What a great weekend
Wednesday was my birthday. I turned 22, the first of the unimportant birthdays. My girlfriend took me out for sushi, which was nice. At first I was afrade that she didn't have anything planned for my birthday. After taking her out to nice restaurants for her birthday and our six month semi-anniversary, this would have been painful for me. Then she gave me a nice gift, some cufflinks.
The next day was my big party. Living with my sister I have not been able to have a party all year, even though I love to throw them, but finally, it being my birthday, I was able to get her consent to have my friends over. Since it was my only party all year, I wanted it to be a good one. I went to the store and bought a few bottles of good alcohol, then to IGA to buy some nice cheese, bread, and mixers. In total I spent $120 on party supplies, by far the most I have spent on any party.
The party got started around 9. The first ones to come were Noah and Tristain, then Siyu and Amber. It was a bit awkward because none of these people really knew eachother, but once people started talking it worked out ok. After 9, people started arriving with greater frequency. I don't think I will bother with a whole list of those in attendence, but most of the people I invited showed up. I spent most of my time bouncing between different guests, making sure that everyone was feeling ok, and I tried to go talk to anyone who was standing alone with no one to talk to.
I was very happy that Rae managed to talk to so many people. She brought her friend Claire and I introduced them to Carolynn and her friend (who's name escapes me). That was really fun because they got to speak Chinese. Rae also met Greg, who she hadn't met before and got to talk to him a bit. This was an introduction that I know I should have made a long time ago so seeing them talking was a big relief. I guess most of the times when I see Rae, it is just the two of us, so she hasn't really gotten to know my other friends. I guess in some ways this is quite natural, but in other ways it is a pity. I would like for her to really get to know my life and what the life of a white Canadian student is like.
Ashley arrived a bit late, but wasted no time in her drinking :P It was good to have her there, because as this is also her apartment, she is also the co-host of the party. She talked with Rae for a while and then went over to Adam Pauls who, despite her best efforts seems to have an other love interest and was not going to make out with her.
Despite her promises to the contrary, My sister showed up to my party. Naturally, as she was the only impediment to having parties in the first place and has expressed on several occasions that she did not want parties in the apartment, I did not want her there but she did not do anything to harm the atmosphere of the event. Rachel spent most of her time talking to Matt, who she arrived with and then went to her room. After that, she emerged periodically to make me try to feel guilty over one thing or another.
On the negative side, Milan's friend arrived wearing a Hitler t-shirt. Yes, a Hitler t-shirt. I was shocked. Granted she did not know that I was Jewish, and that there were several Jewish guests at the party, but I can not believe that someone would really wear such an offensive shirt. I guess in Vancouver, meeting a Jew is somewhat of a rare event, especially in whatever circles that she may run in. After the night, I felt somewhat guilty that I did not say anything about it to her, but I just don't know what I could have said that would not have caused an utter scene. Honestly, her wearing that shirt just made me want to talk to her much less. After the party, and after complaints from some of my guests, I talked to Milan on msn and told him to convey the message that the shirt was not cool. Although her responce was somewhat defensive and defiant, I think she will probably think twice before wearing that shirt in public again.
Apart from the t-shirt, I was very very pleased with how smoothly the party ran. Most people seemed to have a good time and there were no serious adverse incedents. I also realized that perhaps I am a social climber. Looking at the people who were there, the majority of them were quite exeptional. For instance, I was surprised when the topic of speaking Japanese came up and there were at least four non-Japanese people who could speak it, this is on top of the three who can speak Chinese and the one who can speak Korean, all of whom are white. Even besides them, there was a multitude of interesting, inteligent and talented people who I have mmanaged to befriend. I am certainly going to miss UBC and the friends I have made.
The next day, after cleaning up, I went to richmond to eat sushi with Dima. We talked a lot about the company he works for and about our respective girlfriends. The seem to be getting really serious, but he seems to be into that. I hope things can work out for them.
Staturday night it was party time again. Rae was busy writing term papers so she couldn't come along as I went to Gabe's party. Not wanting to go all the way to kits alone, I got Noah to come with me. I figured he would fit in and have a good time, which I think he did. Gabe throws great parties so I was exited about this one. When I got there at 11, the party was just getting started. There were some good DJs spinning in the basement who had a pretty professional setup. There was also the usual cast of characters at any one of Gabe's parties.
After much effort, I got people to go downstairs and dance to the DJs. It was fun, but the room was too small and I guess I just don't like dancing quite as much as I used to. After 20 minutes or so, I went back upstairs.
Upstairs, I found myself a seat on the sofa and started talking to the people around me. There were some friendly people there who I had not met before. It was nice talking to them. A bit later on, Ashley Milan and Tristain all came into the room. I talked with them for a while, which was good fun, then around 2, Ashley left to go home. From this point on, it was just Milan, Tristan and myself plus whoever randoms. Milan had some crazy stories about Monkey Death Island and the like and the three of us generally had a great time. Finally, at 7am we left to get a mediocre breakfast at the Naam and then went home to sleep.
Sunday, had the most interesting party. This party was thrown by a friend of Rae's, a Taiwanese immigrant. Infact, besides myself, all but two people were Taiwanese immigrants. Of these, one was from mainland China and the other was from Hong Kong. This party was more of a cultural experience than anything else. An extention of my language exchange with Rae.
When I first got there, I was very nervious. I had been in a context where I was the only white person before... like my grade 12 chem class... but never for a party, and not one where I only really knew my girlfriend and her friend... and my girlfriend herself only knew a few people. At the beginning, when Rae went to change into a skirt, her friend, Claire introduced me to a guy who's name I can't remember (I am terrible with names) . Once he found out that I could speak Mandarin, we started getting along well. Then, other people who saw us speaking Chinese came over and asked me how I learned Chinese. "你的中文是哪里学的？" "我去年去了新加坡留学，我在那里就开始学。 然后我去了北京教英语。 我从中国回来的时候我找了一个语言交换伙伴，她变成了我的女朋友。" I think I must have said those words at least ten times over the course of the evening. But, that was a very good thing because it meant that I got to meet a lot of people and speak a lot of Chinese.
The party its self was interesting. First, there were tickets made up for the drinks. professional looking colour printed tickets. Then, there was a bar, not a serve yourself bar, but the host's girlfriend was acting as bartender and she made up all the drinks. Also, the party had a dress code, "office guy and office lady". Towards the end of the night, there was a little competition about who was the best dressed guy and girl. Even though I was wearing my new cufflinks, I didn't win, but I was ok with it, because winning would have been very strange. I learned a lot about the way that Taiwanese immigrants live in Vancouver, something which had puzzeled me ever since I moved to Vancouver six years ago.
The people at the party were interesting too. Probably the most interesting guy was the guy from mainland China (again, I have forgotten his name). He has been in Canada for four years and has just recieved his Canadian citizenship two weeks ago. Naturally, he was quite proud of this. I congratulated him and welcomed him to Canada. Also, in contrast to nearly everyone else at the party who had been in Canada for ten years or so, he spoke to me in English. It really moved me that he was making such an effort to be Canadian. Apart from him, most of the people seemed to be rich immigrant children. Despite living in Canada they were still very much living in a Chinese world. Judging by their curiosity towards me, it was a world that few white people enter. I am very grateful to have had the chance.
Today, I finished off my amazing weekend with a decent dinner with my grandparents. We went to Hons, an old favorite and ate all of the vegetarian crap that my sister likes so much. Afterwards they gave me cheques so small, I myself would have been embarassed to give them, but I gratefully accepted them for the sake of their feelings. I honestly don't know why they bother giving me $25... but since money is tight for me, I will gladly cash it in the hopes that it gets me through the month.
Ok, I will try to make my next post much shorter and include more of my thoughts and opinions about things...
Marc
