MESSAGE from the Founder of AMG, Asian Mothers
Group of Las Vegas
A History Lesson
In 1998, my husband and I moved out here to Las Vegas with our 7-months old baby. That would be my third trip to the US.
Despite this big "cloud" of anxiety and uncertainty of my future, lifestyle and all, I keenly looked forward to it. My husband is an American, lived and worked in South East Asia for eight years. Myself a Malaysian Chinese, have lived in Europe, Australia and other Asian countries where our jobs took us.
Having spent my entire life meeting clients from all over the world, including the Americans....my impression of an American is plainly explained as "Approachable...Friendly....Approachable...Casual.... Approachable...Easy Going and Approachable. So should I have any problem making new friends? No a chance!
As Hard As A Coconut Shell
Six months have passed, I still did not make any new friends. I took my baby the Parks, Mall, Classes and all...yes, everyone was friendly, "Hi, how are you" and all..BUT I ended watching other moms exchanging their phone numbers and talking about getting together - but not with me (?) Puzzled. Confused. I became very conscious of myself..perhaps, the way I speak (I have been told by my ex-bosses that I am "too formal"), perhaps other moms feel we would have nothing in common anyway, so why bother (?), or perhaps it is just so much harder to make new friends after leaving singlehood, period. Whatever the reason was, I was determined not be alone - also for the sake of my baby. She was becoming more active with each passing day, And I figured playmates won't be a bad idea at all !
Exhausted from all the avenues of making new friends, I thought perhaps, as much as "I" thought Americans are so "Open" and all, we actually are all the same deep down inside. Afterall, It's human nature to "herd" with our own species. Unless options are restricted to us, it's just a natural match. Thinks about it...if we were caught in a situation whereby we are to pick a partner and choices are limited.. 1) our "species" 2) an "alien" And it so happens, our "species" is a wacko, totally out of this world and the "alien" somewhat weird looking, or perhaps alien to us..but in this case would be a better bet. I suppose most of us choose the "alien" Vorschict! have we just broken the great wall of "Generalisation" and given a chance to a possibly beautiful relationship! Imagine that!
Taking Baby Steps
I felt the wall, and totally understood it. Until I feel, act and carry myself like one of the local, will I ever start making local friends. Meanwhile, I was desperate to make new friends, so I made a flyer and it says "Asian Mothers Group of Las Vegas" and urging all Asian Moms to call in to join this support group. I started distributing these flyers at Int'l MarketPlace, Libraries, Vons and Family to Family Connection"
Three weeks passed, not a single call. I kept going back to refill my flyers, but still no one called! Just when I was giving up, a Taiwanese lady called. Jessica Chen, one of my closest friend now. We met up at McDonalds and I explained my intention.
A day later, a Singaporean lady called. Marianne Yuen, is her name. The following week, the three of us met at my apartment. Oh, I can still visualize it so clearly....the three of us sitting on the floor in my apartment as we planned and drafted away our Goals, Recruitments and Schedule of Events. The following weeks, we were busy distributing more flyers at doctor's offices and stopping every Asian Moms we come accross. (that's how one of our other active member Maylin Barnett was "recruited" too). Time flew by so fast, before we knew it, we had about twenty members from all over Asia - Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysian, Singaporean, American, Canadian nationals.
The Cinderellas Went To The Ball!
Every one had so much fun.. we met twice a week to "cook", playtime, factory visits, picnics, potlucks, crafts, doctor's visits, and more...We planned our events at the end of each month.
It was a ball! As our kids grew, they start attending preschool, then kindergarten & all. Our programs were distracted by school schedule, some of our kids attend full time, some part-time, some morning sessions and some afternoon sessions. So, it's just a lot harder to get moms to attend most of our outings. Plus most moms went back to work too. Well, its was a phase of our lives we needed someone we feel comfortable, to share our days as new moms and giving a chance for our kids to minggle with kids their age, hopefully understand and feel the "energy" of other "alien" kids around. Soon, they'll be off to regular school, naturally they will not be surrounded by too many Asian kids, but hopefully the exposure they had in their young lives, bring an awareness in them of all races and all cultures living in this small world...and understand the importance of Not Judging a Person by their Color, Race, Shape, Size and all...
I wanted to Thank and send my special Wishes to ALL the Moms who were once our members who helped make this group's mission a possible one. I think, we will all agree that we have had a great great time together. So as our kids.
Special thanks to:
Marianne Yuen
Jessica Chen
Maylin Barnett
Ming Ward
Michelle Chir
Ellen Mah
Tracy Li
Amy Tseng
Yukako Jancuk
Sau Ling Greicar
Mariko
Pat Custer
Lissan Chatronmichaud
Anna Fraileys
Thank You Moms for making this Group Possible,
Thank You Friends for making both Marisa and I such happy People,
And Thank You All for being there for each other!
This concludes the episode of Asian Mother's Group of Las Vegas, and despite us not achieving national and world awards (:>), our mission was to provide Support for all Moms alike and providing Support was all we Did.
Congratulations Moms !! You Did A Beautiful Job!
Best Wishes and Luck Be With You Forever!
Mei Loh-Becker
