The Role of Magazines in My Life: Mingpao, Chatelaine and Costco Connection
a rollercoaster of an essay? and a writing prompt
Magazines seem to have disappeared from my existence altogether, until now.
As a kid, we would get Chinese newspapers like Mingpao on the weekends during our dim sum, which would always include a magazine. It was filled with either lifestyle and/or gossip information. For a while, I was obsessed with zodiac signs, and would read my fortune at the back. There was also a key Swarovski feature from one of the stores, and they held that backpage glossy advertisement spot for what felt to me was a whole decade. I would admire the crystals there. Looking back, it’s the whole reason I can read Chinese today, even though I don’t buy into the whole zodiac thing anymore. [Should I write more about this later?]
For one year, my mom also subscribed to Chatelaine, which I also believe was a lifestyle magazine. She didn’t really read them though, and they ended up sitting in a corner somewhere. I read some of them at times, but have no recollection of what was in them. I remember starkly that the school belief was that our parents would subscribe to magazines and that we would separately also subscribe to kid’s magazines, and that was just accepted to be part of day to day life. Teachers would ask…
