Mahjong

I’m not much of a games person, but since I’m doing lots of new things this year, I thought I would just say YES to Mahjong! Plus, I thought it might be a fun game for the family to learn since we are in Asia which is where the game originated. And it should be an especially good game for Gabriel to learn as he is taking Mandarin this year at school. I found a few expat groups that teach and play Mahjong locally. So I joined the British group since the teacher is a woman in my condominium building, the lessons are free and convenient. I had heard that Mahjong was a complicated game and I was a bit nervous to find out whether or not my aging brain was up to the task. But thankfully, it has not proven too much for me and I seem to be understanding the initial lessons just fine and having fun ; ). Don’t worry, I’m not gambling yet...

Mahjong originated in China over 2000 years ago. It spread to many countries including England and Australia, but not to the US until the 1920’s when it became a decade long fad. Although it is not a widely played game in the US, there are national tournaments held each year (www.mahjongg.org).

Mahjong is most commonly played with 4 individuals and is a game of skill and strategy with some chance involved. There are both Chinese and English versions of Mahjong-the Chinese versions being more complex. It is said to be similar to the card game, Gin rummy. It is played with small rectangular tiles similar to dominoes and the tiles have Chinese writing, pictures, or both on the top surface of the tiles. Dice are thrown at the beginning of the game to determine the leader and then 13 tiles per person are chosen from the more than 100 tiles on the table. With each turn, tiles are picked up and discarded to build one’s hand. The first one to complete his or her hand has gotten Mahjong. Here is a short video giving the highlights of Mahjong. www.youtube.com/watch? v=vw2tjRGMwlg

Below are a few pictures of our Mahjong table and tiles and me getting my first Mahjong!

Mahjong at Sue's (on the far right)

my first Mahjong!