An elderly Chinese woman and a group of millennial roomies make for one unlikely friendship | A-Yi 

Oh gosh - I teared up reading your comment. I loved the way you phrased it - good people indeed!

cool!

and with a bunch of Irish people, which means lots of beer cans for her lol

No joke! me to man.

I know! Me too. I was about to cry until I saw that it had a happy ending.

I'm going to hell aughing for this

chinese grandma is the best of all grandmas, no objection accepted.

@@711jastin Hell ya!

I wonder if the landlord knows about her lol. Would be nice if he does, then maybe tell future renters in advance about her.

awwww =) thanks for sharing

Oh bless you! You sound like a lovely and grateful grandchild.

My Grand mother was the same way she grew up durring the depression and she saved every penny and saved every last thing and never threw anything away ever. She also worked her fingers to the bone

If they live in Canada they may feel lonely

My grandparents are the same way.

why you do dis to me :(

This video reminded me of my own grandparents who were from the Taishan region of southern China and immigrated to the US in the 1940's.. Most of the earliest chinese immigrants to the US were from this poor agricultural region. Many immigrants left family behind with the intent of either returning there someday or bringing the rest of the family once they were settled. Unfortunately most of them never returned but always retained the dream and the memories of home. Farming and gardening were always a big part of their lives. Growing veggies and fruit were always something they loved.

@@TheBignutscracker yeah sadly many of our Taishan ancestors never went back home. Not from a lack of trying, but the life of earning money abroad and just struggling didn't award them that opportunity. Some did manage to go back home of course, but for those that couldn't some managed to get their wives or children over and many sent what money they earned back home. I've been in the U.S.A for 35 years, came when I was 5 from Taishan with my family. I've only been back one time, back in 2000. I missed home when I first came here, adapting to a new country and environment was very hard for the first year or two. Even though I came at such a young age I still have very fond memories of my village life back in TS, our farms, and just the rural life style...and it is true what the OP above posted. Any pot or plot thats empty and myself or my family has access to. We will plant something. Whether it be string beans, garlic, or even some flowers. We just love seeing things grow and tending to them I suppose? Something I grew up watching my mom doing when she tended our field back home.

That is exactly what I was thinking.

Haha facts, everybody would win. Old people are awesome.

yes for sure.

ITPCD and we too would be

I was thinking that too! She's there every day because she gets to tend her garden AND see others who are kind to her.

Renta granny? 🤔

damn

Thank you for sharing this with me, that is very true. But, for any age, but especially the elderly...:)

I don't know if that's every older adult's reason, but people over 60 definitely wake up earlier than younger folks.

@@brandondavidson4085 That's because they go to bed earlier. If you go to bed at 8 or 9 it is easy to get up at 6 am. Party all night sleep all day it is that simple. I'm over sixty and can tell you that what time I get up depends on what time I go to bed. I usually stay up late so wake up later.

she is speaking in a mix of Taishan and hong kong Cantonese.

It kind of seems like she might be simplifying her sentences because the translator is speaking in Cantonese and might not get the nuances of the dialect. My grandparents do the same thing where they speak a mixture when they're in commonly Cantonese spaces (like the bakeries or markets), where Cantonese speakers have a hard time understanding Toisan. Also the rhythm of her speech is typical of the dialect, especially when telling a long story. This is the same way my mom and grandma would talk on the phone to someone for hours.

In the city i'm living, our foochow is 50% foochow mixed up with 50% of ALL dialects and languages spoken in the region, so messed only those who lives in the region understand.

It's ok, she spoke to the young men through the language of gardening

@@akui88 yeah i was just about to say, it doesnt sound choppy she is just speaking Cantonese

Cucumber Palace lol

The Cucumber Palace! That NAME gives me such joy! They named the house after their nickname for her! Love this!!!

@@sapphirexwind lolo

Took this comment right from my mouth! 🇨🇦🇨🇳

Canadian boys kick ass too (ok, & an Irish guy as well)

well said man

@@BluezzEh Canadian too... Do you even realize that you have in 2 successive sentences contradictory statements? Kind and decent v crap, alt-right v tolerant. Is it just me or logic is something we don't actually use these days

As a naturalized Chinese Canadian I can't agree more.

This is very common, I'm from the area she is and countless family friends her age that moved to western countries longed to go home, some do, some just swallowed it and stayed.

I have to wonder why she didn't go back home when she told her daughter she wanted to, or why her daughter wasn't part of the documentary? It seems like the aunty doesn't have anyone to be with or talk to. Where is her daughter? :(

I have the feeling this might be a shared experience for many who immigrated around that time; I do wish A YI didn't have to sacrifice leaving a community/way of life back home to be with her family....

@@sicelliatsui5148 I can't make sense of a daughter who wants her (elderly) mother to move to a different country where she doesn't know anyone and the daughter doesn't have her move in with them. That is not any Asian family to do such a thing. The 30-40 somethings really treated her well and as part of their daily lives. Kudo's to those men. Love to all :)

@James Wang I think community is important for everyone. There's an older Japanese community over in Japan that is very self sufficient and long-lived. Part of the reason is the sense of community and physical activity that keeps them all busy and happy

I'm Chinese American but I could relate to this too. Kindness knows no boundaries. We used to have neighbors of all types and my parents didn't always understand one another, but you know kindness when you see it. :)

Only in Canada.

C0NDEV1L True Ehhhh!!!!

i was super confused, cause i heard a bit of canto but half the stuff i didnt know what she was saying. reminds me of my grand parents

Thanks... I was just about to ask about the dialect.

This is exactly like my grandparents who are originally from Taishan and then immigrated to Hong Kong during the 2nd sino war, so they also speak a mixture of both

I can't believe I found a video with someone speaking Taishanese. I had to do a double take when she first started talking :/

I knew it was a bit off

Veri beautiful account, thanks for that

I feel you. My parents are from Thailand and Laos. Growing up my parents worked all the time and my grandmother raised us. She was a mean but fair and raised us the only way she knew how. I didn't ask her a lot of questions growing up because she didn't like to talk about her past or her feelings. When I took off to college, she started developing Alzheimer's before she passed in her sleep. Whenever I see stories like this or read people's comments about their relationship with their Asian parents/relatives, it makes me regret not taking the chance to break unspoken cultural rules. So yeah, guys. Talk to 'em.

My grandpa was from Guandong. He was a master craftsman and chef. He used to make dragon kites for my big brother and I and all sorts of homemade toys and whatnot. His recipes have been passed down to my father (sadly his siblings were not interested) then to my brother and I. When I feel low or had a bad day, I choose to cook from one of his recipes and it just makes everything better.

thanks for sharing your family memory

My great grandmother's family was also from China, but she never talked about them, so I don't know much. We also called her nana, but it's confusing for others since it actually means grandmother in Mexico, not sure about other places. Among her great grandchildren and even the few great great grandchildren she met, we all refer to her as nana ☺️ she passed away in 2016 as well She assimilated to Mexican culture, so a lot of the foods she made were a fusion of Chinese and Mexican recipes, some were her own invention. Whenever my aunts and uncles find some traditional Chinese dish, they're like, "oh! That's what my nana would make for us!" And to finally find the origin of a mysterious dish was always fun lol Unfortunately, no one wrote down the dishes or recipes.

Makes me smile too! Not many young people speak it anymore, sadly.

lol. when she said that...i had to laugh. I just knew that had to come up. One of those soups that takes like 3-4 hours to just slowly boil.

Many elderly have trouble eating solid food that's why the eat allot of soup

Damn it, camtasia! 💔

They've kind of picked up on her morning routine, so I'm sure if something does happen, they'll know right away. She's older...they'll be aware of complications if they do arise. I hope that doesn't come any time soon though and she lives a life that she has found worthwhile.

The new people that moved into the house also let her continue to tend her garden. All's well that ends well.

I'm also curious to know what happened to her daughter!

The sad fact is that many in the newer generation of Chinese are kind of leaving their parents in the dust as the move forward. That old chinese sense of family is being eroded.

i think she lives close by with daughter, and doing her own thing here.

From her statement, she actually live in apartment and recycling and farming is just a hobby and not her source of her income. I think the daughter live nearby or together and still provide her daily necessities

At around 10:00 she said her and her daughter live in a apartment near by. She only does gardening and collecting cans as a hobby and to have something to do, she isn't homeless or anything like that.

Awww... Bless you! I am sorry for your loss! I'm Canadian, black and this documentary really touched my heart too!

Yep take "corona-breaks" don't watch that every day, it batters the soul all the suffering, fear and death. Watch something happy every single day! Blessings!