Viking Mom

I can picture it now—a Norwegian breakfast on a sunlit balcony, feasting on smoked trout and sheep on toasted biscuits all while sipping a cold glass of cava under the blazing Mediterranean sun.

My Norwegian mommy spoiled me so much. For the past couple of months, Ina has been there for me, comforting me when I'm sick or feeling blue. Her room has been open for people who are in need of her big warm hugs and indeed, I was in need of it much more than I expected. Her mom cave has been my home and respite and her fuzzy wooly blankets have been a great source of strength and warmth.

I am glad she's been baja for almost a month now even though she's been suffering terribly from an eye infection. I'm mostly glad the mom cave was open during the World Cup finale.

Before moving to Barcelona, I had zero interest in the World Cup. Later did I realize that I enjoy celebrating sports with my expat family. I thought that the World Cup divides people and makes people more clannish and over nationalistic. In our case, it brought different nationalities closer together.

Despite a tough year, my expat family has been very good to me. There were days when I still felt left out since I was the only Asian in the bunch but many of them have been a symbol of hope for the years to come. So many of them, like Ina, have never even set foot in the far East, have never explored a culture so divinely rich and different from theirs. But I once told Ina that the least they can do is to remain open-minded on things unfamiliar to them and a little less self-righteous. In the first place, the main problem in the West is that a lot of folks remain ignorant about many stuff happening around the globe. I bet many of them haven't even looked eye to eye with poverty or the smoky mountains or dying street children.

I have met a lot of bookish Westerners but being book smart can only go so far to influencing the flow of things. Perhaps it is why I am very thankful for meeting people like my Viking Mom, Ina. Great changes start from individuals like her.

What I love most about her is that, while she gets her sporadic doses of dopamine kicks from partying in Vic or Ibiza or a simple night out with friends or with her cute Venezuelan partner, she never fails to share great wisdom with her Asian daughter. One of my favorites that she shared, or rather, one thing Ina dislikes is when people base their identities on their racial or cultural stereotypes and when they can simply rationalize their behaviors just cos. For my viking mom, ultimately, she wants to believe that the majority are capable enough to reach the level of maturity of being able to hold accountability for their actions, especially the negative ones and of being able to talk openly about hard truths about themselves. She thinks that way, the world will be a little less cruel.