On Saturday I am invited to come to my fiance’s extended family weekend trip to a beach house in order to celebrate two recent weddings. Two weeks ago, my fiance’s cousin got married and I had to miss it due to travel. We are particularly close to this cousin because she lives with my fiance (big Asian family house… my fiance’s mom and dad and brother, one aunt and her three adult children live there). Three months ago I also missed her brother’s wedding (which I promised his wife I would attend) due to a lousy case of common cold.
I had wanted to attend this family weekend quite badly, except that there are two problems: it’s on my mom’s birthday, and I have a rehearsal for a drama exam.
But then my mom would be busy on her birthday; she’s hosting a karaoke party with her friends (mostly in their 50′s and 60′s), and I wouldn’t be interested in attending that. I’ve also gotten a present for her and am planning to get a cake. I know she would have wanted me to spend the day with her before the karaoke party; but then I live with her, so she sees me everyday anyway. I can wish her happy birthday before I go to bed on Friday night, and perhaps make up for the quality time next week (my birthday will be on 14 July).
My drama rehearsal is from 1 PM till 5 PM. It’s for an international exam, which I will need to pass as a requirement for graduation, but my role is voice acting so I don’t really need to be there for blocking or costumes. I’m a good performer and give my absolute best to live out my character, but I’ve been missing some practices due to travel, sickness, and a 3-day compulsory government examination. I’d hate to miss another one, but whenever I do sacrifice something important in order to make it to practice, I usually end up disappointing myself. The director and producer are disorganized, people come late and finish late, the expectations they make are unrealistic, a lot of gossiping and backstabbing, sometimes they run out of time and don’t end up rehearsing my scenes at all, and I just don’t get along with those people. I have to put up with them MONDAY TO FRIDAY already! Two weeks ago my brother left home to start his life in another country, and I regretfully missed taking him to the airport for a rehearsal that turned out to not even need me.
I honestly love my fiance’s extended family and have been looking forward to a chance to spend time with them like this weekend away; it only happens once in a blue moon and I wouldn’t want to miss this. July is a very stressful month for me so I really could use a short escape with a pleasant family I’m planning to become a part of.
So I guess the bottom line is… should I trade off a weekend I’ve been looking forward to in exchange for four hours of lousy practice? I would have already practiced Friday and will be practicing Monday again. But that aside… what would be the right thing to do, why is that the right thing to do, and how do I make up for the thing(s) I will have to miss in order to make that choice?
OK never mind my mom’s birthday, I got that taken care of. What about my DRAMA REHEARSAL for the exam? Can I justify leaving one more rehearsal for this weekend away? I’ll do fine on D’Day because I did all my homework and continue to work on it while away, but I really don’t want to build up resentment with my director.
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