2015-11-27

【Aiden in English】

        A church is the one place I do not wish to spend a night of vacation at. The fact that most people there are Chinese pours fuel on the fire, considering how practically everyone knows my grandma, mom, or my writing pieces about the daily life and world exploration. But it is a family tradition, and so here goes another “party” for Thanksgiving celebration in China Grace Christian Church.

        Well, the turnout was better than expected. No, the party’s content was not very exciting, but life is all about getting around things. I got around being bored quite easily, which involved finding all the other kids that were bored (which was about everyone under 13) and did stuff. Manhunt was an ideal game, but when performances started, it made far too much ruckus, so we took it outside.

        The game manhunt is perfect for the church’s conditions. Eerie lights spaced out cast a gloom over the rooms, but do not catch all of the areas. With the boundaries set as far as the roads and resident houses, the area to run was in a perfect circle. This meant if a person was chasing you, the only way to escape was to outrun or hide.  As the a) fattest kid there, and b) the clumsiest kid there, it was going to be tough. Or so I thought. Turns out, I wore a nice outfit were I blended into the surroundings surprisingly well. Either that or everyone needed glasses. Soon, the night got too dark, so black that we would bump into the hunter on accident. I still feel the bruise today as well.

        I’m surprised on how many Chinese people know how to play Texas Hold’em. Nearly everyone says how one of their parents is addicted to the game. The rules are quite difficult to understand, but to put it simply, if you have the best cards, you bet. You have bad cards; you can sit out or bluff. The winner gets the chips, which is the currency of the game, and the loser is sad. As we got into an intense game, sounds of the performance wafted through the floor boards, giving us a lovely background tune while deeply bluffing our way to victory.

        Although I would say I wasn’t looking forward to this, I found something to be thankful for anyway. I felt grateful for the friends keeping me company, for the delicious food the parents made, and for the lovely Full House that the deck in Texas Hold’em handed to me when I needed it the most (not seriously, I went all in with two pairs, while the opponent had three two’s, and the Full House saved me from losing). As the Native Americans did on this very day, I was happy, stuffed with food, and most importantly, grateful for what I had.

【红霞译文】

        我一向认为教堂绝非度假之地，哪怕仅仅一个夜晚。事实上，今天欢聚于此的中国人个个兴高采烈，他们与外婆、妈妈相识已久，对我所撰写的生活感受及旅游见闻也饶有兴趣，既然教堂聚会洋溢着家庭传统色彩，那么神州基督教会举办的感恩盛典权作朋友相聚的又一次“盛会”。

        天晓得现场感觉比预期的要好，我并非夸奖聚会本身有多少新鲜花样，但打造生活靠的是不断推陈出新，而本人一向喜新厌旧，哪曾想到其他几位十三岁以下的伙伴无不深表同感，于是我们决心要搞点名堂出来，想来想去方才觉得“侠盗猎魔”最来劲，可游戏刚开个头，大家就发现动静太大，所以只好把场地从室内移至户外。

        在教堂里玩游戏“侠盗猎魔”可谓再合适不过，低暗微弱的光线令人心生一种扑朔迷离的感觉，但并不是所有地方都会出现这种效果，因此只有把景深拉长至马路边、让规模发展到居民楼前，才能将整个游戏气氛推向高潮。具体来说，假如有人在后面追赶你，唯一可以避免被抓获的方法就是设法躲藏起来，除非胖子或者笨蛋在劫难逃，至少我这样认为。你猜怎么着，今天我穿的衣服恰好与背景相宜，如果缺少这身打扮，有副眼镜也能派上用场。不久，夜色越来越暗，黑得已分不清东南西北，难怪冷不丁彼此会碰撞到一起，害得我身上青一块紫一块的，多日之后依旧未能恢复原样。

        完全出乎我意料之外，很多华人都知道怎么玩“德州扑克”，而且几乎所有的子女都十分清楚其父母如何沉湎于这种公牌游戏之中，游戏规则复杂难懂，简而言之，只要斗牌在手，你可以大胆下注；但如果摸了一手臭牌，你只能坐山观虎斗或者伺机虚张声势；胜者赢取筹码，也就是游戏的彩金，输家见状难免有点失落。同样地，随着我们的游戏进入白热化状态，楼道上频传各种响声，快乐的背景旋律开辟出忘乎所以的胜利之路。

        虽说事先我对今天的活动安排毫无期待，但最终还是心存感激，欣喜身边有这么多志同道合的哥们弟兄，感激各位父母家长精诚奉献美味佳肴，庆幸自己在千钧一发之际巧取“德州扑克”彩池，千万别把它当回事，我只不过全下三对二，而对方仅有三个“二”，满堂红助我咸鱼翻身。以北美土著人为榜样，感恩节上我情绪振奋食欲大开，其中最重要的莫过于由衷感恩自己所拥有的一切。