Connected Family

A few weekends ago, my 14 year-old close relative showed me her blog. Her entries reflect that she's intelectually advanced for her age. And she uses perfect English, mind you. I was surprised by the old-fashioned blog theme that she chose though.

Did I tell her about my blog? Absolutely, not! I'm a coward who hides behind anonymous pages. LOL! LOL! LOL! In fact, I'd rather maintain my anonymity, I didn't even join the group gathering held for Blogger Simah when she was in town a few months back. But somehow, when Kak Elle invited me to join the gathering when she was here recently, I agreed. Though at first I thought it was just Ummi (whom I'd been dying to meet). It turned out that there were others but I went like 'what the heck'. I've set too many rules for myself. The moment I broke one of it off recently, it brought wonders. So, why not break one more?;)

Anyway, back to my teenage relative, her sister and her sell t-shirts online. When people order, they agree to meet somewhere and insist on cash before handing the goods. I asked her how do they know the buyer is not a serial murderer or anything. Well, I learned my lesson the hard way.

Interestingly, after that she opened her 16 year-old sister's blog (in boarding school), her 20 year old brother's blog (studying abroad) and lastly, her 21 year old sister's blog (also studying abroad). Wow! They all used their real names and their parents knew about it as well. Their folks even commented or sent them emails to advise or clarify. That's pretty open, very daring:)

I was also a bit shock with her older sister's entries. I guess we have always knowns them as a family of expressive over-achievers, who excel at school and are all-rounders too. So, reading how she suffered during her lessons, got punished on her assignments, vomitted while studying for exams, etc - well, it kind of threw me off. It is probably because she is at a very difficult age, but she sounded troubled though. At least hers resembles a teenager's blog, from the dark modern design to the disjuntled flow of thoughts and short-form words.

Having said that, the depth and maturity of the eldest sister's entries and thoughts are also something. It's not just her ease with the language, it is also the level of thinking. And she actually sounds content. I don't remember being that mature at 21, or even 31, for that matter. LOL!

Lastly, on their only brother... he seems like a sensitive dude. He has plenty of boys' stuff on his blog, but he's not afraid to share his feelings and values openly. And I know he was conciously brought up to be a man, macho and all.

Wow! I learned more about my 4 young relatives from a week of reading their blogs than I had in a lifetime. Oh, their father has his own blog too. The power of technology:)

p/s: Above is a photo of my favourite internet cafe in Bangkok, I really felt at home there. It's mostly frequented by expats though.