Oh my god....this is the COOOOOLEST thing ever.
(This is a shrine to the progenitor of my family name, Gin Sun Hall.)
Do you know...that another way to spell my last name in English is ....
GIN?!
From now on, I am no longer drinking pomartinis or beer. Just gin. Only Gin & Tonics for moi! It's my ancestral duty!
AND!
There's AN ENTIRE WORLDWIDE ORGANIZATION built around people with my last name:THE GINFAMILY ASSOCIATION
I feel as if I'm the scion of a wealthy liquor making family....the Coors, Busches, Millers of the world...and me!
(or the by-product and FAS ridden child of an extreeeemely alcoholic family)
But seriously, I find this is pretty wild. Apparently, there are SO FEW Chinese people in the world with my last name, there is an organization that brings us together.
Basically...I'M AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ENDANGERED Chinese person. Us Gins are like the freakin' snow leapords and (haha) Giant Pandas of Chinese people! Unlike the rest of the Chinese people, I guess Gins have been following the one -child rule and flying SOLO for dynasties and dynasties... so my singlehood isn't my fault. I can blame my non-existent personal life on the fact that it has been predestined and ingrained by the fate of my inherited DNA. (phew!)
Oh wait- further online sleuthing has revealed that some jerk emperor wanted to kill off my ancestors. Sigh, sadly 'twas the practice of the time. In ancient China, should you cross the wrong person, not only were you killed, but that same honor was extended throught your entire family. From the eldest white haired Gin to the days old baby Gin, all would be slaughtered because you got fresh with one of the Emperor's 500 plus concubines. Sheesh! So a lot of us changed our last names....but the BRAVE ONES didn't!
Wooohoooo! I'm the descendant of Asian people who historically don't take crap and kick ass! Yeah! Uh...or are extremely illogical, stubborn, lazy and easily massacred...hmm.....
So yea, we could also be the Dodo birds of the Chinese people. (yay?)
There's even a GIN WORLD CONFERENCE that's held every year. And a SHRINE to my family name in San Francisco!
Gin Sun Hall Benevolent Association
747 Clay Street
San Francisco, California 94108
(415) 982-4865
Gin/Yan Family Association
612 1/2 West College Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
(213) 617-1968
Fieeeeeeeld Trip!
lol- Helen
2 comments:
Yep, that’s us. We’ve always been pretty nutty radicals, and I like it! Thanks for posting the shrine pic: I was there in 2000. And yes, the reason for the rarity of the surname is the nutcase emperor. Prior to that, there were a lot of us. Gin Sun Hall had to go to the south, too, because of some issue with another emperor.
Helen,
You are welcome to come by our GIN/YAN Family Association in LA!
We are having our Spring/New Year Banquet on March 14, 2010 in LA.
If you need more details go to our Gin/Yan Blog at http://theginyanfamily.blogspot.com/ and get more information.
Jimmy Gin
Treasurer/Past President LA Gin/Yan Family Association.
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