FRONNIE DOES: Donnie's Family

In China, families who can afford them have an “Ayi”, which translates literally to “Auntie” but is actually more of a cleaning lady/ house keeper. They only charge 5$/hour so needless to say, most foreigners and middle-class Chinese can afford one. When I first moved to China, having someone come to my house a few times a week to do dishes, clean my clothes, and occasionally cook food was mind-blowing. In most parts of the world, “maids” are a luxury for the upper classes, not recent college grads working as english teachers. I think it first dawned on me how incredibly blessed I was to have an “Ayi” when I threw a house party and rolled out of bed the next morning at noon to find my apartment spotless.

I’ve had a couple different ones over the years and they’ve been absolute saints. The one in the above video is named “Gou Ayi” and she’s sort of become my “Chinese mom” over the years.

She’s seen me at my worst (brutally hungover on the couch unable to move) and she’s seen me at my best (when I organized a pop-up Restaurant selling Crab Rangoons to raise money for her sister who got hit by a bus)

She even invited me to her farm in the countryside for Chinese New Year that led to some of my most heartwarming videos.

Needless to say, I knew that if I wanted to give Francis a deeper undestanding of my life in China, I would have to bring him to “Ma’s” house for dinner to meet the fam. I just hope that she doesn’t think I’m gay now (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

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Donnie Does