomplishments in Korea but nothing about your soon to be role in all of our lives. In January your parents wed in Paris and suddenly everything was all better. I was happy for them either way.
I remember in the first week of March, I had a Thursday and Friday off (this was rare when working at the video store, my days off usually were more spread apart). So I decided to drive up to Sacramento and see your other uncle. It was kind of a last minute decision and I was a little worried since I never drove long distance in the car I had at the time (ah, the Plymouth Valiant, I would have taken you for a ride in that but I got rid of it. I'll show you pictures of it later on when you're older). I left on that Wednesday night and met up with Uncle Brett. The next morning we're watching TV and the phone rings and it's your dad telling us the news we had been waiting for the last nine months: you have entered our lives. Your existence was true.
Now, that you're well on your way creating your own personality, I am curious of what kind of path you will be taking for yourself. Will you prefer French or English? I say go with the French, it just sounds better. And maybe you won't get a certain Stults gene that will make you go to speech therapy for god knows how many years (and even afterwards, people still don't understand you). Maybe being brought up in Paris won't be that bad; you're in the heart of fashion and trends. Aside from that, so much of Western history is at your fingertips.
As your uncle, I am going to provide you with some tips for the future. When you start the whole reading process, take advantage of reading comic books. According to your father, France is accepting on reading comic books, but keep in mind, that doesn't matter; both of your uncles have been reading them since grade school. They get better, seriously. Since you're in France, you should read works by Jean Giraud, who goes by the pseudonym Moebius. Azarch, The Incal, and Le Monde d'Edena are good ones. Let me know what you think when you're done.
Plus, take advantage of cinema while you can. The French pretty much created the concept of appreciating film. Film Noir- coined by the French. The periodical, Cahiers du Cinema wrote many articles like the Film Auteur, which is how we get to appreciate certain filmmakers like Robert Altman or Stanley Kubrick. And you cannot forget French New Wave, so many films today have been inspired by this movement. Films you should watch from this: Breathless, 400 Blows, La Jetee and Last Year at Marienbrad.
Some other tips for you:
The following are words that do not exist in the English language:
Imaginate (One can imagine and one can have an imagination, but one cannot imaginate)
Injurement (no matter how confident you sound saying this word, your peers will know that you mean to say injuries, but they are nice and will not embarrass you)
Dural (basically, that noun you were describing was suppose to be durable)
When taking a class on US government, do not ask a question about whether at some point in American history has the government ever try to change the constitution or ratify any part of it because your government teacher will ask you what part of a constitutional ammendment do you not understand.
Listen to Radiohead, do your best to keep that up. I will be supplying you with mixed CDs to keep your music interests in full peak. In them you will come across some excellent music by Death Cab for Cutie, Neutral Milk Hotel, R.E.M., the Knife, Bjork, and many more. You may scratch your head about these, but I assure you, they will bring bliss to your ears.
You've got more birthdays to come, so more advice will be supplied to you but don't forget what has already been said.
With all my love,
Happy Birthday!
Uncle Peter
So, you have struck the big two years old, eh? It is weird to me knowing that you have experienced two years of autonomous existence on this planet. I still remember the prologue to your creation. Your father moved from California to South Korea to take a teaching job. Your mother decided a short while after his move that she should leave her place in Paris, France and move to South Korea as well. I will spare you the details, but it was quite a shock receiving a phone call from your other uncle saying that we're going to be uncles. I'll admit, I was in denial because I was thinking "who's going to be a father?" I wasn't ready to accept that a Stults helped reproduce a life, let alone, your dad being that Stults to do it.
I remember thinking that your upbringing would be a tad alternative compared to some of the other kids your age; American dad, French mom, both speaking to you in their own tongues, and to be raised in Seoul, Korea. Quite the international neice I would have.
However, that all changed. Your mother left South Korea due to some differences she had with the surroundings, and the good man that your father is, left shortly after that and moved to Paris to be with your mom.
While you were blossoming, I was quite excited about your arrival. I bragged about you to all my friends and I hadn't even met you yet. However, some relatives decided to take a more conservartive old-school Catholic mentality, and decided to not discuss you since your parents weren't married. I remember reading a certain annual letter that came out around Christmas time that mentioned your father's accomplishments in Korea but nothing about your soon to be role in all of our lives. In January your parents wed in Paris and suddenly everything was all better. I was happy for them either way.
I remember in the first week of March, I had a Thursday and Friday off (this was rare when working at the video store, my days off usually were more spread apart). So I decided to drive up to Sacramento and see your other uncle. It was kind of a last minute decision and I was a little worried since I never drove long distance in the car I had at the time (ah, the Plymouth Valiant, I would have taken you for a ride in that but I got rid of it. I'll show you pictures of it later on when you're older). I left on that Wednesday night and met up with Uncle Brett. The next morning we're watching TV and the phone rings and it's your dad telling us the news we had been waiting for the last nine months: you have entered our lives. Your existence was true.
Now, that you're well on your way creating your own personality, I am curious of what kind of path you will be taking for yourself. Will you prefer French or English? I say go with the French, it just sounds better. And maybe you won't get a certain Stults gene that will make you go to speech therapy for god knows how many years (and even afterwards, people still don't understand you). Maybe being brought up in Paris won't be that bad; you're in the heart of fashion and trends. Aside from that, so much of Western history is at your fingertips.
As your uncle, I am going to provide you with some tips for the future. When you start the whole reading process, take advantage of reading comic books. According to your father, France is accepting on reading comic books, but keep in mind, that doesn't matter; both of your uncles have been reading them since grade school. They get better, seriously. Since you're in France, you should read works by Jean Giraud, who goes by the pseudonym Moebius. Azarch, The Incal, and Le Monde d'Edena are good ones. Let me know what you think when you're done.
Plus, take advantage of cinema while you can. The French pretty much created the concept of appreciating film. Film Noir- coined by the French. The periodical, Cahiers du Cinema wrote many articles like the Film Auteur, which is how we get to appreciate certain filmmakers like Robert Altman or Stanley Kubrick. And you cannot forget French New Wave, so many films today have been inspired by this movement. Films you should watch from this: Breathless, 400 Blows, La Jetee and Last Year at Marienbrad.
Some other tips for you:
The following are words that do not exist in the English language:
Imaginate (One can imagine and one can have an imagination, but one cannot imaginate)
Injurement (no matter how confident you sound saying this word, your peers will know that you mean to say injuries, but they are nice and will not embarrass you)
Dural (basically, that noun you were describing was suppose to be durable)
When taking a class on US government, do not ask a question about whether at some point in American history has the government ever try to change the constitution or ratify any part of it because your government teacher will ask you what part of a constitutional ammendment do you not understand.
Listen to Radiohead, do your best to keep that up. I will be supplying you with mixed CDs to keep your music interests in full peak. In them you will come across some excellent music by Death Cab for Cutie, Neutral Milk Hotel, R.E.M., the Knife, Bjork, and many more. You may scratch your head about these, but I assure you, they will bring bliss to your ears.
You've got more birthdays to come, so more advice will be supplied to you but don't forget what has already been said.
With all my love,
Happy Birthday!
Uncle Peter
2 comments:
You're the best - I want an Uncle like you.
Uncle Tim
DITTO, WHAT UNCLE TIM SAID.
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