Asian Party

Yesterday for the first time in say...probably eight years, we had an "Asian Party" to celebrate Christmas Eve. Back in the day, the Asian Parties were, as James and I claim, meetings of all the Chinese families who worked at the Fort Dodge Animal Health Labs to discuss plans for Fort Dodge's takeover (that's James and I in the picture acting our natural selves, check out the longer hair). And trust me, pretty much if you were Chinese in this town, you probably worked at the Labs. Now, these parties usually lasted all night, either at somebody's home or at the local Hong Kong Buffet. I remember them being fun times in which we got to eat a lot of good food, play games, watch movies, and play tricks on the younger kids.

But yesterday there was only a total of four families at a colleague's home, and the once young kids are pretty much grown up. My friend Amy's little brother who I remember being a hyper kid is now a freshman in high school and is a heck of a lot calmer. And there were the twin sisters who are now juniors in high school (and I still can't get their names right). Man, I am getting old. It still seems surreal that these kids are not kids anymore, and I am on the way to adulthood...kinda. But despite the small Asian Party it was a great way to reminisce before my departure and catch up with people I haven't talked to in quite some time. It was nice to relive the past and act like a kid again, not knowing when I will be able to again. Oh, and ask James Zhang how I dominated him in ping pong...