Wednesday June 14 2006 - Mahjong

Yesterday I learned how to play Mahjong. Not everything; there’s a lot to the game. But I learned the basics, enough to play a hand without having to ask someone what I was supposed to do next every five seconds.

The AWA holds something called “Mahjong Madness” at the American Club at Tai Tam on Tuesday mornings. The American Club is niiice. It’s extremely expensive to join; you’ve got to have quite a package, or be with a company that pays for your membership, in order to join. But, I could go to Mahjong and enjoy the amenities for a day, free!

Before I went I called the coordinator. She said it really wasn’t for beginners, but that I should take the course for beginners at the YWCA first. Unfortunately the beginner’s course isn’t offered again this summer (lots of expat stuff slows down during the summer-time here). So she said to download the demo program from a computer mahjong game called ninedragons, learn the basics from that, and then go ahead and come. She thought I’d be able to watch someone play, which was fine with me.

The American Club is on the Ocean side of Hong Kong Island. I relish a chance to get over there. It’s an easy way to get out of the city. I want to learn how to take the bus over there (the MTR doesn’t go that way), but I don’t know which bus to take yet, so I took a taxi. I’m so used to pay $2-$3 US for most taxi rides here, and even less for the MTR, that to have to pay $12 just seemed TERRIBLE to me! That’s a weird thing that happens here very quickly. We’ll go ahead and spend $100 for a nice dinner in a restaurant or some clothes without thinking too much about it. BUT I’ll wait 15 minutes for a free ride on the shuttle instead of taking a $2 taxi!

When I walked into the Club it was easy to find the Mahjong players – all those clicking tiles! It sounded like my mom playing with her friends at night when I was a little kid. Everyone was very nice. There was another beginner there, and they had two tables going already, and part of a third table. They sat me and the other beginner down and started telling us the rules. There are a lot of rules to Mahjong, but it’s not HARD. It’s kind of up my alley. I never could learn to play bridge; I tried because Lee likes to play; but bridge has too much with remembering number stuff going on. Mahjong has a lot of luck, but then there is strategy to handle whatever luck throws your way. There are lots of superstitions, and there are also stories…

We started playing a few hands with the tiles face up, so that we could talk about how we should manage our tiles. At first I was kind of lost, and I kept forgetting rules – when I could pick up a tile, whether I should Pong, Kong or Chow…but slowly it started making sense. Then we started playing with the tiles face down. If I wasn’t sure what to do I could grab someone from another table and with nudges and shrugs they would suggest the best move. By the very last hand I finally got mahjong (won that hand)!

The ladies at my table were very nice. Two were from Britain and one was another American. Two of them, the American and one of the Brits, had been in Hong Kong for 9 and 17 years respectively it. For them, it was home. The other Brit had been there a year. She was the other beginner. We talked as much as we played, broke for lunch, and then played some more. Lunch was yummy too. I had a chicken and avocado salad, but there were lots of different options. I HAD to use a credit card to pay for lunch; they wouldn’t take my cash. Isn’t that strange? They said it was because it was a club. Is that true at country clubs in the US too? I’m showing my ignorance, aren’t I? How can I be a good kept woman if I don’t know the rules???

I had a great time and I’m going back next week. Next thing you know I’m going to be buying my own table and Mahjong set! My mom is all intrigued. It’s a different form of mahjong than what they play in the US – Chinese/Hong Kong. When she comes it will be interesting to see how extensive the differences are.