#learning mahjong

[adoptee-cooks]

Adoptee plays mahjong 麻将 (májiàng)

It’s not exactly cooking, but I needed to record my thoughts on this game because I just learned how to play today and I love it!

Not just because it is a fun, mentally engaging game that I learned for the first time with my closest friends. Or because we spent hours playing and time flew by!

But, also because I feel like I finally “unlocked” a new stage in regaining my cultural identity. It feels crass to describe it like a checklist or leveling up in a game (and there’s probably a better term), but that’s how I feel sometimes about being a Chinese adoptee raised without any connection to my birth culture.

Learning how to play mahjong today was another step towards feeling like a valid Chinese American. I brushed up on Chinese numbers and learned a challenging game that I’ve wanted to learn for years.

I wish I could write more about the history and significance of the game; why you yell “pong!” or start with East, but I honestly don’t know. My Chinese American friend who taught me just got right into teaching us how to win, or “eat” and it didn’t feel right to ask her to educate me when I have google, especially when this is just a fun family pastime for her.

Maybe I’ll return to this post and add in some history. In the meantime, here’s a picture of my only winning hand of 8 games today:

Now I’m looking up where I can buy my own mahjong set 🀄️from Asian-owned businesses!

Here are a few I found with the help of @welcome.to.chinatown  and @blockedby.themahjongline on Instagram:

K.K. Discount Store

Pings Gifts

Pearl River Mart

[u2hearts]

Learning Mahjong tonight

I’m actually very excited about this. I’ve wanted to learn this for a long time. I’ve really had no excuse, my mother and stepfather teach people to play it. However, it’s not really my stepdads favorite thing. You need at least four people. We were going to enlist my daughter as the fourth. She really don’t want to do it. I finally just asked my friends and they were like “I want to learn”. So…

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