What's in a Game?

As I mentioned in my rambling 'Random observations about China' entry, the Chinese have their own form of hacky sack that is played with what at first looks like a weighted badminton birdie. I wasn't able to upload the video from China, but it is now viewable here.

The Chinese hacky sack game is not played by young people, but rather by the 40+ age group. As explained to me by an acquaintance from Guangzhou (where this video was taken), the feet are the first part of the body to age so people play hacky sack to keep their feet in shape.

What intrigued me most about the game is how much it revealed about the local culture.

• The game is noncompetitive. There is no way to score points, no tricks are performed that call attention to any one player, there are no standings or handicaps, etc.
• The cost of entry is minimal. A good birdie (and there really are good and bad ones) cost about as much as a soda and sandwich.
• Little space is needed to play. No need to reserve a court, lug your clubs through the back nine, pay for an alley, etc - not to mention the fact that space is quite a luxury in a country roughly the same size as the US but home to 20% of the world's population. (The US, by comparison, is home to approximately 5% of the world's population).
• Games form spontaneously. While many came in groups, the majority of players drifted in and out of the game circles as time and stamina allowed. When my son and I did our best to play, we were often joined by other players who were quick to give us impromptu lessons.

Exercise in the US tends to come in three flavors: 1) the wretched chore; 2) the fanatic's fix; 3) the heated competition. Not since I was a child had I experienced the joy of exercise as unadulterated play.

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MacKay on omens.

'[S]o much more ingenious are we in tormenting ourselves than in
discovering reasons for enjoyment in the things that surround us. We
go out of our way to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is
not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to
put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at,
which would never exist if we did not make them.'

Tucked between the voluminous accounts of MacKay's empirical study are
astute gems such as these. Half-way through 'Extraordinary Popular
Delusions' and I can almost see his truisms forming the basis for a
behavioral model - which I hope to catalog and expand upon herein over
the coming weeks.

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I dreamed of Clifford Geertz last night.

I dreamed of Clifford Geertz last night, and in this dream he revealed to me the whole of human existence stripped of our webs of significance. Thusly laid bare, that which remained was a multifaceted game board on which was perched a perpetual motion machine of brightly colored beads tracing intricate and meaningless patterns ad infinitum.

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Random observations about China.

A cup of coffee in China costs about the same as a small lunch.

~

When we arrived in Beijing, the first question our guide asked my 9
year-old son was whether he liked Lady GaGa. My son later told me that
our guide's ring tone was a Lady GaGa song.

~

A local shop keeper in Shanghai asked us if we'd been to Disney World
- the one in Florida - the biggest one. He then proceeded to tell us
that his brother had been to the one in Hong Kong and was very
impressed by American culture as a result. I resisted the impulse to
tell him that the best Shanghai dumplings I ever taste was at the
Epcot Center.

~

This is my last night in Asia before the 27-hour journey back to the
US port of entry at JFK. I have not been able to access my blog or any
social networking sites except LinkedIn. I have no idea where these
missives are ending up. Gmail has sporadically been blocked when using
Chrome.

~

For the truly desperate Papa John's delivers. We were able to hold out
until tonight.

~

One of the most popular pass times among the 40+ set is a hacky
sack-like game played with what appears to the uninitiated to be a
badminton birdie. (And for the record, the hand-made birdies sold by
the players on the street are well worth the price over the cheap
birdies sold to unsuspecting Americans in the tourist shops.)

It was explained to me that this game exercised the feet which is
important because the feet are the first part of one's body to get
old. Few people under the age of 40 seemed to partake, and older
players appeared to be well into their 60s.

I found the game quite telling because:
1) The game is non-competitive
2) Requires no gym membership, DVD exercise programs, contraptions
that attach to doors and promise maximum results with minimal time,
etc. In fact the cost for a 'birdie' is less than a cup of coffee
3) Only a small space is required to play
4) Players can drift into and out of games (generally played in groups
of four) as their time and stamina allowed
5) Many players played for hours on end
6) The game is difficult and is quite a workout - just trust me on
this one no matter what it looks like in the video

~

The first time our non-English-speaking, 4 year-old adoptive Chinese
daughter farted in front of us she burst out into hysterical laughter.
Who would have thought that toilet humor was a thing so fundamental as
to transcend generational, linguistic and cultural diversity!

~

Gotta run - Papa John's is calling!

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Well-intentioned idol chatter is the enemy of peregrination.

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