The Taming of the Tomboy

I detested Domestic Science in school! Our cookery teacher was a tigress and I remember I would always try to "fall sick" on days we had cookery classes. So fearful was I of the teacher that I would get even more confused. It was with much humiliation when the teacher often announced at the end of the class that my prepared dish was the most unpresentable and unpalatable!

Sewing was absolutely boring for me. I would prefer to sneak to the library to read story books than to remain in the class to sew my skirt! The class would alternate with half doing sewing while the other half would go to the library, so that twice a week the teacher would have the opportunity to monitor every child's progress in sewing. You can imagine my teacher's horror when she discovered my incomplete skirt when every one else had completed theirs!

Mom, being a Peranakan, was an excellent and fastidious cook. I was also blessed with a sister in law and siblings who are excellent cooks. When my sister asked me to help her fry some coconut, I was impatient with the small fire and decided to turn the stove full blast. To my horror, the coconut turned brown, and finally burnt before I could yell, "Sis, help!" Sister worried how I could survive on my own when I went to Canada for my tertiary education. "Don't worry, Sis, I can just eat bread with jam and peanut butter", I comforted her.

I was fortuntate that during my first year at Grande Prairie, the College introduced me to a lovely family to have room and board. Anne was a great cook, and I learnt to appreciate Western food like fish and chips. Once Ann gave me a cup of yoghurt for dessert, and I asked politely if I could finish my dessert in my bedroom. I flushed the youghurt down the toilet, wondering why Anne gave us something that had turned bad and sour!

After a year, I was going to continue my studies at the University of Alberta. I wanted to thank my landlord and his wife for taking good care of me. I decided to give them a farewell treat by cooking dinner. I prepared 7 dishes, racking my brain in an attempt to remember what Mom had cooked. I started cooking at 9 in the morning and did not complete till 6.00p.m. just in time for the dinner. My legs were aching from having to stand the whole day long! Perhaps the food did not taste too bad, because everyone managed to finish off the food.

When I moved to Edmonton, I was glad to find a landlady who wanted me to babysit
her children in exchange for room and board. After a term, I decided to move to the University Hostel as her home was too far away. During the summer months, I decided to apply for a housekeeper's job. The lady came to my apartment to interview me and was horrified when she discovered I had put whole coffee beans into the coffee pot! "Do you Malaysians make coffee like that", she asked, flabbergasted. I did not realise I had to grind the beans into powder first in the supermarket! "There goes my job! She will not hire me!" I was wrong. She hired me to look after her four children while she went to Sweden for vacation.

The children were very sweet. For the first week, they survived on instant noodles and bread. I knew I had to learn and learn fast as I poured over recipe books in a bid to come up with something new. I did not like the huge wooden chopping board, and was delighed when I found a small round wooden chopping board. The lady was horified when she came back, "What are you doing with my waist-trimming board!" The children were often fighting and I was confused when they referred to their fathers. "Don't you have the same father?", I asked, perplexed. I later found out that the mother had remarried four times and her current boyfriend, Tom, was her fiance. She had gone to Sweden to meet her potential in-laws.

The family had two female labradors, Lyla and Polar. Llya had been taught to smile by the children. She would give her biggest smile after she had done something wrong, and she looked unnatural because dogs are not meant to smile with so much teeth showing! I drove the children to the farm to buy rabbits and hamsters. To my surprise the rabbits and hamsters multiplied very quickly and Polar and Lyla soon gave birth to 7 puppies each! It was fascinating to see the two dogs giving birth to cute little puppies. When the children's mother returned from Sweden, she was shocked to find the house had turned into a mini zoo. Unknown to me, the children had tricked me into allowing them to buy the rabbits and hamsters.!

Although it was only a 3 months summer job, I grew quite close to the family. The mother often asked me to babysit the children on periodical basis whenever she needed help. Perhaps this was an eyeopener for me. The family taught me so many things and gave me so many enriching experiences! Ahem! It was my first step towards becoming a little more feminine and domesticated!

Gan Chau