Today is Tuesday, June 14th - a happy American Flag Day to you! It's a safe bet that most Australians are oblivious to this holiday. Here in Perth it is a cold, gray day and currently it is pouring down rain. (Murphy's law again -- no rain for a year and two days after our windscreen is broken it rains...) The good news is that the winter equinox is only 8 days away. I'm already looking forward to those long sunny days.
On Tuesdays I play Mahjong with a terrific group of ladies. They are the first people I met in Perth and collectively they have helped me to do more than adjust to life here, but to really enjoy it. Julie, who grew up in Western Australia (or WA as everyone calls it), knows where to find everything from the freshest tomatoes to the best physiotherapist. Gaylene, who is from Victoria, or "Over East" as Perthians call everything on that side of the country, has explained many Australian expressions to me such as "drop by this arvo for a cuppa" (stop by this afternoon for a cup of tea and a chat). Here are a few more:
Chook - chicken. "The chook at Cole's looked beautiful. I bought some to cook for dinner."
Beautiful - great, fabulous, lovely, wonderful. If a dish tastes especially delicious, they'll say it was beautiful.
Arvo - afternoon. Many words are shortened to end in either "o" or "ie".
Bikie - motorcyle rider, with the implication they are in a gang. A bikie gang = Biker gang. As opposed to a biker, which is a cyclist.
Salvos - The Salvation Army
Freo - Fremantle, a port town about 15 minutes southwest of Perth.
But I digress... Our ladies mahjong group is a mix of people from Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and the US. We meet every week to play Mahjong, have lunch and indulge in conversation. Some ladies are more competitive than others - Cindy, a fellow Texan, competes passionately for each week's title of "Mahjong Queen" (you get to wear a plastic tiara and have bragging rights until the next session) and gets quite miffed with herself if she does not "Mahjong" (win the game) at least 5 times in an afternoon. Me, I consider myself successful if I achieve Mahjong once during the day, although I usually do better. We usually manage about 20 hands between 11am and 3pm.
The most important part of the day is lunch.Today is my turn to be hostess and I'm serving beef and vegetable stew, corn muffins and apple crumble - hearty fare for a cold winter's day. Because it's really not about the Mahjong. It's about getting to know people, make friends, and help each other. My life in Perth is better because of my "Mahjong Ladies."
On Tuesdays I play Mahjong with a terrific group of ladies. They are the first people I met in Perth and collectively they have helped me to do more than adjust to life here, but to really enjoy it. Julie, who grew up in Western Australia (or WA as everyone calls it), knows where to find everything from the freshest tomatoes to the best physiotherapist. Gaylene, who is from Victoria, or "Over East" as Perthians call everything on that side of the country, has explained many Australian expressions to me such as "drop by this arvo for a cuppa" (stop by this afternoon for a cup of tea and a chat). Here are a few more:
Chook - chicken. "The chook at Cole's looked beautiful. I bought some to cook for dinner."
Beautiful - great, fabulous, lovely, wonderful. If a dish tastes especially delicious, they'll say it was beautiful.
Arvo - afternoon. Many words are shortened to end in either "o" or "ie".
Bikie - motorcyle rider, with the implication they are in a gang. A bikie gang = Biker gang. As opposed to a biker, which is a cyclist.
Salvos - The Salvation Army
Freo - Fremantle, a port town about 15 minutes southwest of Perth.
But I digress... Our ladies mahjong group is a mix of people from Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and the US. We meet every week to play Mahjong, have lunch and indulge in conversation. Some ladies are more competitive than others - Cindy, a fellow Texan, competes passionately for each week's title of "Mahjong Queen" (you get to wear a plastic tiara and have bragging rights until the next session) and gets quite miffed with herself if she does not "Mahjong" (win the game) at least 5 times in an afternoon. Me, I consider myself successful if I achieve Mahjong once during the day, although I usually do better. We usually manage about 20 hands between 11am and 3pm.
The most important part of the day is lunch.Today is my turn to be hostess and I'm serving beef and vegetable stew, corn muffins and apple crumble - hearty fare for a cold winter's day. Because it's really not about the Mahjong. It's about getting to know people, make friends, and help each other. My life in Perth is better because of my "Mahjong Ladies."
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| A typical mahjong setup. It's a fun game to play - I look forward to teaching y'all when we return to Houston! |
That is how it should be...enjoying your friends while eating and playing.
ReplyDeleteI am looking for people to play mahjong! my grandma taught it to me when I was a kid and I haven't played since! I looove that game! (yes i am a 22-year-old guy, and so what? :) )
ReplyDeleteDid you know you can play mahjong at the Perth public library? Every Wednesday from 1:00-3:00pm. Here's a link for more info. http://www.aroundyou.com.au/events/tags/mahjong/wa/perth/6000-perth
ReplyDeleteIt's a good place to start, and the librarians will probably know of more clubs in the area. :->