my friends would go out,

我朋友們都會出去

they would make out,

他們會去親熱

they would go to the movies,

去看電影

they would go to the malls.

去逛街

I had to go to church, this a true story!

而我卻得去教堂，真心不騙

Strict Rules Your Immigrant Parents Might Have Had

移民爸媽的各種嚴格規矩

First of all, we weren't allowed to go to any sleepovers.

首先，我們是不准在別人家過夜的

Sleepovers were a no.

在別人家過夜是禁忌

They were insulted.

他們會覺得被冒犯到

They're like, "Why would you want to sleep at someone else's house?"

他們會說：「你為什麼要睡別人家？」

"Someone might touch you, or like, abduct you."

「你很可能會被亂摸，或是被綁架」

"I didn't work hard

「我辛苦努力賺錢

for you to sleep at somebody else's house,

不是為了讓你去別人家裡過夜的

you gon' sleep right here."

你只准給我睡在家裡」

I wanted to paint my nails and talk about cute boys,

我以前也想擦擦指甲油，聊聊男生的事

and like, my parents were like,

但我爸媽每次都會說

"Hell no, they can come sleep over here"

「不准，他們可以來我們家睡」

"You can't go to their house"

「但你不准去他們家睡」

I'm still friends with my friends,

我跟我朋友還是很要好

and their parents are great.

他們的爸媽也都超棒的

I guess my parents just didn't fully know that,

但我想我爸媽當時就是不太懂

coming from a different country,

畢竟從異國來到這裡

it's hard to trust people who you don't know from like day one.

很難在一開始就對陌生人建立信任

I'm Egyptian, was raised Muslim,

我是埃及人，我們家是伊斯蘭教

and in my household that meant that we couldn't wear

所以我們家是完全不能出現

anything that was provocative.

任何暴露的服裝

Nothing low cut, no short shorts,

任何低領、短褲

and nothing that showed off your midriff at all.

或是露肚子的衣服都不行

We had to have Indian food for dinner, no matter what.

無論如何，我們晚餐都一定要吃印度菜

We didn't go like McDonald's.

我們不去麥當勞

We didn't go get like fast food at all.

也從來不吃速食

My mom got really confused by after school clubs.

我媽對於我的學校社團很不解

She thought it was the same as clubbing,

她以為我去夜店 ( club 有社團和夜店的意思 )

so she was very strict on like which ones I'd join,

所以她會嚴格控管我參加的活動

and was like, "You're too young to go clubbing!"

她都會說：「你還太年輕，不能去夜店！」

And I'm like, "Mom, that's not the same thing."

我就回她：「媽，社團不是夜店」

We can't leave the house until we're married.

我們在結婚前都必須住在家裡

That even kind of went into us going to college,

這也影響到我們的大學申請

we couldn't go to colleges very far or even apply.

因為我們不能讀離家太遠的學校

I was not allowed to celebrate Halloween.

我不能過萬聖節

My parents said that Halloween was the Devil's birthday.

我爸媽覺得那是惡魔的生日

And that I was not able to dress up in costumes

我也不能參加扮裝

'cause it was a sin.

因為這是一種罪

But anyway, I basically had to make this book report

但不管怎樣，我後來甚至做了一份書面報告

and convince my parents that Halloween

去說服我爸媽說

is not a sinful holiday to celebrate.

萬聖節並不是什麼邪惡的節日

And then I, thankfully got to celebrate it for the rest of my life.

謝天謝地，我終於被允許過萬聖節了

It was more around grades,

我爸媽很在乎成績

you know they wanted straight A's,

你懂的，他們只想看到全部優等的成績

that's who they were.

這就是他們

Gotta greet your parents,

見到爸媽一定要問候

gotta greet all elders.

見到任何長輩也是

Super important.

這超級重要

That's probably like one of the most important things.

這大概是我們家最重要的規定之一

Cleaning a lot.

我們家很重視整潔

We were responsible for making our bed every morning.

每天早上都規定我們要整理床鋪

We weren't allowed to sleep in.

我們不能睡太晚

I don't understand why.

我不懂為什麼

Let a kid sleep, please!

拜託，讓你們的小孩好好睡覺！

Well first, we couldn't drink soda.

首先，我們不能喝汽水

I mean, we could eat sweets,

雖然我們可以吃甜食

but like, when she would pack our lunches,

但是當我媽幫我們做中午的便當時

she would only put one sweet thing

他只會放一種甜食

and it had to only be the serving size of the sweet thing.

而且必須是符合規定的「適當份量」

So if it said like half a cookie was a serving size,

所以如果說今天這個餅乾的「適當份量」是半塊

you know my mom is giving us half a cookie.

她就只會給我們半塊

In my early childhood, I grew up in New York

我小時候在紐約長大

so I had to make sure I was home

所以我每天都一定要

by the time the streetlights were on.

趕在路燈暗前回家

If my friends drove,

如果我朋友要開車

I wasn't allowed to go in the car with them.

我也不能搭他們的車

My dad didn't trust their driving skills,

我爸不相信他們的開車技術

'cause they were brand new.

因為他們都還年輕

That stuff was just a little bit much.

我覺得這有點超過

I think they could've relaxed a lot,

我覺得他們太嚴厲了

especially when it came to curfew.

尤其是針對門禁

I would be five minutes late,

我可能只是晚了五分鐘回家

and then I would get grounded for two weeks!

就要被禁足兩個禮拜！

That ain't right!

這不對吧！

A lot of it went back to how hard my mom worked

很多時候，我媽都會說

when she was a child,

她小時候多麼辛苦努力地工作

which like is incredible.

我也知道她很了不起

But as like a child in a different circumstance,

但現在時代不同了

it was very hard to understand.

我們很難去理解當時的處境

I get it.

我能理解

I also get that my parents were really doing their best

我知道我爸媽真的很努力

to kind of enforce their culture,

堅守家鄉的一些文化規矩

which is difficult

但這些規矩對於

when your kid is growing up

他們在異國長大的小孩而言

in an entirely different country; in an entirely different space.

非常的難以適應

There's a lot of harassment that takes place

在印度，如果你是個女生

if you're a woman in India.

你很容易會碰到性騷擾

I've been through it personally,

我自己就親身經歷過

when you're kind of exposed to that,

當你身處那樣的環境

I guess you're going to be a little more protective of your daughters.

你一定會對自己的女兒更加保護

Growing up in a strict household

在一個嚴格的家庭裡長大

helped me to stay very focused.

讓我學會保持專注

It kind of made me realize what's important,

它讓我了解，什麼是真正重要的

which is family.

那就是家人

My parents had the foresight to make sure

我能這樣平安長大到現在

I was good and I made it to this age,

也要歸功於我爸媽的先見之明

so you know, shout out to them!

所以你懂的，感謝他們！

They wanted us to be close to our culture

爸媽會希望我們跟母國文化建立緊密連結

because we're so far away from like our homeland.

是因為我們已經離家鄉很遠了

My ethnicity and my identity as an Armenian

我想這造就了我

is like very strong because of that,

對於自己是亞美尼亞人強烈的認同感

and I really appreciate that,

我現在很感謝他們這樣做

and at the time, I know I didn't.

雖然我當時並不認同

Let your kids figure some stuff out,

你可以讓你的小孩自由探索

but make sure they're home by the time the streetlights come on.

但記得讓他們在路燈暗前回到家

That's how I feel.

這是我的想法