Friday, July 15, 2005
A Chinese name
English name:
Terran Wai Chow
Chinese name (Cantonese):
pronounced as Jou (as in the name of the ancient chinese dynasty Zhou) Gok (as in country) Wai (as in first character of Vitasoy, actually means "to link or safeguard")
Japanese nickname:
Te-chan
Birth date & time:
July 9, 2005, 12:11pm (saturday)
Birth weight:
6 lbs, 8 ozs
Birth length:
18.75 inches
Despite the fact that Terran decided to come out twenty days earlier than expected, there weren't many things we hadn't prepared for. Fortunately, my advisor hosted a baby shower the weekend before. We picked up any remaining items from Babies R Us the day after. We had come up with his English name, but not his Chinese name. Chinese names have three characters, first is the family name, second is a generational name that he shares with his male cousins, and his "personal" name last. His generational name we got from family still in Guangdong, China. Since his name was 2/3 decided by my side, we decided to let Junko's dad name his "personal" name. By the time we were at the hospital, we hadn't heard from Junko's father regarding the name. Of course, we learned just hours before our discharge from the hospital requires signing the birth certificate, which require a full name. We woke up Junko's mom at 1am Japan time to ask about the name. She turns around and calls Junko's dad who was in Taiwan (12 midnight)... Once we got the character in Mandarin, we had to figure out the pronounciation in Cantonese for his English spelling. After more head scratching, Junko's mom realizes that it's the same as vitamin in Chinese.... And that's the story of how we got Wai!
Terran Wai Chow
Chinese name (Cantonese):
pronounced as Jou (as in the name of the ancient chinese dynasty Zhou) Gok (as in country) Wai (as in first character of Vitasoy, actually means "to link or safeguard")Japanese nickname:
Te-chan
Birth date & time:
July 9, 2005, 12:11pm (saturday)
Birth weight:
6 lbs, 8 ozs
Birth length:
18.75 inches
Despite the fact that Terran decided to come out twenty days earlier than expected, there weren't many things we hadn't prepared for. Fortunately, my advisor hosted a baby shower the weekend before. We picked up any remaining items from Babies R Us the day after. We had come up with his English name, but not his Chinese name. Chinese names have three characters, first is the family name, second is a generational name that he shares with his male cousins, and his "personal" name last. His generational name we got from family still in Guangdong, China. Since his name was 2/3 decided by my side, we decided to let Junko's dad name his "personal" name. By the time we were at the hospital, we hadn't heard from Junko's father regarding the name. Of course, we learned just hours before our discharge from the hospital requires signing the birth certificate, which require a full name. We woke up Junko's mom at 1am Japan time to ask about the name. She turns around and calls Junko's dad who was in Taiwan (12 midnight)... Once we got the character in Mandarin, we had to figure out the pronounciation in Cantonese for his English spelling. After more head scratching, Junko's mom realizes that it's the same as vitamin in Chinese.... And that's the story of how we got Wai!
