My Family

Chinese names are really hard for me to learn and remember. In here people don't just call each other first names. They usually give kinship terms such as little sister, big brother, elder uncle and so on. So in China I am not called Monika. I am xi fu 媳妇 (daughter-in-law) or lao po 老婆 (wife). Only when you are the youngest they will call your first name.
This is the list of names I had to learn in order to communicate with my family. Don't you think it is too complicated? They are still names of my husband's friends left to remember...

• ma 妈 – mother
• ba 爸 – father
• lao 姥 – grandmother on mother's side
  
• lao ye 姥爷 – grandfather on mother's side
  
• da jiu 大舅 – elder uncle on mother's side, da jiu ma 大舅妈 – elder uncle's wife
• da yi 大姨 – elder aunt on mother's side, da yi fu 大姨夫 – elder aunt's husband
• jie 姐 – lit. elder sister, here da yi's daughter, jie fu 姐夫 – elder sister's husband, Ma Yi Ming – first name of their 2 years old son
• lao jiu 姥舅 – elder uncle on mother's side, lao jiu ma 姥舅妈 – elder uncle's wife, Tong Tong – first name of their 14 years old son
• er shu 二叔 – second uncle on father's side, er shen 二婶 – uncle's wife
• san shu 三叔 – third uncle on father's side, san shen 三婶 - uncle's wife
• si shu 四叔 - fourth uncle on father's side, si shen 四婶 - uncle's wife

My chinese family from Shenyang