Weekend

Last night JJ brought me to her friend's birthday party. A few friends I got to know last time when I was in Philly were also there. I havn't seen them for almost 10 months, and everyone looked unchanged. People can remain unchanged for years in America. I know it is definitely not like this in China.

The girl was very happy and said that she hoped she could have two birthdays in one year. Then one guy said, “I have two. My mother had difficulty in giving birth to me and it took two days.” Everyone burst into laughing. Such humor was always welcomed at a dinner talbe where people don't know each other very well but want to have intersting conversations.

After dinner we went to a Hung’s home. This guy is in his late 4os, came from Shanghai, and is doing sort of microscope business here. His home is actually a three-story storage building in a ghetto neighborhood. He sets up a Ping Pong table, a small badminton court, and a pool table on the third floor. JJ and her friends often come here to play and gamble until midnight. I came here once last summer, delighted to find such a private mini-gym in a dilapidated building.

I unexpectedly met Jun there. She dressed as elegantly as she always does, but she looked even sadder and smaller than I saw her last year. Her face looked so yellow. She was once living in the safe nest built up by her loving husband, and after her husband died four years ago in an car accident after a business bankruptcy, her whole world just collapsed all the sudden. She has been under depression medication since then. I guess she is lonely as well. It is hard for her to find another life partner.

We played Black Jack later. Huang and his two other friends looked like ambitious gamblers and always set big stake. JJ seemed quite into it because she had a great luck. I was probably the only one not quite into it. We didn’t wrap up until 2:30am.

Coke, ping pong, poker and Chinese jokes. An American Friday night.