My dad did and I hang out a lot if we have free time. Sometimes we’ll play video games, go bowling, go to a drving range, watch martial arts movies or just go grab a bite to eat. He is a very interesting person and he acts like kid sometimes. There’s always a good laugh when we hangout. The things I like the most about my dad’s childish personality is he can talk smack which is pretty funny and he can also show me cool movies about martial arts or cool clips on the internet.

In the summer of 2009 my dad came into the living room and asked, “Hey chan, do you want to watch this movie?”

I replied, “Sure.” So my dad changed the input and plopped in the disk into the DVD player. “What movie is it Dad?” I asked curiously.

“Ip Man, the second one,” he said as he sat down. The movie started loudly, during the movie my dad would translate what they were saying since there weren’t any English subtitles. He would also point out the different styles in the movie. “Look at that! See how his stance is wide, it means it’s southern style kung fu.”

“Oh,” I would reply. The movie was very interesting although I had to have my dad translate. I know my fair share of kung fu and my dad would ask me questions.

“What style is that Chandler?” he asked.

“Tai chi,” I’d say happily as I watched the fight scene. The whole movie it was just me and him talking about our views of the movies and various styles in the movie. It’s a day I hope I never forget. My dad always has cool stuff to show or tell.

Sometimes when my family goes out to dinner my dad will usually find a story to tell us, it could be funny, serious, sad, strange and/or corny. One spring night our family went out to eat at Chinatown. It was fairly late and there was almost no one in the restaurant except my family and I and the employees. It was also quiet enough to hear the dishes being washed and the cashier using the register. As we were eating my dad puts down his chopsticks and asks, “Do you want to know how I got to the U.S.?”

“Sure,” my brother and I said.

“Well my oldest sister and I were piled into the cargo hold of a fishing boat with several other people traveling to the states. When we were leaving Vietnam’s border the patrol stopped the boat we were in. Everyone but the crew had to keep quiet as the boat was being searched. We eventually got past the patrol and we were on our way. Other than the patrol checking our boat we didn’t run into any other problems. The journey was long, rough, and disgusting. The people in the cargo hold began to get seasick and would throw up. We also couldn’t go to the bathroom so everyone would pee and poop where they were laying and whoever was under you just had to deal with it,” He explained.

“That’s gross!” I exclaimed.

“I know, that was the worst part,” my dad said with a smile.

“I can imagine,” I said as I laughed in disgust.
“Once, we got to the U.S. we bought an apartment in Bellevue. I got a job being a busboy, my sister became a nurse’s assistant.” I never realized how interesting my dad’s childhood was.
When my dad has free time he’ll talk smack to me about how he is better than me at madden or other sports games. This one time my dad said, “Hey Chan you want to get smacked in madden?” I will almost never take crap from my dad I will usually dish it back.

“What? I hear a loser somewhere,” I replied as I stood up pretending not to see him.

“Alright then bring it on!” he said as he trotted downstairs.

“Ok don’t cry if I’m too good for you,” I said as I followed my dad downstairs. “You ready?” I asked.

“Of course,” my dad said. So I turned on the xbox and put my game face on. The first half was pretty slow and we were tied at fourteen. “How are we tied? I should be beating him.” I thought. The second half began and I opened with a touchdown.

“OH YEAH TOUCHDOWN! How do you like that?” I exclaimed.

“It was ok I guess watch this,” he said confidently. Then he scored a touchdown. I was demoralized.

“Come on Chandler stay positive,” I thought to myself. The rest of the game was domination I was pulling away. I started to get cocky and talk lots of trash.

“Oh! Interception how do you like that?” I asked.

“Alright, you got lucky,” he replied. He couldn’t come back there just wasn’t enough time I won by twenty one points, fifty five to thirty four.

“Good game Dad,” I said as I shook his hand.

“Yeah good game I’ll get you next time,” he said.

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” I said with a smile. My dad went upstairs, I stayed downstairs to play more games. My dad still knows how to be a kid.

My dad does many things with me and for me. For that I’m truly grateful, he can act like a teenage kid which makes me feel like I’m hanging out with a friend. I can also go to him for advice he’s like a philosopher when he gives me advice, he’ll sound very wise without making no sense at all. He’ll mess around and joke, but can also be serious when he wants to be. Hopefully everyone has a dad like mine. I know I can go to him if I need advice but I like how we can hangout like two teenage boys.