Mahjing

Ok. It's official! I have turned into my mother. I now play mahjong. It started about a month ago when my friend Renea invited me to join her for an evening of mahj. She actually started inviting me at the beginning of the summer but I kept coming up with excuses. You see, I grew up hearing the clicking of the mahj tiles being shuffled around on the card table and the strange language of it being uttered by my mother and her friends. Here are some examples of this: 2 bam, 6 crack, red dragon, soap. This language was one that I always mocked, laughed at and never understood, until about a month ago. By the end of the first evening, I attempted my first hand and by the second evening I mahjed-which means I won the game.

I am hooked. It is a fun game that requires strategy, a leap of faith, and patience. I am not sure I will be able to stay with this group once school starts-we play till about 11:30 which is way too late for me when I am working. But-I want to continue playing and I want to teach it to my friends. So... Mahj- I win!