Blogspot, tea leaf egg.
Stop the presses! It turns out that parties with middle aged, middle class Chinese folk are boring, strictly dry affairs (redundancy?). They leave me wondering if this is what biology grad student parties at Brigham Young University are like: lots of lively, sober conversation about Pfizer's failed clinical trial, anecdotes about happenings at church, a violin recital by an 8 year old.
To be fair though (given the spirit of Christmas and all that jazz), these are very well-intentioned partygoers, especially my parents, who go out of their way to include me in the card game they are playing (but not for money! we do not gamble here at BYU). From what I've picked up, the game's got quite a burst of old-country flair. For example, if you have a pair of the 4 of diamonds, you can "start a revolutionary movement" and change the starting suit, which matters somehow. Taken as a whole, the rules are pretty arbitrary--I would even venture to say ridiculous. I could tell my mom was disappointed when I bowed out of the role as her cardholder / apprentice.
In the living room of this house, the elderly have collected to play MahJong. I wouldn't dream of participating here. Old Chinese people are hardcore, and I couldn't want to get reparitive veneers for Christmas. The only girl here even approaching my age (I'd estimate she's 16) is playing with the grandmas. She has not spoken a word all night. I suspect that she is mute.
In contrast, the under-10 set are literally bouncing off the walls (I saw the hostesses' daughter run into a wall, giggle and then hide under a table). Earlier, the kids were playing that game where one kid hides some artifact (in this case a tiny stuffed rabbit) and shouts hotter/colder to direct the other players to his quarry. I believe this game may be called "Hotter/Colder." It's very strange to hear a 7 year old boy shrieking alternately "Isabella is the hottest!" and "Jason is the hottest!". Defined sexual orientations be damned!
I pass the time by reading. The host is a doctor, so his shelves are lined with medical dictionaries and texts. From perusing them, I have found that the existence of many congenital defects necessitates the existence of many pictures of autopsied babies.
I have now spent more than seven hours at this party. That 16 year old girl still has not spoken a single word. At this point I'm wondering if she is the human vessel for some unspeakable rancor against man. The other option is that, like me, she is really bored.
Merry Christmas!
Stop the presses! It turns out that parties with middle aged, middle class Chinese folk are boring, strictly dry affairs (redundancy?). They leave me wondering if this is what biology grad student parties at Brigham Young University are like: lots of lively, sober conversation about Pfizer's failed clinical trial, anecdotes about happenings at church, a violin recital by an 8 year old.
To be fair though (given the spirit of Christmas and all that jazz), these are very well-intentioned partygoers, especially my parents, who go out of their way to include me in the card game they are playing (but not for money! we do not gamble here at BYU). From what I've picked up, the game's got quite a burst of old-country flair. For example, if you have a pair of the 4 of diamonds, you can "start a revolutionary movement" and change the starting suit, which matters somehow. Taken as a whole, the rules are pretty arbitrary--I would even venture to say ridiculous. I could tell my mom was disappointed when I bowed out of the role as her cardholder / apprentice.
In the living room of this house, the elderly have collected to play MahJong. I wouldn't dream of participating here. Old Chinese people are hardcore, and I couldn't want to get reparitive veneers for Christmas. The only girl here even approaching my age (I'd estimate she's 16) is playing with the grandmas. She has not spoken a word all night. I suspect that she is mute.
In contrast, the under-10 set are literally bouncing off the walls (I saw the hostesses' daughter run into a wall, giggle and then hide under a table). Earlier, the kids were playing that game where one kid hides some artifact (in this case a tiny stuffed rabbit) and shouts hotter/colder to direct the other players to his quarry. I believe this game may be called "Hotter/Colder." It's very strange to hear a 7 year old boy shrieking alternately "Isabella is the hottest!" and "Jason is the hottest!". Defined sexual orientations be damned!
I pass the time by reading. The host is a doctor, so his shelves are lined with medical dictionaries and texts. From perusing them, I have found that the existence of many congenital defects necessitates the existence of many pictures of autopsied babies.
I have now spent more than seven hours at this party. That 16 year old girl still has not spoken a single word. At this point I'm wondering if she is the human vessel for some unspeakable rancor against man. The other option is that, like me, she is really bored.
Merry Christmas!
posted by Byron at 10:17 PM
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