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.

【紅霞譯文】

        我一向認為教堂絕非度假之地，哪怕僅僅一個夜晚。事實上，今天歡聚於此的中國人個個興高采烈，他們與外婆、媽媽相識已久，對我所撰寫的生活感受及旅遊見聞也饒有興趣，既然教堂聚會洋溢着家庭傳統色彩，那麼神州基督教會舉辦的感恩盛典權作朋友相聚的又一次“盛會”。

        天曉得現場感覺比預期的要好，我並非誇獎聚會本身有多少新鮮花樣，但打造生活靠的是不斷推陳出新，而本人一向喜新厭舊，哪曾想到其他幾位十三歲以下的夥伴無不深表同感，於是我們決心要搞點名堂出來，想來想去方才覺得“俠盜獵魔”最來勁，可遊戲剛開個頭，大家就發現動靜太大，所以只好把場地從室內移至戶外。

        在教堂里玩遊戲“俠盜獵魔”可謂再合適不過，低暗微弱的光線令人心生一種撲朔迷離的感覺，但並不是所有地方都會出現這種效果，因此只有把景深拉長至馬路邊、讓規模發展到居民樓前，才能將整個遊戲氣氛推向高潮。具體來說，假如有人在後面追趕你，唯一可以避免被抓獲的方法就是設法躲藏起來，除非胖子或者笨蛋在劫難逃，至少我這樣認為。你猜怎麼着，今天我穿的衣服恰好與背景相宜，如果缺少這身打扮，有副眼鏡也能派上用場。不久，夜色越來越暗，黑得已分不清東南西北，難怪冷不丁彼此會碰撞到一起，害得我身上青一塊紫一塊的，多日之後依舊未能恢復原樣。

        完全出乎我意料之外，很多華人都知道怎麼玩“德州撲克”，而且幾乎所有的子女都十分清楚其父母如何沉湎於這種公牌遊戲之中，遊戲規則複雜難懂，簡而言之，只要鬥牌在手，你可以大膽下注；但如果摸了一手臭牌，你只能坐山觀虎鬥或者伺機虛張聲勢；勝者贏取籌碼，也就是遊戲的彩金，輸家見狀難免有點失落。同樣地，隨着我們的遊戲進入白熱化狀態，樓道上頻傳各種響聲，快樂的背景旋律開闢出忘乎所以的勝利之路。

        雖說事先我對今天的活動安排毫無期待，但最終還是心存感激，欣喜身邊有這麼多志同道合的哥們弟兄，感激各位父母家長精誠奉獻美味佳餚，慶幸自己在千鈞一髮之際巧取“德州撲克”彩池，千萬別把它當回事，我只不過全下三對二，而對方僅有三個“二”，滿堂紅助我鹹魚翻身。以北美土著人為榜樣，感恩節上我情緒振奮食慾大開，其中最重要的莫過於由衷感恩自己所擁有的一切。